Weathering a CN SD40-2 - No. 5253

CN SD-40 heads out onto the White River bridge.

I picked up this custom built SD40-2 that had been nicely detailed, decaled and with some sprayed-on weathering. It clearly was an engine constructed in the 1980’s. The model is a dummy which I thought would work well with any of my DCC sound engines. I also thought this might be a good engine to experiment with - trying some of my new-found weathering techniques.

CN 5253 is one of 21 engines built in May and June 1975 numbered 5241-5261. They are 3,000hp which has a top speed of 65mph. Seven in this series still remain at work today.  CN 5253 was wrecked at Ashcroft, BC on Aug 22, 1978 and removed from the roster. A really short lifespan of three years for a CN locomotive.

This is how it looked when I got home from the train show. I touched up the chipped paint on the handrails and body.

The roof and hood chipping along with the wet oil areas are what really makes this engine stand out. Although my engine looks really worn as much of the fleet really appears, this particular unit never made it to this point, being used only three years on the CN. The chipping effect I think is really neat and I plan on trying it on other units in my White River Division fleet. Will cover the clear coat peeling and chipping shortly...George Dutka

The windows were taped up and two coats of Proto Flat Haze was applied to the whole unit.

Acrylic rust was applied to the plow, coupler and handrails.

The walkways got a dusting of Bragdon dark rust.

Oil seeping out of the car body doors is emulated using gloss. The clear coat paint peeling and chipping is my first attempt at this technique. It turned out to be pretty easy. Will cover it shortly on my B&M engine.

Lots of clear coating is modeled peeling away along the cabs edges.