Weathering Rolling Stock

This is a simple but effective method of weathering rolling stock using artists pastel chalks.

You will need a set of chalk pastels (not oil pastels, these are a totally different thing, possibly with weathering application, but not suitable for this technique), particularly earth colours, greys ,black and possibly white.

You will also need a selection of cotton buds, paper tissues, soft paint brushes, cotton wool etc. (you'll soon work out which when you try it).

I suggest you start on old wagons first, until your happy with the technique.

The basics:
This is a simple box van in the as new condition:
Rub the chalk gently across the wagon, so that it powders (rubbing in th edirection of the planking seems best).
In this picture you can see a before and after as I have only applied the powder to one half of the wagon:
This powder is gently rubbed into the features of the wagon with a cotton bud, or a soft tissue, or even your fingers, taking care not to damage any fine detail.  The excess powder may be gently brushed or blown off. Depending on the degree of weathering required, further colours may be built up in a similar manner.
In this picture a layer of dark brown and some black have been applied:
The method is repeated until you have built up the finish you want. A similar technique is used on the roof, using shades of grey:
In these two pictures you can see the completed wagon in isolation, and positioned on the layout:
That's the basics!

The following shows examples of wagons with a description of the colours used.

1) A Pwg


Initially a light grey was used to provide a light background colour.  This was followed by an application of a green that matched the original colour. As you can see it has given a graduation in the shades of green, and also taken the 'shine' of the wagon.

2) Another box van as above


A lighter weathering was desired on this wagon, so only a single application of a medium brown was applied.

3) A 'Dresden' type box van
 
A much lighter finish was desired on this wagon as can be seen in the before and after above. A single application of light grey was applied. As you can see it's toned down the as new 'shine' but also given the wagon a 'worn' used look.

4) Truck type 'Essen'



This truck was given an initial application of black, followed by dark brown and finally a yellow ochre.

5) Optional wagon


Again this one received only a light application of grey so that it had a nicely worn look.

6) 'Thunderbox' coach


This was one of the most difficult as I didn't want these lovely little models too dirty, I just wanted to dull the bright as new boxed finish off them. In the end I applied some very light grey with a tissue, and then using a soft frush removed almost all of the deposit, leaving a nice matt-satin finish. Unfortunately the roof on these models is supplied in a shiney silver finish, this needed considerable toning down. I used black, and wiped it with a damp cotton bud, to give it a smokey grimey look.

7) The final example is of a white coloured liquid chlorine gas tanker


I didn't want to loose the 'whiteness' of this wagon, so I applied some grey to the bottom of the sides and brushed it upwards, to imply a bit of grime. After removing most of the grey powder, I applied an over layer of white, to return the colour to the highlights.

The following are just further examples of stock I've weathered using a combination of the techniques above: