2 Foot gauge tractor loco in 1/16th scale

[lab-dad]

Gosh I thought you forgot it in the rain outside. 
Then I remembered it don't rain in California.
Good to know the Tamiya is so tough.
Marty

[Ray Dunakin]

Sweet!

[Peter_T1958]

Chuck, wait a moment! If babelfish translated more or less correctly, you DO NOT use any primer? Tamiya TS-1 Red Brown direct from the spray can is your priming color? And that will resist the chipping/weathering process to follow?

[Barney]

Happy birthday little critter - looking good in fact excellent or even better
Barney

[Chuck Doan]

Thanks!
!
Peter, I chose the Tamiya  because it sprays on very smoothly, and was a good starting point as a rust color. I did a lot of testing on styrene, and I found it to stand up to chipping with water or Windex. In fact I left a heavy coat of Windex on a piece until it evaporated with no effect to the paint. I have been chip testing Polly Scale, Vallejo Model Air and Tamiya paints, and I have never yet burned through the base coat.

I have also had good success with the Mr. Surfacer primers, both Grey and Black (there is also a new Red Oxide color). In this case, I wanted to minimize the number of coats so I wouldn't cover up my weld and cast texture detail, so I went with a single rust colored base.

None of these paints are as effective on metal; I am using a Krylon metal primer for my brass parts.

[finescalerr]

And now we now why Chuck gets such terrific results: He does test after test and refines his techniques before actually working on the model. That is something I must emulate. -- Russ

[Chuck Doan]

Actually I am worried that I will ruin all the work I have done so far. I have little confidence working on "metal" weathering. All of the brilliant work going on in the military model realm can be as intimidating as it is inspiring. Mostly I am trying to find techniques that will allow some do-overs. Thankfully the hairspray chipping method seems to allow a complete scrub off, at least on sample pieces.



Notes, research pictures and paint test pieces. AKA as a cat trap.

[Chuck Doan]

(Shhhh...it's working)

[Peter_T1958]

I have little confidence working on "metal" weathering.

Thanks for your explanations. Indeed, priming metal parts, that's another story. And you have some of them on your very interesting project, so I will follow your thread with great interest.

BTW. For my last efforts in this direction I used  the "Weinert-Grundierung", especially designed for metal surfaces. It worked, but I haven't finished the weathering of the parts yet...
Chipping and weathering on metal remains a challenge and always will be something of a gamble.

Cheers, Peter

[Chuck Doan]

Thanks for the info, Peter! I will report on how well the brass parts work out.


While researching railroad equipment for painting reference, I frequently came across examples of what I will call "topographic layering". This is when a previous paint job is poorly scraped or prepped before a new coat is applied. Often, several levels of paint can be seen under the top coat. There are often brush marks, contaminants and debris in the paint as well.

In the Spring 2010 issue of the Logging, Mining and Industrial Annual, there is a photo article of some small Plymouth diesels. From a distance they look to be in pretty good condition. But in the close-up views, it is clear that the freshest paint was applied hastily and not much time was spent on the prep. The visible layers tell a story of time (and poor workmanship!)

I am intrigued with the idea of doing a similar type of paint job on my tractor locomotive frame. I am experimenting with textures and chipping for now. Eventually I will start playing with colors, tones and additional weathering. I can't say for sure if I will do this, but it is fun to play around and try to copy the kinds of rough paint often found on industrial equipment.

The piece shown is approx. 5/8" (16mm) x 1 7/8" (48mm).  This scales to about 10" (254mm) high in real life, which is the height of my frame.




A bit closer view.

[Dave Fischer]

Chuck-- The frame is looking fantastic... no turning back, now! Very interested in your layering experiments-- I, too, have always been intrigued by the surface textures of well-used industrial equipment and I think you are on the right track. The sample is very convincing. Keep it up!  DF

[Ray Dunakin]

Actually I am worried that I will ruin all the work I have done so far.

That does make strong motivation for testing materials and techniques!

[Chuck Doan]

You are so right, Ray!

Thanks Dave! The technique so far: First, the Tamiya red brown as a base coat. Then hairspray followed by Dullcoat to seal it. Then light brushed coats of Polly Scale Tarnished Black, then chipped an hour or more later. Then another light coat of hairspray followed by an airbrushed coat of the same Polly Scale paint. I am going to try different shades of Black and grey soon, and some different paint combos. Mostly I have been trying to get the under chips to be visible through the over coat without looking too thick.

A current example:

[lab-dad]

Great information Chuck!

FWIW; I used rustoleum etching primer for the brass parts on my models. you need to be careful not to put too much on. On the detailed parts i decant the spray bomb stuff and air brush it on. I use as little as possible and it seems to stick rather well.

Marty

[Bill Gill]

Chuck, If I'd done all the work you have completed so far I'd probably be stuck testing indefinitely. Good to see you're testing and proceeding.