Weathering

[acousticco]

Greetings folks,

 

I've noticed not a lot of folks who model Japanese trains do much weathering of their collections.  I suspect some of it has to do with the typical cleanliness of the prototypes, but wonder if there are any other reasons.  I've seen allot of Japanese HO scale narrow gauge models heavily weathered, but have wondered why many of the N scale modelers leave their equipment clean.  Any opinions on the matter?

 

 

 

-Cody

[CaptOblivious]

The stuff is expensive and hard to replace! That's one reason, anyway. In my case, anyway, it's also because I'm still learning, and I'm not yet ready to apply it to my expensive new toys.

[C62]

I think as a lot of models are limited edition modellers hesitate to "spoil" them as CaptOblivious said they are hard to replace. The weathering could affect the resale value, too.

As I am collecting steam locos I think I have to weather them but need some training first. Until now I only weathered my OO items so I have to get used to the smaller scale first to not work to heavyhanded. ::)

[kashirigi]

I find that it's difficult to weather some of the rolling stock and locos, simply because they're already purchased painted and decalled. There's very little room for error, and disassembling loco shells for repainting can be problematic. I dislike the shininess of bare plastic, but unless decals are available, applying a coat of paint overtop isn't all that likely to happen.

 

I may start making my own decals, so it's not out of the question for the future. Mind you, I'd also like to have a large part of the layout finished first.

[Martijn Meerts]

I've noticed that a simple black wash (1 part flat black (tamiya for example) with 10 parts water) actually helps a lot already. It adds a bit of "dirt" in the corners and such, and flattens the entire structure. It makes it look a lot less plastic right away. On the large flat surfaces it won't really add any blackness, but it will dull it a bit. It definately won't cover up any existing decals or printed texts.

 

I haven't tried this on any loco's yet, but I do plan on eventually weathering all rolling stock that will be run regularly. From prototype pictures I've seen, most Japanese trains are kept very clean though, even in the days of the steam train.