Heavy Snow Weathering Attempt

[GDorsett]

So, am focusing my (future) layout in the northern snowy regions. No particular place, just with snow.

Picked up a pair of older Kato Oha 25 coaches to go with my Tomix Seto set, and figured they would be better to start with than my (significantly) newer/better/nicer Tomix coaches.

Note: I have done weathering, but it's only been grime and oil/grease on HO trains.

 

The base Coach:

 

Started with disassembling the coach, which was more of a task than I was expecting. The trucks were simple and set up almost identical to their Tomix counter-parts with the exception of a clip-on pin instead of a screw. I also pulled the couplers off of the trucks and placed the couplers/springs/wheels/contacts into a snack bag so I did not lose anything.

 

With the help of a small flathead screw driver, the diaphragms on the end were relatively easy to remove, as was the chassis and weights. The roof was interesting to remove, but it just snaps on and will come off easily...if you can find a way to get a small prybar under the edge to lift it up. After that, the light came out and the lighting bar thingy on the underside of the roof came off. Then out come the windows and the interior.

 

 

 

At this point, you have five parts to focus on, the now gutted main body shell, the roof top, the chassis, and the two truck frames.

 

I used a brush with some spread bristles to dab on white acrylic paint (not the best for this, but it's what I had access to and it'll be textured). only dabbed the sides of the trucks and the coupler boxes so to keep the inside running surfaces clean and smooth. The chassis got the same treatment, as well as a second coat after about ten minutes. It needs to be almost completely white, but still be textured like built-up snow.

 

 

 

Set the chassis and trucks aside and black-washed the grills and vents on the ends of the roof. It won't show through a whole lot after a snow storm, but what does show through will add depth. The roof got a lighter version of the treatment given to the chassis.

 

 

 

The sides of the body I dabs very lightly with white paint and the spread bristled brush on the bottom. Remember to keep it random so it doesn't look like a generic decal.

 

Do that on both sides and on the ends of the coaches as well. Use whatever remaining paint you have after that to do the bottom half of the diaphragms.

 

Due to the nature of the paint I used and how I used it, it all dried relatively fast and I could reassemble the coach within about ten minutes. I should have put some Matte Clear Coat on it, but I current lack both the appropriate paint and a spray brush to use said clear coat. Will go back and do that at a later date.

 

With the glass/interior/roof back on

 

The finished product:

 

 

Overall, I think it went well. Definitely looks like it's been through a snow storm and I will probably be doing this to the other Kato coach and possibly the Tomix set as well. I won't be doing it to the engine I use to pull the set currently, but will do it to the one I get once I can find the correct locomotive.

 

I used a combination of Google and Dotaku's videos on Youtube as references for how/where to layer the snow.

Like to their channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Dotaku

 

I apologize for the poor pictures, as my phone's camera lens cover was mysteriously broken at work and I haven't gotten it fixed yet. Skotch tape is NOT a good lens replacement!

 

[GDorsett]

And now we have a TaKi 25000 (left) and TaKi 5450 (right)

[cteno4]

Nice work gerrett!

 

jeff

[Philphil]

Cool work! How many more pieces of rolling stock are you planning to do?

[GDorsett]

I will probably do most of mine, since that's what I'd like to theme my set around. Will be leaving at least two "sets" alone so I can run them on summer layouts, though.