Weathering a steam locomotive

First give carefull consideration on how you want the steam lokomotive to look taking into consideratin the historical period of the locomotive and the wordk it is preforming.

1. Remove te body shell to make it easier to weather the weels and chassis

2. Seperate the tender from the locomotive; this will facilitate the handling of the model

3. Apply Liquid Mask (73.003) with an old brush to protect all the details which will not be painted; the windows, the glass wind deflector, the lettering on the lokomotive, and the headlights. Do no weather this areas

4. Start the weathering process from the bottom of the model and work your way to the top. Use a round brush with the color Basic Red (73.007) on the glossy axle stubs. Allow the colorto dry thorougly.

5. Mix the desired weathering shade with the colors Basic Rust (73.001) and Dirt (73.005) for the weels, weelshousing, and chassis and apply the weathering mixture with an airbrush or a round brush while hand-turning the weels. The driving rods were given an oily effect by applying Grease & Oil Stains (73.002) with the round brush and whiping off the excess with a cotton swab.

6. The contact points and surface area of the weels were inmediately cleaned using a cotton swab dipped in Vallejo Airbrush Cleaner, if not availiable, use alkohol.

7. The weathering color should be dry-brushed unto the Basic Red (73.007) of the tender wheels with the flat brush (dry brush) until the desired effect is obtained. The varoious structural elements, bogies, etc. are also weathered with a flat brush or a cotton swab. Clean the contact and surface areas of the weels with a cotton swap dipped in Vallejo Airbrush Cleaner

8. Now mix the colors for the body shell and tender. Fotr the rusted areas a mixture of Basic Rust (73.001) and Basic Red (73.007) is recommended. This can be darkened with Basic Brown (73.004) and Dirt (73.005) as desired.

9. The body shell and tender should be airbrushes or painted in thin, fine layers with a round brush to archieve the desired effect. Allow the colors to dry proprly. Next the calcium stains were applied with a flat brush and a thin layer of Chalk White (73.006) on the desired areas, diffusing the still damp paint with a cotton swab to archieve the right effect If some stains turn out too large, reduce them with renewed shadings of the weathering colors previousapplied.

10. Use the color Grease & Oil Stains (73.002) and a flat brush for dry-brushing the smears of oil and grease on the bumper.

11. Assemble the locomotive. Carefully remove the Liquid Mask (use an old, cutt-off brush)

12. One of the last steps is to add coal to the tender. Make sure the coal is of the correct scale. Aply Matt Varnish (73.009) as a glue to the tender and to the coal and sprinkle the coal into the tender.Remember that on locomotive one will always find several pieces of coal at the edg of the tender and in the cab.Allow the coal to dry for aproxinately five minutes and gently shake away excess coal. Use touches of Grease & Oil Stains (73.002) on the coal to get the right dull and glossy effect.

13. If the model locomotive has already been provided with coal by the manufacturer, we recommend dry brushing the coal with Grease & Oil Stains (73.002) to add a bit of shine, and once dry, dabb Matt Varnish (73.009) on the coal with a round brush to archieve some duller effects. The result should be a mixture od dull and gloss finishes.

14. The most prominent parts of the locomotive are highlighted by carefully dry-brushing them with thinned down color Chalk White (73.006) and a flat brush.

15.The amount of soot, muuck and weathering depends on the duties your locomotive is preforming. The application of Basic Brown (73.004), Dirt (73.005) and Chalk White (73.006) for dirt and oprational grime will create a worn and used apearance, and Steel (73.003) applied very carefully with a round brush or an air-brush creates the appearance of spots of bare metal were aint has completely flaked off.

16. Use Matt Varnish (73.009) to protect the matte parts of the finished model , or to reduce the gloss on some parts of the plastic models currently availiable/