First some don'ts.
I have seen steamers for sale on that eveilbay site that were badly weathered(beginner style) that will never sell because of the bad weathering. If you want to sell it, it needs to be unweathered, or done very well.
Don't add decals over a flat surface. Seal the decals.
Do your research. get photos of the loco you plan to weather.
they use several types of coal in steamers, and each has a specific soot.
Water was treated on most RR's but earlier locomotives, in their era may not have had good treatment, so you get limestone deposits.
Sand used for traction varied by railroad and era.
Lubrications varied over the eras, and some engines had specific problems that may have caused lots of coating of a driver, crossheads, etc.
Rust was usually sandblasted off and repainted. In between, it just got more rusted over time.
OK, so I'll explain how I've weathered a specific locomotive. I'm picking the N&W K3 heavy 4-8-2. It has many common weathering points and ONE specific to that N&W engine. Grease splatter on driver #3. This was because the main connecting rod went to that driver instead of #2 as most 4-8-2's. The drivers were small at 63" and tehy just didn't have enough counterweight space available, so the bearings got very hot. A new type of grease was invented by Dupont, and they pumped lot of it through them to keep them well greased. The grease splattered the driver and the side rods and main connecting rod at the pin. The engines were made in 1927. Lets weather it for 1938. First the engine should start as right out of the paint shop glossy. Even the drivers should be glossy. Add a wash of rust at joints going to the Feedwater heater, and injectors and perhaps the piping around the air pumps. anywhere that might drip water. Next the limestone deposits from the pop valves, places below the feedwater heater and a little around the whistle. Use an airbrush and using some 3x5 cards cut a "V" in the card about 1" long and at most 1/4" wide. Use the card as a lose stencil and get the point as close to the pop valves as possible, but let the wider part be farther away from the boiler surface. I use some lacquer thinner and a few drops of Testors Armor Sand. because the lacquer evaporates quickly, you can add a little more of it whis is preferred. I use the small point on a Paasche "H" and a paint cup. Air pressure is around 40-45 lbs. This makes VERY SMALL droplets. Set your brush for a very small amount of paint. It might take 8-10 passes to get even a small amount of paint on the model. TAKE YOUR TIME. DON'T overdo it. Work from photos and keep a plastic cup or PVC tube around to get the right amount of paint before spraying it on your model. Next up, Soot. I use Testors flat black and a few drops of Armor Sand to get a very dark gray. Work from overhead by about 4 inches and in front of the smokebox by about 2 inches. The paint is again thinned with lacquer thinner, but not as much. use 35-40 lbs air pressure. The soot will be mostly around the top of the boiler around the stack and going back the cab and also a small amount of the top of the tender. Before that you should have used a Testors Steel Mixed with a little flat black and applied WITH A BRUSH to the entire smokebox front and unsheathed area at the front of the boiler. You want to see those brush strokes. you wouldn't see much soot on the back side of sand and steam domes.
lastly, and you'll need to set up a place with 2-3 pieces of flex track on a 2 by 4 and have a transformer to run the engine. Prep the track with some light oil run the engine back n forth to get the wheels to have a little oil on them too. This will make it easier to clean the wheels later. Also a cheep back of a door style mirror put a foot or so to one side of your spray track to compare both sides of you weathering. The sand/dust is done similar to the limestone mix discussed earlier. the difference is that you will be spraying from the rail height. start the engine and keep it kinda slow. work from front to back, spraying up a bit. The further back you go, the more the drivers have caused the sand to fly around so the drivers further back will have more sand and dust on them. The front of the tender and around the front sides will have more than the rear sides or back. Lastly, you can add splashed water around the tender hatches and spilling down the side.
MORE TO FOLLOW. PLEASE ASK QUESTIONS!!
I have seen steamers for sale on that eveilbay site that were badly weathered(beginner style) that will never sell because of the bad weathering. If you want to sell it, it needs to be unweathered, or done very well.
Don't add decals over a flat surface. Seal the decals.
Do your research. get photos of the loco you plan to weather.
they use several types of coal in steamers, and each has a specific soot.
Water was treated on most RR's but earlier locomotives, in their era may not have had good treatment, so you get limestone deposits.
Sand used for traction varied by railroad and era.
Lubrications varied over the eras, and some engines had specific problems that may have caused lots of coating of a driver, crossheads, etc.
Rust was usually sandblasted off and repainted. In between, it just got more rusted over time.
OK, so I'll explain how I've weathered a specific locomotive. I'm picking the N&W K3 heavy 4-8-2. It has many common weathering points and ONE specific to that N&W engine. Grease splatter on driver #3. This was because the main connecting rod went to that driver instead of #2 as most 4-8-2's. The drivers were small at 63" and tehy just didn't have enough counterweight space available, so the bearings got very hot. A new type of grease was invented by Dupont, and they pumped lot of it through them to keep them well greased. The grease splattered the driver and the side rods and main connecting rod at the pin. The engines were made in 1927. Lets weather it for 1938. First the engine should start as right out of the paint shop glossy. Even the drivers should be glossy. Add a wash of rust at joints going to the Feedwater heater, and injectors and perhaps the piping around the air pumps. anywhere that might drip water. Next the limestone deposits from the pop valves, places below the feedwater heater and a little around the whistle. Use an airbrush and using some 3x5 cards cut a "V" in the card about 1" long and at most 1/4" wide. Use the card as a lose stencil and get the point as close to the pop valves as possible, but let the wider part be farther away from the boiler surface. I use some lacquer thinner and a few drops of Testors Armor Sand. because the lacquer evaporates quickly, you can add a little more of it whis is preferred. I use the small point on a Paasche "H" and a paint cup. Air pressure is around 40-45 lbs. This makes VERY SMALL droplets. Set your brush for a very small amount of paint. It might take 8-10 passes to get even a small amount of paint on the model. TAKE YOUR TIME. DON'T overdo it. Work from photos and keep a plastic cup or PVC tube around to get the right amount of paint before spraying it on your model. Next up, Soot. I use Testors flat black and a few drops of Armor Sand to get a very dark gray. Work from overhead by about 4 inches and in front of the smokebox by about 2 inches. The paint is again thinned with lacquer thinner, but not as much. use 35-40 lbs air pressure. The soot will be mostly around the top of the boiler around the stack and going back the cab and also a small amount of the top of the tender. Before that you should have used a Testors Steel Mixed with a little flat black and applied WITH A BRUSH to the entire smokebox front and unsheathed area at the front of the boiler. You want to see those brush strokes. you wouldn't see much soot on the back side of sand and steam domes.
lastly, and you'll need to set up a place with 2-3 pieces of flex track on a 2 by 4 and have a transformer to run the engine. Prep the track with some light oil run the engine back n forth to get the wheels to have a little oil on them too. This will make it easier to clean the wheels later. Also a cheep back of a door style mirror put a foot or so to one side of your spray track to compare both sides of you weathering. The sand/dust is done similar to the limestone mix discussed earlier. the difference is that you will be spraying from the rail height. start the engine and keep it kinda slow. work from front to back, spraying up a bit. The further back you go, the more the drivers have caused the sand to fly around so the drivers further back will have more sand and dust on them. The front of the tender and around the front sides will have more than the rear sides or back. Lastly, you can add splashed water around the tender hatches and spilling down the side.
MORE TO FOLLOW. PLEASE ASK QUESTIONS!!
