Weathering Engines a Continuous thread.

[C&OMtnMan]

One more thing:

The truth is, when it comes to the diesel oil over flow streaking, I forgot to my ention I actually like the result, the flat over the gloss tones it down to a semi-gloss, which to me is a more accurate depiction of spilled diesel oil down the side of a tank than a high gloss.

I rotated it until I got a bit of a reflection in this photo, to convey the resulting sheen & texture:

 

[TLOC]

The rear plow:

View attachment 186540

I tell you what, those make-up cables on the STX are very small stuff.

Base flat coat and final sealing wash Dullcote from a bottle, thinned about 0.8 to 1.

FOR FILING IN THE “WHAT I LEARNED” DEPARTMENT ARCHIVE:

I don’t have to thin things nearly as much, except for washes. My dirt layer was just too thin to build, before it would want to run on me. The dirt layer can work just fine at 2:1 thinning, or even 1:1.

Not sure about my fade coat, I want less fade, but I don’t want to go thinner, (presently thinned 4:1). Adding a drop of the blue will be a bluer result, but make the lettering darker, so I’m probably limited to dialing back the flow more. Probably need to keep the 0.050 needle in for the fade, too. Fewer passes for coverage of the model means less buildup.

My airbrush was filthy and constricted before undertaking this. (But I didn’t grasp that until going the final Dullcote on the last engine.) When new, I was using my 0.039 needle. For months, I was doing everything with my 0.050. The cleaning had me throttling down on the paint demand. This increased flow probably contributed to my over-fading the shell. I made fewer passes than I did when fading the first engine, but the cab roof on this engine had more blue to wipe off than the prior engine.

I’m going to revert to the 0.039 for the dirt layer on the final engine; the smaller spray pattern should help me keep it in the bounds I want.

Very nice

The fade coat! While I like your fade coat very much I truly understand “personal preference”. I am at about 20% paint to 80% thinner. I will add a few drops of Tamiya flat base to my fade mixes and throughly mix it. When I want less fade, I just add more paint. Rarely do I go past 30% paint 70% thinner. You’ll need to experiment for what works best for you as each manufactuers color may need to be adjusted for the fade to you want. Most of my color mixes for Scaletrains are slightly different from the Athearn Genesis that are different (IMO) than the Athearn RTR and the Bowser diesels in HO scale.

 

[C&OMtnMan]

Very nice

The fade coat! While I like your fade coat very much I truly understand “personal preference”. I am at about 20% paint to 80% thinner. I will add a few drops of Tamiya flat base to my fade mixes and throughly mix it. When I want less fade, I just add more paint. Rarely do I go past 30% paint 70% thinner. You’ll need to experiment for what works best for you as each manufactuers color may need to be adjusted for the fade to you want. Most of my color mixes for Scaletrains are slightly different from the Athearn Genesis that are different (IMO) than the Athearn RTR and the Bowser diesels in HO scale.

I’m basing my determination of the level of fade I want from both photography and what I remember seeing by eye. These ET44 GEVOs aren’t that old, with #977 delivered in 2011, and the other two in 2015. Iooked at photos of the engines, and also general photos of engines running on the New River Subdivision in WV. And what I see are engines ranging from new to where the colors have lightened (even brightened) but remain far from “washed out.”

I think my ideal would have been fairly closely met if I had refrained from fading the BLI at all.

But I’m not entirely displeased. - although the splash is up higher on #3251 than where I wanted it, it’s not entirely implausible. That loco runs between cars 22 and 23 in distributed power mode on my 33-car train right now, and the further back the car/loco is, the more the atmosphere around it is stirred up,(up to a point) kicking up more mud spray.

I learned a lot about the grime buildup working on these. Photographs I’ve seen showed me that all engines in a consist have the same color of dirt buildup - no mix & match going on. I don’t see “bicolor” (higher splash in one color, another lower) splash build up either.

Also, in looking at photos taken in the area ( Thurmond, WV) shows three colors of splash (but only one at a time) an engine might have: the most common is a yellow-brown (that the Vallejo “Dirt” conveys very well), then there is red-brown clay mud, and a grey-brown.

My first thought was the splash color was determined by what branch lines the engines had come from, but recent photos shows me that CSX isn’t always serving the mines directly, like they did in the days of yore when they were the C&O. Mines on branch lines seem to be served any more by dedicated branch line railroads.

So I guess the grime color is dictated by where the weather is along the main line, that is conducive to decorating the train.

 

[C&OMtnMan]

Ok,

Finished the third engine, and achieved the fade effect I wanted. Without further ado:

I added more of the Vallejo Deep Blue, until the mixture was a “Petty Blue.” (It was more of a “sky blue” before.) Not knowing how much old mixture I had, I don’t know the total ratios. Did not add additional thinner.

I felt the fade effect was too strong on the lettering, so I used a mini-Q-tip type brush to rub off the [CSX] boxcar logo. I left the engine numbers as-is. (“A man’s GOT to know his limitations.” - Inspector Harry Callahan).

After that, a few spots of the blue needed a touch up, so I took a small bit of the new fade mix, added more blue to match the finished body color, and dry-brushed it where needed.

 

[TLOC]

Ok,

Finished the third engine, and achieved the fade effect I wanted. Without further ado:
View attachment 186657
View attachment 186658
View attachment 186659
View attachment 186664
View attachment 186665

I added more of the Vallejo Deep Blue, until the mixture was a “Petty Blue. (It was more of a “sky blue” before.) Not knowing how much old mixture I had, I don’t know the total ratios. Did not add additional thinner.

I felt the fade effect was too strong on the lettering, so I used a mini-Q-tip type brush to rub off the [CSX] boxcar logo. I left the engine numbers as-is. (“A man’s GOT to know his limitations.” - Inspector Harry Callahan).

After that, a few spots of the blue needed a touch up, so I took a small bit of the new fade mix, added more blue to match the finished body color, and dry-brushed it where needed.

I like it

 

[C&OMtnMan]

I like it

You know, I do, too. I really do!

Looks like I forgot to rub off the spray haze from the window on the door at the nose of the cab.

Different but closely related subject:

How do you (or CAN someone) successfully “start over” a job that has been sealed already?

I did it once (two cars in a batch) after applying the sealing coat in horrid atmospheric conditions. (using Dullcoat from a rattle can)

The only reason it was “successful” was that the cars were molded in essentially proper body color. - because I took off all factory paint - except what was under the decals (without intending too).

Rubbing with a Q-Tip took off some of the factory lettering, which, at first caused me to consider it a total loss, until I realized I could run with that as a weathering effect.

This time around, if I do it, I want to retain the factory letters and colors.

I know you’ve talked about do-overs on cars, but I recall it being prior to sealing.