William Whitelaw Light Weathering

[Rallymatt]

A little project I have had in mind for a while now was to start to weather locos. I thought it was prudent to wait until individual locos are out of warranty. William Whitelaw is first up. I wanted to have a light level of grubbiness that reflected a working express steam loco but one that’s generally cared for which I think by and large the A4s were, even towards the end.
Some light rust into the tender leaf springs and some black brown wash around the tender frame. Streaks of well thinned black brown down the tender sides, a bit more dabbed round the back where dirt would get sucked up and deposited. A gentle working of black brown along loco roof and light streaks down, well thinned and and then dry brushed with a clean brush making sure the dirt was in the edges rather than too much on flat panels. Then a tiny dust with Humbrol ‘Smoke’ weathering powders along roof and and valance sides. 
The other colours used were Vallejo Air using Airbrush thinners but applied with cheapo Amazon makeup brush set (£2-3) The big ‘blending’ brush is great for finishing effects. It’s quite a subtle change but noticeable on the layout. I popped a load of real coal in to cover the shiny plastic stuff and set it with scenic cement (it dries matt) a few stray chunks made it over into near water filler and that got a few light licks of dark rust. I kept anything away from the wheels as no matter how careful you are it’s so easy to get paint on pick ups etc and I can’t do with poor running but un weathered wheels are not a deal breaker for me 😁

[Postman On The Rails]

I am of two minds with weathering having spent £x’s on something, it goes against my logic but I am considering it at some stage. 

[Rallymatt]

It’s absolutely personal preference and I fully understand it can take a while to decide whether to commit or not. Railways were and still are grubby but another pro for weathering is it often reveals detail that the factory finish doesn’t. It’s not for everyone and anyone who is unsure should not charge in! Definely and absolutely practice and choose an unimportant model first few times, even something broken from another scale. Good materials are essential and test, test test, never go in with a paint, thinners or varnish without a trial on a spare or unseen part. I have had a few paint finishes catch me out. I think in smaller scales it’s a different game to OO and larger, tiny amounts of weathering colour can get lost so fewer colours and highlight the effect you want with as little as possible seems to be most effective. Powders are a good place to start, if it all goes wrong they can be washed off.. remove body first🤣 Some of the best jobs use only a bit of black wash and dab of a few highlight colours. 

[Bulleidboy]

That looks fine. I used to spot a few stops out from Kings X back in the mid fifties/early sixties, and you rarely saw a clean A4.

[Rallymatt]

They are only clean in museums 🤣

[MikeMart]

That's the weathering I aspire to achieve (once this fear of destroying expensive loco with weathering is gone), really nice job, not too grubby, just used. And I agree that from what I saw slight weathering can highlight some details not seen on clean model!

[Rallymatt]

Don’t jump in on a loco Mike, something unimportant and cheap, to get a feeling for how things develop. A lot of it is confidence. I’m about to post the pics of todays other weathering project 😁

[Dodge1965]

Will look great , when its been washed !!🤣 

[Rallymatt]

It’s had a wipe over with an oily rag, in a Ford dealers that’s a complete overhaul! This loco has got work to do, wipe it down and send it.