Some Weathering Experiments

[Commander Wolf]

Let me say this right off the bat: no, I'm not painting anything.

A few years ago I built a PRR A6b and, and at the end of the post I threw in this "weathered" version:

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I wasn't that happy with it, but I wasn't too interested at the time, and I decided I'd look at it later. 

Well, now is later!

 

Almost all LEGO train models are built with the assumption that the locos or cars are clean and well-kept, but this is really the exception in practice. I've seen LEGO weathering done a handful of times, but I don't feel like I've ever seen it done that well. At the same time, I don't feel like it should be that hard. So after studying some photos of real weathered locomotives, I gave it another go:

Here is my U30B in black:

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This first weathered sample is supposed to suggest dirty with a little bit of wear. The photo exemplifies the pattern I see on such locomotives: the uneven application of dust and grime almost forms a gradient where the lower half is darker/lighter than the upper half (depending on the base color), and this gradient is largely what I'm trying to depict. I think the trick is to strike the right balance between intentional and random - I want the bottom to be primarily grey (dirty) and the top primarily black, but then I need to randomly reduce the number of grey parts as I move toward clean areas of the loco in order to suggest that gradient:

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This second sample is supposed to suggest rusty less than dirty. This photo is of course of a model, and I think the rust is a little aggressive, but another pattern emerges: the rust is much more evenly distributed across the body but still comes in large patches without clearly defined borders. One of the difficulties in both attempts, but more so in this one is trying to balance resolution with features: I wanted to preserve the panels and such that texture the body of the locomotive, but at the same time I wanted to break up the panels such that I wasn't making entire panels "rusty" at a time.

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This final sample for now is based on a Conrail N6A transfer caboose I'm working on. The "clean" model is as shown:

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The weathered model is more of a blend of dirty and rusty. I specifically wanted to weather this model because I could get a lot of "drawing" resolution with 1x1 plates due to the caboose's simple construction. Again, I'm largely trying to make a gradient between the trucks and the body, but I've thrown in some rust spots as well. 

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Overall I'm fairly happy with all three results, but I wanted to get some second opinions. Are the weathered variants any good? Is it too distracting? Maybe most crucially, does anyone think the weathered variants look better than the clean variants? I'm almost certainly going to built one of these in brick to explore what it actually looks like, but any thoughts are appreciated.

Edited April 1, 2017 by Commander Wolf

[ColletArrow]

I preferred the loco when it was clean. In it's 'weathered' form, you can't easily see all the shapes and details, the mismatched colours are a little too distracting.
The caboose, on the other hand, looks better weathered. I think that's because you've gone for a more subtle rusting, and the patches of off-colour are more contained as you say.

My method for weathering is to simply use dirty bricks (I have a lot of them lurking at the bottom of my tubs) or mismatched colours, e.g. old dark grey with new dark-bluish grey or the different shades of yellow TLG seem to produce accidentally.

[Freezingvettes99]

I definitely love the all black U30B because I like to model the "As New" look, but I can see your point of view.  I don't mind the first version being dirty with a bit of wear, but the second doesn't even look like the same locomotive in my opinion.  I appreciate what you are attempting to accomplish here but it's no airbrush unfortunately. 

[M_slug357]

I think that weathering is a neat idea too!!

I definitely agree with @ColletArrow that there are more subtle ways to achieve the weathered look, especially with old greys versus new greys. I'd like to offer up another alternative that I think might allow you to reach even greater weathering detail: Washi (paper) tape!

I use some of this washi tape on my models, and just recently bought a roll of black tape. In comparison to the shiny/glossy nature of black bricks, the washi tape gives a matte/duller black with more of a coarse texture. And while I don't have any, I have seen various shades of brown tape that could be used to simulate mud, rust, and maybe leaking oil depending on where& how it's applied.

Hope this helps!

[Aaron]

I'd just use paint. No need to sacrifice shiny new parts if you have plenty of old/discolored/ugly ones. Smiley face bricks, I'm looking at you.

[Commander Wolf]

Hmm, thanks for the thoughts folks. I'm actually surprised that people don't seem to like the brick-weathering, but I suppose that's why I made this thread! Maybe that's why I don't see a lot of samples in the first place.

I will have to think about it some more.

I think maybe the question I want to pose then is if anyone thinks it's possible to get a good weathering effect with unique colors of brick (rather than say the difference between old and new greys)?

I'm going to admit I lean towards the purist side, and I'm very reluctant to use things like tape or paint to do weathering. I think using different shades of a color (old vs new or yellowed vs non yellowed) is great, and I do it when applicable already, but it only works if you're building in grey and/or have a lot of yellowed parts in the color of your model, so it's not very practical if say your base color is black. And sometimes I don't think the effect is strong enough. 

Edited April 2, 2017 by Commander Wolf

[Stefaneris]

My opinion on trains that are regularly rolling (like on an exhibition) is that they should have a clean look. However your weatherd U30B would look great on a branch line or in a train yard where it stands unused and rusting away.

Talking about the effect with different colors I would say with all the new colors we got in the last few years, it should be doable to break the color scheme in some places. If you just use a similar color, i. e. different blue plates for the caboose you could also achieve an effect. Often you still see the normal color of the vehicle, even when there is dust so the shade of the color changes but it is still blue and not gray.

[pinioncorp]

I don't mind the weathering, it adds some extra detail and is a good opportunity to make a model a little less black. That said, some applications work better than others.

Mike Pianta experimented with some weathering on some of his models to great effect, the colours work harmoniously together since they're fairly similar.

The black, grey and brown of your U30B however looks a little extreme. To me it makes it look like it's on the scrap heap. The problem comes from the different shades of grey and brown are simply too far from black to seem natural. I think the dark grey mixing would work well, but only if the model is dark grey, it's just too bright compared to black. Only the dark brown would be subtle enough to give a slightly dirty appearance, without completely distracting from the model.

I really like the effect on the caboose however. It looks to me as the paint is bubbling and peeling, exposing the rusting underneath. Maybe try some of the other blues around the edges as well to simulate the fading paint? Dark azure would look nice mixed in.

I do hope to see these as brick built models as LDD really doesn't convey how a model will really look.

[22kane]

First of all let me just say that I am a big fan of "weathered trains". I used to model N gauge and there wasn't a single "clean" loco or car on the track. When you're modeling like that the point is to get it as realistic as you can. I have thought about weathering Lego trains in the past with my airbrush but I don't have a Lego layout and didn't see a point to it. The various brick placement to give the impression of a weathered Lego train is brilliant. I think that is a fantastic idea and I like what you have posted so far. I think you should go for it and see how they turn out. On the flip side I can also see why a lot of people wouldn't like it. Lego trains don't have a great deal of realism and the real trick is getting them as close to the real thing as possible but in the end its obviously Lego. Paint details just don't seem to be a big concern with Lego train enthusiasts. I still think its a great idea and I think it could definitely look very cool. 

[xboxtravis7992]

I am a fan of weathered model trains, and have been doing some paint and chalk weathering in HO. However I am not so sure if the brick built Lego version is as easy to make it look right. I appreciate your efforts, since the thought of weathering has yet to become part of the Lego community as a whole. I think the bright clean colors of Lego bricks are what makes it hard to convincingly weather something brick built. Even Lego brown looks really bright next to a rust colored paint. However I also understand why painting a Lego brick is not something most people want to do, so if any solution is to be found; it must be either decals or brickbuilt. I am curious to see what further attempts at brickbuilding weathering will produce.