Steve...I swear every time I see a picture from your layout with the waterfall in the background I can just hear it roaring! Now I can hear that loco panting too! Great job...I'm assuming you airbrushed? Did you rotate the drivers between passes? Also, have you cleaned the wheel treads yet?
Not that you need to, but if you want more info check out John Pryke's work in MR on weathering steam locos...or purchase his book. I'm with him every step of the way except painting the base coat a 'gray' color. IMO, Black is black...it's the base color to start with (gloss) and then any gray effects from soot, dust, grime, etc. can be added. It's the old photos & movies from that period that make black locos look gray, not the paint itself. Are we modeling the photo, or the engine itself? (Unless it's Pennsy 'Brunswick Green')
Anyway, down off the soapbox, as one who has recently spent time wiping down drive rods on an actual steam locomotive...let's put it this way...they were an oily, grimy black when I started and closer to white when I finished, but even still the tint that remained was brown...of course, they were painted white with portions left polished steel, a handsome loco indeed (Chehalis Centralia Ry #15). Don't forget the grease on anything that moves! Grease, even when grimy, still retains a shimmer or shine.
Keep up the great work - you are an inspiration for us all. I'm still trolling through old MRs for planning ideas...I'll update my post with a new sketch next week sometime.
Galen
Not that you need to, but if you want more info check out John Pryke's work in MR on weathering steam locos...or purchase his book. I'm with him every step of the way except painting the base coat a 'gray' color. IMO, Black is black...it's the base color to start with (gloss) and then any gray effects from soot, dust, grime, etc. can be added. It's the old photos & movies from that period that make black locos look gray, not the paint itself. Are we modeling the photo, or the engine itself? (Unless it's Pennsy 'Brunswick Green')
Anyway, down off the soapbox, as one who has recently spent time wiping down drive rods on an actual steam locomotive...let's put it this way...they were an oily, grimy black when I started and closer to white when I finished, but even still the tint that remained was brown...of course, they were painted white with portions left polished steel, a handsome loco indeed (Chehalis Centralia Ry #15). Don't forget the grease on anything that moves! Grease, even when grimy, still retains a shimmer or shine.
Keep up the great work - you are an inspiration for us all. I'm still trolling through old MRs for planning ideas...I'll update my post with a new sketch next week sometime.
Galen
. I also had my younger son at the controls to rotate the drivers as I painted. At the time of the pictures I had not cleaned the treads...Today I sprayed it with dullcoat and will do the cleaning on the treads and also the pickups on the tender. I will attend to the other details after I put the decals on.
