Weathering cement hoppers.

[SD90]

Weathering cement cars

Does anyone have any tips on doing this, I want to make all of those cement hoppers look like they have been used in cement service for years, but I'm not sure of how to go about doing it. Any pictures would be great too!

 

[Chessie1973]

well I know one way to get the dusty effect quite nicely.

Use real cement dust. Take a sandwich bag or some sort or sealable container that the car will fit into easily and that you can easily retrive it from and remove the trucks and couplers from it and toss it in.

Then sort of gently shake or roll it around in the dust to geta good coating of the dust all over the car. You can then take it out and blow the excess off. the dust will stick to any raised detail on the car rather well and a coat of dullcote will seal it on.

Then all you ned to do is use a brush to dry brush more onto specific areas of the car such as around the hatches or along the sides to simulate overspill.

This can also be done using chalks rather easily.

 

[Belmarvalley]

Maybe these will help (pics I found from NERAIL)?

 

[Ralph]

Those are helpful ideas! My cement industry's cars are a bit too clean! I guess my LPB crews use a lot of windex!
Ralph

 

[SD90]

Thanks, those are good pictures! I used a diluted down mixture of dust, rust and dirt colors, and now I just have to put the cement spills on them.

 

[jon-monon]

You could paint/dry brush greys and white, then mix baking soda with similar colors and cake it on where you want accumulation.

 

[upguy]

I paint with acrylics using a dry brush of various rust, grime, and dust colors starting from the top and sweeping downward to get a streaked appearance. I usually follow up all this painting with a wash of white (or concrete-like) paint. The pigment will settle in the same places that dirt and dust collect on the real cars. Experiment until you get the look you want. Every car is different.

Here is a shot taken from one of the cement plant's helicopters.

 

[upguy]

Here are some more close-up pictures.

 

[SD90]

Wow, those hoppers look great, I mean they look discusting, ( just like the real thing!) but that is exactly the look I am trying to get! Thanks for the tips.