Have you ever looked at a model train layout and said to yourself, “For some reason those trains just don’t look right”. They just seem too spick and span. Even the most well kept real world locomotive just doesn’t really look like a brand new toy locomotive for long. I know that often when I look at a beginner’s toy locomotive layout, I will often look at the locomotives rattling through what is meant to be a dusty southwestern town or an old salt stone quarry and think, those trains look awful clean for trains that are meant to be fully operational in an environment like this. Often all that is needed is to add the type of detail that suggests that these trains have really endured a beating. So you have to distress them yourself. Here’s how:
Start by putting together a model train weathering toolbox:
There are a few absolutely necessary tools for weathering. Paintbrushes, tiny sponges and a square of cloth are a good start. Those are the absolute fundamentals.
Add crafts materials that are specific to the toy train weathering look that you are trying to achieve:
You will want to find the sort of craft’s material that will create the look that you want for your train. Sometimes it’s easy getting the effect you want. But often this will involve picking a group of other materials that are not so straight forward. The web often has materials like decals that can really aid you. Or you might add a patina of chalk or fine dust or powder to your locomotive to make it seem as if it really has spent years going through that rock quarry. You can find a host of articles on line on how to apply these different materials for the effect that you want. Search for articles specifically on weathering in crafts magazines. In the end, you will just have to feel about for the effect you are looking for.
Find inspiration for your toy locomotive weathering in historical pictures:
A good thing to do is to keep on the lookout for pictures of actual locomotives from a period and place that has to do with the one that you have imagined. Photos from such books will help you picture your train “in your mind’s eye”. It helps to ask specific questions like what shade does navy blue become when exposed to Northwestern rain year and year? What pattern does the desert sun fade locomotives in? More faded on top or less so, etc.
The natural topography gets weathered too:
We enthusiasts often get hyper-focused on our locomotives to the exclusion of the rest of our layout. It is a good idea however to also think through the effects of weather on other parts of our layout like the buildings, vehicles and figures that help bring our trains to life. The figures and objects in the world too should be appropriately detailed. Your locomotive will look much more realistic if the whistle stop that it stops at also looks similarly weathered. A sharp eye is one of your best tools in creating an absorbing model train world.
Weathering takes a creative touch. For this reason it is a wonderful opportunity for drafting members of the family that may not have been excited by the mechanical/technical aspects of model training but that loves painting and other sorts of crafts. Someone with a real skill for colors and details can really bring such a set up to life. If your daughter can distinguish between 15 shades of pink for her lipstick, she can certainly choose and apply the right weathering to a freight car. If your son likes to make up cartoon characters to draw on his notebooks he can help touch up the figures in your fictional world. Rustle them up and get them involved. Aren’t these the types of memories you have from when you were a kid?
Tags: model railroad track plans, model reailroad weathering, model train weathering, weathering model trains