WHAT A DIFFERENCE SOME DIRT MAKES

Ten minute job transforms wagon.

Killing time while the glue dried on another project, I grabbed this Bachmann van from the shelf and treated it to a quick all-over weathering wash. A mix of Lifecolor acrylic shades - brown, dark grey and black - was brushed liberally over each side in turn, using a cotton swab to wipe away most of the paint straightaway. Using only downward strokes, the pigment was left in the recessed detail and some attractive streaking was also created. Where the paint proved a little stubborn, a swab was dipped into Lifecolor's Liquid Pigment Remover fluid to give it a little persuasion.

Bachmann's Insulated van before the weathering treatment.

The roof was treated in the same way (using a darker shade of the paint mix), with the swabs rubbed laterally. Finally, the underframe was stippled with a further variation of the paint mix, with a little extra brown added, without wiping much of it away. 

The finish is still a bit rough and an airbrush and/or weathering powders will add a bit of refinement in due course. But the exercise shows how quick and easy it is to transform a vivid, pristine wagon into something much more lifelike.

There's plenty of demonstrations of this sort of weathering in my latest book, Weathering for Railway Modellers, Volume One. Order a copy HERE.