ADN Woodchip Hoppers

Finished weathering some Deluxe Innovation N scale woodchip hoppers over the weekend.  The weathering process starts with a coat of Testors Dullcoat to give the cars some tooth to hold the various mediums to be used later; the shiny plastic of the cars will not work for weathering.  After the dullcoat, a fade is put on the cars with the airbrush.  The fade is sealed with another coat of dullcoat and then additional color is added using oil paints to get different hues of green and yellow across the car body.  The oil paints are dry brushed on to keep the paint and color build up to a minimum.  Next comes another layer of dullcoat.  Once I am happy with the fade and color transition of the car, I use powders to simulate build up of grime and dust along the sill of the car and in all of the recesses; seal with dullcoat.  Rust pits and scratches are next using a combination of different oil colors at full strength.  These spots need a few days to dry before sealing with dullcoat.  Once the pits and scratches are dry and sealed, halos and streaking are completed.  This is the part of the process that takes the longest.  Each and every pit or scratch gets a faint halo by dry brushing oil paint on and around it.  The streaking is done by building up dry brushed layers of oil paint.  Starting from light to dark, the streak is drawn straight down until the paint brush leaves no color.  Still another layer of dullcoat is applied.  Finally, the car gets one last layer of powders to help blend some of the sharp edges and to build up some more dust and grime in areas.  One final layer of dullcoat seals the car and it is ready to be put in service.

ADN 4192 is the first car completed.  This one received a very light layer of weathering.








ADN 4112 was the second car, this one received a much heavier application of rust and neglect.








Thanks for looking!
Doug