To create a faded look I use white paint heavily watered down.
Then I apply it on the model and as the diluted paint collects at the bottom of the model I then remove the excess amount with the brush.

The results:  No brush stroke and the paint is distributed evenly throughout the model.


It's phenomenal.

Rogertra,

What scale is that?

Wow it took me a while to understand the concept but i get it.
I can't wait to try it.  I will do it tonight.  Thanks

Hi,

I recently purchased a couple of Spectrum 2-6-6-2's but one of them was DOA.
I sent it in and I got a call from Bachmann to inform me that this model has been discontinued and that they'd be sending me a different model.

I really liked my loco and it was a bit upsetting to hear this.   I guess I can go find another one but if it breaks I'm afraid I will have to repair it myself for I don't want it replaced.

I'm assuming and hoping that a model such as the Spectrum 2-6-6-2 might be discontinued because they will redesign it and release a new version later?

Thanks for the advice.
I did have the blue masking tape in mind for use when painting my locomotives.  i will certainly use that.

I have applied a coat of gloss on the boiler but I want to apply a light, or minute amount of soot on the top section of the boiler to show fallout from the smoke stack but I don't think a brush is the correct device to do this.
I do not currently own an airbrush but Gene recommended a good one.
My question is, will an airbrush be the correct device to apply a light amount of soot at the top of the boiler to show smoke fallout?

I have practiced a lot weathering my box cars to look dirty and grimy.  However I also want to have some look aged and faded by the sun.  I tried applying white paint but no matter how diluted I make the paint I'm not happy with the results because I see the brush stroke and pattern.
I don't know if I should try cotton swabs or maybe this needs to be put off until I purchase an airbrush.  Some book mentioned weathering chalks but I'm not sure that is a good method. 

Also, I purchased some broken locomotives on Ebay and I have given them a full coat of rust all over as well as some other shades of black and gray.  I plan to use theses as decoration around the yard once I put my layout together.  Is this something that was common to find?  None of the pictures  I have looked at show junked locomotives in the yards.
Anyway, I thought it would be a nice touch.

Thanks Gene,

Lesson 1:  When painting the wheels be careful not to get paint down on the actual wheel surface contact.

I did and after carefully scraping off all the paint from the wheel surface contact the little guy still runs a little rough without the tender.  Luckily once I put the tender back on it runs normal thanks to the additional contacts on the tender.

Personally I like the newer more square looking diesels that spun out of the 60's.

The earlier diesels with their streamlined look I could care less for.

Ironically, they tend to look more modern because they're more aerodynamic.

so when the auto industry went from boxy designs to round ones the locomotive industry sort of went backwards - only in the freight locomotive department.  Anyway

Oh yeah, I meant to say she's a new used machine.
So she got a new paint job when she was bought off Santa Fe.

Well guys, here is my work in progress.
Spectrum Consolidation for my NdeM railroad.  She will be the first locomotive delievered to that railroad.  Keeping with NdeM tradition (I'm assuming) this was not purchased new but rather purchased from Santa Fe railroad.

I will be detailing the grime off of the exhaust a little better.  I will also be adding some red around the mechanism to show some rust and so forth.  I also wanna add some dust on the tender to show use.
Notice that the boiler and the Tender are both purposely shiny to show that it's a new machine I guess.  I bought some matte finish but I haven't tried it.  It might look better, I will try it next week.  She also needs an additional decal with the Locomotive number right by the window.

I will be getting an air brush system pretty soon.  So this is my first project.

I got a feeling they're the same one.
You just did some Photoshop trick to them.

I see a Kato N-scale U30C on ebay for pretty cheap.  It says it runs.
Guys please don't outbid me LOL just kidding.

Yeah well I'm buying that one and repainting it for my NdeM railroad.  It's a young railroad, it Just started.  It has two Atlas C628's and hopefully this U30c if I can get it.

I did some research.  The U30C and the U36C are both 67 feet in lenght. 
aside for an additional 600HP I think visually the only thing it has is larger radiator vents.  I had some images side to side in google but I started doing other things before I found any real differences.

So this will be our secret you guys.  I will convert all the U30C's to NdeM as U36C's and no one will know.

Let me know if you come across any.  They seem kind of hard to find.

Yeah I just bought two brushes and they were like $9.00 each.

Not overly expensive but they work nice.
They had a bunch of $2.00 brushes and so forth but they looked bad.

Wow,
What would the stoker do on a diesel?  Just sit around milking the company?
What about on Cab forward steam engines?  Didn't those have the coal fed mechanically with a pipe and a screw type thing called a ugle or ogul or something like that?  My point is, that even those locomotives probably had no need for a stoker.  Well maybe to turn that thing on or off or whatever.

Nonetheless, the need for a stoker was diminishing even in the steam era.  I am shocked to hear that unions demanded a stoker position on diesel locomotives. 

Franz,

I just saw models of the centipedes for the first time.  I had only seen them online.  They had a bunch of O scale centipedes on display.  Some had the
Santa Fe scheme and some had Union Pacific.  They loocked cool.
I'm sure you could make your own if you really wanted to.

Now how were the centipedes better than a bunch of locomotives coupled together like they do now or like they did in the steam era?

Well,

I got me some decals.  I got some paint.  No it's not some kind of green I got matte black.  All I need is a few Alco U36C's  N scale?
I'm having a hard time finding them.  Maybe I can find something close?
Gene, what do you recommend?

Scottychaos,
I just now clicked on your largescale website and I will be signing up.  I want to create a tiny little railroad on my mom's yard.  I was looking at them today and they're a bit pricey though.  But it would look fantastic and it would be a fun project.  So yeah you'll be seeing me in your forum quite a bit.

Where did you have your decals made?  What program did you create them in?

I am working on converting a lot of steam engines to NdeM railroad and I eventually will need some NdeM rolling stock to go with it.  But the decals for the rolling stock are different and I don't think they are available.

Maybe I can print them at home if I get me a nice printer?