A locomotive untouched right out of the box will often not really seem like a real train. They just seem too spick and span. Locomotives in the real world just don’t really look that nice. I know that often when I look at a beginner’s model locomotive layout, I will often look at the trains puffing through what is meant to be a dusty southwestern town or an old salt stone quarry and think, those trains look awful clean for locomotives that are meant to be fully operational in an environment like this. Often all that is called for is to add the sort of detail that suggests that these locomotives have really endured a beating. This is where toy locomotive weathering and distressing comes in. Here are some tips for how to do it:
Start by putting together a model locomotive weathering tool belt:
There are a few absolutely necessary tools for weathering. A good model train weathering toolbelt should include tiny paintbrushes for detail work, miniature sponges like the kind that are sometimes kept in make-up kits and a good square of cloth for wiping things off. Those are the absolute fundamentals.
Step Two—Crafts Materials:
Ask yourself, “What look do I want for my train?” Sometimes this is just a question of painting your train in a drab color. Other times you have to really work at it. For example, you might find some printable decals on line that you can use to give authenticity to your locomotive. Sometimes you just have to experiment until you get the impression you want. You can find a huge number of articles on line on how to use these different materials for the impression that you want. Most issues of the two major model railroading magazines will commonly include at least one article on weathering. These will give you a good idea of how to go about getting different effects.
A trip to the library or online can really help you imagine the look you’re going for:
Old magazines, histories and on line photos are a big aid to your imagination. Photos from such sites will help you picture your train “in your mind’s eye”. They will answer the kind of questions you will have as you begin detailing: How exactly does rust look in a wet environment? What effect does the hot air have on a paint coating of a train that goes through desert heat day after day? Etc.
The natural topography gets weathered too:
As model train hobbyist it is only natural to focus on the trains first. It is a good idea however to also think through the effects of weather on other aspects of our layout like the buildings, cars and natural surfaces that help bring our locomotives to life. The figures and objects in the world too should be appropriately detailed. Your train 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 an artistic touch. For this reason it is a great opportunity for drafting members of the family that may not have been interested in the mechanical/technical aspects of model training but that loves painting and other sorts of crafts. Someone with a real talent for colors and details can really bring such a set up to life. If your daughter can distinguish between 15 kinds of pink for her lipstick, she can certainly choose and apply the right weathering to a freight car. If you your son can draw and color a professional quality Sponge Bob, he can certainly add detail to a roundhouse. Rustle them up and get them involved. It may be just the thing that helps create a family tradition and a cherished memory.
Here is more information on Model Railroad Track Plans. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.
Wow, what a design! I like how the track breaks from the grove and goes into that tunnel. Cool miniature run down barn you got in the corner. It feels like you could still add something though? Right here in this big zone that is a miniature bit bland, you could put a model railroad metropolis. Here are some reasons why it would really improve your track design:
A toy railroad city is interesting in itself:
First of all, a tiny toy railroad city is just great to have for its own merits. When you look at a train circuit design and you see a miniature city in it, your gaze is naturally pulled to look up and down its streets. We love to look on the little people going about their days in their tiny make believe world. For some young watchers the toy railroad city will command as much attention as the trains themselves.
A toy railroad city provides impressive contrast for the locomotives:
Another wonderful thing about having buildings and other objects a watcher is used to seeing in the real world is that it gives you a sense of scale in relation to your locomotives. It’s also wonderful to have the locomotive disappear between buildings and pause at a fully developed locomotive station. The made up world of the toy locomotive just seems that much more full and rich.
A toy railroad metropolis provides period specific detail:
Another wonderful thing about a toy railroad city is that it really let’s you develop the period specific detail for your toy locomotive. So if you have a train that is specific to the late 19th century you can have your city be a Southwestern boomtown, having telegraph lines, cowboys, 49’ers and bars. It really let’s you create a wonderful tiny fictional setting for your train. But this can also be a form of stealth learning for your young ones. This is yet another wonderful way of developing the realism of your toy locomotive world.
Got a budding Rembrandt in the family? You’ve found the part of the toy train hobby that will they can really get with:
If you have some members of the household that aren’t that into model trains but that enjoy drawing and painting, this is the ideal opportunity to recruit them. All those miniature artistic touches that bring a model locomotive world together and that drive your mathematical mind crazy, your tiny Rembrandt will find a joy. Just watch in wonder as their precise little brush strokes bring out details you couldn’t even envision but that now seem so obvious train design you will definitely want to leave an area for a model railroad town. Just think of all the possibilities!
Here is more information on Model Railroad Track Plans. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.
I hear what you mean, my wallet’s been feeling a little on the empty side these days too. It’s rough out there. REALLY tough! However I ran across a scheme the other day that just could help your small business. I was recalling how when I was a little kid and my mom was on her own with me in my brothers. This was in Manhattan. Close to the end of the year mom would take me and my siblings out to Central Park for a little walk but it was too uncomfortable to stay outside for too long so we would end up at a department store. It might have been Macy’s, I’m not sure. But anyway there were these great train displays there. It would always be crowded with kids and their parents no matter what day of the week or time of the day. Man was it a huge layout! Bigger than the apartment we lived in! It was a complete world onto itself.
The point is: the the layout brought people into the store and they usually ended up buying something even if it was just to get their kids to give up that hypnotizing layout. So here’s the thought I had:
Use display g scale railroad locomotives to entice window shoppers in:
This is nothing new. For a great while, savvy businesses have used captivating displays to lure people in. But I think other sorts of establishments could really improve the bottom line by having a model railroad, especially big g scale trains and tracks. Any store with a outward facing window that looks onto a busy sidewalk like in a commercial area could easily draw parents and their kids in. It wouldn’t even have to be a business related to model trains. A doctor’s hospital might just have a g gauge display to keep the kids busy while they waited to see the doctor or for prescriptions. The display would give the business a considerable leg up over its competition. The model train babysitter would allow the relieved parents to see to their own needs. The cost of setting up the railroad and the lost space would pay for itself in over time. Any place by where families congregate could use these little lures. Grateful parents would make for return business.
Consider a model train setup for your Bed and Breakfast and Restaurant:
This would be well suited for that Bread an Breakfast you’ve always dreamed of. Want to have a unique feel for your Texas style barbecue but can’t think of what to do? Imagine having a train along the inside of the bar delivering customers their drinks and peanuts. Customers would really get a kick out of watching the trains humming around them. The quirkiness would be sure to bring out parents with their children and you could make a little bit of extra money by selling model train related accessories like key chains. If you already appeal to families to your business this could really make the difference between them choosing your business over your nearest competitor. Think of the American history tie-ins in your local area.
It’s a tough world out there since the financial bubble burst. Now’s the time to act aggressively and imaginatively to improve your business not sit back and be tossed by the waves of economic storms. Whatever you can do to make your business seem individual and to have it stick out from your competitors can help the increase revenues. This is only some of the ways you could use model trains. Imagine a bar where your drinks are rolled to the end of the counter by a Budweiser decorated trolley or…
Here is more information on G Scale Model Trains. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.
admin | March 27, 2010
