By now, you realize I love model trains and enjoy painting them. Of course, most railroad cars come painted with the name of the railroad already printed on the side of the boxcar, so all I really do is make the car look a bit used and worn. This is called weathering. I have two or three model paint brushes that I use to do this.
I found that I do not like a brand-new, red box car. To me, it looks too much like a toy. So I get some white paint, thin it a lot and then just streak the car with the white. It dulls the red and makes it look faded. Then I add a little brown to symbolize rust or dirt.
I was considering doing a story on brush selection, but after briefly researching it online, I realized just how big a selection of model brushes there were.
First, you must consider the style of brush – use pointed for fine work; use flat for covering large surfaces. Next, you must consider the type of material the brush is made of – synthetic or natural.
Now it turns out there are different brushes for the type of paint you want to use. Beginners sometimes start with watercolour paint due to the fact that if you make a mistake, you can just wash the paint off and start over. Advanced modellers, on the other hand, use acrylic paint as they are vibrant and last long.
Sable-hair brushes are good for water colours as they absorb the water and give ability to work in fine detail, while natural hog hair brushes are good for acrylic paint. In general, the more expensive the brush, the better the quality.
Some modellers want accuracy. They will go online and find real examples of the car they will model. Others just paint and do what they want, and some actually add graffiti to their cars to make them even more lifelike.
There are even a couple of modellers that cannot decide what they like, so they cover one side of the car with graffiti and the other side they keep pristine. So just by turning the car around, they can change the mood of their layout – brilliant! It really does not matter what type of modeller you are as long as you are happy with the results.
Until next time, hope to see you around the tracks.
