Weathering The Gondola Fleet

Greetings All,

I recently posted about this joint NYCTL - APRR Gondola Project  which has inspired me to revisit my own gondola fleet and contemplate whether or not to weather them.. 

In a prior weathering project I used Doc O'Brien's Weathering Powders with good results. One drawback was that I did not like the feel of the powders when I needed to move the gons on and off the layout. Spraying them with dullcote sealed the model but most of the weathering disappeared so I tended to leave them unsealed.

In the NYCTL - APRR Gondola Project I used these rattle cans to weather the interior of the project gons. The Krylon primer is from a big box store, Dupli-Color Primer from an auto parts store and Project Source flat black is from Lowe's.

The first cars to be weathered are this mix of Athearn BB and P-2000 cars weathered by misting them from about a foot away with the above rattle can paints. Used but not abused is what I'm after.

With the other gons weathered it's the New Haven gondolas turn. 

The red primer and flat black misting have taken all the shine out of it and enhanced the ridges. A little mist goes a long way. 

A look at the interiors of the empty Athearn BB and P-2000 cars and the cover on the NH gon. Not bad!!! 

A pair of newly weathered B&O gons look to have some miles on them but are not rust buckets.

 A light misting of red primer on the interior and flat black on the interior and exterior worked well on the Rock Island gon.

 A before shot of P&LE 40081. The car had been previously dullcoted with burnt umber applied where repairs had been done.

Looks like P&LE 40081 was left out in the elements. A mist of the red primer and flat back gave it a nice grimy gondola look. 

A pair of PC GP7s and Alco RS unit lug an empty gon train thru Empire City.

The gons and their interiors no longer look shiny and clean. A little gray primer, a little red primer and a little flat back went a long way in getting these cars looking more prototypical. Perhaps it's now time to consider leftover debris inside the gons?...

The empties stretch back over the Empire City Viaduct. The gondola weathering project was very satisfying which was a good thing because it cannot be undone. Like I said above a little mist from around a foot away went a long way so go slow if you try this.

All rattle can painting was done outside at the Patti-O Paint Shop in mid-afternoon with the sun overhead, the temp over 90 degrees and with low humidity. Not sure if it matters to you but now you know.

One negative after this project was most of my gondola loads were now too clean!! Back to the Patti-O Paint Shop I went!

As 1:1 PC Ralph stated to me; "It's a slippery slope once you start these weathering projects!"

Thanks for reading!!!

See ya this weekend when we conclude 

the four layout P.C.C.M. 64 Virtual Ops!!!