Up on the Roof....

AmFet says: After KiwiBonds insistence about putting in a shot of a DFT roof in a previous post of mine, it got me thinking about how the roof of the locomotives and wagons that we model are invariably the part we see the most of, especially in the smaller scales. While wandering through my photo collection, I was taken by how varied the weathering on locomotive roofs really is; it isnt all just "exhaust black". With the Head Druffs permission, below are some pics with commentary of a few roof shots I've chosen and some thoughts on how to achieve them.


This is DC4104 back before it became the second KR DC. This highlights what I was saying about it not all being exhaust smudges; the main weathering is actually an accumulation of what could be heat discolouration (around the DB fans) and dings from the fitters. Note most of it is where they would stand: at the top of the ladder, and the panel between the exhausts and the radiators. By contrast, the fold up side panels are comparitively clean. To recreate this would require some nice silver dry brushing, but I would also make a point of defining the edges of the roof; note they show up almost as a light grey line.


DC4398 at Welly, and the weathering on the roof here is much more muted....but again, I would call your attention to the edges of the roof. Maybe just a lighter drybrushing with silver in this case, although the cab roof looks like its had some snails on it as well. That black roof must be working a treat, no cleaning required....


DC4110 with a bad case of cab rash. The rest of the roof is similar to 4104, but I would call your attention to the slight "rust" effect on the slope of the cab roof. I can only think of doing the top of the cab with a toothpick dipped in silver to "draw" on the lines, followed by a dry brush, first in rust on the sides followed by silver over the whole thing. Finally, I'd hit it with a light misting of "smoke" gunge from an airbrush to pull it all together. Sounds great in theory.


Cripes, what happened here? DXR8007 before they ruined her....This would take a lot of subtle "blobbing" of various colours with a final spray to bring it together. The rust on the side of the cab roof would be a very heavy "dry brush" followed by a lighter white once it had dryed.

And finally:


Wouldnt have thought of painting the Rads red and white! This is DX5143 at Westfield before she became a KR DXB. Again, the paint looks more like heat discolouration....and it looks like it could be recreated with strategically placed blobs of almost a sand colour with a smaller blob of gunge black in the centre.

As with all weathering jobs, try and refer to photos where possible. And that, as they say in the trade, sounds like a subject of another future post...

Again, thanks to Skippy and MRK for the pics. And if people have any requests, let me know. I'm sure we can pull something useful out of a hat.