Weathering or not to weather.

[S.Coleman]

I want to know everyones ideas about weathering their models. Why or why not ? Do some people like the look of a fresh clean looking ship or the look of one been at sea for years. I found in the local hobby store a weathering kit, but this was advertised for plastic railroad models. Would it still have a nice look on a wooden sailing ship? Has anyone used these weathering kits on wooden ships?

[realworkingsailor]

As far as weathering is concerned, it's very personal and subjective choice. It all depends on what your preferences are, and what you are trying to achieve.

 

What substance (powder? pastel?) is used in the weathering kit you bought? (If your not sure, just tell me the brand name and I'll be able to figure it out). Most model railway weathering kits are designed to replicate the dirt, dust, grime, grease and rust that accumulates on railcard and rolling stock. Using various paint washes and distressing techniques works better for wood weathering.

[overdale]

I use a combination of oil based washes (thinned wood stains) and pastels. A great many things on a ship are subject to the same kind of wear and tear as a locomotive so I find the railway weathering kits ideal.Steel chains rust, wood gets grimy from smoke, grease and soot, and parts get crusty and white from sea salt so if you want to weather a ship a set of railway pastel powders will be very useful.

Wash the decks and other wooden parts you want to age with thinned wood stain and allow to dry. Seal everything with a matt spray varnish and then apply the pastels. You can't seal them as the varnish darkens them too much and the effect is lost.

I have attached a couple of pictures of a small (1/80) slave schooner shipwreck model I'm building. This is to be set in a large seascape with a lot of figures so the amount of weathering and distress have to be quite high. Weathering is a very personal decision, there's no hard rule about it. I consider it a similar argument as to whether to show all the woodwork 'naturally' on a model, or paint the model as it would have looked in reality. It's up to you.

 

The beauty of pastels is that if you put too much on, you can wash it off with a damp brush. Left alone and not handled excessively, they also stay put retain their color for many many years.

[von stetina]

There are some decent methods on U-Tube under mostly plastic modeling, but some should cross-over OK. I do a lot of RR modeling and one thing I can tell you is to not over-do it. A lot of efforts come out so weathered that the item looks like something from a junkyard. Unless you ARE modeling a junkyard! Some research on the real things will show you what's needed. A look around some marinas may work.

 

Von Stetina

[overdale]

Thanks Brian,

I had to go by contemporary accounts for the ship. It had spent six weeks at sea crossing the Atlantic and just come through a pretty bad storm where it lost a lot of rigging before it sank. The witnesses described it as 'filthy' (as most slave ships were) but it's very easy to overdo it so I had to be careful. The boat will be covered in escaping slaves climbing out of the hatches and scrambling ashore so a general sense of disarray and panic is what I was aiming for.

 

I agree with you about copper plates the shinier they are the worse they look (to me) Weathered copper looks more interesting too.

 

Dan.

Edited August 22, 2013 by overdale

[Kevin]

i have left my copper plates shiney, but have not protected then in any way, time will age them

[Richard Griffith]

As others have stated, weathering is subjective and personal.  Since you plan to weather, you need to study photos, paintings, and other models to determine the type and amount of wreathing.  Remember, you are the artist and you decide what effect you want.  As to materials, anything that 'sticks' to the model and has the right texture and chroma is good to go. 

 

BTW, Erik Ronnberg Jr. published an excellent article about paint and colors in the Nautical Research Journal 36 page 202 (Dec 1991) and reprinted in part in "Shop Notes II".  Mr. Ronnberg is an internationally reknowned modeler and researcher, whose models all have a subtle level of weathering,  I admire his schooner models at the Mystic Seaport and marvel every time. 

 

Good luck and have fun.                    Duffer

[S.Coleman]

Realworkingsailor - I have not purchased the kit yet as I was wanting feed back prior to doing so. Lots of good help guys, that ship the 1:80th slave schooner came up real nice. I did go down to Fremantle harbor the other day as 3 Dutch tall ships have moored there for the last couple of weeks so I had a good browse around them and took some pics for detail reference. Thanks guys