How-To: My First Time Weathering a Car

For the entirety of my life I have been incredibly apprehensive about weathering my models. I've just been so afraid of screwing it up and ruining a perfectly good car that I've never sat down and had a go at it. Well, After 30-ish years in the hobby I finally decided that I couldn't put it off any longer and so I pulled out the weathering powders and decals (purchased 11 years ago) along with the paints (purchased 4 years ago) and got to work on perhaps my cheapest and least liked car in my collection...
And you know what? It turned out fantastic! I am so thrilled with the results! I am absolutely floored by how good this car looks now. In a matter of a couple hours it went from my least favorite to one of my most favorite cars I own. Yeah, there are some areas that I think I could have done better, but for a first attempt, I am pretty darn proud of what I was able to accomplish.
Along with weathering this was also my first attempt at waterslide decals and those side ribs made applying the graffiti a bit of a challenge, but I think that turned out great as well.
So, Don't be like me and put off weathering your equipment for decades. Pull up a tutorial video, have some fun and don't be afraid to make mistakes. You may just surprise yourself!

[@hoscaledelmarvasubdivision]

Congrats, welcome to the club. Much better than some of my models, especially my early ones. I also have an A and B side for every one of my cars, it's always a learning experience.

[@MFRailroad]

Thanks much!

[@JoeyBPhotography]

I'd say that turned out really good for a first weathering job! I felt the same way in the beginning, was too afraid to ruin my cars, but it turned out to be so much fun that now I'm weathering more and more models. Great job

[@MFRailroad]

Thanks!

[@jeffhanke1662]

Great job on a first car! Always experiment with a new technique. I’m 400+ cars into weathering and still learning. Your first one looks better than my first 100!

[@MFRailroad]

400 cars! Where do you find the time!? :)

[@jeffhanke1662]

@@MFRailroad it’s 400 cars in 20 years. I didn’t do them all in a row! 🤣

[@garypyke1576]

You did a fantastic job!

[@MFRailroad]

Thank you!

[@richardcolemanjr3749]

Good video. The main thing is Take Your Time and Do what is satisfying. Freight car weather differently over the years. Pick one. I Kitbash and Scratch build freight cars for stand ins. Made some Conrail steel coil cars like #602345 and Southern coil cars like #62349. You can do it.

[@MFRailroad]

Very cool. Thanks!

[@KerleyExpress]

i think it looks great

[@MFRailroad]

Thanks much!

[@pacset2]

nice work

[@MFRailroad]

Thank you much!

[@beeble2003]

Buying cheap cars on Ebay is an easy way to overcome the fear of ruining something expensive.

[@MFRailroad]

I agree!