1st REAL attempt at weathering

[mewalsh100]

I've typically always gone for glossy/shiny on my rigs, but seeing some of the weathered looking rigs and the skills to create them here on the forums inspired me. This was my first attempt at weathering a body, and I could see how it could become addictive.

Since I'm just starting out with this skill, for the first phase I was just attempting to get a sort of grubby, grimy look going on. I think I accomplished that. (It actually looks a bit grimier in person than in the pics.) I've been thoroughly impressed with the way some of you guys get the rust holes and rusted look going on too! I'm going to maybe attempt that next after reviewing the forums a bit more.

Lastly, I'm going to play with some heat and some rocks to push in some dents in areas of the cab that would be exposed to that in a real world environment.

As always, tons of great information on this forum that never ceases to inspire me. I'm also open to suggestions / tips on creating the rust holes and dents!

[SleepyC]

Nice 1st try. Looks great.

[Ricochet]

Looking good. What did you use? I gotta try weathering one of these days.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[mewalsh100]

Thanks SleepyC!

[mewalsh100]

Originally Posted by Ricochet

Looking good. What did you use? I gotta try weathering one of these days.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Thanks! Well, I am by no means an expert. After getting my base color laid down on the cab, I just started layering with thin washes of black and brown, and then a black/brown mix. I laid it on with a wider brush and would let it sit for a couple minutes and then blot and drag with rags.

There’s some awesome info here on different techniques. I also found some cool info on YouTube.

I think the key, at least for me, was to build it up slowly. This was about 4 different applications of using the washses, blotting, dragging. I’d just step back and look at it between each application to see if I wanted to take it further.

[Voodoobrew]

Seems like one of those less is more cases.
As it's easy to add more but hard to remove if you add too much.

[mewalsh100]

Originally Posted by Voodoobrew

Seems like one of those less is more cases.
As it's easy to add more but hard to remove if you add too much.

Exactly what my thoughts were!

[Mike Flea]

Looks good,

[mewalsh100]

Thanks Mike!

[smog]

You gave it a natural looking dirty, I think you kinda nailed it. Like was mentioned, sometimes less is more.

[mewalsh100]

Originally Posted by smog

You gave it a natural looking dirty, I think you kinda nailed it. Like was mentioned, sometimes less is more.

Thanks smog! Now I have to decide if I want to attempt rust holes and dents!?

[smog]

Originally Posted by mewalsh100

Thanks smog! Now I have to decide if I want to attempt rust holes and dents!?

They are definitely a fun project. You might want to consider whether you want to do rust and denting on this specific body. It’s looking really good already. I am by no means an expert at this, like you I am just figuring stuff out by trial and error. From what I have seen most are doing the melting(dents)before painting.

...just a thought

[mewalsh100]

Well, I went ahead and did a few small dents on the body. It was a bit of a pucker factor cause I was really kinda digging where it was at. Anyway, I think they turned out ok. I got some paint bubbling from the heat on a couple of them. But, I ended up applying a little body filler in the dents to smooth the bubbles and I think it looks legit. Kind of a happy accident - like the guy still cares enough about the rig to try and keep after it - but not too much.

[high plains drifter]

You've obviously got some skills so since you've gone this far, I'd suggest pitting and darkening some of those rust spots. Regardless... looks great/ very legit.

[mewalsh100]

Originally Posted by high plains drifter

You've obviously got some skills so since you've gone this far, I'd suggest pitting and darkening some of those rust spots. Regardless... looks great/ very legit.

Thanks!

Yeah, I definitely think that's in the cards. I just have to study some techniques a bit more. I see a lot of people using the "salt" method and then using an iron oxide type paint and then activator. Big decision will be whether or not to attempt the rust holes!

[Mike Flea]

A couple threads down in this section, Real Rust Paint

The dents came out nice, try a heat gun that has a closed cone tip so you can direct the heat to a specific spot. You can also try using a candle, a little harder, as you're holding the body upside down. The one issue with a candle is soot coming off the tip of the flame, not too bad if you do it on a body that hasn't been painted yet.

[mewalsh100]

Originally Posted by Mike Flea

A couple threads down in this section, Real Rust Paint

The dents came out nice, try a heat gun that has a closed cone tip so you can direct the heat to a specific spot. You can also try using a candle, a little harder, as you're holding the body upside down. The one issue with a candle is soot coming off the tip of the flame, not too bad if you do it on a body that hasn't been painted yet.

Going to Harbor Freight this weekend to pick up a heat gun. I actually need one for work, so I should be able to expense it

[TooOldForThis]

The unpainted body filler is a nice touch

[mewalsh100]

I didn't have any intentions of putting an interior in this particular cab for this rig as I already have a full blown scaler cab for it. The idea for this cab was to have a nice "basher" type hard body and to practice the weathering look. lean, mean and simple.

Having said that, I've been wanting to do an aluminum pan interior for my Wraith, and I figured this would be a good practice run as far as patterning, fitment and bends.

I'm not sure I'll end up running the rig with it or not, but it did turn out pretty cool. If I do end up running it, I'll use the back support from a Wraith seat and my Jimmy Johnson driver that came out of the old build of my Wraith. The pan itself had to be fairly shallow to clear the Spur gear. Even as Shallow as I made it, I still had to notch out an area in the floor pan and the back rest area. (You can see the Spur gear peaking up through in the 1st pic - The windshield itself was just a scrap piece of lexan I cut to fit - it's rather dirty from all the dust that's been flying while I work, but that's fitting for this cab!)

[M and M]

Nice work, especially as its a first time. I'm no Picaso, just learning as I go, but if Its ok, I'll pass on bits I've found out? If you decide on rust holes, my tip is remember most, in real life, start from the inside. If you start grinding from the inside with as course bit you can decide how far to go easier, maybe just letting it break through.


You can split the door to wing join and bend back the door to look as if its been sprung, backing the split with styrene to put strength back in

Rust is usually under the paint, so try "splattering" paint from a rattle can and over painting with your colour, then flatting with 800 or 1000 grit to break through where you want


Sorry to go on, but my best find was a sprue of rivets from Zing Industries, enabling repairs like this

Hope this helps an already great job