# Weathering Trucks with Acrylic Paints



## Zeke (Feb 22, 2011)

_(Note: I don't know if there's any interest in this topic, but I had put together this thread for another forum and figured I would post it here as well.)_

This is “old hat” to the experienced modelers here, but in the interest of adding content I thought I would put together some pictures of trucks that had been weathered using acrylic paints. 

Here’s a picture of some of the paints I’ve been using:









The colors include Terra Cotta, Burnt Orange, Crimson, and Raw Umber from a couple of different companies. For larger areas of the trucks, I use one of those cheap glue brushes. The brush to the left is a cheapie Testor that’s used for smaller areas. Also, have a paper towel or scrap piece of plastic next to your work area. You only want a small amount of paint on the brush and you’ll need a place to dab off any excess before putting it on the truck. 

We start, of course, with an unweathered truck. I didn’t do it here, but you should mask off the wheels and hit the whole thing some Dullcote:









I’m finding I like to start off with lighter colors and work my way to darker ones. Put a little paint on the brush, dab it on your scrap piece once or twice to make sure you don't have too much, and then move on to the truck. You don’t brush the paint on, you sort of jab it on. Hold the brush at an almost right angle and bounce it up and down lightly to start. This is called stippling and it creates some texture on the surface. Don't keep the brush in one spot while you're doing this; keep it moving around. You’ll have to keep going back and putting paint on the brush, but that’s ok. Also keep in mind that you don't want full coverage. Some of the previous color should still be visible. Exactly how much or how little is subjective, so work it until it looks good to your eye. Once you’re done with one color, wipe the brush off and move onto the next.

Here’s the truck after a light coat of Terra Cotta. Note that some of the original black is still visible:









This is after a coat of Burnt Orange:









I’m finding that one of my favorite colors to finish with is Raw Umber. It’s an extremely dark brown that gives the finished truck a nice grimy/oily appearance. Note again that some of the Burt Orange from the above photo shows through. If you want a rustier appearance, use a little less Raw Umber:









Here is another truck that I did using Crimson first and then Raw Umber:









This one has Terra Cotta as a first coat, Crimson as the second, and then Mars Black as a finishing color:









Sorry this picture is a little blurry, but it shows all three together and you can get an idea of how the different combinations look:









When you get it the way you want, hit it with a couple of coats of Dullcote and you should be good to go. The paint should stand up well to normal handling.

As with anything, it might take a couple of practice rounds to get a good feel for the technique. Don't get discouraged if your first attempts to don't turn out the way you want. What's not pictured above are the half-dozen trucks that I first tried and didn't care for. The important thing is to keep track of the combinations you use so when you hit on something you like, you know what you did and how to reproduce it.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I'm not sure I want my RR rolling on anything that rusty!


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Thanks Zeke,
Excellent how to!


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Jeez ... you gonna clean all the rust of off those things?!? 

That looks incredibly realistic. Nice work ... nice tutorial. Great post.

TJ


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Nice Zeke, thanks for taking the time to post.
Nice work.:thumbsup:

Someone ought to put it in one of the sticky how to do threads.

Do you have any installed on a weathered car yet?


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## Zeke (Feb 22, 2011)

Thanks for the kind words guys. I took extreme close-up pictures so the rust and textures are really enhanced. I think it looks pretty good from a normal viewing distance. I used this technique on the weathered flat I had on the For Sale board (this also answers big ed's question):


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

I like your style. I have an assortment of acrylics on hand , so easy to use with great results.


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