Post Race look

[Railfreak78]

I have seen some really nice builds on here as far as race cars from all different series. I am looking for tips for the raced used look or Post race look. Track grime/rubber/dirt/etc across the front end and wheel well openings. What kind of materials do you use? I have heard of pastels in weathering but I have no idea how that works. Any suggestions?

[The Modeling Hermit]

I know this isn't exactly what you're asking for, but a great place to learn weathering, check out the DVDs by Don Yost. I'm going to have to dig back into memories that have now become over thirty years old. There was surprising little mud that got onto the side of the car between the wheels. What there was started low behind the front wheels, came up to just under, and sometimes get to the bottom of the numbers, and then curved on down to the rear wheels. Behind the rear wheels, the dirt came up in a triangle to the top of the rear fenders. There was also 'spotting' on the left side of the car from clods picked up from cars ahead of yours as you would go into the corners.

The front of the car had the stock bumpers removed and heavy round tubing replaced it. There was a screen placed in front of the radiator. At the end of a thirty lap main event, it was coated with mud. The hood and windshield got mud streaks on them. That's rather poor wording, but think if you threw a snowball or mudball onto a sidewalk, that's the kind of mess that I had to see through. The underside of the car would be almost totally coated with mud. That nasty stuff even got up onto the engine. Changing a sparkplug between races was dangerous. The mud would make everything slick, and with very little room to work with around the manifolds on a 454, well, I got my hands burned more than once. The real shocker, is that very little mud got into the interior.

I wish I had some pictures, but maybe this will help.

[Cato]

All the tips given above are excellent and will work well. My recent GT40 WIP and Under Glass employed much track hard usage wear. The most important overall thing is to layer slowly and be subtle. This can build up fast. The smaller the model, the finer and lighter the weathering. Study real cars of the type you're building and 'think like the air stream.'

Practice your desired effects off the model (on cardboard is fine) to adjust airbrush pressure, distance, nozzle and masking techniques. Also practice dry-brushing, using lead pencil, and washes. A mist of Dullcote in selected areas on shiny paint looks like dust all by itself. Use thin aluminum sheet and scuff chrome lightly with steel wool of scuff pads to get that natural aluminum look. Or polish it for those protected areas. Having good reference photos is a huge help.

Here's some finished close-ups that I hope will help you.

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=35799

[Railfreak78]

Thanks Everyone for all the feed back! Great stuff!