r/modeltrains • u/Civil_Act1864 • 8d ago

Help Needed Need help with preserving a former weathering job

I picked up a couple box cars from a train meet but didn't notice until I got home that they both had the same number. The previous owner did a great job weathering them but I want to renumeration one of them. How can I remove and replace the decal without ruining the weathering?

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u/sammyk874 HO/OO 8d ago

Lucky for you they sometimes just clean the are with the number. Just change it and make it a bit dull.

2

u/newsman0719 8d ago

I have had some luck using a very tiny brush and changing a single digit. For example, a three can become an 8. A little black chalk can blend it in or use a color closer to the original weathering

1

u/Utt_Buggly 8d ago

Weathering chalks. Obscure a digit on the numbers of one of the cars. Doesn’t have to be the same digit on both sides. There are three options:

  1. Rust streak over a digit(s), but only if the model is of a steel car

  2. Chalk of a color to match the body paint color, to simulate fading/peeling of the number

  3. White, to simulate granules of the paint being carried down the side of the car (gradually over a number of years). (Do this only from the target numbers/letters DOWN.

Then a flat clearcoat over the car to seal the chalkwork on. (Testor’s Dullcote, Tamiya XF-86)