Weathering Rolling Stock – Tim Shackleton

Tim Shackleton is the recognised guru when it comes to weathering model trains. Weathering Rolling Stock, the latest volume in the excellent aspects of modelling series, reveals many of Tim’s secrets so that the average modeller can get some great results without too much effort.

Historically, most proprietary model railway equipment was produced in a pristine condition. However, the reality of the railway industry, particularly in the age of steam, was that the external condition of most rolling stock quickly deteriorated as operation and weather took their toll. More proficient modellers, in particular those that complete scratch-built or kit-built rolling stock, took the opportunity of trying to recreate the authentic operational condition of rolling stock by the judicious ‘weathering’ of the final finish. More recently, the mainstream manufacturers have gone a stage further and now produce rolling stock that appears to have been weathered.

Of all the skills associated with railway modelling, that of weathering of rolling stock is perhaps one of the most difficult. It is very easy to spoil an otherwise beautiful model by the careless application of weathering but, as more and more modellers seek to create an ever more authentic feel for their layouts, so information on the best methods of weathering becomes all the more important. This book is designed to provide the modeller with a guide to the principles and practice of weathering rolling stock, providing both the inexperienced and proficient with a guide to the skills involved and the pros and cons of undertaking such work on models. Weathering Rolling Stock is designed to complement Tim Shackleton’s previous book on the weathering of locomotives; whilst some of the skills required are similar, the finishes that the modeller is aiming for are different. Goods wagons, for example, need to show evidence of the type of traffic – such as coal dust – carried.