Boxcar Weathering Projects

Now that my Marias Pass model railroad is pretty much complete, I have been able to focus on some weathering projects that have stacked up over the past year.  I've been trying some new techniques, looking for some best practices.

Here are three that I finished recently:

This BNSF car was given only a light fade coat to dull the factory paint.  I added a touch of grime to the ends, a coat of grime/rust to the trucks, and added FVM 36" metal wheelsets.  This car came with yellow reflector stripes, so overall level of effort was low.

This is an ExactRail hi-cube boxcar.  I gave the body a very light fade coat to dull the paint, but wanted it to appear like a fairly new piece.  I added some bright and large graffiti, a light coat of grime to the ends of the body, generous coat of grime/rust to the trucks, and FVM 36" metal wheelsets.

This Atlas boxcar recieved a heavy fade coat after scratching off some of the white lettering.  I hand painted the roof with a coat of burnt sienna acrylic followed by a coat of burnt umber.  The sides of the car recieved a drybrushing of burnt umber after graffiti decals were applied.  The trucks were given a coat of grime/rust, upgraded FVM wheelsets, and finally yellow reflector stripes to bring it up to current standards.