My First Centerbeam Weathering Victim is Finished

I have collected a fair number of Red Caboose 73' centerbeam flatcars over the past several months, as part of my lumber load explosion.  The first weathering victim is a Burlington Northern version still sporting green paint which I had started several months ago.  Much like the 86' boxcars that I just recently completed, this BN centerbeam project was also gathering dust on my workbench.

Here it is, the first of many centerbeam weathering projects that I hope to complete.  This was a challenging piece of rollingstock due to the various surfaces that required a lot of time and attention to detail.  I started with a fade coat of my raw umber tint, and then spent a couple hours adding the rust with a small brush and oils.  A make-up sponge came in handy to smudge and blend the oil on the larger surfaces.  I added reflector stripes and a final coat of dullcoat to seal things off.

Here's the centerbeam with a partial load of Sierra Pacific lumber.  I made these bundles earlier this year to be used in a loading/unloading scene on a future layout or diorama perhaps.  I think they look quite nice.