I’ve only even this thread a passing glance, but thought Tim’s email about ‘top’ modelers not weathering was interesting.
Seems with RTR stuff its easy to take the model out of the box, place it on the layout and forget about it saying I’ll weather it later...If you don’t have a layout, why are you buying RTR stuff in the first place? I call those guys ‘consumers’ <VBG>
I think weathered stuff looks out of place on a “plywood” layout while unweathered equipment looks odd on a scenicked railroad. Of course, if you are just into building models – How would military models look in a diorama right out of the box? But our completed models end up on shelves, not in dioramas...Why is that?

I think many folks are afraid to weather anything for fear of wrecking their new masterpiece. I remember as a teenager weathering a new kit with cigarette ashes and taking it back to the hobby shop to show it off. Later, as I progressed to painting and decaling I used weathering to cover up mistakes : ))

As a prototype layout builder weathering rolling stock is just place of the game. What’s your game?
Clark Propst
Mason City Iowa

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