Announcing Z Central Weathering Challenge

Announcing Z Central Station Weathering Challenge
There has been discussion of a Weathering Contest here on Z Central. To give variety and plenty of chances to learn new techniques we will have two different styles of challenges.
The first challenge begins January 1, 2010. A photo of a prototype car will be posted and anyone who wishes to participate will have two months to replicate the car in the photo. As this is a learning tool, progress photos should be posted each week depicting progress made along with explanations of techniques used, whether successful or not.
Deadline for final photos will be February 24, 2010.
The second challenge will begin March 1st. The first person to post a picture on Z Central Station of a currently produced model or prototype car that has a Z scale replica will be the car all participants will weather. The cars will be freelanced, they do not have to follow a prototype. A photo of the car before weathering should be posted and as with the first challenge progress photos and dialogue are required.
Deadline for final photos will be April 23, 2010.

Sound like this will be a fun time!
Time to get dirty!

Jerry, sounds like fun. I am in.

I'll give 200 Z points to each winner. And, maybe something else. Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

If I have the time, I'd love to give this a try.
This should not only be fun, but very educational.
I sure hope to be able to play.
Bill Mock

From what I've seen of your work Bill we may have to make you one of the teachers:laugh:

Jerry

Thanks for the compliment Jerry. Whew! We'll have too see how my schedule goes.
Knowing me, "if it ain't due tomorrow, it's not homework." And I'd scramble at the last week to finish and photgraph the whole process.
Nothing like a little PRESSURE to make things fun.
I can't wait to see the prototype photo.
Bill Mock

I know what you are going to give me Jim........a hard time.

This does sound like fun.

Let me get this straight, we need to find a prototype car and take photos of it and also duplicate it in Z? Is that the second challenge?
Loren

For the first challenge someone (shh- it is a secret) will post a prototype photo that participants will try to replicate.

For the second challenge anyone can post a picture (prototype or model) that will determine the type (class) of car that everyone will model in their own style (freelance). Only the first photo posted on March 1st will determine the type of car to be modeled. The picture that is posted must be a car class that is readily available to everyone at Z Central Station.

For example if Loren posts a picture of a Micro Trains 40' Plug door boxcar;
And Rob posts an AZL ACF 3-bay hopper;
but Alex posts a Full Throttle 3-Bay Offset-Side Hopper before everyone else, then that is the car everyone uses.

Hope this clarifies.

Jerry

I think this is a great idea! I have never tried weathering before but this sounds like fun. I hope that the car picked is not a car that is costly to purchase for those of us on limited income. I look forward to seeing the out come.

Steve aka "Slugger"

This is definitely a useful challenge, IMO. I'll participate assuming the prototype car is not modern (particularly one that's modern and heavily tagged); I'm not about to purchase (or build) a car just for the sake of the challenge. This is not meant as a criticism in any way, merely an explanation of the reason for my choice to participate or not. I'd fully understand if something modern is chosen for the prototype car, as this carries a lot of interest with other members; I can see the level of participation relying to a great degree on the choice of car. Perhaps if the two challenges were structured the same, but with different era cars, we'd enjoy broader participation.

Jonathan and David, I talk to Jerry about which car to do, and that seem to be the hardest part of the contest. We figure it has to be a car anybody can buy, and not cost a lot. I also know we all model different periods, and I wonder if theres a car we can do that fits that criteria. Its a 50' ribside too modern. Maybe we can come up with a list and see if anything fits the bill.

I though I would come out with a short list of cars we can do. Please additonal cars if you can think of others, and give your opinion of the cars in my list.

Pennzee 3 bay hopper
MTL PS2
MTL ribside sliding door
MTL 60' flat
MTL caboose

From this list, FWIW, my pick would be the PS2. These cars have lots of interesting surfaces and details that should make for a good weathering challenge.

Then again, it might be a little harder than others as a starter; so, for the first round a better choice might be an easier car, such as a boxcar, and keep the PS2 for the second challenge.

I agree with David.
A boxcar to start off with. The 50' rib sides are not as easy to obtain as the 50' plug door boxcars; just as a heads up. There are plenty of 40' single door options as well.
And a PS2 for the second car would be great.
I love the Pennzee Hoppers, but they are hard to obtain as single cars.
Flatcars? Fun to see how people weather the wood deck. But perhaps a gondola would be more challenging with their typically beat up sides.
My thoughts. Bill Mock

My vote is for a box car. For us newbies i think it will be easier to work on a little larger surface. I also agree with David that we should have different eras of car so more people will join in. I model all eras so its no big deal to me but i understand what David is saying.I cant wait to start.

Steve aka "Slugger"

Another option to consider is to offer a choice of cars with each round. Perhaps start off with a 40-foot single-door boxcar as an older-era example, concurrently with something like a hi-cube. Then, for round two, offer up a PS2 hopper along with something like an auto rack or a coal porter.

This would cover a wider range of modelers' interests and perhaps allow modelers to use cars from their existing roster, avoiding the need to buy something in order to participate.

As a further inducement to join in, perhaps the weathering challenge might make a good entry for ZTrack Magazine. To illustrate a wider range of styles, we could roll the first-place (or maybe even the first- and second-place) winners from both contests into one big article. (If any participant is not comfortable writing text, I'm happy to offer up services as a "ghost writer".)

It is great to see the interest in the Weathering Challenge. We will take all the comments into consideration. The idea was to have the challenge as an ongoing feature not just limited to the first two, so there will be chances for everyone to participate. The idea of changing up the type of challenge was to keep things fresh and keep it interesting. I think everyone can see there are many things to consider in choosing the type of car to weather in order to have the greatest participation possible.
Again thanks for all of the helpful comments.

Jerry

Maybe one of the new releases from AZL... the 4-Bay ACF hoppers. I just posted links to photos of the prototypes for the CSX and Du Pont hoppers. Both need some seriously heavy weathering to come close to the originals.

yes, Yes!