Garden Railway Forum

Continuing with low-cost and no-cost materials. I am doing the corrugated roof out of tincans (Heinz beans to be precise) Cut the cans up, straighten them somewhat under weight and now soaking them in a mixture of peroxide + white vinegar + salt. Just after 5 minutes the natural rust starts building up

Excellent weathering; mind sharing the technique and materials used or is that a trade secret?

GAP wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 9:00 pm Excellent weathering; mind sharing the technique and materials used or is that a trade secret?

Thanks! But nothing special really. Takes some time though as I think it is important to have several thin layers and different hues. My workflow is normally:
1. Distress the material, depending on the material with which tools (ie. sharp knife, screwdriver, steel wool, files, sandpaper, hot iron, etc)
2. Base coat (except sometimes with real wood as in this project). Usually I use Tamiya Fine Surface Primer
3. Correct errors as they are easiar to see after the first base coat. If needed, distress more the material. With planks I touch very gently the "eyeknots" with a suitable color
4. Base colour, sometimes 2-3 layers (some of the "un-painted" wooden boards I left natural at this stage). I use normally acrylics (Vallejo, Warhammer)
5. Detail colours ie. to metal parts, hinges etc.
6. Base (thick) rust for metal parts. Moss or similar i replicate with some dark green on certain parts
7. Several very thin and runny washes in different hues
8. Drybushing certain spots, not too much
9. Touchups with Tamiya Weathering Master kit
10. Final layer would be Varnish, depending on the subject either matt, semi-gloss or gloss
Hope this is useful info

I think rust looks now good. There is no weathering done on the roof, only natural rust. It will probably looki even better with time outside

The roof sheets really capture the natural weathering appearance of corrugated metal, very good.
Nice touch to have the outside light too, you really know how to look after your employees.

Peter Butler wrote: Fri Mar 27, 2026 9:12 am The roof sheets really capture the natural weathering appearance of corrugated metal, very good.
Nice touch to have the outside light too, you really know how to look after your employees.

This was one luxury item the management afforded to provide. The railway workers union is getting stronger, they even demanded a toilet on-site! But the management did not agree on that, they just told them there is a bucket in the toolshed

Allu wrote: Fri Mar 27, 2026 9:20 am But the management did not agree on that, they just told them there is a bucket in the toolshed

It does look very good overall, well done. Like Peter, I spotted the light, which is very realistic looking and a nice touch.

Love the tin can roof. It looks perfect. Also amazing how much that bulkhead light adds - one tiny detail that really switches you into seeing everything else in scale terms.

Now ready! Hopefully this will get some life when I start to build my small balcony layout

A beautiful job, well done.
I wondered if there should be a short post sticking up at the back with perhaps an insulator and a wire coming
down to supply power to the light. But perhaps they dug a trench and it came in underground.
Just a thought.
Grant.

Love the details, especially the bulkhead light and the dribble of oil down the side of the barrel.

Rik

Hi
Excellent diorama. Its good to see the use of baked bean tins is still alive and well .I remember seeing a corrugated iron lamp hut made from bean cans ,it weathered naturally outdoors.

Chris

Stunning work!