. Came back the next day and found that the Dull coat had turned very whitish after 2 days. Now trying to figure out how to fix this or at least make it look better than it does now. Also got an outhouse painted and added to scrap yard scene. View attachment 277952 [/QUOTE] Try another shot of dullcote from a little further away on a less humid day. Usually does the trick for me. When I lived in Japan if it was a cold,but humid day and I sprayed too close I’d get a similar effect. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I actually like that, looks like it has been on the job for some time and paint has chipped off down to the primer. If a second coat of dull doesn't fix it I'd be tempted to weather it lightly with an earth tone up into the red and a very light gray over all of it. Of course I can envision what that would look like but that doesn't mean it will. Sumner
While watching some football I doodled a rough sketch of the rest of the SPIE layout. I know it can be hard to see it the way I do. I am working it into Anyrail tonight. This will house the mainline from the undeveloped yard and return to staging directly above it. The lower inner "U" will be flat and include the Colton diamonds, RR Recyslers, and Loma Linda. Once the mainline rounds the peninsula blob the nolix grade will begin and continue back to the same spot on the upper level. Once back into the flat inner "U" on the upper deck the RR will enter Beaumont and turn into Banning ending in staging. Once I have it in Anyrail I can determine the grade accuracy and settle on it. I hope to begin construction on Tuesday the 2nd.
@jhn_plsn Really like your layout concept and prototype. My grandmother lived in Banning and whenever we went to visit I would go down to the tracks to watch trains go by. There were a bunch of them, this was in the 1960's. Surprising that area has not been modeled more.
The area may not have been modeled much as there is little dramatic scenery and to model West Colton yard would require a warehouse of space. Even in N scale. I can only hope to capture some items to remind one of the area. I worked up a grade check in Anyrail and came up with 1.9%. I am confident I can begin on Tuesday after some plywood shopping.
Moving along....... . . . . . . . . . To be continued..... A link to this whole build ( HERE ). Sumner
Goal 1 Part B: Fascia installed to cover the upper level lighting. Plan to paint everything as soon as I can find the darn paint can… Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I was out in the Train Building yesterday trying not to break some streetlights while rewiring them. The wiring that was installed was fatter than the base of the streetlights. It hit me that there is an area in the attached image between what I was working on and what I had already completed. Also in the picture, you can see that I ballasted some track. Since one of my scheduled trips has been canceled I will also try to work on that area. Gary
With the Kids home two more days _ took today off to et a bunch of stuff done. After coffee, I vacuumed the area around Wizard in the woods, roughed the styrofoam surface with some 100 grit sand paper, and vacuumed everything: Then I moved the building off its base and moved all the scenic material and other flotsam away from the area to the right of the building, because its time for the first coast of paint. I mix these two colors in a 10:2 ratio to match the soil color from the NRCS (formerly Soils Conservation Service) Web Soil Survey https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/data-and-reports/web-soil-survey site for my part of East Baton Rouge Parish. This is a geeky but very accurate way to get topsoil color and characteristics correct. Once mixed I thin the whole thing with water at a 10 parts paint 3 parts water ratio to make a thick wash. This flows into the nooks and crannies ad grabs the rough surface but is not completely opaque. Once its dry, I do a second coat mixed with glue so I can sift on some unsanded grout for earth texture. Time for more coffee!
Mesa Part 7.... Continuing on and there are a few more images for Part 7 on my TrainBoard build pages ( HERE ). . . . . . . To be continued..... A link to this whole build ( HERE ). Sumner
Brushing on another coat of Dullcoat over the red part fixed the problem of the white specks. As it was suggested humidity could be a possible cause and the fact that it is raining, I went with the brush and am now satisfied with this result. The EZ line should arrive tomorrow, then I can install the boom. On Tuesday I made my first trip of the year to our local hobby shop. Among the things I picked up was a bottle of canopy glue. I had heard of this stuff before but at the train show in December, a friend demonstrated it securing some loose details on a club module and told me it was available at that shop. I am using it now to secure shrubs on hillside, starting with the back.
nscalestation said: ...dull coat turned whitish... Like BNSF FAN, I've also "heard" from a train buddy, but have no personal experience to confirm or discredit this suggestion...but painted rolling stock, engines and buildings on his layout look good: If a clear coat turns whitish or cloudy as it dries, he thought it may be the result of painting the model during high humidity and/or as a reaction to contaminants (soap film, oils from hands, cleaning substances leaving a film which reacts with the paint). He also recommended a 2nd coat. If you repaint with a second coat of clear coat in an attempt to cover over the whitish coating, you may want to test a small area first where it can't be easily seen, to determine whether a 2nd coat actually does make the fogginess go away. Caveat emptor! That's Hifalutin for "You can find anything on the Internet." So, you may want to take his advice with a grain of salt.
Earlier this week, I made Track Labels for the B Yard. The cocktail toothpicks bring the track labels above the cars, so I can still see which track number I'm dealing with, even though the track labels on the road bed in front of each pair of rails are blocked by cars on tracks closer to the aisle. The labels are easily removed for pictures and can be returned to the same holes. Toothpick labels for B Yard Tracks--Removable if I want to take pics. by ppuinn posted Jan 5, 2024 at 12:52 AM Wednesday and Thursday I pulled up track in the Decatur Yard, so I could eliminate some S-curves to and from the Decatur Interchange tracks. I hope to get the track re-laid and feeders soldered back in, in the next few days.
Mesa Part 8... A few more pictures on TrainBoard ( HERE ). The mesa top comes off easily. Slide it to the left above guided by the parallel locators and blocks on the bottom of the mesa and then lift it off. The mesa slides in under the caprock on the upper level. It is hard to see where any of the seams are because of the effect of the rock strata. With the mesa off it will be easy to clean the track if needed or to service the crossing to the left. If there is a derailment or for track cleaning there is access from below also (the long opening there by the track). Trying to carve the mesa top that faces the center of the layout was doable but easier to remove the mesa and work on that side on the workbench. Since it was impossible to get the layer under the top perfectly level I was going to use some weight in the mesa to push them together. I'm finding thought that while adding to the strata on the mesa if I glue the next strata and then put quite a bit of weight on it while the adhesives sets up that the mesa stays flat on the lower levels without weight needed as the new upper layers hold it in place/shape. . . . I can start to see the end of forming/shaping the landscape on this side of the layout. Still have a couple sections to go and then have to paint it all so maybe next month might be done with that. Detail will come later after the track is finished and hopefully trains are running. To be continued..... A link to this whole build ( HERE ). Sumner
@Sumner I like how you take the time to add explantion to the photo. May I ask how you do that? What software or stysem? I have Paint 3D and Paint. I am back in the saddle and should begin making more 'progress' on the layout. A little track alingment here and there A little painting A little kitbashing Trying to picture the industrial area.
Based on my available hobby time, looks like I missed the party. My wife has endless home improvement projects that eat up the weekends such that I have to take paid time off from work during the week to make significant progress. So Aug through end of 2023 I was taking Friday's off nearly every week to work on the layout. Then January hits and I'm back to accruing PTO again so my hey day period was last fall though end of 2023. I'll be always looking out for a little time on the layout but weekly updates I can't guarantee. I am envious of you all who have regular hobby time each week. I get Jan 15 off and Feb 19 so those will likely be my next full day opportunities, unless I can squeeze in a bit on some weekends or a little after work. Oh well. I'll wait for the next December part to joint the party again.
