Burton-on-Trent South - Adding Buildings

[ISW]

3 minutes ago, 47137 said:

Have you settled on a base colour for your track?

Richard,

 

Err, not exactly sure what you mean. You'll have to explain if I've completely missed the meaning.

 

I've been airbrushing the rails, in advance of ballasting, using Vallejo burnt umber (with a dash of black), and I'm painting the underlay at the future edge of the ballast using neat cheapo The Works burnt umber acrylic.

 

After ballasting, my plan is to airbrush over the completed ballast, again using the Vallejo burnt umber & dash of black mix, to weather the ballast. The amount of weathering, and the proportion of black, will vary depending on location.

 

Have I answered the question?

 

Ian

[47137]

Oh yes, absolutely.

 

I have tried plenty of colours for track and never quite found anything I could apply everywhere and be happy with before applying additional weathering. The burnt umber sounds like a good place to begin.

 

I sprayed some of the Humbrol (enamel) onto offcuts of track yesterday and I can now try picking it off, see how well it has stuck.

 

- Richard.

 

 

[47137]

On 12/03/2022 at 20:22, ISW said:

While you 'ponder', here's the airbrush kit I bought at Aldi for £65 back in 2018 (yikes, it was a long time ago):

 

 

And this is the cheapo airbrush I bought on TheBay for ~£22:

 

 

Yes, I thought airbrushing was 'scary' as well, which explains why it took from 2018 until 2022 for me to actually use the kit!

 

 

I am so glad to see I am not alone.

 

My parents gave me one of the basic Humbrol spray guns when I was a teenager but results were always tricky because I used a car spare wheel (remember them?) as the power source. I bought another one maybe six or eight years ago but never used it. I bought one of the Aldi kits, again in about 2018. The Aldi compressor was hopeless and I bought the smallest Hyundai one, a machine able to run small power tools. Ran this with nothing but a blow gun for four years, and finally tried out the Humbrol spray gun over the weekend. The spray gun is far more controllable than a rattle can and I have realised I can vary the final colour I achieve by simply choosing the base coat underneath. There is far less overspray than with a rattle can so there should be less masking when painting the layout. At the moment I am painting the insides of some wagons.

 

- Richard.

 

Postscript: this seems to be a really bad time to be learning how to spray Humbrol enamels:

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/168184-problem-getting-humbrol-paints/?do=findComment&comment=4780354

😞

Edited April 5, 2022 by 47137
Added postscript.

[ISW]

5 hours ago, 47137 said:

Oh yes, absolutely.

 

I have tried plenty of colours for track and never quite found anything I could apply everywhere and be happy with before applying additional weathering. The burnt umber sounds like a good place to begin.

 

I sprayed some of the Humbrol (enamel) onto offcuts of track yesterday and I can now try picking it off, see how well it has stuck.

 

- Richard.

 

 

Richard,

 

Burnt umber was a colour / idea I came across on a YouTube video. You do need to add a bit of black to darken it though to be more realistic. Don't use exactly the same shade all other the layout though. The amount of black I add varies each time to keep the rails uneven in colour.

 

It'll be interesting to hear how things progress with Humbrol enamels. I'm using Vallejo acrylics, and the 'toothbrush' test indicates that the paint adheres rather well.

 

Airbrush cleanup with acrylics is real easy, just some warm water in the 'cup' and swill it around using a pipet (occasional use of airbrush cleaner in the cup). I'd imagine that enamels are rather more difficult?

 

Ian

[ISW]

Richard,

5 hours ago, 47137 said:

The Aldi compressor was hopeless

I've got no complaints about the Aldi compressor. It's working just fine for me, and I've done some quite long track weathering sessions with it. Yes, it did start to 'rattle' at one point, but this turned out to be a loose grub screw on the axle eccentric, which I simply (?? - it was a little harder than that!) tightened.

 

5 hours ago, 47137 said:

The spray gun is far more controllable than a rattle can

Most definitely. If I was spraying the sky or a field I can see how a rattle can would work, but not for rails. I'm sure rattle can paint is cheaper, so I try to ensure I don't waste too much of the paint through ending up with excess in the airbrush cup at the end.

 

I need to practice / try making up a 'batch' of paint / thinner, keeping it in a glass jar for use over several days. I have more signalbox painting to do ...

 

Ian

[47137]

 

I hestitate to call this an airbrush - I think it is more of a "miniature spray gun". For cleaning up after enamels I wipe out the jar with white spirit and then squirt a little white spirit through the nozzle. So far (only three goes) it is still working fine.

 

- Richard.

Edited April 5, 2022 by 47137

[47137]

1 hour ago, ISW said:

Burnt umber was a colour / idea I came across on a YouTube video. You do need to add a bit of black to darken it though to be more realistic. Don't use exactly the same shade all other the layout though. The amount of black I add varies each time to keep the rails uneven in colour.

 

It'll be interesting to hear how things progress with Humbrol enamels. I'm using Vallejo acrylics, and the 'toothbrush' test indicates that the paint adheres rather well.

 

I will probably settle for two shades of paint to begin with for my track. One for the main line and one for all of the sidings. The geographical area of the layout is very small, I would like things to be fairly consistent. Maybe work up areas where locomotives come to rest.

 

I do need to do some more experimentation before I begin.

 

- Richard.

[ISW]

51 minutes ago, 47137 said:

I hestitate to call this an airbrush - I think it is more of a "miniature spray gun".

Richard,

 

You're not the only one ... That's a vacuum feed system (like the airbrush that came with the Aldi 'set'), which I wasn't fond of. Everyone (well, everywhere I looked in magazines and on YouTube) was using a gravity fed device with the cup on top, hence my decision to purchase one.

 

What an airbrush will do that your 'spray gun" cannot is that I can control both the air pressure and the paint amount separately. I'm sure this is useful, but my skills have yet to rise to such a level where I can make full use of it.

 

Ian 

[ISW]

52 minutes ago, 47137 said:

Maybe work up areas where locomotives come to rest.

Richard,

 

Yup, that's a good idea. All I did was to add more black to the burnt umber in those areas. I can always go back and overspray any areas at a later date, probably after ballasting.

 

Ian

[47137]

I have had a play with some Tamiya acrylic paint.

 

The jar fits the spray gun so no decanting needed. The paint was a mix I had made up to try to emulate an Indian red, based on gloss red with matt brown and other matt colours. Coverage was good and very quick. I turned the regulator on the airline down to about 15psi, about as low as it can usefully go. (I sprayed my enamels at a bit more, maybe 20psi).

 

The only downside I have found so far is the Tamiya paint has stained the inside of the clear pvc tube. This tube is a standard product sold by the metre on eBay and I have ordered up a long length so I can cut new pieces as needed. This will be easier than trying to clean the tube. The nozzle cleaned out easily enough with a spray of thinner.

 

My test pieces were on plastic sprues. Tomorrow I will find out if the paint has stuck soundly to the plastic. It has certainly stuck to my fingers 🙂

 

- Richard.

[ISW]

Richard,

3 minutes ago, 47137 said:

I have had a play with some Tamiya acrylic paint.

All I know about Tamiya acrylic paints is that you can't mix-n-match with Vallejo. The thinners are different and can result in 'curdling', or so I'm informed. Plus 'Marty's Matchbox Makeovers' (YouTube) always uses them for his model car restorations, which are very good and well worth watching.

 

6 minutes ago, 47137 said:

Tomorrow I will find out if the paint has stuck soundly to the plastic. It has certainly stuck to my fingers

Yep, acrylics do stick to fingers. It also seems to stick to rails and plastic kits, from my limited experiences. What it doesn't stick to is glass (but what does?). Hence I use glass jars/cups to mix my paints/thinners and glass bowls for cleaning water and discarded (dirty) water. Clean up is breeze in the sink.

 

Ian

[ISW]

Ballasting - First Attempt

 

After procrastinating for quite some time I finally did some actual ballasting on the layout, adjacent to the newly installed plywood 'platform'.

 

I initially used one of those ballasting 'boxes' that you slide along the rails, but found it put down too much ballast and I was spending more time re-spreading the ballast than actually laying it. From then one I just used a teaspoon to 'shovel' the ballast into position. Subsequent spreading was done between the rails with a finger and a small paintbrush. I also created a pair of 'profiles' cut from thick card (old cereal boxes again) with grooves cut for the railhead such that the lower edge corresponded to the top of the sleepers. These were used to profile the ballast between the tracks. Tapping the rails with the back of the teaspoon was sufficient to shake 'most' of the ballast off the sleeper tops.

 

My 'recipe' for the actual ballast is just Woodlands Scenics Fine Ballast, light grey. Once this was profiled to a suitable level, I lightly 'sprinkled' (this is starting to sound like a TV cooking programme ...) on top some Woodlands Scenics Fine Ballast, brown, in a random fashion using just my fingers. The brown helped to break up the uniformity of the light grey. I also have some buff ballast that I can use as a sprinkle in other locations. This was deliberately done as random as possible.  

 

I'm 'reasonably' happy with the results, with a couple of caveats. Firstly, my liquid soap seems to be too 'thick' and didn't cause sufficient loss of surface tension (didn't dissolve enough?). This was apparent when dropping the PVA / water mix onto the ballast, where it occasionally retained the surface tension causing a 'ball' of ballast / PVA / water to form. I was hopeful that these would not be noticeable as they disappeared as the surface tension broke, but I can see them now after the PVA has set. Next time I'll be using 'proper' Fairy Liquid stuff. And, yes, I did pre-wet the surface of the ballast with a fine mist of water. Maybe my mist was a little too fine?

 

Secondly, I'm unsure about the 'edge' of the ballast. The ballast doesn't look to have enough 'shoulder', although this is simply a result of the sleeper thickness. I'm using a foam underlay and so don't want the glued ballast to reach / touch the baseboard top. If it did, I'd be 'shorting' the noise insulation properties of the foam underlay, although this does result in a nice shoulder height. I can 'hide' this to a certain extent using cable troughing, but not everywhere. I can only assume (what's that about assumption being the mother of all cockups?) that it'll disappear or 'blend in' once the trackside scenics are done. Any advise on this issue gratefully received!

 

Anyhow, here's what the ballast looks like:

 

 

 

The ballasting was done ~2-weeks ago, just before we had family visiting so no other work was done on the layout. The next length of ballasting will include some turnouts and double-slips (oh goody), so a little extra care will be needed at the switch toes to avoid gluing them solid. Wish me luck ...

 

Ian

 

[ISW]

Ballasting Distractions

 

As if I didn't need more things to distract me from some serious ballasting, I went to a local 'swap meet' last Sunday and picked up a few scenic 'things' for the layout. No, I don't need them now, but I'm sure they will find their way onto the layout in the future. It's more a case of buying 'bits' while you can and at nice cheap prices. All the items I found were significantly cheaper than TheBay, and I got a nice day out as well.

 

I managed to get [1]:

• A couple more Hornby R083 bufferstops (that'll make 12 now).
• A pair of Hornby R479 structure gauges, which I'll use at the exits to the Brewery Sidings
• A Peco LK-2 water feeder that I can place in the MPD
• Some Ratio model 426 LMS fencing for the loading dock platform
• A pair of Ratio model 511 lineside huts. Always useful to have.
• An 80% part-full Woodlands Scenics Coarse Ballast, cinder. I can use this for wagon loads as it looks like coal (it's way too big to be used for 00-gauge ballast)

I can see me assembling the Lineside huts while the PVA sets on each ballasting area. Plus I can airbrush the LMS fencing (currently white plastic) to look more like creosoted fencing.

 

[1] - And an older generation Bachmann green Class 46. Runs nicely after fitting an 8-pin chip. It just needs Kadee couplings added, but these need to be of the 'underset' NEM type (that doesn't exist). Last time I did this I had to butcher a 'dropped' tension lock onto a Kadee #18, gluing the 2 parts together. My 'plan' this time is to use EZ-mate couplings, possibly upside-down!

 

Ian

[5BarVT]

2 hours ago, ISW said:

Secondly, I'm unsure about the 'edge' of the ballast. The ballast doesn't look to have enough 'shoulder', although this is simply a result of the sleeper thickness. I'm using a foam underlay and so don't want the glued ballast to reach / touch the baseboard top. If it did, I'd be 'shorting' the noise insulation properties of the foam underlay, although this does result in a nice shoulder height.
 

Any advise on this issue gratefully received!

Earplugs?

:-)

Paul.

[ISW]

1 hour ago, 5BarVT said:

Earplugs?

:-)

Paul.

Paul,

 

Hmmm, not entirely practical if you have sound enabled locos (of which I only have one).

 

Looks like it's a trade-off between a good ballast shoulder with baseboard transmitted noise, or a smaller shoulder with quieter running. On balance, I'll go with the quiet option. Anyway, back in the 1970s the ballast shoulder was nothing like as large as it is today he said, before going away to check photos from that time period ...

 

Ian

[ISW]

5 hours ago, ISW said:

[1] - And an older generation Bachmann green Class 46. Runs nicely after fitting an 8-pin chip. It just needs Kadee couplings added, but these need to be of the 'underset' NEM type (that doesn't exist). Last time I did this I had to butcher a 'dropped' tension lock onto a Kadee #18, gluing the 2 parts together. My 'plan' this time is to use EZ-mate couplings, possibly upside-down!

Well that didn't work.

 

With the EZ-mate coupling installed right-way-up it's too high. If I install it upside-down it's too low. Sods' Law applies I suppose. What I actually need is a centreset NEM Kadee, that also does not exist.

 

So out came the scalpel and superglue ...

 

I cut the coupler 'head' off the NEM 'tail', shortened the 'tail' to get the coupling inline with the buffers and glued them back together with the 'tail' aligned with the vertical centreline of the 'head'.

 

Of course, the superglue didn't work with the type of plastic used by EZ-mate couplings (or Lima bogies ...). However, I happened across [1] a bottle of Deluxe Materials "Rocket tricky stick", which is glue / coating specially formulated to help superglue work on 'shiny' plastics. And it works rather well. An application of tricky stick made the superglue work perfectly. I can now use the Bachmann green Class 46 on the layout. Success.

 

[1] - I found a part used bottle was for sale at another local SwapMeet, and even then it was expensive, but the vender was very persuasive!. However, it works really well and you don't need much each time so I really can't complain.

 

Ian

[ISW]

Ballasting - continued

 

On 27/04/2022 at 15:18, ISW said:

The next length of ballasting will include some turnouts and double-slips (oh goody), so a little extra care will be needed at the switch toes to avoid gluing them solid. Wish me luck ...

 

Well, that went better than expected. The ballast is currently drying, and all 3 turnouts and a single-slip involved in the ballasting area still work and are not glued solid. Result. The only issue was the dribble of ballast that dropped through each cable dropper hole onto the Lower Level baseboards. Considering how difficult it was to thread the cable through those holes, I'm amazed that any ballast could get through, but it did.

 

I still need to improve on my method of ballast distribution. 'Spooning' it into the area is time consuming and not really fun. I need to find a 'pouring' method that is suitably controllable.

 

At least I'm enjoying the ballasting process, which is fortunate as I've a good 2-weeks of ballasting to do!

 

Ian

 

[47137]

Ian thank you so much for putting back the missing photos.

 

Perhaps I can distract you from your ballasting? I dislike the task so much only one of my basenboards baseboard in the last 6+ years has been done.

 

I am painting my second wagon with my budget Humbrol spray gun. It seems to me, Humbrol and Revell enamels work when diluted about one part thinner to two parts paint, while Railmatch enamel needs roughly equal quantities of thinner and paint. Does this this sound about right to you? I ran this past the proprietor of a model shop who was aghast and told me this was far too much thinner. But the result seems to dry off quckly enough, and cover the job in a couple of coats.

 

- Richard.

Edited April 30, 2022 by 47137

[ISW]

1 hour ago, 47137 said:

I am painting my second wagon with my budget Humbrol spray gun. It seems to me, Humbrol and Revell enamels work when diluted about one part thinner to two parts paint, while Railmatch enamel needs roughly equal quantities of thinner and paint. Does this this sound about right to you?

Richard,

 

I can only respond based on my 'limited' experience with Vallejo acrylics (not enamels). For those I go with roughly a 50/50 mix of paint and Vallejo thinner. Based on what I've seen on YouTube, the consistence should be like that of milk, so I usually start at ~40% thinner and add until it 'looks' like milk and it drips off my metal stirrer. No drips means it's still too thick. As all the videos say, you do get a 'sense' of the right mix after a short while.

 

You could do worse than watch 'Airbrush Asylum' on YouTube, eg: 

 

 

I found him to be informative and clear. Helped me immensely.

 

2 hours ago, 47137 said:

Perhaps I can distract you from your ballasting? I dislike the task so much only one of my basenboards baseboard in the last 6+ years has been done.

I know how you feel as I've been procrastinating over it for almost a year myself. However, it's not as bad as you think it'll be, so long as you use the same techniques used by Everard Junction (or similar). Forget the fancy 'spreader box' and just spoon or pour the ballast into the track. Then spread using your finger and a non-nylon (proper bristles) paint brush. A tried a small nylon paint brush for some 'touch ups' and the static just lifted the ballast onto the brush. Rubbish. Of course, that's with Woodlands Scenics ballasts (very lightweight). I'd guess that the 'real stone' stuff (that is much weightier) doesn't have that problem?

 

Ian

[47137]

22 hours ago, ISW said:

I can only respond based on my 'limited' experience with Vallejo acrylics (not enamels). For those I go with roughly a 50/50 mix of paint and Vallejo thinner. Based on what I've seen on YouTube, the consistence should be like that of milk, so I usually start at ~40% thinner and add until it 'looks' like milk and it drips off my metal stirrer. No drips means it's still too thick. As all the videos say, you do get a 'sense' of the right mix after a short while.

 

You could do worse than watch 'Airbrush Asylum' on YouTube, eg: 

 

I found him to be informative and clear. Helped me immensely.

 

I have watched a few of his videos today. I can't help admiring how he pours paint and thinner from one container to another and mixes it up and never spills a drop. I am consuming old newpapers throughout the process. I would have never guessed to look at such a channel but all the important instructions and advice are there.

 

I now know, my Humbrol "miniature spray gun" is technically an airbrush: a single-action, externally-mixed one. At the moment it is proving extremely useful. I am only on my second wagon with it but the finish seems rather good. Doubtless I will look back on these first efforts in a few year's time and curse not getting a better airbrush sooner, but at the moment things look happy.

 

I now know, there are three variables I can play with. The consistency of the paint, the pressure from the compressor, and the distance from the job. This is two more than with a rattle can! I am using a small industrial compressor rated at 90psi and a regulator bought on eBay. Sensible pressures seem to be around 20psi, a bit lower for closer work and a bit more for working further away.

 

I will post a photo later, after the latest coat has dried a bit.

 

- Richard.

[ISW]

Richard,

 

42 minutes ago, 47137 said:

I have watched a few of his videos today. I can't help admiring how he pours paint and thinner from one container to another and mixes it up and never spills a drop. I am consuming old newpapers throughout the process. I would have never guessed to look at such a channel but all the important instructions and advice are there.

I'm using a set of 6 small (shot?) glasses that I bought at the 'poundland' shop. Easy to clean and pour quite well. I was using some disposable clear plastic ones, but they were rubbish. And, of course, Vallejo acrylics come in nice easy-to-use 'dropper' bottles. I'm wasting most paint by putting too much into the airbrush for the task in hand.

 

45 minutes ago, 47137 said:

Doubtless I will look back on these first efforts in a few year's time and curse not getting a better airbrush sooner, but at the moment things look happy.

You can get a 'reasonable' double-action gravity-feed airbrush for around the £30 mark.

 

47 minutes ago, 47137 said:

Sensible pressures seem to be around 20psi, a bit lower for closer work and a bit more for working further away.

Yes, that does seem to be the 'consensus' on most YouTube videos and it what I'm using, if the air pressure gauge is to be believed!

 

48 minutes ago, 47137 said:

I will post a photo later, after the latest coat has dried a bit.

Yay, am looking forward to seeing that. It's not something I've attempted yet, the closest being the painting of my Ratio Midland signalbox kit.

 

Ian

[47137]

Here are two views of the same end of my wagon project:

 

 

This is a 7mm scale kit by Jim Mcgeown. I could not cope with this level of detail in H0 or 4mm!

 

The grey is Railmatch enamel applied using my Humbrol single-action airbrush. The brown is Vallejo acrylic applied by brush but this is too out of focus to make much judgement. The spot mark on one buffer is dust on my camera sensor.

 

I am happy enough with this to let it harden overnight and install the couplings and buffer heads tomorrow.

 

This is my first time of using Vallejo paint. It has given me a very good first impression, it just seemed to flow out of the brush and went on really easily.

 

The primer under all of this is U-pol no.8 etch primer bought from Halfords. This primer is sold for use on aluminium and galvanised steel. It seems to bond itself well to brass, by this I mean I could not scrape it off using my finger nail after 24 hours. The bare spot above the coupler plate is where I scraped away some excess solder using a scalpel.

 

- Richard.

[ISW]

39 minutes ago, 47137 said:

Here are two views of the same end of my wagon project:

 

Richard,

 

Nice wagon, and very detailed as, I suppose, it should be in 7mm scale. Painting looks good and I can see why you're pleased with the results. You'll have to share the 'trick' to brush painting Vallejo acrylics, as it just doesn't work for me. I'm guessing that it needed your good primer coat?

 

Is this just a 'side project' or is it intended for one of your layouts?

 

Ian

[ISW]

Ballasting - Progress!

 

I've now completed 4 areas of ballast, all at the station area of the layout. These were (in sequence):

1. Up Fast & Up Slow adjacent to the station
2. Burton South Junction area (including ballasting my first turnouts)
3. Down Fast & Slow adjacent to the station (including a few more turnouts)
4. The 3 sidings (including that next to the unloading dock) adjacent to the station

As you'll see from the following photos, I've tried to 'mix up' the ballast 'recipe' in different areas to reflect the re-ballasting of some tracks over time. The sidings were also done in a more 'dirty' ballast to differentiate them even more.

 

 

 

I'm actually enjoying the process of ballasting (we'll see how long that lasts!), in some ways because it takes me back to working on site and watching real ballasting in progress. So much for spending a year procrastinating!

 

So far I've only managed to 'glue up' one set of switches (part of a single slip) but that was easily fixed with a little scraping off of the excess ballast. I did go round with a hoover to pick up any loose ballast, which worked well but also emptied out a few sleeper beds where I hadn't spread the PVA glue properly. Those locations were fixed by going back, re-ballasting, and re-gluing the small areas.

 

Once all the PVA glue has had time to fully dry, I'll loosen off the bolts holding the individual baseboards together and 'try' to remove the clear plastic strips I inserted at the baseboard joins. Fingers crossed it leaves a clean ballast 'joint'. I'll also be able to lift out the station platform and loading dock. With any luck, the cling-film will make the process easy.

 

Ian

 

[ISW]

Ballasting - Tools of the Trade

 

Lest you be wondering 'what' I'm using to perform the miracle of ballasting of the layout, here's a photo of all the 'tools' I'm using:

 

A quick summary list:

1. Ballast, mostly Woodland Scenics 'fine' ballast, supplemented (or bulked out) by some 'real stone' ballast I picked up cheap at a recent local swapmeet. [I'm not using 100% real stone anywhere as it's just too heavy and makes the baseboards even heavier.]
2. A container to mix the ballast 'recipe' and pour the ballast onto the track (aided by the spoons).
3. A bristle paint brush to spread the ballast along the track (non-static).
4. Some home-made cardboard 'profiles' that run on the rail top to perform ballast profiling either side of the track.
5. Some spoons to distribute the ballast, and also to 'tap' on the rails to move the ballast grains off the sleepers (well, mostly).
6. A small spray bottle for pre-wetting the ballast.
7. A measuring jug to mix the PVA / water mix (50/50) and add a few drops of Fairy Liquid (other brands are available).
8. A glass jar of PVA / water mix ready for application.
9. A syringe for spreading the PVA / water mix onto the ballast in a 'controller' manner.

I'm also using bluetack (other brands are available) to cover over the 'sensitive' parts of the turnouts and double & single slips to stop the ballast encroaching on the switches and the tiebar.

 

I've not shown the clock I have to watch while the glue dries ...

 

Touch wood, this has proved to be a successful operation to date. Long may it continue!

 

Ian