7mm King Street Goods

[Barnaby]

THE SUM OF THE PARTS EQUAL THE WHOLE.

 

I decided to use a basic to hand grey & red rattle can Primers to see what sort of finish I could get with my track.

The 3 pictures show the basic test track piece the rattle cans and my plastic strip that I use to blind the ballast between the rails, 1 photo also shows the plastic strip in position.

 

The photo of the grey and red sprayed track is not too bad but the plastic does leave a rather sharp defined edge which is a bit unreal.

I am hoping that my next steps will sort that out.  I am to dust it with the black to dull and blend it all down and then add some oil staining and some grimy paint washes for a more weathered effect.

I'll post back how it turns out but I will be using water based paints for this so I can easily remove it if it is not acceptable.

I am hoping the red once "weathered" will look more like rusty rails though.

 

Main aim is speed of finish and this is quick to do.  Not yet made my mind up if I should ballast first then paint or paint first then ballast

 

Paint Halfords

Plastic strip B&Q [just so happens that this shape just fits between the chairs and has a handy top section to grab hold of it to place and pick.]  the plastic is easy to cut so no problems with point work.  Tight curves can be done if you cut across from one side to the inside of the curve and bend it.

 

 

Time for a cup of tea.

 

TTFN

.

 

 

[Barnaby]

Another day more time to play.........

 

I've made some small weathering tweaks to the track using acrylics.  I am aiming at softening the sharp Red to Grey contrast.

I'm going to leave it for a few days to mull it over as it does look different depending what lighting is on it ie shed, outside or house and I think I want to experiment a little more.

 

Edited January 19, 2017 by Barnaby

[CME and Bottlewasher]

Hi Barnaby,

 

Your track seems to be coming along nicely, might I also suggest that you seek out photos of the type of prototype track (era and locale) you are modelling, so that you can then 'paint what you see' in the photos.

 

We are lucky with 7mm in that most RTP/RTL track is pretty close to looking scale so, unlike using HO track for OO, we dont have to blend ballast, sleepers and rail to disguise such. Having said that very little track has a sharp colour contrast between rails, sleepers and ballast-there are always exceptions to the rule, yet eg. having bright orange rails never seem to look realistic in model form. Its down to, I suspect, tonality and using variations of tone within a chosen range.

 

Your last photo-and its hard to tell with photos veiwed on mobiles/PCs-looks like the grey of the sleepers is 'blue' (blue/grey) whereas the chairs/rails are, of course, rust/red. You have blended/let down with weathering, which has helped, yet might I suggest though, that you experiment with the 'whole' being within the spectrum of browns instead of greys and browns. Eg. the sleepers are now painted/end up as a brown/grey as opposed to blue/grey and likewise for the rails and chairs also various browns/reds. This isnt a criticism of your work/efforts, just an observation (Im still experimenting with track colours too, so Im not an expert Ha Ha!), a cheap colour-wheel would help to demonstrate my points better.

 

Hope that all makes sense-its late so I hope that my comments help.

 

Whatever you decide, nice pace and progress, keep up the great works!

 

Kindest,

 

CME

Edited January 20, 2017 by CME and Bottlewasher

[Barnaby]

The eagerly awaited Shunters pole arrived this morning. After a quick unpack from the jiffy bag it came in I set about adding the power unit to it , 2 triple A batteries.

Pressing the button switch on the end gave a bright pool of light to work in.  I've gone for the small magnet ended one even though I'm running in 7mm scale but the magnet was well able to do the work demanded of it.   A great piece of kit that will make the coupling work nice and easy - every 3-link railway should have one.  See marsh.lane@outlook.com  for details

 

A further tweak to the test track weathering.......

 

Taking on board CME's comments ref the colouring I agree the browner tints would be better I had hoped the brown/tan/sand colour palette I was using to blend it all in would help but it could be better. 

On the blue/grey tint that may be more to the shed lighting than it appears to the eye.

I had a few spare red & grey rattle cans which I thought might work but while the spray principle is good the colouring could be better.

 

A visit to my local B&Q for paint selection this weekend then.

 

Best.

 

[Barnaby]

From CME's prompting here's a photo of some track close to hand [severn Valley Railway GWR] that I can view easily.  Most of it has been re-laid and the odd siding still has wooden sleepers.

 

 

Compared to what I have this is a lot softer mainly due to there being more umber tones about. the stones outside of the sleepers look grayer but inside there are all shades of rust, the main thing is it has a lot more variation in colour over quite small distances.

Certainly looking back at my first pictures I did note that the red did look a bit odd, a bit too regular.

 

I'll continue with this process but using different rattle can colours and do a bit more on the blending washes.

 

Learning and onward.

 

Regards

 

[Simond]

Barnaby,

 

The rattle cans might be a false economy. They're typically aimed at getting a dense coat of primer on something like a car wing, rather than the subtle job of making a model look real. And they ain't cheap!

 

Do you have an airbrush? There are kits available that comprise a compressor and the brush, and you can spray acrylic and enamels, using appropriate thinners. And very good for weathering too.

 

Best

Simon

[Tove]

If you don`t have an air brush then you could soften things with weathering powders?.

I think that Chris has done that on Cwm Bach,but i`m not sure.

 

Cheer`s,

 

Brian.

[CME and Bottlewasher]

The eagerly awaited Shunters pole arrived this morning. After a quick unpack from the jiffy bag it came in I set about adding the power unit to it , 2 triple A batteries.

Pressing the button switch on the end gave a bright pool of light to work in.  I've gone for the small magnet ended one even though I'm running in 7mm scale but the magnet was well able to do the work demanded of it.   A great piece of kit that will make the coupling work nice and easy - every 3-link railway should have one.  See marsh.lane@outlook.com  for details

shunters pole.jpg

 

A further tweak to the test track weathering.......

track spray test 7jpg.jpg

 

Taking on board CME's comments ref the colouring I agree the browner tints would be better I had hoped the brown/tan/sand colour palette I was using to blend it all in would help but it could be better. 

On the blue/grey tint that may be more to the shed lighting than it appears to the eye.

I had a few spare red & grey rattle cans which I thought might work but while the spray principle is good the colouring could be better.

 

A visit to my local B&Q for paint selection this weekend then.

 

Best.

It's all a learning curve and Im on the same path too...

 

From CME's prompting here's a photo of some track close to hand [severn Valley Railway GWR] that I can view easily.  Most of it has been re-laid and the odd siding still has wooden sleepers.

track spray test 8jpg.jpg Bewdley.jpg

 

 

Compared to what I have this is a lot softer mainly due to there being more umber tones about. the stones outside of the sleepers look grayer but inside there are all shades of rust, the main thing is it has a lot more variation in colour over quite small distances.

Certainly looking back at my first pictures I did note that the red did look a bit odd, a bit too regular.

 

I'll continue with this process but using different rattle can colours and do a bit more on the blending washes.

 

Learning and onward.

 

Regards

Less is more is better.....although I am guessing it depends on where and how the track is laid....Its coming on nicely though Barnaby....

 

Barnaby,

 

The rattle cans might be a false economy. They're typically aimed at getting a dense coat of primer on something like a car wing, rather than the subtle job of making a model look real. And they ain't cheap!

 

Do you have an airbrush? There are kits available that comprise a compressor and the brush, and you can spray acrylic and enamels, using appropriate thinners. And very good for weathering too.

 

Best

Simon

That's a very good point Simon an airbrush would be more subtle, or perhaps atop of eg. Railmatch track dirt as a starting point (from a rattle can).

 

From my POV this is all useful stuff as track colour makes or breaks a layout and I have always found weathering such a challenge!

 

I will stick my head above the parapet - herewith below is some earlier work all, IIRC (it was an age ago I built Down Ampney Sidings), brush painted, with added condiments and MIG powders. There are more tones and textures than with a running line, as this a siding whereby lots of shunting takes place, lots of loco moves and thus oil, sand and general detritus etc. gets dropped. Broken the/my gold rule of brightish orange rust on the barely used rail just before the buffer-stop. It's all in cruel close up and looks lighter in colour (please forgive the shoddy photography), more uniform to the MK1 eyeball, the ballast and cess is a mixture of old ballast and clinker/ash, all painted aspects are basically browns too. It's all okay, yet I am hoping to do better - continuous improvement sometimes ends up being supplemented by c@ck-ups though!  etc.

 

All the very best,

 

CME

 

Photos are the copyright of the author (photographer) of this Post 2010-17

Edited January 20, 2017 by CME and Bottlewasher

[81A Oldoak]

If you don`t have an air brush then you could soften things with weathering powders?.

I think that Chris has done that on Cwm Bach,but i`m not sure.

 

Cheer`s,

 

Brian.

I did indeed use weathering powders to finish my track. The photos are in the wrong order, but the track was sprayed before the ballast was laid. After ballasting, I then applied weathering powders to simulate the rust and brake dust. It takes longer than spraying with an airbrush, but it is easy to adjust the colour and density.  I think the effect is more subtle, but judge for yourself. I'm looking forward to replacing that 57XX 0-6-0PT later this year with something more accurate.

 

Chris

[Barnaby]

Lots of good tips here thanks everyone.

Simon I do have an air brush and even a selection of suitable sleeper grime and rusty rails paints from LifeColour but I thought "what if" with the rattle cans I could get near and then just do a blending finish to bring it all to life.  Certainly it was going to be quicker and time is something I get in random lumps.

 

As you know you have to do a clean down with the airbrush as the smallest amount of paint can stop you dead in your tracks.  Whereas the rattle cans just get inverted, wiped clean and they are ready to go again.

I have to accept my layout could be made to look better but if it pleases me [rule 1] and it looks something like I'll be happy.

 

I've used some sandy coloured washes down the middle of the track and it's looking better. the grey outer ballast looks too uniform so I'll use some black-ish ink washes to try and create some shadowing and tonal changes there.

If that doesn't work to my satisfaction it will be back to the air  brush

[Simond]

Hi Barnaby,

 

We do it for fun, and I entirely get your point about time. I do try to use rattle cans for rolling stock whenever possible, for exactly the reasons you give - and also, I can take the stock outside, so the house & garage don't have to stink of thinners. Some of the car colours work very well for this in my experience.

 

On the old GWR, I airbrushed acrylics on the track, and added weathering powder in places. Doesn't smell, and the layout is in the lounge, not gassing MrsD does preserve marital harmony...

 

I liked your idea of masking / blinding, and I think I'll try something similar on the loco shed, at least where we are not "50 shades of black". I wonder if either making it a sort of comb, to tuck under the rail between the chairs, or even just holding it a bit further away, to soften the edges, might take the hard demarcation away?

 

Best

Simon

[MarshLane]

Hi Barnaby,

Whether its any good for what your doing or not, but for the test bed in my study, I drew a lot of inspiration from Black Notley (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/12968-black-notley-br-eastern/page-4) pages 1 and 4, have a lot of detail on colouring and ballasting.  Im happy with how its come out overall, and shall be using the same principals and system for my new Arksey layout - albeit with some powers and black paint to simulate the darker ballast where locos are standing etc...

 

Rich

[Barnaby]

Thanks gents.

Here's the result from my last bit of tweaking with some washes, you need to look above to compare the resulting changing.

 

or add the earlier one here.

 

 

Edited January 21, 2017 by Barnaby

[CME and Bottlewasher]

Lots of good tips here thanks everyone.

Simon I do have an air brush and even a selection of suitable sleeper grime and rusty rails paints from LifeColour but I thought "what if" with the rattle cans I could get near and then just do a blending finish to bring it all to life.  Certainly it was going to be quicker and time is something I get in random lumps.

 

As you know you have to do a clean down with the airbrush as the smallest amount of paint can stop you dead in your tracks.  Whereas the rattle cans just get inverted, wiped clean and they are ready to go again.

I have to accept my layout could be made to look better but if it pleases me [rule 1] and it looks something like I'll be happy.

 

I've used some sandy coloured washes down the middle of the track and it's looking better. the grey outer ballast looks too uniform so I'll use some black-ish ink washes to try and create some shadowing and tonal changes there.

If that doesn't work to my satisfaction it will be back to the air  brush

 

 

Thanks gents.

Here's the result from my last bit of tweaking with some washes, you need to look above to compare the resulting changing.

track spray test 9jpg.jpg last attempt.jpg

Its coming along nicely.

 

Many forget - I have been accused of such things - about the fun aspect of the hobby, but I agree fully, if it aint fun and/or you've tried it once and did get on with it/like it, then do what you enjoy in the way that you enjoy it.

 

Airbrushes can be a chore, especially if one doesn't have dedicated workshop.

 

ATVB in haste,

 

CME

[Barnaby]

Ok after some pushing and shoving in the above posts I will do a tester using my air brush.

I have a big shed, compressor and filters, all the cleaning pots and fluids and a better selection of acrylic colours from the Life colour range with which to experiment with.

 

I've done a bit of searching and reading of my help/reference information and think I can do this work without much of the hassle I attribute to air brushing.  I also have a few days towards the weekend I can devote to air brushing so we'll see.

 

I will be following the principle I used with the rattle cans just with the air brush.

 

Press down, pull back, begin painting.

[Barnaby]

Ok off we go.............!

 

Today I have added some ballast to another test piece of track, it is now drying out to be ready tomorrow for some airbrush spraying.

 

Depending on  my results I will airbrush or rattle can a base colour all over the track & ballast -- then -- blank off the middle and edges of the track for rail rust painting -- then -- add detail washes & powders for oil stains and ballast variations.

 

I mentioned above that I had come up with an AIRBRUSH plan which should enable a more speedy approach to be taken and to that end I received this morning a quick release connection so I can disconnect my airbrush quickly.

between different acrylic colours.  I will disconnect the airbrush empty the paint bowl to keep for later and place the brush tip down in a 20/80 cleaner/water mix using a small-ish glass jar.  This will keep if free and easy even over night and eradicate the need to do a full clean down between colours.  A short spray through with some pure thinners or cleaner or water will then have it ready to go quickly.

 

When no more airbrushing is to be done for a while I will strip and clean the brush thoroughly ready to be stored away.

 

Initial tests this morning showed the quick disconnect and dip cleaning method did stop the brush from drying out between sprays. 

 

 Looking forward to starting the final spray up in the morning, quite enthused in fact.

airbrush & comp

cleaning jar & ballasts

This is one of my painting turn tables.  It's made from an old PC fan with a piece of conti board screwed to it, it is very free turning and easy to make.

 

[Barnaby]

Wow!   I've done a practice spray on my test piece of track.

 

I was impressed how easy using my airbrush to do this work was. 

I followed the steps I show on my CRIB SHEET everything flowed smoothly.  I made my CRIB SHEET up from tips begged, borrowed & some that just came into my mind, I will be updating it later as a couple more things occurred to me..

 

Really impressed how effective the cleaning jar [a glass] worked.  The mix of cleaning fluid 20/80 with water filled to just cover the bowl was brilliant.   This is the way to go when changing colours or leaving over night so as to be ready again in the morning.   I will strip clean when I have finished this period of spraying use before storing the airbrush away.

 

Using the airbrush definitely gave a lighter touch to the spraying, I would say a very realistic touch to it.   I sprayed all over with sleeper grime then swapped over to  rail rust there being no need to cover up any of the track as I could get down and close to make a thin spray line.

I did a blackish weathered stain down the centre of the track to represent drips, drops and spillages but got a bit too close making the stain a bit obvious.

All part of the learning curve for when I shortly start on the main layout.

 

I'm a convert "I've been behind the airbrush and I've seen the magic results obtainable"

I've now decided that I will lay all the ballasting first and spray next then add detail,   I just need to confirm where the rare earth magnets are to go to allow for best uncoupling of wagons etc.

 

So next is to run a full routine schedule on the layout following the sequence I have got planned, to confirm the magnet positions.  I also want to mix up some of the rail surfaces with concrete, cobbles etc so I will mark them out too.

 

All in all an enjoyable Friday.

 

Best

 

A little bit........

.

 

A little bit more.................

 

The crib sheet.

Edited January 27, 2017 by Barnaby

[CME and Bottlewasher]

Wow! I've done a practice spray on my test piece of track.

 

I was impressed how easy using my airbrush to do this work was.

I followed the steps I show on my CRIB SHEET everything flowed smoothly. I made my CRIB SHEET up from tips begged, borrowed & some that just came into my mind, I will be updating it later as a couple more things occurred to me..

 

Really impressed how effective the cleaning jar [a glass] worked. The mix of cleaning fluid 20/80 with water filled to just cover the bowl was brilliant. This is the way to go when changing colours or leaving over night so as to be ready again in the morning. I will strip clean when I have finished this period of spraying use.

 

Using the airbrush definitely gave a lighter touch to the spraying, I would say a very realistic touch too it. I sprayed all over with sleeper grime then swapped over to rail rust there being no need to cover up any of the track as I could get down and close to make a thin spray line.

I did a blackish weathered stain down the centre of the track to represent drips, drops and spillages but got a bit too close making the stain a bit obvious.

All part of the learning curve for when I shortly start on the main layout.

 

I'm a convert "I've been behind the airbrush and I've seen the magic results obtainable"

I've now decided that I will lay all the ballasting first and spray next then add detail, I just need to confirm where the rare earth magnets are to go to allow for best uncoupling of wagons etc.

 

So next is to run a full routine cycle as I have planned at the moment, to confirm the magnet positions. I also want to mix up some of the rail surfaces with concrete, cobbles etc so I will mark them out too.

 

All in all an enjoyable Friday.

 

Best

 

A little bit........

.AIRBRUSH 1.jpg

 

A little bit more.................

AIRBRUSH 2.jpg

 

The crib sheet.

MY CRIB SHEET AIRBRUSH.jpg

Hi Barnaby,

 

Brilliant! So pleased that you are getting on with airbrushing, the results look fab!

 

Which airbrush are you using?? I have a Sparmax & Iwata and a couple el cheepo Sparmax rip-offs.

 

ATVB,

 

CME

Edited January 27, 2017 by CME and Bottlewasher

[Barnaby]

Thanks all it was just the encouragement I needed to have a go again with my airbrush.

CME I have 2 airbrushes an Iwata Revolution-cr as my besty which seems easy to use and keep on top of and a cheapo Clake CAB-3p. The main differences are the Iwata uses a top bowl paint feed while the Clarke uses screw on small jars from underneath.  The Iwata does a very fine pencil line spray which is great for detail while the Clarke produces a broader line and is more useful for blocking in colour.

 

I'm probably going to leave my brushes handy so I can have a practice every now and then as I need to get "brain muscle memory" for detail thin spray lines, broader say track width spraying and spray dusting.  I would like these spray techniques to become 2nd nature so that I can quickly get within range of each type without spending too much time working it out.

 

Simply put closer and less PSI for thin line spraying and further away with more PSI for broader line spraying.  Dusting is produced by being further away with less air & paint released by control of the spray trigger position.

 

Best

[Simond]

Barnaby

 

I think it looks a whole load better, and I'm pleased that you're pleased!

 

Keep up the good work!

 

Simon

[Barnaby]

Ok hello, here's were we are today.

 

Over the last few days I've checked all the magnet positions and done push shove about of the wagons to prove all the couple/uncouple positions.  A little jiggery pokery was done and then all the shirt button magnets were stuck down.  I took the opportunity to update my sequence routine and swap about or change some of the business destinations/types.

 

Also while in my local DIY I found these and thought they could come in useful so I did this. :::::::::>

 

 

My ZAAAAAP-THE-GRASS APPLICATOR.

Purchases:- Mine are.    

 1 x bug static eliminator                       £3.00

1 x tea strainer [metal] 60mm dia         £1.50

Basic Method:                          Easy Peasy To Do

********Take any batteries out of the bug eliminator ********

Unscrew the HANDLE and snip off the 2 wires that feed the wire mesh of the racquet and separate. Keep the screws.

Cut the lower end of the RACQUET off for retaining the strainer back into the handle with its original screws.

Cut the handles off the STRAINER at your chosen length.

Now for the WIRING.  Where the 2 wires that fed to the racquet head were cut off solder 1 new wire to the strainer metal and the other wire should solder to the other point and be about 600mm-ish with a croc-clip on the end.

Drill a hole in the handle to feed out the wire before fitting the croc-clip or feed it up the handle before adding the sealant. Then screw the handle together again.

Decision time:

1/ you can just insert the ends of the strainer and wires into the small cut off piece of the racquet, support and fill with silicone sealant and wait until cured then screw it all together.  Job done!

2/ as above but fashion a piece of ply to press clamp the strainer and fit inside the handle when it is screwed together.

NB  Ensure to fit the strainer so the bowl access is the same side as the button is on. 

Now squeeze on some PVA glue add your batteries, connect the croc-clip into the fresh glue of the area to be grassed or nearby and press your button.  

Zzzzzzzzap the grass is a go go! 

Take care the mesh packs a wallop so keep fingers away

Mod. If you want you can get a small plastic lidded container to fit about the strainer end.    Cut a hole in the lid just smaller than the strainer rim and glue the strainer in place.

Then clip/screw the container back onto the lid and you have all the grass contained.  I've not done this yet.

 

I'll post a photo of the "solder points" and assembled unit later.

Edited February 1, 2017 by Barnaby

[Barnaby]

Wallowing in Mike's new layout posts set me a thinking what have I learnt while doing this build. 

 Well lots ,many stops, changes of direction etc etc.  Would I do things differently now? Yes very much so.

 

What have I changed "for the better" well I've kept the DCC & Sound bit but stepped back from the digital LED control panel and the digital control of my point work preferring the simpler manual approach of using a printed plan showing magnet positions, point route settings and wagon choices.  I have used the Fast Tracks Bull Frog mechanism http://www.handlaidtrack.com/bf-0002 to manually operate my point work.

Size matters micro is best.  Micro allows faster builds, items get finished quicker making for a more enjoyable time and not Oh god I've still got 300Ft of track to ballast, disenchantment lies that way. IMO

Also......

Why build baseboards when Grainge & Hoddder http://www.graingeandhodder.co.uk/ have ready sized or custom builds available and very reasonable prices.  I must say they are very good as I've used them before for a control panel they make and I'm now looking to them for my next layout boards, oh and they're local too but they do have a post out service if required. 

 

They are self assemble units which are laser cut and lock together using PVA but go look on the link they are the  mutts nuts.

I already have some thoughts on a plan which basically will be a less is more concept applying the above learnings and will write/sketch/plan afore hand over the baseboard tops expecting to avoid some of the problems I met previously.

 

I'll be starting a new Post topic if I can think of a name that will satisfy but it will be slow as I intend to finish my present build.     

 

Thanks to my digital friends on here who have helped, pushed and encouraged me over any obstacle and tasks I requested assistance on.  Salute.

 

Regards

Edited February 1, 2017 by Barnaby

[Simond]

Ok hello, here's were we are today.

 

Over the last few days I've checked all the magnet positions and done push shove about of the wagons to prove all the couple/uncouple positions.  A little jiggery pokery was done and then all the shirt button magnets were stuck down.  I took the opportunity to update my sequence routine and swap about or change some of the business destinations/types.

 

Also while in my local DIY I found these and thought they could come in useful so I did this. :::::::::>

 

stat the grass.jpg

 

 

My ZAAAAAP-THE-GRASS APPLICATOR.

Purchases:- Mine are.    

 1 x bug static eliminator                       £3.00

1 x tea strainer [metal] 60mm dia         £1.50

Basic Method:                          Easy Peasy To Do

********Take any batteries out of the bug eliminator ********

Unscrew the HANDLE and snip off the 2 wires that feed the wire mesh of the racquet and separate. Keep the screws.

Cut the lower end of the RACQUET off for retaining the strainer back into the handle with its original screws.

Cut the handles off the STRAINER at your chosen length.

Now for the WIRING.  Where the 2 wires that fed to the racquet head were cut off solder 1 new wire to the strainer metal and the other wire should solder to the other point and be about 600mm-ish with a croc-clip on the end.

Drill a hole in the handle to feed out the wire before fitting the croc-clip or feed it up the handle before adding the sealant. Then screw the handle together again.

Decision time:

1/ you can just insert the ends of the strainer and wires into the small cut off piece of the racquet, support and fill with silicone sealant and wait until cured then screw it all together.  Job done!

2/ as above but fashion a piece of ply to press clamp the strainer and fit inside the handle when it is screwed together.

NB  Ensure to fit the strainer so the bowl access is the same side as the button is on. 

Now squeeze on some PVA glue add your batteries, connect the croc-clip into the fresh glue of the area to be grassed or nearby and press your button.  

Zzzzzzzzap the grass is a go go! 

Take care the mesh packs a wallop so keep fingers away

Mod. If you want you can get a small plastic lidded container to fit about the strainer end.    Cut a hole in the lid just smaller than the strainer rim and glue the strainer in place.

Then clip/screw the container back onto the lid and you have all the grass contained.  I've not done this yet.

 

I'll post a photo of the "solder points" and assembled unit later.

Barnaby

 

I hope you have more luck with the flyswat conversion than I did. Mine was so spectacularly useless that I threw it away in disgust!

 

Good luck!

Simon

[Barnaby]

Well Simon lol, I hope so too.  Anything is better than me rubbing a balloon on my jumper and holding that over the grass.

 

It was a spur of the moment thing which I thought why not I have some small areas of grass to do I'll give it a try.

My fallback will be the Noch puffer bottle which has worked quite well for me I even copied that using a modified Lidl sauce bottle with different end cap holes, works quite well too.  What little experience I have gained shows me that you do have to get quite close to the area you are grassing for the static to work reasonably well from the bottles.  Another thing that I thought was quite smart and good for detail areas was to zap the grass on as normal then have an insulated metal probe pencil connected to a wire with a croc-clip..  Then you connect the croc-clip to the strainer rim and point the pencil at the newly zapped grass to encourage it to stand vertical in small areas.

Of course you do need to make these connections with the POWER OFF.

 

When I get the Zapper done I'll do a test showing the same grass but using each of the three applicators.

 

Not so sure I'd want to use any of them over big areas, but if they fail I have a recycling bin near me.

 

Best

[Barnaby]

Little bit of news............


The Zaaaapa still knocks down bugs even in its shrunk down T strainer mode.

Doing some tests on a spot of glue shows that you do have to be quite close to get the grass to stand to attention but as I'm only doing small patches that will be ok. Proper test to follow later.


Mulling about in my head is the desired to put into practice the "learnings" I've picked up from my present build.

The less is more project.


So the layout without a name is forming in my mind, boards from Grainge & Hodder track will be Peco [maybe also a Marcway as I want a 3-way too] and after talking with Paul of NGTrains I placed an order for these beauties......

 

Several similar layout plans are under consideration and once I've decided which one or combination of them all I'll open up a new topic and away we'll go. 

Psssst shhhhhh it may be mainly early diesel based.

 

Until then I've got my present one to complete.

 

Best