I recently bought 3 packs of the micro brushes. I assume when I use water based paint I can clean and reuse them or are they designed for one time use only? What do folks use to clean a paintbrush that's been used to apply liquid glue? Regular paint thinner? I have the same problem that Kahn had in Star Trek II, I only think in 2D. I have a siding where my scrap yard will be. The track slopes down from roadbed to the foam. I 'm trying to give the impression of track that has little or no ballast and that has sunk down into the ground. Do I whip up a batch of sculptamold and slather (love that word :tb-biggrin it around, or do I use a little ballast and some "dirt/turf" from WS to give look of higher ground? I know one of the board members used cardboard to build up the area inside his wood fence. Bruce
I'll answer the first two and leave the third to others as I've never done it before. 1. Yes, you can wash and reuse. I've done it many times. They are done when they start losing their fibers. 2. I have a dedicated brush for liquid glue. After I use it, I just let it air dry w/o cleaning it. Next time I need it, I just dip in the liquid glue and it comes back to life.
When I first laid track in my yard, I never even thought about the height difference. Eventually, I filled the spaces between the tracks with Durhams Water Putty, the same stuff I use for roads. (I buy it at the hardware store.) That worked well for filling in the narrow spaces between the roadbed sections. I'm putting in another multi-track yard now. This time, I'm using Woodland Scenics foam roadbed sheets, so there's no gap between the roadbed sections. I slathered (yeah, good word) Gypsolite between the sidings to give me a more natural surface look. Another option is too not use roadbed for single sidings, but rather take the track down slowly to the sub-roadbed level.
What I have made use of for many years to fill in irregular areas in scenery is building sand. Once it's gone I may try play sand which is probably cleaner. I do run a magnet through the building sand to get any iron particles that are in it. I can push it around till it has the right appearance. It's great for handling changes in level or building up around tracks and buildings. Once it looks right it gets a misting with wet water and a flood of diluted 50/50 white glue. It can then be painted and covered with other scenic material just like plasters or foam. If it gets wet, it does get soft but the white glue will harden back up as it dries. I also have painted it with a brush or airbrush to look like gravel, then dusted it with real dirt. With two coats of latex house paint followed by a light grey finish coat it looks like asphalt. Here's a look at a yard office with the commercial base buried in the sand. George v.
I have used sheet cork (about 1/8 inch thick) to raise the area like you are describing, in the past. I just cut it to fit between the tracks and then add the ballast or what ever material I was using in the area to "hide" the ties. Yes it still takes the same depth of material between the rails as normal, but the rest takes less. Gary
I have recently tested Lowes paper bagged building sand and plastic bagged play sand. The building sand was non-magnetic. The play sand had quite a bit of magnetic particles in it. Other stores/brands may be different. Even other locations could be different than here in Eastern Iowa. As GeorgeV says, always test for magnetic particles.
You can reuse for painting. Cleaning a brush that has glue on it? If Elmer's or Aline's soap and water right after use. If some other non water based glue, more of the glue itself the next time you will use it. Third question - cardboard, sheet styrene, Durham's Rock Hard Putty, Sculptamold, or any filler. Be aware that the more cardboard, styrene or other material you use, the less filler will be required.
