Happy 4th folks. I have been printing and working on my layout at the same time, so small increments as far as progress straight across the board. XTrackCad worked well for me as everything fell into place as designed. A few design hurtles to conquer. I have the front section of bridge expanding most of a 5-foot run. I think I may have clearance problems if my incline is not more than 2%, I may be able to go 3% and have adequate clearance, I will have to see how it works. I laid out a hilly terrain section that is intended to be a bit of a pine forest, looking at the board I am thinking I may have to rethink how the terrain rolls from front to back. These are not difficult problems to deal with, actually the problems are more fun than anything else. I'll just tweak away until it is where I want it. I think I will spray the track with rail brown at this point and start laying some roadbed.
I know exactly what you mean! I fear actually running trains on my finished layout will soon be a let-down, after the trials and triumphs of designing and building it. I like running and watching th trains, but I also like switching cars, etc., especially if some of the moves are non-trivial (yet not irritating either!) Hopefully my design goals of manually assembling/running/disassembling a local freight, switching industries, etc., all while dodging a priority through-freight/passenger train that orbits unattended, will work out harmoniously.
Good evening, folks. I spent a couple hours up in the loft tonight trying to get my highline lined up and adjusted for clearance. I think I have it as far as clearance goes. I may change the layout of the highline and remove the #6 turnout on far-left side of board. The idea for the extension in this area was to run some cars up to a small sawmill and haul out material. The mill was going to be a small outlier to the main mill in the center section which has the small yard, that yard may also be shortened to two tracks instead of the three tracks which are now in place. I may scrap the outlier sawmill and use the highline for a scenic run for the Hiawatha. I would like to let the Hiawatha travel the entire loop and enter the highline on occasion, also cross through town. The Hiawatha will be my runner while right side of the board will mostly be switching. I am kicking the idea around but haven't completely decided on which option I will use. As I move along my decisions will become more precise.
Good afternoon, folks. I was up in the loft for a short time this morning fitting in some more template pieces. I know this stage of the progress isn't all too exciting and everything usually look amess, but that's the way progress moves forward. I will move the camelback up front and put the front bridge in its place. Terrain looks about to be where I want it with the exception of trimming out the far-left edge of bluffs a bit more. No tunnel this time, just some good ole' bluffs to represent the Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota region. My clearance is very good, I may lower it slightly, I'll see how I feel about it as I move on. The original plan was to spray all my placed track rail brown then lay some roadbed, well that changed quickly, as I had to see how the terrain would lay before I allowed myself to move forward.
I have highly modified the original plan, mostly the highline and loop section. I have also eliminated the idea of a tunnel this time around and of course there is the 7-foot run of yard still to be tackled. Thanks for taking the time to check out the progress.
Good evening, folks. I'm currently working on a girder bridge I printed. I just started to give it some weathering. second stage
Good morning, folks. I do not have an update today, just a few thoughts were running through my head as I sifted through my paint selection. I'm not sure if I am different than most people, but I do know I am most definitely not an either-or person. There is just so much stuff to try and use in life that sticking to one brand seems ridiculous to me. I have tried and use many brands of paint. I found I like the way some lay better than others, and some are easier clean-ups than others, and some clog up (tip dry) more than others, etc., etc... I have found that there are 3 brands I tend to use most often when shooting through my guns - Tamiya, Badger, and Gunze (Mr. Hobby). For me, these brands tend to be hassle free and rarely clog my tip. Of the 3 I shoot most often, I would say the Tamiya clogs a bit more than the others, but it sprays just fine as far as I am concerned. My favorite to spray out of the 3 is Badger, as it has never clogged on me, and clean-up is a breeze. Having said that, I find all of the paints I use to be extremely good. The Americana and Craft smart I use strictly for hand painting (mostly groundwork and weathering), the others have all been through my guns. It has always been a curiosity to me when folks post questions asking what brand of paint they should use as I find this to be highly subjective. As I stated, these are just my personal thoughts on this subject. I encourage everyone to experiment and find what works for you. You will discover that 9 out of 10 times whatever brand you choose will work just fine. These are some of the brands I use. I did pick up some Ammo, but it is not pictured.
Great info! Just out of curiosity, what airbrush(es) do you use/like? BTW, I have that same structure (built-up) in the background on your bench. I'm torn between repainting the fence and removing it. The style of fence just doesn't fit an industrial site. I guess I could replace it with some WS chain-link fencing.
Big Jake, that building on my desk is my next project. It will be a complete tear down and repaint. As far as airbrushes go I use several. I would never recommend anything because most decent brushes with a standard needle will preform the same. I have seen so many useless arguments on the subject that I refuse to contribute to that conversation. I will post a picture when I get home tonight of the guns that I currently use.
Hi folks, as promised here an a couple of pics of my guns and 1 of my tank set-up. Some of these guns such as the Badger 150 and the Badge 200 have been with me for more years than I can remember, and they still shoot perfect. The lineup: Paasche VL Paasche Talon Badger 150 Badger 200 Badger Renegade Krome Precision Aire Treo XF RichPen 113C (nearly identical to Iwata HP-c) A couple of new guns I have my eye on: SATAgraph 4b (price is doable) prices range from about 180.00 to about 200.00 Harder and Steenbeck Infinity CR Plus (price is rather high) Spraygunner sells the kit with the .2mm and larger .4mm needle, and extra cup for 320.00 I haven't pulled the trigger on a new gun because I have all I need to do the type of shooting I do, anything else is truly overkill for my needs, but I still think I will grab the SATAgraph. I have had the Talon since the model was first introduced, so she's an old dog. The thing I found annoying with the Talon was its balance, but once I grew accustomed to the brush the balance became a non-issue. The Badger Renegade is a very nice gun, but it's another brush where I found the size to be a bit awkward as it's rather long, but it grew on me. My RichPen is probably my favorite gun and the gun I most use, but the Precision Aire is also a beauty and right up there with my RichPen. The Badger 200 GIL is a single action gun with a small gravity cup, but this simple brush is a fantastic tool. I break it out for small jobs. My Paasche VL rarely gets any use. I usually break it out if I am shooting primers.
I started the complete breakdown of Coverall Paints. I had several reasons for wanting to do this. The first reason was whoever assembled my prebuild did a very poor job as there are way too many gaps. The second reason is I find most prebuilds to look too much like toys. The final reason is, I pictured this building as something quite different than a paint factory. I have a couple poor quality macro pics of a few of the gaps.
Interesting! That building did have some pretty good gaps in the assembly. Going to be neat to see how it turns out
I just looked at mine... yep, there are some gaps on mine too. Not sure they are that bad, but then again mine weren't blown up on my computer screen either. Not Woodland Scenics' Built & Ready quality, but not WS price either.
