Superior & Seattle Railroad Build

[postalkarl]

Hi John:

Trees look great. Keep up the good work. Like thwe casting of the brick wall to.

Karl

[S&S RR]

Hi John:

Trees look great. Keep up the good work. Like thwe casting of the brick wall to.

Karl

Karl


Thanks for stopping by the thread and for the encouraging words.  I'm going to have to learn how to build structures as fast as you do to get this layout done.

[darrylhuffman]

John, I just read your comments on wearing gloves while using the hot glue gun.

I have burned my fingers so many times I wonder why I never thought of gloves.

Thanks for the tip.

[S&S RR]

John, I just read your comments on wearing gloves while using the hot glue gun.

I have burned my fingers so many times I wonder why I never thought of gloves.

Thanks for the tip.

Hi Darryl


Thanks for stopping by the thread.  I got the idea from Frank Baker when I visited his layout in AZ a few years ago.  He had this pair of white gloves all covered with hot glue and explained he never got the hot glue gun out without putting on his special gloves. Like most things in model railroading it was such a good idea I copied it and bought some. They work great - no more dancing the hot glue on my hand dance. Just plain old white cotton gloves do the trick.

[S&S RR]

I completed the next step in our Trains of Texas casting project.  I tried the cheaper Smooth-on mold material. It worked better than the blue 1:1 from Micro-Mart but not even close to the 10:1 Micro-Mart material at holding the fine detail.  I will be using this mold and the one from the blue 1:1 Micro-Mart for my road castings where the mortar detail will be filled in more anyway. I should get a few good hydrocal castings from the molds.

[S&S RR]

The next step in this project will be the Smooth-On Star 30 mold material that was recommended by Marty and Tom. 

[darrylhuffman]

I will be following this with interest.

I have tried the MicroMark and Alumilite.

I have an unopened box from Smooth On to play with.

I find making castings addictive.

And just as expensive as other addictive products.

[S&S RR]

I will be following this with interest.

I have tried the MicroMark and Alumilite.

I have an unopened box from Smooth On to play with.

I find making castings addictive.

And just as expensive as other addictive products.

Hi Darryl

Let us know how you make out when you try the Smooth-On product.  As to our addiction,  my wife says it could be worse.


Thanks for following the thread.

[martin.ojaste]

I've tried most of the various Smooth-on resins. I found Task 2/3/4 hold detail very well. And yes it is addictive.

[S&S RR]

I've tried most of the various Smooth-on resins. I found Task 2/3/4 hold detail very well. And yes it is addictive.

Marty


Thanks again for the tip. I tend to use hydrocal for most of my castings - but I'm going to be making a few structures out of resign that are going to be right up front and within reach.  Fixing a paint defect from a bump is bad but a chip can really ruin a model.

[S&S RR]

I made a lot of progress with the benchwork inside the mountain.  This is all track work that is necessary but not visible. It will be a few weeks before this project is completed. I also decided to add a hidden yard inside this mountain (Mount Kara - my Grandson says we need a mountain named after his mom), that will be operational by camera. I need storage for my rolling stock and this will be a great place to do it.  I can make 12 foot long sidings - I just have to decide how many I want to add. This area will be completely covered so dust will be much less of a problem. It will also be accessible when needed by crawling under the layout. Very easy to reach and work on.


Does anyone have any suggestions on a camera system to use?  I'm looking for a system that gives me visibility for about a 4x12 foot area on a small monitor that will be mounted by my control panel. I basically need the backup camera from an automobile. I have seen them used on layouts that I have visited over the years but it has only now become an area of interest.

[S&S RR]

I also decided to pull ahead the two small HOn3 trestles needed for Mount Kara and get started with them on that empty work bench that I cleaned off last week.

[S&S RR]

Tonight, I broke my three projects at a time rule so I could get started on a build for "The First Annual Raymo Build Challenge of 2016".


I will be building the C. C. Crow White Stone Church kit for the layout and detailing the build in a build thread.  See the link below to follow along.






http://modelersforum.com/kit-building/c-c-crow-stone-church-first-annual-raymo-build-challenge-2016(img)httpmod/msg52446/#msg52446

[S&S RR]

I also made some progress on the Trains of Texas Casting project.  The Star 30 mold material came in and I poured the mold for the T of T casting.


This will be the final mold for the project.  Now it's time to put them to use making both hydrocal and resin castings.





The Star 30 molds are a nice blue color.

[S&S RR]

Just so we don't loose track the five projects I have going right now are.


1) Finishing the upper level track work.


2) The Trains of Texas wall castings.


3) The two trestles for the HOn3 line.


4) The Jacob's Coal FSM Build.


5) The White Stone Church C. C. Crow build.


We are multi tasking now.