2020 Challenge Carolina Craftsman Kit #CCK1359 - AD Low & Company

[jerryrbeach]

Greg,


The adventures of airbrushing...  Up until about six months ago I last used my airbrush probably 20 years ago when painting some boxcars I built from Tichy kits.  That was my first time spraying acrylics after years of Floquil and it went seamlessly.  Last fall I wanted to airbrush a truck I was building.  I checked out a couple YouTube videos, mixed my acrylic brew and whoosh, what a nasty mess ensued.  There was no recovery so I tossed the truck in the Superclean, stripped it and started over.  This time I went back to my old standby, dug out my Floquil and had at it.  Well, sh*t.  After a couple light passes I had a puddled mess.  And, that is where it stands today.  The moral of the story?  If you don't use it, you lose it!     Don't feel bad, back in the dark ages I used to do custom painting and building and now, I sure wish I lived closer to Tom and could tap into his expertise.


As far as your roof.  It looks great.  FWIW, depending on the age of the metal roofing, it could have been painted and would by now be streaky, to say the least.  At least in my part of the country it is common use a silver asphalt based paint to paint the roof, especially those on barns, etc.  I have always brushed this onto my roofs, my dad (and now my nephew) had the roof on that barn sprayed by a commercial company.  The metal roof on that barn was installed in the mid-1930's, and with the re-painting is still shedding water today, roughly 85 years later. 


My point?  I brush paint my models' metal roofs with a couple thin coats applied vertically.  By the time I add even a smattering of rust to the roof it looks fine.  Not to say you shouldn't airbrush yours if that is your method, just that you can IMO get a realistic looking metal roof without breaking out the airbrush.

[deemery]

Jerry, I get good results from the inexpensive TCPGlobal airbrushes.  My guess would be that the seals in your airbrush failed.


dave

[jerryrbeach]

Jerry, I get good results from the inexpensive TCPGlobal airbrushes.  My guess would be that the seals in your airbrush failed.


dave

Dave,


I'm pretty sure it is 110% operator error in not getting the correct paint mixture, spray needle pattern adjustment, and air pressure.  I did pull the airbrush completely apart and cleaned it and all the seals seemed fine. 


Are the TCP Global brushes similar to the ones at Harbor Freight?   Just curious, mine is an old Badger brush and I thought the harbor freight brushes looked more like a copy of my old Badger.

[GPdemayo]

Hi Jerry.....sounds like you had a fun time too. I have always hand painted Floquil with a brush and using the air brush this was quite interesting.

Trying to hand paint any large kit with a brush is very time consuming and I can see where this will come in handy with a few of the larger FSM, B.T.S., SRMW and SW kits.

Also in looking at the finish the air brush does, it would have been great to use on a wooden boat hull I hand painted years ago. It would have given me a smoother, better looking finish.

Live and learn.....thanks for looking in. 

[ReadingBob]

Hmmm....if you spill paint from a bottom feed bottle remind me not to lend you my airbrush with the color cup on top.      

I hope to break out my airbrush this weekend to paint a slew (over 60) of windows and doors for the build I'm currently working on. 

[deemery]

Jerry, I haven't looked at the Harbor Freight brushes.  I know the TCPGlobal brushes use cheap rubber seals, in fact I had to replace a seal in my favorite brush (I got a Harbor Freight neoprene seal set, 250 o-rings I won't use for the 6 I needed :-) :-) )


dave

[postalkarl]

Hey Greg:

It's looking really great.

Karl

[GPdemayo]

Hmmm....if you spill paint from a bottom feed bottle remind me not to lend you my airbrush with the color cup on top.   

I hope to break out my airbrush this weekend to paint a slew (over 60) of windows and doors for the build I'm currently working on.

You're probably right Bob.....the bottom fed brush was dangerous enough, but the open top cup would add a whole new dimension of me getting into disaster. 

[GPdemayo]

Thanks for the nice thoughts and looking in Karl. 

[GPdemayo]

Looks good Greg, I would have struggled with the capping.

Thanks Lynn.....the ridge cap wasn't too bad, except that it was so narrow (scale 8 or 10 inches I think) it was hard to position on the brake to get equal width on both sides. Had to scrap 2 before I got on that was right. 

[GPdemayo]

Hello and happy times.....the stay at home is slowly being lifted!

I've made a little progress on this build and the end is getting in sight.

I wanted to get the window and door glazing done, but after getting off to a rocky start.....I got aggravated and quit. I'll get back to it later this week and hope it will go a bit better.

I moved on to the little things that I've been putting off, mainly the perimeter gaps between the bracing and the sub-floor for the 2nd floor.....see page #3.

I wasn't thinking ahead when I installed the bracing Jeff recommends and forgot about the removable floor I was going to put in for the 2nd floor. As a result, I cut the sub-floor material to the inside dimension of the bracing inside of the inside dimension of the exterior walls. I probably also got lazy or in a hurry and didn't cut it to the walls and add notches in it to allow for the wall bracing.

To remedy the gap, where light could leak thru, I used some scale 12" material and glued it to the top of the sub-floor between the vertical bracing. This should be a good enough fix, as long as nobody gets close enough to look in the windows.

Exhibit #1 - (ADL-076)


Next, I installed the large doors on the 1st floor. The opening in the wall is just a tad larger then the doors and they are of the peel & stick variety and there is nothing but air in the gap.....nothing for the doors to be adhered  to. Looking at Jeff's instructions, I didn't find any mention of the door installation, so I jury rigged a backing and glued it to the inside of the wall.

Exhibit #2 - (ADL-077)
 

Exhibit #3 - (ADL-078)


With the support in place, I installed the doors and trim.
   
Exhibit #4 - (ADL-079)
 

That's all I've had time for this week. I'll tackle the window glazing again and finish up some of the minor details and be close to the end for this build.

See y'all next time.....

[cuse]

Looks great Greg. I'm enjoying the build along with you!


John

[ACL1504]

Greg,

This is really looking good. Great build.

Tom

[Mark Dalrymple]

Coming on nicely, Greg.

Cheers,Mark.

[PRR Modeler]

It looks great Greg.