Superior & Seattle Railroad Build (Volume 4) Started 8/14/21

[deemery]

John, the alcohol-wetted track remained white?  Bummer!  (I wonder if you could go back over that section of track with pigments to cover up the white, rather than trying to reballast.)


dave

[S&S RR]

John, the alcohol-wetted track remained white?  Bummer!  (I wonder if you could go back over that section of track with pigments to cover up the white, rather than trying to reballast.)


dave

Dave


Yes it did! As I said above no more alcohol as a wetting agent.  Water with a couple drop of dish soap works fine - no need to experiment with this anymore.  I tested it at the end of the siding where there is more dirt than ballast on the tracks and ties.  So I just covered the white with dirt and re-cemented with with wet water and matte medium - all fixed.  I'm in the process of adding more scenery in the area, today.

[NKP768]

Thanks for the heads up on this John. I've looked at this product before and have always been a little leery of the alcohol mixing with the water. Good to know.

Doug

[deemery]

John, thanks!  I'm pondering how to affix the ballast and ground texture in my staging yard.  Now I know one thing to not do... 


Before I do the main line ballast, I have to cut in an expansion joint and then fix the kink that developed over the summer.  I don't like trackwork to begin with, and I really dislike track maintenance!


dave

[S&S RR]

Thanks for the heads up on this John. I've looked at this product before and have always been a little leery of the alcohol mixing with the water. Good to know.

Doug

Doug




The one time I read the instructions and I should have just stuck with my old proven technique.

[S&S RR]

John, thanks!  I'm pondering how to affix the ballast and ground texture in my staging yard.  Now I know one thing to not do... 


Before I do the main line ballast, I have to cut in an expansion joint and then fix the kink that developed over the summer.  I don't like trackwork to begin with, and I really dislike track maintenance!


dave

Dave


Just use wet water to wet everything down - you got to have the soap in there.  Just a couple drops will do it in a standard size spray bottle. Then use Matte Medium to glue everything down. I make mine from concentrate 4 parts water to 1 part matte medium.  I will post a picture of the applicator that I use. This method has never failed me.

[S&S RR]

Update:  Working on scenery - it sure takes a lot of stuff.

[PaulS]

Looks like a man with a plan John !!
Organized chaos ....    Have fun and looking forward to seeing the result !!
--Paul

[ACL1504]

John,

Looks like you've been very busy. Yes, scenery does take a lot of different stuff.

Since everyone is giving you their thoughts on scenery, I'll share mine here as well.

I apply a layer of white glue and then add the first scenery base. After an hour or so I go the the next step.

I take a 16 oz Ace Hardware spray bottle and us one full squirt of the Photo Flo by Kodak. I fill the bottle to the 10oz level and then add the Photo Flo to make the wet water. It immediately breaks down the scenery to receive the Matte Medium. I apply it one day and the next morning it is dry and ready for the second addition of scenery.

I've used both the concentrate and the ready mix. Lately, I've been using the ready mix as I've become lazy. Both methods work very well. By the way, I've never used the watered down white glue method for securing scenery.

Also, I don't spray the matte medium on, I use the plastic pipette to add the medium. This gives me better control of the application.

The layout is looking great my friend.

Tom 

[S&S RR]

Looks like a man with a plan John !!
Organized chaos ....    Have fun and looking forward to seeing the result !!
--Paul

Paul


Organized chaos is a good way to explain it.  The carts that you see in the picture roll neatly under the layout when not in use.  The drawers are filled with scenery materials and supplies. I also have plastic bins that stack under the layout for the bulky supplies.  When I'm working, it's just like my workbench organized chaos on the top of the carts and all over the benchwork. Usually its getting everything where I can reach it when I stick my head up though the benchwork that generates the chaos.

[S&S RR]

John,

Looks like you've been very busy. Yes, scenery does take a lot of different stuff.

Since everyone is giving you their thoughts on scenery, I'll share mine here as well.

I apply a layer of white glue and then add the first scenery base. After an hour or so I go the the next step.

I take a 16 oz Ace Hardware spray bottle and us one full squirt of the Photo Flo by Kodak. I fill the bottle to the 10oz level and then add the Photo Flo to make the wet water. It immediately breaks down the scenery to receive the Matte Medium. I apply it one day and the next morning it is dry and ready for the second addition of scenery.

I've used both the concentrate and the ready mix. Lately, I've been using the ready mix as I've become lazy. Both methods work very well. By the way, I've never used the watered down white glue method for securing scenery.

Also, I don't spray the matte medium on, I use the plastic pipette to add the medium. This gives me better control of the application.

The layout is looking great my friend.

Tom 


Thank you for describing your technique for applying ballast.  I think the big difference between your technique and mine is the photo flo in place of the dish soap.  I believe they both do a good job of breaking the surface tension and get the Matte Medium to flow and wet the surface properly. I agree that spray bottles with Matte Medium are dangerous in my hands.  I end up with the stuff on everything.  I use an applicator that I've had for 25 or more years. I bought 6 of them at the time and still have 4. I probably will find the other two under the benchwork at some point.    I need to go take a picture and will post latter, tonight.  Thanks again, for following along and your contributions to the thread.

[S&S RR]

As promised, here is a picture of the applicator that I use to apply the Matte Medium.

[postalkarl]

Hey John:

You are quite welcome. I'm enjoying what you are doing.

Karl

[S&S RR]

Update:  I have added three layers of scenery to the area around the locomotive works at this point.  I'm taking pictures as I go and will post the pictures of each layer once I get to the point were I like it enough to consider it close to being done. I don't think scenery is ever really done - I keep adding to the areas of the layout that were declared done years ago.  


I'm real happy with the new static grass applicator - it's called a "Static King" - I bought it through ScenicExpress.  I finally have an applicator that will do a good job of standing the 6 mm fibers up on end.


I'll have some pictures to post by this weekend, if all goes well.

[deemery]

John, what are you using as the glue for static grass?


dave