The Empire

[Raymo]

Catching up on this thread as well Dr. Jeff.  Everything's looking A-OK!

[S&S RR]

Looking good Jeff - you are moving right along. I'm hand painting the track on my layout a section at a time and I'm real happy with the way it is turning out. 

[Zephyrus52246]

Thanks for checking in, guys.  I decided to spray the track with Krylon dark brown camouflage paint.  I then watched a Trainmasters TV video where Mike Confalone paints his track.  First he sprays the same paint.    Then he individually paints ties with Polyscale mud/concrete/dirt paint thinned with water.  I did the same and added poly RR tie brown, which is a bit greener than the brown paint.  It's drying now.  Use a Q Tip with some lacquer thinner to clean the tops of the rails quickly, so the paint comes right off.  The next step is ballast.  I got a bag years ago which was supposed to be similar to CB&Q ballast.  It looks more like sand than anything, and I didn't really like it that well.  I have another ballast on order which should be here in a few days which is a "midwestern" color.  If I don't like that I'll get some of the Scenic Express blended gray and see how I like that.  I've removed the bridge so when the track is finished, I'll tape it over and finish the landforms. 


Jeff

[ACL1504]

Jeff,

I agree with the others, the layout is coming along nicely. Great job on the track. I weather my track pretty much the same way but don't have the light colored ties as often.

Tom

[Zephyrus52246]

Thanks for watching, Tom.  After painting the ties, I used a Floquil Rail Brown "Pen" to paint the rails.  These are still available from Testors.  This gets some of the tie plate/spikes as well, making them a rustier brown than the ties.  I then applied the ballast.  This is an interesting mixture of light and dark grey, with some buff as well.  I like the color and will use it on the rest of the layout.  I then went and used some pastels on the rails, then used Hunterline Creosote black diluted 50/50 with alcohol on the ballast between the ties, and about 1:10 outside the ties.  This really evened out the color of the ties (thanks for the idea, Tom) , but seemed to remove some of the pastel as well.  I tried cleaning the rail tops with lacquer thinner, but I worried about the thinner squeezing out of the q tip and getting on the ties/rails, and it wasn't doing a very good job of removing the paint anyway, so I used some 1000 grit sandpaper.  I then reapplied the pastels.  I think it looks pretty good.  The pictures aren't very good, the lighting in the room is uneven.  At any rate, I now have an attack plan and a ballast color for the rest of the Empire.   


Jeff

[jimmillho]

Now that is some good looking track.

Jim

[RWL]

Jeff,

Before you paint the rails, apply a thin coat of oil to the railhead.

Take a piece of wood wider than the track gage and wrap a piece of old cotton cloth tightly around the wood. Apply the oil, "3 in One" works fine, don't saturate the cloth, but use enough to leave a thin film of oil on the rail. Spray, brush or use the pen and paint away, when the paint dries and after you have weathered the ties, take a clean piece of cloth again wrapped tightly and wipe the railhead. Do this a couple of times changing position of the cloth and you will have no problem removing the paint.

What you have already done looks great.

Bob

[deemery]

You might still be able to find "3 in 1" pens, they work -great- for applying oil to the rails prior to painting


dave

[ReadingBob]

I'm enjoying following your progress Dr. Jeff.  Thanks for sharing your process and thanks to Bob and Dave for adding some tips to the track painting part.  If/when I ever get around to building a layout again I'm learning a lot of stuff (I hope I remember) from threads like yours, Tom's, etc.   

[Zephyrus52246]

Bob and Dave, thanks for the suggestion.  Interestingly, the Krylon comes right off with a cotton swab dipped in lacquer thinner used quickly after painting.  It was the Floquil pen paint and chalk that was a pain to remove.  I thought I had some 3 in one oil here, but it seems to have gone missing, so I'll get some before I paint the next section.  Bob B.,  thanks for looking in.  I'm trying my hand at painting some hydrocal rock castings.  The rocks I'm trying to replicate are grayer than they are brown.  The casting on the left is closer to what I'm looking for, but it's still a bit dark.  I have two more castings drying to try later.  I used very light grey craft paint and unbleached titanium for the undercoat color, using the "leopard spotting" painting technique.  Then just a spot or two of raw umber, finishing with a Payne's Grey wash.  I think the wash needs to be a bit more dilute.  I then dry brushed some of the under colors and then plain white over the top.   

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

Still experimenting with the castings.  Used white instead of the light grey.  Diluted the black more.  The rocks are lighter, but the ones with less black are much less "dramatic" as well.  the right third of the left casting looks the best to me.  Three more castings drying, but I'm getting pretty close here.   I also put down the homabed on the peninsula where the siding goes, now I'm looking at how I want to put in the turnouts. 


Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

I've started the trackwork for the siding.  I wasn't 100% sure how I wanted the turnouts placed, so this stretch is just spiked in place.  I'll glue the curve down.  Wanted to check the clearances with passsenger cars and it looks OK.

Jeff

[ACL1504]

Jeff,


Wow, you have been a little busy. The layout is looking great. BTW what is the radius of the curve in the second photo above?

Love the long shot view of the layout.

Tom

[Zephyrus52246]

Thanks, Tom.  Not as busy as you.     The curve radius is 48 inches for both tracks on the double track curve. 


Jeff

[postalkarl]

Hi Jeff:

looks really great. Nice progress.

Karl