Bridge at South Wayside

[faraway]

I did it this time also with a brush only. My small north yard was not worth the trouble using the airbrush. And I was surprised how fast it went on (although I did use a brown with to much red this time). I do also understand that the ballast glue has some influence on the rail paint.
But I have problems to imagine how you either paint rails and ties with a small brush without painting all over the ballast or take a wider brush and paint intentionally also on the ballast and it still looks right.
I would get crazy with a small brush or end up with a 2" wide brown strip. From what I have seen so far I understand you know very well what you are doing. So I am really looking forward to learn how it is done.

[e-paw]

That paint job looks great Gary. beautiful work.

[Harry]

Gary, great work, you have super tinkered

sorry my english :oops:

[doctorwayne]

I'm a proponent of brush painting rail and track, too: it's a good way to cut down on dust in the layout room (where do you think all those dried paint particles that didn't stick to the track go?). If you use a flat but fairly wide brush (1/2" or more), with fairly stiff bristles, it'll keep most of the paint on the rail and not need dipping into the bottle so often. The stiff bristles will help to work paint around moulded-on detail such as spikes and tieplates. Whether your layout's a table-top type or an around-the-room style, paint the back side of the rails, too: on a table-top layout, all sides are easily viewable, but on the latter type, even though you won't normally see the back side of the rails, your camera will. With a digital camera, it's easy to place the camera directly on the layout, giving you views that would otherwise be impossible to see. Many of those views could include the normally-unseen sides of the rails.

Here's a scene as viewed from the aisle:


...and the same general area, as seen by the camera when placed on the layout:


...or even farther onto the layout:


Another advantage to using a brush for this kind of work is that you can utilise small windows of time which wouldn't be sufficient to accomplish much with an airbrush, yet still leave time to properly clean it afterwards. Also, with a brush, there's no need to mask anything. Got ten minutes? Open the paint, paint for eight minutes (enough to do at least 8' of plain track), then clean the brush and wipe the rail tops in the remaining two minutes. Even a large layout will be done before you know it, and painting for only as long as you want can be very relaxing - simply quit before it becomes tedious.

Wayne

[Gary S]

My thoughts exactly, docWayne. Every so often I get in the mood to paint rail and ties, so I just go to it. It is sort of relaxing too. And a lot of scenic bang for very little bucks. I use a flat brush that is 1/4" wide.

But are you tellin' me I gotta paint BOTH sides of the rail???? Awww man!

[Gary S]

Some more ballast on the track. Those big high slopes are a pain! Gotta take your time and go slowly with the glue.

   

[Mark S]

Gary,
A few posts back,someone was talking about simulating rivets. Has nayone tried using a pounce wheel? Micro-Mark sells them in three different rivet spacings and they work really well. Bill Darnaby used these a few years ago on some strapping he was adding to some Tichy tank cars. I made the purchase and once you get the feel for how the wheel works you'll be very pleased with the result.

Mark

[railbuilderdhd]

Gary,
I didn't get here till late so I didn't get to follow along and I didn't read all the post in the 13 pages but I had to comment as I really like what was done here. I think you are a real dedicated modeler to build each section out of styrene and not make a mold and cast the sections out of hydrocal. Well done!

I really like the bridge you modeled and I really like the way your model turned out. Job well done (I know it's not completed yet but well done!)

Dave

[Sumpter250]

Dave,

I was just a bit......"confused".....when I saw this was your second post, and your first, was over two years ago !

So, I'll say once again, and hope we hear from you a bit more often. This really is a good place to visit, contribute to, and learn from.
Pete

[faraway]

...Those big high slopes are a pain! ...

Gary, I do use a two step process for ballasting slopes.
1. apply white glue with a brush on the slope and throw a thin layer of ballast on it.
The first layer of ballast creates a very uneven surface that holds the final ballast very well
2. apply the final level of ballast as usual (ballast first, glue later)

[Gary S]

A few posts back,someone was talking about simulating rivets. Has nayone tried using a pounce wheel? Micro-Mark sells them in three different rivet spacings and they work really well. Bill Darnaby used these a few years ago on some strapping he was adding to some Tichy tank cars. I made the purchase and once you get the feel for how the wheel works you'll be very pleased with the result.

Mark, do you use real thin plastic to make rivet strips? How about a photo of some you've done?

[Gary S]

I really like the bridge you modeled and I really like the way your model turned out. Job well done (I know it's not completed yet but well done!)

Thanks Dave. Right now I am working on the backdrop and scenery around the bridge. All that is located on the last three pages of the following thread: <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2275&start=1005">viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2275&start=1005</a><!-- l -->

[Gary S]

I do use a two step process for ballasting slopes.
1. apply white glue with a brush on the slope and throw a thin layer of ballast on it.
The first layer of ballast creates a very uneven surface that holds the final ballast very well
2. apply the final level of ballast as usual (ballast first, glue later)

Thanks for that tip, Reinhard. I did some more ballasting at the South Wayside bridge last night. I did have a few places where the ballast "eroded" down the slope. Of course, that can be fixed later. I'll give your method a try.

[Mark S]

Gary,
The styrene that I used was either .005 or .010. Using this wheel and a straight edge will give you all the rivets you need . Like I mentioned,the wheels come in three different spacings,so it makes the tools a little more versatile for your modeling requirements. I haven't used it in quite a while,but if I were to get into a bridge situation like yours,I would definitely use it. Considering your talent with styrene,I think you could build a bridge from just styrene instead of using a CV or ME kit to begin with. You might be able to go to the Model Railroader archives and see if Bill Darnaby's article is in there. If not,just google pounce wheels. I think it will give you what you need to know.

Mark

[doctorwayne]

If you're using a pounce wheel to make rivets, especially in styrene, work with sheet material rather than strip. The wheel will deform strip as it displaces the material somewhat. If you use a sheet, work along a suitable straightedge, then cut out strips of riveted material as required. Also, for varying rivet types and sizes, vary the material upon which you work. Glass works well as a hard surface, and adding varying thicknesses of paper will alter the shape and appearance of the rivets. Different types of wood can be used as a work surface, too, but avoid wood with a very pronounced grain.

Wayne