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LSP_K2

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Shed "crudded up" a tad. Pastels should finish it off. It's just a set piece anyway. These were just painted steel buildings, but even at that I've added way too much rust, so I'll tone that down a tad as I proceed.

 

GQgkZy.jpg

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I had really hoped this would work, and it does! Since track and ballast were all painted with acrylics, a Q-Tip moistened with denatured alcohol was used to remove paint from the rail contact area. This process will come in very handy later.

 

SITQIn.jpg

 

 

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I painted a few ties just for giggles, pastels smeared down the center as I have seen in rail yard photos. A few more hours and I think I’ll be almost finished with the base. Once I have rusted up the rails a tad, the same Q-tip trick will be used to reveal the metal sheen below.

 

pE7EXv.jpg

 

 

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On 12/25/2010 at 1:16 PM, Typhoonattack1 said:

Just to break up the monotony, I've sprinkled a couple of shades of grey pastels on base in a random fashion. Still more to do though.

 

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I used to commute from Connecticut to New York City via the New Haven Railroad and I found the best place to get an idea of what weathered ties look like was right there on the station platform while waiting for the train to arrive. I commuted from 1967 to 2003 (not bad for what started out to be a temporary job). Over the years the fortunes of the New Haven RR changed as it became the Penn Central RR then Conrail and finally Metro North. In 1967 the railroads had deteriorated to the point where many of the ties had rotted out between the rails. The colors varied greatly. The original creosoted ties were almost black or extremely dark brown and the rotten ones had sections that approached gray. It got so bad that on hot sun shiny summer days a carelesly tossed cigarette would set the ties afire. Then the railroad finally had enough government money to replacle all the rotted ties. Late in the last century they started replacing all the wood ties with cast concrete sleepers and installed continuous weldled rails.

I suggest that if there is a well used railroad in your area to go to a station or even a crossing and look at the ties. You can get a lot of good ideas for coloring the ties on your model. By the way, be careful about photographing them. Railroad fans have been harassed by overzealous cops and railroad guards and you might be suspected of being a terrorist. Paranoia runs deep nowadays.

Stephen

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the input Stephen, but I'm building this for me, not the railroader nuts. :) I do intend to vary the colors of the sleepers somewhat, as I have seen that myself. I have railroad tracks all over the place around here, so gathering information isn't too difficult.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I decided that at least a portion of the weekend would be devoted to this effort. To that end, all remaining ties have been painted. Rails treated to a combination of oil paint rust and pastels to dirty them up a bit. Using a Q-tip, I removed the acrylic paint from rail tops, revealing the steel sheen below. I'm really happy that this actually turned out OK. First coat of linseed oil applied to walnut veneer as well.

 

31LY0L.jpg

 

8fhh68.jpg

 

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I decided that at least a portion of the weekend would be devoted to this effort. To that end, all remaining ties have been painted. Rails treated to a combination of oil paint rust and pastels to dirty them up a bit. Using a Q-tip, I removed the acrylic paint from rail tops, revealing the steel sheen below. I'm real happy that this actually turned out OK. First coat of linseed oil applied too.

The whole thing really looks very good. :clap2: It certainly does not look like an OOB build.

Have you decided what are you going to place on the track? Seems a shame to cover it with a train.

Stephen

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The whole thing really looks very good. :clap2: It certainly does not look like an OOB build.
Have you decided what are you going to place on the track? Seems a shame to cover it with a train.
Stephen


Thanks Stephen. Yes, this will have the Revell AG Big Boy locomotive and tender. And you're right, it does kind of suck to cover up all that track, but about 95% of the track will not be seen once this effort is completed.
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