Seaboard Central 2.0

[dnhouston]

Well done.  Looking forward to seeing what you do next.

[wm3798]

Water looks great.  Time for supertrees and a fishin' hut.

[davefoxx]

It's been a while since my last update.  I tore out my first attempt for the road through Aberdeen, which was built with lightweight spackle, and made a second go at it, using regular joint compound.  After several days of drying with touch-ups (a second coat of joint compound) where necessary, I lightly sanded and wet-wiped to create a smooth surface.  I cut in the flangeways with my NMRA gauge as a screed, and the trains run well through the railroad crossings.  I would appreciate some suggestions for how to paint the road to create the most realistic look for blacktop.


A few weeks ago, I finally laid down a coat of paint on the first section of track, as I prepare for ballasting (the double track section at left in the following picture).  I attempted to paint the lesser used tracks with a rust color on the rails, before overspraying the track from above with grimy black.


Here, you can see how I used a lower profile roadbed under the two sidings in Southern Pines.  I've had no problems from the vertical curves causing any derailments or unwanted uncouplings.


DFF

[wazzou]

Looks great Dave. 
RE: roads, generally speaking, when I use lightweight spackle, I always try to tint it first by blending in some gray Craft Acrylic paints and Indiia ink.
I've also, tried to mimic a method I saw in a NSR some years back by
John Socia.  The article was about Mark Bridgwater's Western Pacific layout. 
I can find the issue and scan the article if you'd like.
The only roads I've seen that were more appealing were all of the roads I've seen DKS do.

[davefoxx]

Bryan,

I used lightweight spackle the first time, and I tinted it.  The color was fine for an undercoat, but the surface was too soft.  I also couldn't get as smooth a texture, as I could with joint compound.  I didn't tint it this time, because I didn't pave the entire road at once.  Since I likely couldn't match the color in different sections, I just decided to forego that step.  I was careful around the tracks to ensure that the rails are higher than the road, so that I won't take the road surface off with a track cleaning block.

Thanks,
DFF

[DKS]

Since I likely couldn't match the color in different sections...

Nothing wrong with this. It's hard for the guys laying 1:1 asphalt to get the color to match, too.

[davefoxx]

Nothing wrong with this. It's hard for the guys laying 1:1 asphalt to get the color to match, too.

I realize that, and actually intend to mismatch at obvious places, e.g., parking lots and driveways.  But since I was experimenting with joint compound, I didn't try to install all areas.  Plus, I knew I was going to go back in with a second coat at places.  I put the first layer on thick and knew it would shrink and possibly crack while drying.  I didn't want a mottled effect, which would look totally wrong.  But, looking back on it, I guess that wouldn't matter, if I was intending to spray paint the road anyway.

I may go in with a thinned acrylic paint to almost stain the road before painting with a spray bomb.  I cannot recall how you painted your roads on the James River Branch, but they were the best looking model roads that I have ever seen.  What was your technique?  I remember that the roads were styrene, but what was the paint?

DFF

[DKS]

I remember that the roads were styrene, but what was the paint?

Two shades of primer grey (Krylon, Rust-Oleum, whatever). I sprayed them one right after the other, so the paint almost blended together on the surface.



Followed this with a light coat of black ground pastel chalk brushed on along the centers of the lanes.

[davefoxx]

Thank you, DKS.  That picture was the exact one etched into my memory.  The primer gives a nice, flat finish.  Two shades of primer, huh?  I wouldn't have thought of that.  Genius!

What's the striping?  Is that yellow and white paint that you somehow masked or freehanded?

DFF

[DKS]

What's the striping?  Is that yellow and white paint that you somehow masked or freehanded?

Colored pencil and a ruler. You need white under yellow, because yellow is translucent. I didn't quite nail the registration of the two passes, which is why there's a bit of both colors visible.

I'm a complete convert from plaster materials to styrene for roads. It would have been quite a challenge to make this grade crossing with plaster (not impossible, just a lot harder):

[Ian MacMillan]

What thickness styrene did you use Dave? I'm finding after about 6 months the for sale sign styrene I was using on the SIB is buckling

[DKS]

What thickness styrene did you use Dave? I'm finding after about 6 months the for sale sign styrene I was using on the SIB is buckling

.030". But I also make sure it's bonded to the layout with 100% coverage of Loctite Power Grab adhesive. I was shooting the layout in the sun and the roads quickly overheated, and I saw some slight warping, but it went away after the layout cooled down inside. Some of the first roads I made were about four years old before the layout was trashed, and they showed no signs of buckling or distortion.

[Rich_S]

Colored pencil and a ruler. You need white under yellow, because yellow is translucent. I didn't quite nail the registration of the two passes, which is why there's a bit of both colors visible.

I'm a complete convert from plaster materials to styrene for roads. It would have been quite a challenge to make this grade crossing with plaster (not impossible, just a lot harder):

Dave, Your roads look fantastic. I've also switched to styrene for roads, but had not thought about colored pencils for the lines, great tip.

Regards,
Rich S.
Modeling the P&WV in "N" scale

[davefoxx]

Due to being out of town and work obligations over the last few weeks, I haven't touched the layout in a while.  I did, however, obtain some new acquisitions:

1) This Life Like L&N GP38-2 shell from John.  I placed it on an Atlas frame, like the Seaboard System GP38-2 it's mated to in this picture:


2) The building formerly known as the commissary on Lee's defunct WM Western Lines:


3) This Seaboard Air Line car from RockGp40 that will one day be extremely weathered to look as an old 1960s box car that has survived in to the '80s.  I plan for it to even keep its running board for contrast to the rest of my fleet.  It may not be able to go into interchange without those upgrades, but that's okay.  This car has already received body-mounted couplers and Fox Valley metal wheelsets.


Thanks, guys.  I'll enjoy these items and remember where they came from.

DFF

[davefoxx]

In the interest of getting motivation to work on the layout, I ordered three Hex Frog Juicers this evening.

http://www.tamvalleydepot.com/products/hexfrogjuicer.html

A few turnouts on the layout are, as expected, starting to cause locomotives to hesitate through the frogs.  On my last layout, I used Caboose Industries ground throws to throw the switch and power the frog.  Functionally, they were great; esthetically, they were butt-ugly, to put it mildly.  This time, I used slide switches, which look better, but I really didn't want to use them as electrical switches to power the frogs.  If a locomotive runs through a turnout against misaligned points, using slide switches to power the frog, the locomotive will short out, potentially risking damage to the DCC system or decoder, if the circuit breaker doesn't trip.  The Hex Frog Juicer, on the other hand, will auto-correct the polarity, so I can just about forget about them once installed . . . okay, except for the derailment for running a train through a turnout that's not lined correctly.

Alright, alright, they ain't exactly cheap, but the Hex Frog Juicers are a lot easier to install.  There's only eight wires to six frogs, and only six connections have to be soldered!  That eliminates up to ten wires and twenty-four solder connections per six turnouts, as compared to the way I wired the Caboose Industries throws on the last layout.  Sweet.  I also expect the Frog Juicers to be a lot more reliable than the slide switches I used to throw the turnout and much easier to install than fabricating linkages to run Tortoises through two inches of foam and a HCD.  Plus, if a slide switch breaks or gets gummed up when ballasting or other scenery work, i can just pop it out and replace it.  There's no wiring to them.

I'll be sure to provide an update when the parts are received, but that may be a week or two.

Stay tuned,
DFF