Gibbon, Cozad & Western - "The 100th Meridian Line"

[Scottl]

What, not sky blue?  I thought this building was going to house a layout. 

Things are looking pretty finished in that shot.

[C855B]

What, not sky blue?  I thought this building was going to house a layout. 
...

It still can be blue. This is just the primer. 

Robyn asked about sky color, as well. I vacillated for a while, then came to the conclusion that that much blue was not going to work for 13-14' walls, especially the effect it would have on ambient lighting. However, where the benchwork abuts the walls I'm envisioning a fade from white to a light sky with the fade starting about 8' from the floor and ending at the benchwork. I just have to figure out how to do it... pointers appreciated!

Sherwin-Williams is a block away, and we have to run over there this morning for 10 gallons of overcoat (white, eggshell finish). We have graced their counter so often they started giving us the pro discount early last year... probably out of pity. That's really nice of them, since the discount brings their prices in line with the big-box home improvement stores, and there are special paints in their catalog you're just not going to find at Lowe's. I'll take it wherever I can get it.

[C855B]

[back from breakfast]

As to "looking finished", yeah, I can't help but stand in awe after turning on the lights and having the full impact of the whole thing hit me, especially understanding that the long journey is a few weeks from being over. What's really great is that it has not beat us down, but, rather, energized us as we get fired-up about what we get to do when it's done. We're excited, no doubt.

[Scottl]

I sure wish I had wall to ceiling sky blue!  You are probably right though that it would be too much.

[C855B]

Robyn had an idea, which is to wait until the effects lighting goes up before doing anything with color. Use the lights to "wash" the walls with sky tint - basically an extension of the whole effects lighting concept. While I have my doubts, this thought is creative and certainly intriguing enough to try. Sure beats painting and then not liking it, that's for sure!

[Scottl]

That is a good idea, but I wonder if the reflective color might not be a natural as a painted surface?  It won't hurt to try (aside from rigging the lighting).

[GaryHinshaw]

I have no regrets about my sky blue walls, but I picture something more bold and innovative for the G,C & W. 

How about experimenting with tinted acrylic panels as sky boards and then subtly illuminate them from below with something like LED strips (maybe different colours for different effects).   If the panel were tinted a very pale blue, and illuminated from the bottom edge (below scenery level) with a bolder blue, it might even support a gradated hue from bottom to top.  (Money is no object, right?)

[C855B]

> ...innovative...

Robyn was describing a process where she and a couple of friends would load me into a cart holding a spray gun set for a light mist, and I squeeze the trigger while they push me around the room.

"Virtual skies" exist - http://www.virtualpanels.com . That's the ticket - TV screens lining the walls with sky images.

Seriously... we are still brainstorming trying to find ways to apply graduated color. The car custom paint guys do these fantastic fades, but usually those are within an arm's swing - a single start and stop of a spray gun. The challenge is a layered, multi-pass spray over a very large area. There is a technique called "ombré". It sounds reasonable enough, but execution over 125' worth of wall is going to be daunting.

OTOH, "Daunting" seems to be our middle name.

[3DTrains]

Robyn was describing a process where she and a couple of friends would load me into a cart holding a spray gun set for a light mist, and I squeeze the trigger while they push me around the room.

Not far from what I would try. Paint the walls a very pale blue or white, then use something akin to a camera dolly that moves along a track, has an adjustable tripod (or similar contraption) with the spray gun attached, and then move it parallel to the walls, adjusting the amount of "blue" that's shot out (more along the top; less along the bottom).

Either that, or perhaps attached/hold the gun while operating your rolling scaffold unit:



Probably not ideal, but might work in a pinch.

Cheers!
Marc - Riverside

[C855B]

Hmm. I like the "camera dolly" idea. Has promise.

... Either that, or perhaps attached/hold the gun while operating your rolling scaffold unit:

...

You have no idea how little control that thing has. The joystick is touchy touchy touchy. It's the nature of the beast, apparently, because I replaced the joystick in attempts to calm it down.

Current research/experimentation is tracking towards brushed or rolled stripes using the ombré technique, with special open-time additives to keep the paint wet for more than a few minutes. We are discovering that the new low-VOC, low-odor paints dry so fast it's hard to tell on subsequent coats where you started and stopped when painting in sections.

[3DTrains]

Hi Mike,

You may be able to add a bit of glaze to the paint to prevent it from setting too quickly while blending. Also be sure not to mix the paint yourself. Decide on the darkest to lightest colors and blend a series of color swatches to get close to the effect you're after. Afterward, have a few pints mixed at the paint store to use as a test (you don't need many - perhaps 6 or 8 different shades will do it). Once satisfied, get a few gallons and finish that room!

Cheers!
Marc - Riverside

[mcjaco]

Afterward, have a few pints.

Fixed.

[C855B]

Fixed.

My favorite watering hole shut its doors two weeks ago or I'd be all over that idea. Still mourning that situation so we haven't started the search for a new dive.

Marc, you have an interesting thought. Why do you advise against blending our own in-betweens? If the concern is horizontal consistency, I'm not too awfully concerned since there is variance inherent there, too, which we should also be able to dry-blend. I also have thoughts that the "sky blue" should change with each region represented - a hint of brown in the Los Angeles area, deeper blue in the high desert, and hazy faded as we get to the Midwest.

I plan to test with a N-Trak skyboard already on my project list, hoping that what we learn there can be scaled up. This is a job for the resident artist, clearly, but it's going to be interesting translating her techniques with oils on a palette to an entire room.

[C855B]

Minor setback last night which may push the completion schedule out. 2x4 LED troffers have suddenly become a problem, and placing these lights in the grid has to be done before the tiles and insulation is up, and they also dictate wiring placement.

The one I tested and really liked is made of unobtanium now, apparently a victim of Home Depot's aggressive buying policies (beat-up a new, overoptimistic supplier on the price, supplier tries to recoup losses on the next run, hold supplier's feet to fire trying to reduce price further, yada yada yada). Best-guess ETA is July, after previous estimate of February. Obviously I'm writing this one off. So I ordered a comparable product from HD, went to pick it up yesterday, and every friggin' one was damaged in shipping. I rejected the entire order, and will not try again until they get their act together.

Alternative suppliers are too expensive, nearly double the cost. I could go with more-available 2x2 lights, but that also increases expense, doubles my wiring burden and the end result is more complexity above the grid.

So I'm on standby. The guys in the lighting department at Menard's here say they're expecting a 2x4 product to arrive any day, but it's not in the system yet so they have no real idea of what they're getting until it arrives.

[sigh]

[3DTrains]

Marc, you have an interesting thought. Why do you advise against blending our own in-betweens? If the concern is horizontal consistency, I'm not too awfully concerned since there is variance inherent there, too, which we should also be able to dry-blend. I also have thoughts that the "sky blue" should change with each region represented - a hint of brown in the Los Angeles area, deeper blue in the high desert, and hazy faded as we get to the Midwest.

Unless you're super-detailing the backdrop with acrylics, you'll want to have some consistency throughout. Variance in colors can be a detractor to the rest of the railroad, especially if your goal is to represent differing regions, which is best handled by the terrain and foliage. For most backdrops you're best off with a single color, or in your case, a blend from azure to light blue/white (something I would like to try someday). Of course it comes down to personal choice, but IMHO, there's very little return varying one region backdrop to another tho'.

Cheers!
Marc - Riverside