Erie Railroad Mahoning division HCD

[Ed Kapuscinski]

You can also hit it with a mist of white too.

[DKS]

Those spray clouds are quite decent. You can improve them, though, by making a first pass with a medium neutral flat grey spray. Then repeat the same pattern, shifted slightly vertically, with white. This will give the clouds some body.

[Dave V]

I've been using Behr Morning Haze as a very hazy Eastern sky color.  Under some light it does have a purple to it, but under 6000K lighting it looks just right.  My whole train room is painted with it:

[Chris333]

This is what I'm rollin' with.

Bottom is the primer
Bright blue I didn't like
Light blue that was too light
a mix of both of them with primer and a little red added.

And i just chucked up a building for contrast.


When I look at photos I keep thinking they look as if I was an N scale person taking a photo, I'd be looking up. But on a layout (even my tall one) I'm looking down.

Then here are 2 pics of the old layout with the same camera:



And I don't know what it is about flat white spray paint, but it is the worst. The whole room fills up with a fog. 

[DKS]

And I don't know what it is about flat white spray paint, but it is the worst. The whole room fills up with a fog. 

I hear you. When I did my skies, I removed everything I could from the room, and covered the rest. Then I closed the door, opened a window, and put a box fan in it. Not sure if you have external access to your basement that you could do something along those lines, or maybe a little window...

[wm3798]

What you're smelling is the propellant if you're using spray bombs...  If you have an airbrush, use that with white craft acrylic thinned with water.  Wear a dust mask and call it good.  Minimal fumes, and more control over where the paint goes.

Lee

[Chris333]

The smell doesn't bother me, it is the white dust mist that gets on everything. I spray flat black all the time without the same effect.

[Scottl]

When I airbrushed clouds, I used my shop vac hose in one hand, the air brush in the other, and used the vac to control the over spray.  I also wore a mask and used craft paint.  I found no paint on surfaces afterwards, and all I covered was the track immediately below the backdrop.

I used ear protection to, since it was a small room and I had the vac on for almost an hour continuously.

[Chris333]

Painted my track.



Only 3 tracks done so far, but this is how I aligned the staging tracks.

[davefoxx]

That's pretty slick, Chris.  Not to mention the length of track capacity saved with no yard ladder.

[tappertrainman]

Great job on the plate, nifty solution and 80 inches is plenty for HCD sized trains.

[OldEastRR]

I should stop by this thread more often ..... as one of the first lonely voices calling for an interchange track at the B&O (and Chris telling me it just wouldn't work) I'm glad to see the new trackage there. I'm wondering what was the turning point that made him change his mind?
Anyhoo, the extra track makes the crossing look more complicated than before, which is a good scene to have on a small layout which can't afford huge areas for scenic splendor.
Put some shallow drainage ditches around it.

[Chris333]

Peer pressure    I just didn't think it would fit till I checked... glad I changed it.

[Chris333]

Worked in this corner. Did the ballast through the backdrop. I added an old building I had along the track leading to staging, behind the backdrop. And I bought yet another Middlesex Mfg. 

[Scottl]

That is turning into a rather graceful exit for the rails.