The Carolina Sandhills Lines in HO Scale

[davefoxx]

Dave, fantastic scene! Even though you model spring time, but this Minnesotan can already feel the overwhelming southeastern heat and humidity in this image. I'll be grateful now for the cold and snow we have coming tomorrow- you can keep that swamp heat down south!

As for gravel, my first thought was the Home Depot brand "Fawn" color sanded grout that I've used before. I'll see if I can find an image. It's may be more tan than you need in your proto image, but perhaps it could be faded into a more whitish-tan?

Great progress- the road looks great too.

Lucas

Thanks!  I'll take a look at that "Fawn" color of grout the next time I go to The Home Depot.  Oh, and I'll keep the heat and humidity, you keep the snow and cold, and everybody wins!   

DFF

[Bendtracker1]

Dave I used the Home Dumpo Fawn grout.
Turned out pretty good.
The color can always be adjusted with powders or washes.

 

[nuno81291]

Dave I strongly recommend looking at poly blend (Home Depot) natural gray and haystack. I use the sanded natural gray everywhere to represent gravel roads/lots and it is the best product I have come across. [ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[milw12]

Dave, I remember a January day back when I was in 17 or so. It was ten degrees after two weeks of -20, and thinking that it felt quite balmy and warm! That's when I knew I wasn't leaving Minnesota, unless I head north 
Anything over 72 is far too hot and let's not include dew points...!

Nuno and Bendtraker are correct, it's Poly Blend brand 'Fawn' from Home Depot. Allen's application is better than mine- you can see it in the background, to the right of the trees in this image, but I feel it represents the coloring well.



Still too tan but might be a staring point?

Lucas

[davefoxx]

@milw12,

Between the Fawn recommended by you and @Bendtracker1 and the Natural Gray and Haystack recommended by @nuno81291, those colors ought to get me in the ballpark to mix and blend together to get the mottled effect of that gravel lot in Aberdeen, North Carolina.  Thanks, guys!

I remember back in law school, some friends and I went skiing in the Poconos.  It was 2 degrees Fahrenheit on the mountain, not counting the wind chill.  That evening, we were back in Philadelphia where it was twenty degrees, and we running around in short sleeve T-shirts, because it felt so balmy compared to the ski trip.

DFF

[peteski]

I think that's the key to making masking tape work- stippling, which also provides immediate weathering in addition to not bleeding under the tape.  I would try that next time, if I could find the correct size tape for between the double yellow lines.  But, I do have to note that when I applied masking tape to the road to mask off the patches, the tape left marks on the road surface.  Thankfully, most of the marks were minimized when I weathered the roads.  I suppose a recommendation would be to stick the tape to a piece of glass before sticking it on the road, to get rid of some of the stickiness, so as to not pull paint or leave marks.

Thanks,
Dave

IMO, sticking tape to a piece of clean glass will not change its stickiness. But if you stick it to your forehead, the oils (and some dead skin - yuck!) will make the adhesive less sticky.  There is also a special Scotch pink tape with very low-tack adhesive available for delicate tasks.  That might work for you.

https://www.findtape.com/3M-Scotch-2080-Delicate-Surface-Painters-Tape/p852/?vid=9225



Some online info seems to suggest that it might just be a type of Washi tape (like Tamiya tape).  I never tried it myself.

[davefoxx]

I’ve owned these Athearn FP7s for almost three years.  Probably two years ago, I gutted No. 867 and upgraded the sound decoder from Tsunami to an ESU LokSound decoder.  I never got around to doing No. 857, because squeezing the LEDs in for a headlight and a Mars Light wasn’t easy for me.  The Athearn look-at-them-funny-and-they’ll-blow incandescent bulbs had to go.

This past weekend, I tried to buy a LokSound V5.0 decoder and a Decoder Buddy for No. 857.  The LHS was out of decoders, but, tonight, I scrapped an IM SD40-2 (that’s a story for another post) and robbed it of parts, including a LokSound Select decoder, which I reprogrammed to an FP7 file.  I still have to install the LEDs in No. 857, but I’ll reverse engineer the job from No. 867.  Not fun, but I’ll get it done.

I’ve got these two engines consisted back together for the first time in years.  Sweet!  Who doesn’t love cab units?  JFRTM!



DFF

[nuno81291]

I’ve owned these Athearn FP7s for almost three years.  Probably two years ago, I gutted No. 867 and upgraded the sound decoder from Tsunami to an ESU LokSound decoder.  I never got around to doing No. 857, because squeezing the LEDs in for a headlight and a Mars Light wasn’t easy for me.  The Athearn look-at-them-funny-and-they’ll-blow incandescent bulbs had to go.

This past weekend, I tried to buy a LokSound V5.0 decoder and a Decoder Buddy for No. 857.  The LHS was out of decoders, but, tonight, I scrapped an IM SD40-2 (that’s a story for another post) and robbed it of parts, including a LokSound Select decoder, which I reprogrammed to an FP7 file.  I still have to install the LEDs in No. 857, but I’ll reverse engineer the job from No. 867.  Not fun, but I’ll get it done.

I’ve got these two engines consisted back together for the first time in years.  Sweet!  Who doesn’t love cab units?  JFRTM!



DFF

Scene is looking outstanding. Love the F units. Consider modeling a guy in a beat up old Jon boat fishing that marshy area (removable of course). I know that’s what I would be doing in that water!

[Steveruger45]

Road stripes.  Been doing a bit of experimentation in line (pun intended) with earlier post.  In short am not happy with the results.  Plus, I’m in n scale and getting the gap between two long lines right without semi destroying what was done first is the main problem.  Been using the low tack non bleed Frog tape and a stippling paint application.
So I’m thinking to apply this tape to a sheet of glass and cut out the lines leaving tape between for two parallel lines, with a sharp blade first then apply the tape and do both lines at once.   Basically make a self adhesive stencil.  Will see how that goes.

[davefoxx]

Road stripes.  Been doing a bit of experimentation in line (pun intended) with earlier post.  In short am not happy with the results.  Plus, I’m in n scale and getting the gap between two long lines right without semi destroying what was done first is the main problem.  Been using the low tack non bleed Frog tape and a stippling paint application.
So I’m thinking to apply this tape to a sheet of glass and cut out the lines leaving tape between for two parallel lines, with a sharp blade first then apply the tape and do both lines at once.   Basically make a self adhesive stencil.  Will see how that goes.

I think you’ve got the right idea.  Report back after your attempts, please.

DFF

[peteski]

. . .
 Been using the low tack non bleed Frog tape and a stippling paint application.

From what I understand about Frog tape non-bleed property, the non-bleed stuff is only applied to the tape's edge, and it only works with water-based paints (like latex house paints). it absorbs water from paint in order to produce a tight seal.  If you are not using the tape's original edges, on not using water-based paints, then the frog tape doesn't' seem to give any advantage over other masking tapes. Unless you just prefer its green color. 

To me Tamiya (or Washi) tape is much easier to deal with (thinner and softer) than any regular masking tape.  If burnished properly, it provides really tight seal.

[Steveruger45]

I agree with you Pete. I used the Frog tape mentioned as that is what I have on hand.  I tried cutting the stuff on a glass sheet to form a stencil. In n scale at least the sizes are very fine and the cutting is is tedious and fraught with mistake possibilities.  I lost count on those before I was through, by the way. 
In short this is not a good solution for road stripes, at least in n scale.  Once I did get a section cut it won’t bend cleanly for curves and it did bleed just a tiny bit . Although when pulling it off, the base color stayed intact.

Conclusion.  There has to be a better way.
One might be paint the line colors first, then mask off and apply the road color.

[Angus Shops]

Gravel parking lot: I suggest you not worry too much about the colour to start with, but concentrate in the getting the texture right. Using “n scale” ballast on an HO layout might be a good starting point for loose gravel, but compacted gravel will have an even finer texture. Once you’ve got the texture right go back and ‘paint’ the surface using an airbrush, rattle cans and/or dry brush, using variation in shades of grey and brown. In my experience trying to get the texture and colour right in one pass is asking too much.
Geoff

[peteski]

. . .
Conclusion.  There has to be a better way.
One might be paint the line colors first, then mask off and apply the road color.

Yes, that works (at least for me).  Years ago I built a very small diorama (about 5" square) to showcase RR crossing signal I was selling, and that's how I painted the road markings.  But of course the paint has to adhere really well to the road surface, so the tape doesn't  pull it off.

[davefoxx]

This past weekend, as noted above, I replaced the stock Tsunami guts in an Athearn FP7 with an ESU LokSound decoder.  I received no stubbornness on the part of the DCC gods in getting the electronics (power, motor, sound, and lights) to work on the first go-round.  Yay!  The tricky part was concealing the wires to the headlight and the Mars Light from being visible in the cab. 

Success!



. . . or so I thought.    I discovered this only after I secured the shell with a couple of screws and then reinstalled the couplers and the coupler boxes once the shell was in place.  Yeah, that’s one big black snake; no wonder there’s no crew in the cab!



Although, looking at the poor fit of that windshield, maybe it’s just that the gasket fell out.  Well, I’m not going to be the one to go in and find out! 

DFF