I just added a new post on the layout design blog of my business site HERE.
http://shelflayouts.com/2016/06/working-structures-into-your-design/
Model Railroad Blog
Nothing Is Black or White
The subjects we model are out in the elements. They are ravaged by the weather which takes it’s toll and does so quickly. The end result is a color spectrum that will always drift towards center. Darks fade and light colors shift to gray. Although, at first glance, subjects may appear to be pure black or pure white, they very rarely are. They’re charcoal and light gray.
Photo editing software has a tool called an eyedropper which, when you use it to click on an area, will show you exactly what color it is. I’ve illustrated this in the shot above where you can see the true colors of the crossbucks and signal face.
Black
Instead of pure black, use Rustoleum Dark Gray primer. If you want to step to an even lighter gray, try Rustoleum Painters Touch 2x Ultra Cover Flat Gray Primer #249088.
White
Instead of pure white, try Model Master “Light Gray” #4765. If you’re using rattle cans, lay down an initial layer of Rustoleum Light Gray Primer and then lightly fog on a layer of Flat White. The underlying gray will show through and tone down the brilliance of the white.
New Design Blog
Wrote layout design blog entry on making design features “Pay Their Freight” on my business site.
http://shelflayouts.com/2016/06/making-design-features-pay-their-freight/
Gloss Doesn’t Scale Down
We can’t solve a problem if we aren’t aware of its existence. One appealing aspect of railroading is the sheer, awesome, mass of our subject matter. Prototype rolling stock is huge and the challenge as a modeler is finding a way to capture that in miniature. A very, very subtle modeling problem that we face is that glossy surfaces don’t scale down. A glossy prototype locomotive or freight car looks real in a photo because…well…because it is real. What if we want to model a subject that has such a glossy surface? We have a problem. As we move from prototype to model, our challenge becomes apparent. A level of sheen that looks fine on the real thing looks like a toy when applied to a model. We lose the sense of mass. As modelers, we need to develop an awareness of this inconvenient reality. Each person needs to decide how they want to handle modeling newer or generally cleaner looking subjects. Personally, I think I’d take the route of applying a dulling agent and just forgo additional weathering.
High Horsepower Locals
One of my blog followers, a prototype “railroader”, sent me the following note:
“I’ve noticed that when I see models of locals they tend to always have a 4-axle diesel or two as power. On my district it’s common to see 2 or 3 six-axle units on locals and even as yard switchers. The ever-popular NS Heritage units have been used on locals and yard jobs. Local P30 is a Winston-Salem NC to Greensboro, NC turn job. The reason for having 3 units on this job is due to the amount of “overhead” cars being transferred from North Winston Yard in Winston-Salem to Pomona Yard in Greensboro. The head-end cars on the train known as “shorts”, are blocked for local industries on P30’s route.
Below is a video I shot prior to my employment with NS of local P30 working the Triad Lead in Colfax NC. This industrial spur has currently 3 active customers although there are more out-of-service sidings present. It also features a run-around. Boise Cascade receives centerbeam flats of lumber and is the most active. O’Neal Steel just recently began receiving gondolas and bulkhead flats of steel. In order to service O’Neal, the run-around has to be utilized. The least active is Box Board Products. I relieved P30 one afternoon a year ago and my work order showed a single boxcar to spot at Box Board.
On this day in 2008, the crew was retrieving an empty centerbeam flat from Boise. The only grade crossing on this lead lacks flashers and has to be flagged by a crewmember. Two Dash 9’s and an SD70M serve as power. ”
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Part 2: