Expert advice (hints and tips)

[B.R.fan]

Dear Trev
I have found the easiest way to paint rabbits is with a brush as spraying can be a little messy not to mention time consuming, by the time you mask off the areas you dont wish to paint Down here in New Zealand it's a railway station and trains travel on tracks (no road trains) the trains are pulled by locomotives and pushed by shunters. when you ballast track remember to keep the ballast just below the sleeper height around moving parts everything should still work after the glueing process. I also use a brush to move the ballast around after first placing with a teaspoon, it is surprising how little it takes to go a long way,and even more surprising how long it takes to do the smallest amount.

cheers for now
dave

[Trev]

Originally Posted by B.R.fan

Dear Trev
I have found the easiest way to paint rabbits is with a brush as spraying can be a little messy not to mention time consuming, by the time you mask off the areas you dont wish to paint

Like it Dave, like it!

The only problem I have now is how to get the BR symbols on their ears.

[tomfassett]

Originally Posted by Trev

...The only problem I have now is how to get the BR symbols on their ears.

he, he, he!

Tom F

[dave55uk]

Buy concrete coloured paint!
I 'm pretty sure Humbrol do it.

[B.R.fan]

Quite correct Dave55uk
Humbrol do make concrete colour it's # 95.
Now I must add that although I have a tin of the stuff myself that I'm not sure if it's still in production or not,but as I bought it within the last year I should think it was still available.It does quite a good job especially after a bit of weathering with a dry brush, hope this helps

cheers for now
Dave.

[tomfassett]

The Humbrol is a better match than the Polyscale in my opinion. Tamiya is pretty good as well, although I prefer the Humbrol. Only problem I have is finding it in the States. I find that the Polyscale "Concrete" is a bit too blue-gray and the "Aged Concrete" is a bit too yellow. I get a better approximation by buying both and mixing them together.
One little secret I saw a long time ago was to use a salt wash on the surface before the paint completely dried. I saw an "old codger" do this when I was--well, not yet a codger myself... He mixed regular table salt with water and washed it unevenly over the surface. It mixed a bit with the still tacky paint and created a great "mineral stain" look when it all dried. Adding the wash before the paint dried completely created a softer "edge" between the lighter stained areas. I tried this a few times myself with mixed results. It is something I always intended to go back to for experimenting.
Another wash that I use for mineral stains is finely powdered white pastel chalk in alcohol. I add very little chalk to a 35mm film can of denatured alcohol. As the alcohol dries, it creates uneven areas of lighter stain.

Tom F

[B.R.fan]

Just a little imformation on the whole concrete colour saga,I was in my local model shop yesterday and thouoght I should check to see if you can indeed still get #95 and wouldn't you know it humbrol don't make it anymore.However it's not all bad news as humrol have published a booklet showing how to mix it ourselves so I copied the recipie down and here it is.
28 parts #103
34 parts #17
1 part #101
with a bit of weathering it looks pretty good
hope this helps some one
cheers Dave.

[paulncc1705]

too much talk of concrete paint here.Best option is to mix it yourself.Everytime a builder mixes real concrete it always comes out a different colour from the last time they mixed it anyway,and then it gets all sorts of muck on it.

[paulncc1705]

oh! and Dave do Kiwi rabbits have the big or small ears.

[paulncc1705]

Trev .If you do bite the bullitt and try flexy track try using a mini drill with a small disc cutter on it, it makes life much easier,but wear goggles!I Model in N-Gauge to and am about to try it with Digital Command and Control.How to get a decoder into an 08 shunter is my problem.Oh and what colour do I paint the pigeons?