024 The Augusta Railway - Prime Time!

The surface is ready.  So let's paint!  Today's special guest start on The Model Railroader's Notebook is Marie Perry, better known as The Wife.

Marie is a very good house painter.  I've asked her to come in and help me with painting tips for large coverage areas.  She was willing to help, which probably means that I'm going to have to buy her an expensive dinner somewhere soon.

First we get ready to paint, which Marie says is the most important part.  We are using drop cloths and not plastic.  When paint hits plastic it stays as a wet puddle for a while, making it very easy to track all over the carpet.  Drop cloths (in this case they are old sheets) are much better, quieter, and provide less chances of slipping.  Next, we taped off areas that don't need to be painted.  The bottom few inches will be behind the layout scenery, so we taped them off so that we could see the screws easily in case we need to take the backdrop down.  Marie also lightly wiped the dust off the backdrop with a damp towel.

More prepwork!  Today Marie will show me how to use a paint cup.  I know how to spill one, but don't know how to properly use one.  We also have a paint tray and an expensive roller for smooth surfaces.  Marie puts newspaper down to catch spills.  She spends several minutes carefully stirring the Glidden Grabber Primer.

Marie stationed several damp washcloths around the layout for cleaning up latex spills.  I'm the only one that made drips in case you were wondering.

Marie loads up only the tip of her brush, and then wipes off one side.  Then she starts painting the edges first since the roller won't easily go all the way to the top of the board.  The cup has two sides, one for paint and the other to hold a brush when you set it down.  Notice that she doesn't hold it by the handle, but by the paint cup side.

Using the loaded side of the brush, she carefully starts at the top edge of the layout.  She positions herself properly on a small stool so that she is eye to eye with her delicate work.  I watched her paint about two feet, then took over the meticulous task.

I'm slightly taller than Marie, so I didn't use the stool.  Mostly I tried to take my time and paint the edge as carefully as possible.  Marie said I did a good job.

Marie grabbed the roller and made quick work of the majority of the backdrop.  Here you can see that the paint is wet and shiny.  The work goes really fast with two people, and the finish was great.

Here the paint is dry, about 3 hours later.  We'll leave it alone until tomorrow to make double sure that it is dry.  The surface is smooth and one coat appears to be all we'll need.

After drying I spent a few minutes looking at the backdrop.  Rats!  There are problems with it that I didn't see while prep and painting!  I'll have to fix those.

The supervisor, Katie Perry, drops in for a quick look and can't figure out why daddy's sky is not blue.  Trying to explain why a primer coat is needed to a two year old seemed to be difficult, so I gave her a kiss and told her that mother wanted her upstairs.

I had one countersunk hole that didn't get a screw.  How I missed this is beyond me, but once the paint was dry it stood out quite nicely.  Grabbing the spackle, I patched up the hole.

There was one spot where the spackle fell out of the hole, probably while painting.  I touched it up and a few other spots.  We'll sand it flat tomorrow and I probably won't bother to re-prime it.

Tomorrow....BLUE SKY!