Tuesday, December 17, 2013

081 The Navajo Mining Railway - Station Decor

I'm going to finish the assembly of the station soon, but I want to paint it first.  The color that it was originally was very east coast.  I need western colors for the high desert.  Let's go look for some photos.


This little depot is the perfect prototype!  This is the Perkinsville Depot in Arizona.  The colors and the roof really give the feel of a western depot without it looking too much like something on the D&RGW.  I especially like the roof.

Here are my color choices:

Walls - Floquil Depot Buff F110087
Roof - Floquil Oxide Red F110186
Trim - Poly Scale Panzer Red Brown F505112


Always test your colors.  It only takes a few minutes.  I'll be painting basswood, so I'm going to use the underside of the model's base, that way I can have it when I need it.  You can see the paints I've pulled down.


The best way to get stuck lids off is to use a nutcracker.  I keep one on the paint cabinet for just such a purpose.


Once you open the lid, immediately wipe off the lid with a paper towel or rag.  This will keep it from drying partially on the bottle opening and then later fusing the lid to the bottle.  Honestly, if you take your time and handle paints correctly they will last years.  Floquil paints are gone, so I'm treating these like gold.


Next I wipe out the lid, again, to keep it from sealing shut.


Too get into the small crevices of the threads, I use a Q-tip.  Always use Q-tip branded swabs as they work much better than the cheaper versions.  I can go through a box of them quickly.


Using a disposable brush, I make two brush streaks on the wood.  Then, I write on the wood what the color is including the bottle color number, just in case I want to build another one sometime later or I need to do some repairs.  Repairs are constantly needed on modules, so if this winds up on one, I can look on the base, see what the colors were, and quickly repaint the scratched or damaged part.  See!  I'm not as crazy as my wife says I am!


Once all three paints are on there, I let them dry overnight.  I can already see that the roof red/brown color is too brown and I'll need something a tad more red.


I put the bottles back on the shelf, and usually mark them for the project with some masking tape...but for some reason I can't find a roll.  That's ok...not much going on in the paint shop, so I'll remember what they are for.

Here are some other photos of the Perkinsville Depot




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