Newly weathered and a video

Taking advantage of the still mild Chicago winter, I was able to weather all three sections of new structure.


My weathering is about as basic as you can get: All the structure is painted with Rustoleum Automotive Gray Primer out of rattle cans. Once dry, I slop on a mix of water and black craft paint over everything. Once dry, I dab on some Burnt Umber acrylic paint using a foam brush to simulate rust. I let that sit for about 5 minutes and come back over this with the mix of water and black paint. This will wash away most of the burnt umber but enough will stick.


I have an airbrush, but too much work to set up then clean. Plus, the insides of the structure are hard to reach with an airbrush.

I haven't gone back and added any weathering with powders...but I might. I prefer a well worn look to my structure.


Shooting some hoops in the hood:

And finally, a new video I took showing the whole layout:

I've got some older videos on my YouTube channel, to which there is a link on the upper right hand corner.

New structure is painted

Thanks to Chicago's cold winter only lasting a couple of days, I was able to get the new structure painted. I will weather it shortly.

Pictures for Sunday, Feb 12

Winter has finally arrived in Chicago (cold at least), so too cold to paint. So, took some pictures instead.

One step closer to paint

I finally finished the cross bracing on the structure. Next step is to paint, but since I paint outside, and winter finally decided to arrive in Chicago, I don't know when that will happen.

The wooden catwalk between the rails will be supported by the cross pieces that span from girder to girder.

How to build L structure - new station - part 5

I have completed all the support girders for the platforms for the new station. 


Right  now I am adding the cross bracing on the girders, while using a train to maintain the proper spacing between the train/track and the girders.


But, alas, construction again has come to a halt as I am out of materials again.


The cross bracing will tie all the support girders together. They will just rest on top of the track structure. That way, everything can be removed for working on each component part.


Also, a quick weekend project has been added ... a basketball court for my Cabrini Green housing projects. This was my first try at making chain link fence, so its a little rough. But, that goes with the neighborhood. Eventually I'll fully scenic around the court and make a small park.

I still need to finish the housing project in the background, paint and weather the L structure, cover the ground, add sidewalks ... a whole lot to do. As with any model railroad, you've got to finish the trackwork first.

How to build L structure - new station - part 4

One side of the station's girders have been finished. The wooden decking structure will go on top of the girders. I will add cross bracing between the the girders to tie all of them together. I probably won't attach the platform girders to the track structure...makes things easier.