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Get a few ideas od How to do it for your Layout
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Paint like an expert An experienced modeler shares her painting and decaling secrets Kathleen Renninger July 19, 2007  Kathleen Renninger followed her own painting and decaling advice when working on this HO scale Atlas SD35. The locomotive's colorful paint scheme was designed by Kathleen's husband (and fellow modeler) Don for his free-lanced railroad, the Pennsylvania & New England. (Kathleen Renninger) As a custom-painter of model railroad rolling stock and scale signs, I've learned quite a few tricks to improve the quality of my work and make the job much easier. What's great about these tricks is the fact that a model railroader with any skill level will find them helpful and simple to do. Follow along as I let you in on some of my painting and decaling secrets. 1. Painter's masking tape  Painters masking tape. Kathleen recommends using "Safe Release" tape from 3M to mask your locomotives before painting. The tape adheres well to the body shell but releases when the paint is dry. (Kathleen Renninger)  Plastic sculpting tools. These sculpting tools from Loew-Cornell work great for burnishing the masking tape. (Kathleen Renninger)  Burnishing tape. Kathleen puts the plastic sculpting tools and painter's masking tape to work. It looks like they pass the test! Now she can paint the locomotive with no worries of paint ending up where it shouldn't. (Kathleen Renninger) Instead of using standard drafting or masking tape to mask your locomotive before painting, try 3M's Scotch brand "Safe Release" painter's masking tape, seen at right. It adheres to surfaces better than drafting tape yet releases easily without pulling off the paint. (I don't, however, recommend applying the tape over decals.) This tape burnishes down so snugly that I no longer take the extra step of sealing its edge with the previously sprayed color to avoid bleeding. The perfect burnishers for that wonderful blue tape (or for standard drafting or masking tape) can be found in a set of plastic sculpting tools made for use with clay and similar materials. The set shown below is made by Loew-Cornell. These tools will allow you to snug the tape into the smallest crevice or deepest groove, as shown at lower right. 2. Paint bottle holder Before you begin to paint, you can eliminate the possibility of spilling the bottle by making a simple paint bottle holder, as shown in the illustration. Start by drilling one or more holes in a piece of scrap 2 x 4, using a wood-boring bit of a size just slightly larger than your paint bottles. Make sure you drill deep enough to hold the bottle securely, but leave enough wood to form a sturdy bottom. This simple project is perfect for cluttered workbenches- and for clumsy modelers! 3. Painting truck frames silver  Silver leaf. Kathleen chose this metallic cream paint from Rub 'n' Buff because she liked the weathered look the paint gave her truck frames. (Kathleen Renninger) If you have trouble finding a silver paint that meets your expectations, I recommend trying a metallic cream called Rub 'n' Buff, available at craft stores or stores that sell framing supplies. I chose a metallic shade called Silver Leaf. This color is terrific for painting truck frames, especially when you want a weathered look. [Using additional tones enhances the relief.- Ed.] Place a small amount of the silver cream on a piece of poster board, and dip a soft paintbrush into it. Remove some of the silver by stroking the brush on a piece of paper. Dab the brush onto a clean, unpainted truck frame. (The black or brown-black that most truck frames are molded in makes an excellent base color.) For a well-weathered look, aim for unever coverage to let the base color show through. For a clean, new look, apply an even coat of silver followed by burnishing with a cotton swab. There's no need to overcoat with clear; when the material dries it becomes permanent. If you apply too much, you can remove some silver with lacquer thinner and a cotton swab. 4. Citrus-based cleaner  Orange Blast. This useful citrus-based product is an environment-friendly way to clean paint from tools. Look for it in the automotive section. (Kathleen Renninger) When it's time to clean up, be kind to your respiratory system and the environment by using a citrus-based cleaner to remove water- and solvent-based paint from tools and surfaces. I've had very good luck with a product called Orange Blast, pictured below. It's available in automotive sections of many department stores. To clean a detachable airbrush cup, wipe out the excess paint and place it in a jar filled with Orange Blast (full strength). After briefly soaking the cup, insert a pipe cleaner through the stem to clean it. Make sure to rinse the cup thoroughly under hot running water. 5. Helpful tools for decaling  Helpful tools. Use the typing eraser to remove stubborn number boards and LaBelle 106 lubricating grease to ease their placement. Micro Crystal Clear, from MicroScale, will restore clarity to fogged plastic parts. (Kathleen Renninger) The trio of tools shown at right will help eliminate common problems with windshields, number boards, class lights, and the like. To remove stubborn number boards, push them from the outside using a typing eraser (or any stick eraser sharpened to a short point). This provides concentrated pressure without marring the surface as a harder object might. When reinstalling number boards, apply only a tiny amount of LaBelle no. 106 lubricating grease to the edges to ease their placement. For clear plastic parts that have a fogged appearance as a result of accidental abrasion (or even from the use of cyanoacrylate adhesive), brush on a thin, even coat of Microscale's Micro Crystal Clear. This will restore their clarity and gloss.
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Making rock castings for your model railroad
How to choose the molds and apply plaster castings to your layout
August 1, 2002
 The
Superior Products and Woodland Scenics molds are typical commercial products. Scene Tints are water-based paints that can be used before casting.
It's fairly easy to make your own rock molds. The hardest part may be locating a rock, or rocks, with enough surface detail to be interesting at a scale size; coal also works very well. Once found, clean the rock surface of dirt and paint on a layer of liquid latex, let dry, and repeat. After you've made several layers, it's a good idea to place a layer of gauze over the mold and attach it with another layer of latex. One or two more latex layers will result in a mold that will withstand many castings.  For those who don't care to make their own, many excellent rock molds are sold in hobby shops. Rocks come in many varieties and the mold you choose, whether commercial or home-made, should represent an appropriate type for your area or scene. I wanted clearly stratified rock to represent lannon stone, a common building stone quarried in nearby Lannon, Wis. You can use the same mold several times by turning the casting upside down, breaking it in pieces, or just putting it next to different castings. For a quarry, even greater repetition is okay because the mechanical process of removing the stone creates a more regular surface than found in nature.
Plaster
 These two molds were applied to the slope while the plaster was still wet. The molds weren't removed until the plaster had thoroughly set.
Though Hydrocal is often recommended, U. S. Gypsum no. 1 casting plaster of paris is perfectly satisfactory and costs much less. If you're doing a large layout, it's worth your time to find a source for large quantities of plaster, typically 50- or 100-pound bags. Check the Yellow Pages under plaster.
Always mix plaster by adding plaster to the water. The ratio should be about two parts plaster to one part water by volume. This produces a pancake-batter consistency. Water-based paints or dry pigments can be added to the water to give a base color to the casting.
Spray the mold with water mixed with a drop of detergent. This will help the plaster fill the mold and act as a release agent after it has set.
Pour the plaster into the molds, poking it into crevices with a finger or stick, and let it begin to set. Molds with a lot of relief may require support to hold them level. Wadded newspaper or almost any scrap material will usually suffice.
If you want to place the mold on the scene while still wet, you need to time it so the plaster is no longer runny but has not yet begun to crystallize. Before placing the mold, lightly wet your base plaster so that it doesn't suck the water from the casting.
http://www.ipmsusa2.org/Reviews/How_To/Quick_Trees/quick_trees.htm Quick Trees | By Terry Huber, #40782 | Enhancing a diorama is not always easy. Several components need to be considered to make the scene ‘come alive’. One way to accomplish this is to place a few trees and shrubs within the scene. I have experimented over the years making scale trees out of railroad scale lichen moss and natural branches, but also have used dried flowers such as Mini-gyp for branches, and Caspia for shrubs. The process has been shown to be relatively easy and quick. The lichen is available at hobby and railroad shops, and the dried flowers are available at craft stores such as Michaels. The fresher the dried flowers, the better. Look around your yard or surrounding area. Ever notice shrubs and bushes tend to have undergrowth on them which if cut properly, resemble small miniature tree trunks and branches. I have used Pirates’ Tea bush or Myrtle bush branches cut at the right area and stripped of the greenery. Look for old and gnarly looking areas to cut. Trim the tree down to have a trunk shape and five or six branches. This will be the starting point. The tree can be held using locking tweezers by the trunk to assemble, or placed into a small hole that has been drilled into a wood block to the trunk size. Different shades of green lichen moss tend to look better than trying to make a tree with all of the same shade. Or you could use the fall colors of lichen depending upon which type of scene you wish to recreate. Break off small rounded areas of lichen from the main bundle and glue these clumps onto the branches of your tree, using white glue such as Aleene’s Tacky Glue, or small amounts of thick Super Glue. You may need to use a glue kicker with Super Glue to hold the ‘leaves’ in place. Work on different branches at a time so the other clumps will dry properly. Continue to build on top of the other clumps so that the tree becomes fuller and more to shape. Work from the bottom up and out. | 
Jerome McDonald photo | This process can create a nice 7” tree (approx 24’ in 1/35 scale) in about an hour. Another method to create leaves and branches is to use Mini-gyp dried flowers. Sometimes the Mini-gyp that is available is not the right shade of green. Use spray paint to paint clumps of the Mini-gyp prior to assembly. Once the paint has dried, cut small branches of the upper stalks of the Mini-gyp and glue them onto the trunk and shrub branch areas to represent smaller branches and leaves. After the tree has dried, it is ready to be placed into the diorama. Drill a small hole in the diorama base that will hold about ½” of trunk base. Squirt a small amount of glue in the hole and ‘plant’ your tree. Position it so it is straight and level when viewed in all directions. This tree takes about an hour and a half to build. Be sure to plant odd numbers of trees instead of even amounts. Use three trees instead of two, five instead of four etc. An odd number has been shown to look more natural, and more appealing to the eye. To make natural looking bushes, first drill a small 1/8” diameter hole into the diorama base. Place a small amount of glue into the hole. Cut small top sections of Caspia and bundle them together into a small bouquet then place into the hole. Spread them out to represent bushes and branches. This entire process should take about ten minutes. | 
Jerome McDonald photo | | This dried flower has a nice natural green look to it already so it does not need to be painted. Again place odd amounts of these bushes within the diorama. Caspia can also be used to make trees by gluing small cut branches to the trunks of straighter taller tree trunks and placed in a down position to represent pine and coniferous trees. Try these quick techniques on your next diorama or vignette. | Information, images, and all other items placed electronically on this site are the intellectual property of there owner IPMS/USA ®. | | |
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Kathleen Renninger followed her own painting and decaling advice when working on this HO scale Atlas SD35. The locomotive's colorful paint scheme was designed by Kathleen's husband (and fellow modeler) Don for his free-lanced railroad, the Pennsylvania & New England. (Kathleen Renninger) 
Painters masking tape. Kathleen recommends using "Safe Release" tape from 3M to mask your locomotives before painting. The tape adheres well to the body shell but releases when the paint is dry. (Kathleen Renninger) 
Plastic sculpting tools. These sculpting tools from Loew-Cornell work great for burnishing the masking tape. (Kathleen Renninger) 
Burnishing tape. Kathleen puts the plastic sculpting tools and painter's masking tape to work. It looks like they pass the test! Now she can paint the locomotive with no worries of paint ending up where it shouldn't. (Kathleen Renninger) 
Silver leaf. Kathleen chose this metallic cream paint from Rub 'n' Buff because she liked the weathered look the paint gave her truck frames. (Kathleen Renninger) 
Orange Blast. This useful citrus-based product is an environment-friendly way to clean paint from tools. Look for it in the automotive section. (Kathleen Renninger) 
Helpful tools. Use the typing eraser to remove stubborn number boards and LaBelle 106 lubricating grease to ease their placement. Micro Crystal Clear, from MicroScale, will restore clarity to fogged plastic parts. (Kathleen Renninger) 
