Modeling Weathered Railroad Ties | Boomer Diorama ~ Vlog # 187 

It's fun just to play with color like this. We are always learning in this hobby.

Wonderful!

Yes indeed . . the good ole' Steam era as well. 😉

You bet!

Thank you! Cheers!

😁

Well said! I found a new channel, Thanks Mr Boomer

I know it's crazy but I love the details. ;-)

@@boomerdiorama absolutely 👍🏽 It’s what makes it all come alive !!!

I love those older building. The architecture is awesome and they show updates, renovations, etc. to give them even more character as well.😉

The matchstick idea for ties sounds awesome! Good Stuff. Cheers.😁

Awesome, thank you!

Awesome! Happy Birthday!

Sounds awesome! I love that kind of innovative modeling. 😁

Thank you! Cheers!

Actually, when I was at the prototype location I was surprised they pulled them up because they still looked pretty good for a low traffic spur.

Thanks 👍

Your O Scale layout plans sound awesome! Have fun and take your time. Every part of it is a cool experience. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 😁

One pack of ten strips should fill the Gondola. They are quite easy to make once you plug in.

@@boomerdiorama I just wanted to thank you, for an awesome series - very informative and inspirational, I have changed my mindset from quantity to quality.

Have fun! Cheers ~ Boomer.

Sounds awesome. Have fun and milk it! Cheers ~ Boomer.

O.K. Thank you!

Yes it will

After bit of practice you can pump out thousands of these ties in short order when you total up the clock between dry times of each layer.😁

You are welcome!

Much appreciated!

Thank you very much!

Thank you very much!

Excellent!

Glad you enjoyed it!

No worries! . . . lol. Cheers ~ Boomer.

A good plan to make them removable for sure. Happy New Year!

Awesome! Thank you!

Cheers!😁

Balsa wood works awesome for the really dead ties as well.😁

I think so too but unfortunately they don't seem to show as much as I would have liked on camera.

Go for it! 😁

😁Thank you. I love the medium for sure. Cheers.

You can tell u love it. I appreciate your attention to detail and that you explain everything. Youre a great teacher!

This is why I don't model in "O" scale right now . . . it would drive me nuts.🤣

Thanks!

Wow! A drone really opens up opportunities for modelers. 😉

Thanks for taking the time to watch! Cheers!😁

Cool! Cheers!

Thank you. Unfortunately they don't show as well on camera as they do on the layout. Cheers.

Get at her Ralph . . . lol.😁

Yes it is! Thank you! Cheers!

Pretty easy process with great results. Should work even better in O Scale.

Thank you! Cheers ~ Boomer.

Thank you! Cheers.

They turned out better than I thought they would.

Awesome, thank you!

In the end it is just like a "shoot-from-the-nip" recipe pf thin color washes and something cool comes out. Anyone can do this really. ;-)

@@boomerdiorama oh. For sure. But most people are willing to go to the level you do/did. That’s the list impressive part.

Yes. I poked a few off camera. ;-)

Great question! Please stay crazy . . . lol. I don't see why not. You could base paint them pale grey (or white) and then dip them in a wall paper tray of thin paint wash. The top of the rails would be easy to clean off later.

@@boomerdiorama Yeah, super easy and you would be painting the rails as the last step anyways. Seems like a great way to get really nice looking track with all kinds of character and not a whole ton of time.

That's a great idea. Add a grapple loader as well . . . ;-)

I like using a traditional brush all the time. Go for it. :-)

@@boomerdiorama I don’t want to be inaccurate… my favorite tools I’ve purchased and conquered any fear of is my few airbrushes now. That’s certainly true of any “artistic” tools but would likely apply generally. I do airbrush track now, but I haven’t been using flex in the foreground mostly because it’s difficult (for me, historically) to match flex with the basswood ties of my handlaid switches with tie plates. But if I could use styrene ties I could gain consistency with using more flex track sometimes in the foreground. It didn’t seem like your workflow with much of the tie coloring would adapt itself to airbrush primarily, but I am going to give it a go with a traditional brush. I’ve got a lot of Tamiya paint, Ralph really got me sold on it already. I’ve got some of the Vallejo Air colors ordered now, so I look forward to a few tries until I get close to your results. As always, thank you much for sharing the content you do… but it’s really something that you give your time to give feedback to us all here or specifically feedback to the artistically challenged engineer jokers like me here.

I used a pick. I never showed it because things were feeling ridiculous . . . lol.

There are loads of videos and scale modeling channels on the subjects you mention. It's just a matter of finding them. ;-)

I don't see why not. Initially craft paints look pretty good. They just don't have the color fast qualities of good pigment - which means they fade rapidly over several years into a dull lifeless color. Use whatever you want. This method takes very little paint at all either way. Good quality hobby paint like Tamiya or Vallejo is much better for thin washes at the end of the day though. Cheers.😁

No, but they work great! Good stuff. ;-)

Six to seven feet is plenty. Look up "Lance Mindheim." He has published several excellent books on shelf layout planning. Look for books on "Shelf Layout" planning. Probably best to pick one industry off a main line with a run-around track if you are more focused on modeling.😁

They are but they are usually 7" by 9" by 8'5" long as I depict them. Not sure if I understand your question.

@@boomerdiorama Maybe it's my vision. Is the cross section of your ties in your pile a scale 7" x 9"? Or close? If so, then my error. Ties on model track are roughly half the depth of prototype ties as they don't need to be. For ease of math, let's say the cross section of prototype ties is 8" x 8". Ties on model track are 8" wide by 4" deep. If making ties to use when hand laying track or filling gaps, one would make them 8" x 4". But modeling ties alone one would make them 8" x 8". Am I being any clearer? Sorry for the confusion.

Yes. I use IPA, back flush a few times, flush once more, and throw it in the drawer. If you stick to Tamiya Acrylic and IPA you will rarely, if ever, experience a clogged airbrush.😁

Sure. I like to use Vallejo because it's purely water - based with this method. If you use Tamiya with IPA it might turn out different. Who knows, you might like it - go for it.

I still use oils, but I have come to hate the sticky mess they create and having to wait months for oil to properly cure.😁

@@boomerdiorama have you tried tag Golden OPEN series of acrylic? It’s in tubes mostly, which isn’t so functional for my usual purposes but there’s also an OPEN Thinner which is very thin, thin viscosity. Water like, infact you mix it into your mixing water for your palette. Cool thing here is it can be used with all acrylics. So fluid acrylics or multi media / gouache (ish) acrylics, etc, types…anything. All your acrylics can become OPEN acrylics. It’s basically a retarder. But it’s made by Golden so I know you know that’s already saying something right there. And it IS different. Use in your paint as you go and it definitely extends your wet time. For palette time and blending and wash - creeping time. But, it can go further - You can actually go as far as bring back acrylic that is starting to tack up on your palette pretty bad and add some more of the OPEN Thinner and it just goes back to normal wet acrylic. No crumbly, tacky, flaky…whatever…it’s just like it never dried. This is only possible if you’ve mixed the open thinner in before that point, which you can pretty much use like water for the acrylic. Open thinner mixed with water is the preferred method. I’ve even used it in a very small atomizer bottle to spray it lightly on my palette as I work. Small sprayer for 3 reasons - 1) I don’t want it to change my mix ratio too much & create something way too diluted as I work. And of course that really lightly mists the paint. 2) I wanna control it and not blast my wash right across my model and work area. 3) I know it’s a product that you really shouldn’t be inhaling very much. There’s a warning on the bottle. So because I have this fine mist, small spray pattern bottle, I can go really quite close to the paint and pump it and it’s still a controllable amount for my paint. And so it’s not getting pushed thru all the air around me and my environment to inhale. At a Michaels store I found these small, Tim Holtz -brand empty spray bottles. They are sold near the stamping and scrapbook kinda stuff. Anyway, seems like a really good match. Ha! And then months later saw the same thing at the farm dollar store…for a bit cheaper. But maybe check out the T Holtz ones, only because I can specifically call it out and know someone else is finding the same style micro spray pump bottle. Mainly because we’re trying to massively reduce the spray in the air because there’s a toxicity issue here. And I can feel safe having suggesting something that specifically is going to work ok. Anyway, playing around with the Open thinners or paints is a totally worthwhile go. You probably may have been already using them. Hope I havent eaten up too much of your happy time. Keep doing the great vids! Your work totally rocks!

Until they are soaked, then let the coat dry before the next color.

By the way, my birthday is Tuesday the 25th. 75 and still at work trying to build the road I want.

Happy Birthday!

@@boomerdiorama Thank you...

Because most "Flat" Acrylic is primer. Primer paint is just a scam if it is not for metal. I only use primer (whatever that is) on metal, like brass, copper, etc. No need to primer plastic when you use Tamiya (XF) paints because it is primer. A wise Jedi from Japan told me this . . . lol. Cheers.

@@boomerdiorama no kidding?!? Wow. And to think of all the rattle cans I have burned through…!

Many thanks!

Ahhh . . . the fun of building a work bench while listening to classical music. The bridge sounds cool. ;-)

Thank you. I think fun might have something to do with it as well. ;-)