Paint & weathering for the platform

It's been a productive weekend.  After finishing the ballast on the track I weathered and re-installed the already painted station platforms.

This photo shows the colors I used on the platform structure, the asphalt platform deck, the awning support columns, and the safety stripes.

Kato platform kits come with a set of stickers which include yellow stripes to simulate the bumpy yellow safety stripes that run along the length of the platform.  I could not get the results I wanted with those so I masked the platform and airbrushed the stripes.


Bragdon Enterprises powders were used for weathering.  This station is being modeled at near the end of service life so it should look a little worn and I really like how weathering brings out the details. Later the awnings will also get weathered.

Ballasting the tracks

It's time to ballast the track and while I have ballasted my share of N Scale track, this project presented some new elements. 

• Using some pre-ballasted Kato Unitrack I wanted to match the color of that so I used Arizona Rock and Mineral Co. Gray blend limestone, part number 105-2.  I like to use HO scale material for ballast because I will use N scale material for the smaller gravels like roads.
• First time using the Micro Engineering turnouts.  I want to be real careful about getting any glue into these as I've already seen that they are more delicate than the Peco turnouts.
• Also the first time using any track with concrete ties, how will that look ballasted ?

So I started by removing the station platforms and placed blue painters tape over the area that the platforms go on. 








Before applying any ballast I decided to paint the sides of the cork roadbed with some gray paint.  This will help to hide any bare spots.

The cork roadbed could also be painted before laying the track so that the areas between the rails would also be covered but most of the bare spot problem occurs on the sides.







I apply the ballast first between the rails and then along the outsides of the rails.  I like to use an old painting pad like the one shown in this photo to evenly spread the ballast.  A small dry paint brush is also used.
 







This is what it looks like with the dry ballast spread on a section of the track.







I used a "wet water" solution of 2 drops of liquid dish washing detergent to a 1 ounce bottle of water.  I gently stir the solution and don't shake it so it won't get any bubbles.  Then with a pipette I slowly release small amounts of this solution over the track and let it spread.


Then I used a 50 / 50 mixture of white glue and water mixed in an empty 1 ounce paint bottle again applying it with a pipette.  I do between the rails first then along the outsides of the rails.  I let this sit overnight to dry.




Here is a small example of the finished work.  After the blue tape is removed, the platform has a clean area so it will sit flat and level.








While I am generally happy with the result I do think that the contrast in texture between the ties and the ballast cause the ties to look like the plastic that they are and if I were to do it over I would first air brush the ties with concrete colored paint.  But you know everything we do in this hobby is a chance to learn something new.

A row of Green Max houses

Green Max kit # 34 is a set of 6 two story Japanese houses.  The design of this kit is very similar to the stores in kit # 33.  The roofs and bases are common to both kits.

Like the stores, these kits are easily modified to create some very unique structures.  I thought these would be a great way to add depth to the scene around the station.

I used about half the kit to build this small row of houses that will be used on the module.   

Each house comes with a small base.  I used two of those and made a custom base of .040 styrene for the middle house.  After this small scene is painted and detailed, it will be attached to the module.

Mystery train identified

Awhile back I had posted about a brass set of Japanese passenger cars that I have and did not know anything about.  Thanks to Paul Ingraham of Sunnyvale, California I now know something about the prototype and the models.

Paul identified these as Endo models from the logo on the bottom of one of the cars.  He also knew that these models were of  Hankyu Railway cars.  Once I knew the name of the railroad and of the model company I was able to find out more about it on the web.

The Hankyu Railway is a non-JR private railroad that operates several lines around and between the cities of Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe.

This photo is of a Hankyu 6300 series train which is the closest to the models I have. 



From what I read on the web It seems that these had been in service from about the mid 1970's and taken out of service about a year ago.

I could not find any information about any Endo Models release of this model and indications are that Endo may no longer be making N scale trains.  Kato also has had a model of the Hankyu 6300 series trains and here is a photo of one of those.

A Green Max block of stores

Just to the left of the arcade entrance is a row of small shops.

I used 4 of the 6 shop buildings that come in Green Max kit # 33.  The taller building is from Green Max kit #46-6.  The buildings are attached to a styrene base that is removable from the module.




As this group of buildings is exclusively Green Max, I call it the Green Max block.  Just As I have done with the Musashi-Koyama station and the arcade entrance, the assembled basic structures will be set aside and I'll move on the the next block of buildings.  Later I will paint and detail each block.


Green Max kits have been around for a long time.  While they are models of Japanese buildings, American modelers have used these to model American buildings back when there were not so many choices for buildings in N scale. 

There was a time when it hard to find Green Max kits in the US, but thanks ebay it is much easier now.  There are a couple of good sellers in Japan who regularly carry them.





One can get very creative with these kits.  As these buildings will only be seen from the front, I used blank styrene for the back and side walls.  The walls from the kit will be used to make more buildings.

Progress on the arcade

Happy New Year,

After almost 2 months off from this project while I was catching up on some DCC decoders installations I've returned to work on the model of the entrance of the Palm Arcade which is a major landmark of Musashi-Koyama.

I've built the entrance as a combination of two modified Tomix corner buildings and several scratch built structures.

The various structures are each attached to a .020 styrene base with screws so they can be removed for painting, detailing, and any future repairs.

The basic arcade structure is complete and ready for paint.  As I do all of my airbrush painting outside in the garage and its still a bit cold and wet out I am going to set the arcade aside for the time being and move on to the next group of structures which is going to be just to the left of the Palm arcade entrance.

Railfanning in the desert

This has nothing to do with this project.  I am in a motel room hundreds of miles from home and being able to work on this project. 

Yesterday I had a little spare time from what business brought me on this road trip.  I drove out to Banning, California.  Banning is on highway I-10 about 20 miles west of Palm Springs.  It was the home of one of my grandmothers and I had spent a lot of time here as a child.  Driving around the town many memories came back to me.

The Southern Pacific railroad went through Banning but the passenger trains did not stop here.  My mother and I would ride the Greyhound bus to get here from Los Angeles.   I liked to wander the town with the skate board that I would carry on the bus with me.  It was down hill from grandma's house to the SP line and that's where I would go to watch the trains.

These memories returned to me as I drove and I found myself at the San Gorgonio Road grade crossing when the gates came down as a train approached.  I turned my truck onto the old frontage road that runs between I-10 and the tracks and then onto a dirt road and sat for awhile.  There is a signal here and watching that one can get a good idea of when a train is approaching.  It was about one every 10 minutes.  In the half hour I was there I saw 4 trains, they were all Union Pacific now.  I also noticed that the rail ties were now concrete.

• East bound - Trailers on flat cars.  3 GE engines pulling
• Westbound - Containers, mostly 3 unit well cars, 3 GE engines pulling with 1 at the back pushing.
• Westbound - Unit hopper car train,  good mixture of hopper car types with many rotary coupler type cars in the mix.  I think this was a train of empties as there was no pusher.  There were 3 GE engines pulling.
• Eastbound - Mixed train, pulled by 2 GE engines.

Over 40 years ago I had sat there on my skate board watching trains.  In those days they where mostly EMD engines but I do remember a few GE's as they stood out.  I even remember seeing a U50 once.  This was a great trip down memory lane, I wish I had brought my camera.