.................................. Return to Sumner's Home Page....
Return to N Scale RR Main Menu........... Return to Building UP's Canyon Division Menu
=========================================
...............Previous Page.............................Next Page If There Is One
=========================================
….............................--- Scenery to Track Elevator – Part 8 ---
.…...--- How to Apply Spackling to Foam Board ---
=========================================
How to apply Spackling to foam board and continuing with the scenery on the upper level going to the track elevator.
On this page I’ll go into my latest method of applying Spackling and painting it. By trying different tools and methods I’m probably doing this work about twice as fast as when I started with the foam scenery. I’ll probably be sticking pretty much with what I’m doing for the rest of the scenery build and there is still a lot to do.
I’m also really glad that I’m doing this now after laying the cork roadbed and before laying track and not having to work over it.
The tools shown above make adding the Spackling to the foam board a lot faster than some I was using, pretty much not using a putty knife any longer….spatula works better.
The spackling out of the container is pretty stiff for working into the cracks of the foam board. Take your sponge, I always have water and a sponge in another container, and squeeze a little out into the spackling and stir it until it is fairly fluid but still sticks to the spoon if you turn it over.
Smear and spread the Spackling into the cracks and crevices and places you might of gone too far with the hot knife. When you have about what is shown on above move to ….
…. the brush that is pretty flexible. I keep it in the water…. Take it out….wring the water out with your hand and then work the Spackling around to fill and smooth it. Try and get a light layer on all the foam to help seal it.
Brush in different directions to do this with a dryer brush. When it is where you want it leave just a bit more water on the brush and finish brushing more top to bottom, like water would flow down the rock face. You should be able to get most of the brush marks out and the surface will look pretty wet and almost fluid. Stop and let it dry like what is happening on the face to the right above. You can always come back and touch up if needed.
The area above was Spackled in three steps on the same day. There was foam and Spackle added to the left side of the top Lift-Off section. It and the section where the tunnel will be below it were separated just a bit so that the Spackling wouldn’t dry and stick them together.
The area going out of view to the right was Spackled the day before and painted on this day.
The area to the right of the canyon was painted the day before and the canyon and further to the left was painted on this same day along with the gray bottom layer.
Darker and lighter contrasts were added to the rock face with black washes and lighter colors. Will do more to this area but going slow as it goes on one shade and dries another so don’t want to overdo by going too much at once. It also goes really fast.
The image above demonstrates why I’m not tinting the Spackle any longer in most cases with the paint. The rock on the upper level, the lighter shades, was Spackled with the same paint that was painted on the lower level. Notice that the tinted rock came out much lighter in shade/color vs. the bottom rock face using the same paint.
I feel when tinting the Spackle it can be harder to duplicate what you did before as the tinted Spackle looks much darker when mixed and applied vs. later after it has dried.
The lighter shades of the rock on the upper level is the tinted Spackle and the darker contrasting color on that rock is the same paint that was used for the tinting. I think I’ll be able to get more predictable results by not tinting the Spackle in most cases.
The lower strata above has a narrow coal seam at the top of it. The rest is suppose to represent the Morrison Formation that is in this area and contains dinosaur fossils and uranium in it. The Morrison is associated with the red rock here but the coal is usually in deposits above the red rock formations. I have this more accurately depicted where the coal mine complex is on the layout.
Spackling and painting is just the first step. There hopefully will be a lot of ground cover added after I get the tracks in place and working here and other areas, lots of other areas..
To be continued…....
A link to this whole build ( HERE ).
=========================================
...........................On..............eNext Page If There Is One.........
