SP Jawbone Branch (Part 43) - Testing Track Painting

I started writing this post in mid-October'23, but am getting around to posting it in March 2024, after a couple other posts about the research trip to Owenyo, work developing 3d prints of the structures, & redesign/reconsidering several aspects post - Parts 39-42 actually.  So any out of temporal statements made here compared to Parts 39-42 should be taken into account.

Time to return to the Owenyo Wye.

I've not done much on the Jawbone Branch during the last year.  A very severe winter, some health issues, and then a very busy summer with work at OwlMtModels has kept me from doing much on the layout itself. 

Well, I got the NC car done before I worked much more on the layout.

My freight car fleet has grown a bit with some wonderful additions (Rapido X-3 tankcars, Tangent B-50-28/31 boxcars, and finally getting decals and finishing touches on my NC&StL Fowler boxcar), but all that doesn't help get the layout itself done, but maybe I can pivot the "new model" energy into getting a photo diorama going on the wye-tail at least! - (Yes this post was written 6 months ago already... remember when this car was newly finished?  Yeah, that long ago!)

A Time to Color!

I still need to wire the track and build the connectors to tie the wye-tail module into the rest of the layout, but I couldn't wait any longer to see what some tie-color would look like on this section.  The basic painting of the ties will allow me to get one module at least with some scenery and finishing on it.  Maybe I can put up the white-board as a backdrop and shoot some nice model photos against this soon!

Not much has happened since this photo in March of 2021... - Until now!

I decided to try misting some Krylon 'Almond' color spray paint enamel onto the Wye Tail module and see how that looks. 

Masking the switch point joiners.

I masked off the rail joiners for the switch points, as I've not installed them yet, and don't want any paint getting down into them.  Remember to watch out for how touchy the Krylon spray nozzles are... they're pretty much "ON" or "OFF", and they have higher pressure than typical Tamiya spray cans.  

Wye tail with the Almond color dusted on.

This results in a high-pressure blast of paint which can basically be 'dusted' on to the tops of the ties.  It's a pretty narrow cone of paint too, so be sure to be 2-3 feet back when you fire the paint-hose!

Wye switch and curved sections misted with Almond.

The Almond color is a good starting point I think for the sandy valley bottom around Owenyo.  The ties will need some washes and treatment to look like ties that have been down in the muddy-silty ground of Owenyo for 10-30 years, washed over a few times by some flash flood, and half-burried.  Then I'll be putting in the rest of the ground cover (mud/ballast).

Close-up of the Almond on the track.  It acts as a good primer for doing additional weathering effects.

Over this, I'll be airbrushing some metallic (gray steel) color onto the sides of the rail.  This will probably be a dark gray-rail brown color from low angle, as the desert air doesn't tend to rust steel very much, but the very occasional, but driving rain, tends to splatter mud up onto the sides of the rails.  So a final dusting of the near almond color will probably be needed to finish blending everything together.

In Closing

March 2024: I'm really starting to reconsider using the Krylon paint as it is still very easy to get it too heavy.  I'll probably end up using finer grade airbrush paints instead, but in similar sandy colors and then work my way up to other weathering colors. 

Notice the patches of lighter color around the dump trestle and the nearly white area around the talc conveyor loader.  The other very white areas are 'salt flats' which trap water until it evaporates.

Also looking at color photos of Owenyo, there's noticeable changes in the ground colors, especially around the loading structures and 'down wind' from them.  In some cases 'down wind' seems to be more a function of radius than a vector.

Owenyo Module #3 CAD model with "pink foam" scenery contours roughed in.

2024-03 Comment: Well, obviously I've still not done more on this... yet, but I probably will within a couple months and get into constructing the next modules.  Mid-March Note; Hopefully I'll find out what they say about my hand injury from November.  So hopefully soon I'll be back to being able to build benchwork again!

Jason Hill

Related Articles:

Jawbone Branch Index Page - Overview list of all my blog posts about the Jawbone Branch project.