I paint all the sleepers, rail and other hardware beforehand. Even with the Dragon track that comes with its’ own roadbed. I also individually pre-stain the sleepers using a mud-brown paint and various applications of Citadel Black and/or Brown Shaders.
Personally I don’t care so much for the Trumpeter style base. It is intended to represent a presentation quality wood plague base, like a CEO might have on his office desk. IMHO this destroys the realistic affect. I prefer the Dragon Roadbed with its’ own per-formed gravel profile. Either that or apply the track to my own scratch built roadbed.
Also, I have taken Evergreen plastic bar stock, distressed it by dragging a razor saw over it to create the wood grain. Cut to shape and used it as blocking on my rail cars. I give it just one coat of Citadel sepia shader to represent freshly cut wood.
Thank you! The wash on the Famo road wheels is just a heavier application of the Citadel Sepia shader. Of course I had to hold the wheels flat so the heavy coating of sepia would pool in the wheel depressions and dry uniformity.
Wear I’ve seen on flat beds has generally been of a nature that cause a multitude of long splinters. As the type of wood used was a very springy type with long straight fibres that resisted breakage. You wouldn’t see any knots anywhere.
Just an afterthought about painting the sleepers/tracks first. Sometimes when the ballast has been added there’s a colour/tone mismatch between the two. It happened to me, so I dumped piles of finely-sieved garden soil & pastel chalk powder all along the tracks & worked it in with a dry soft brush to equalise everything…
I did literally the same thing years ago at Cass. I was running along side a parked work train, head down and failed to see the large flat piece of boiler plate extending off the side of the car at eye level,
I remember seeing my feet flying out in front of me BEFORE I hit the ground.
Ouch. A few years back, an unfortunate mishap gave me a broken nose (and a few other fractures). The upside was that after the Doc reset my nose I discovered that my deviated septum was fixed. All without surgery! I try to see the glass half full when I can.
Beat me to it, shoulda seen the other guy. But seriously, what happened?? Eliminating unlikely theories such as the cats turned on you, or your stash fell on your head, looks like a collision with an inanimate object? Whatever, get well soon -Your Forum Needs You.
Thank you: @165thspc @Johnnych01 @Evan @PolishBrigade12 @KoSprueone @Dioramartin
I have a balance disorder which resulted in me being medically retired in 2007 and occasioally I do fall over, this time I head-butted the pavement/sidewalk.
I have banged my knees up and both hands are sprained.
I even managed to dislodge a filling.
