For years I've been doing coal piles with clay shapes and then painting with Floquil flat finish with a final coat of flat finish over coal. I recently ran out of flat finish, and tried a few substitutes to no avail. Any suggestions? I do have some Floquil crystal cote, but I fear that will not give me the correct look.
I used foam for my loads, inserted a washer so could remove with a magnetic wand. I draped a piece of lastic wrap over the car, put the load in place, then painted with black latex house paint, sprinkled on some black coal (Life Like, craft sand, aquarium gravel), let dry. Remove wrap.
I do put a piece of cloth over the magnet to be more gentle on the load.
Good luck,
Richard
Howard ZanePainting with Floquil flat finish with a final coat of flat finish over coal. I recently ran out of flat finish.
Howard... good to hear from you.
I have also run out of Floquil flat finish.
I have been using Testors Dullcoat Top Coat for similar purpose with OK results.
This is new product since Testors was bought by Rustoleum. I have heard the old product was better, but I never used it, so I have no way to compare the two myself.
I am afraid of running out of this too, so I bought what I hope will be a lifetime supply. My layout is no where as large as yours (is anybody's).
I am also hoarding Testors #1260 spray dullcoat as well.
I hope to have 20-30 years of model fun time remaining, so I might need more.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I would acquire some matte medium, say Mod Podge at Wally's or at craft stores, Michael's, and use that. It can be diluted. I think you need to stir it or shake it, not sure, but it will dull the shine if that is what you need.
I also carve a load out of blue foam and paint it black using acrylic paint. To apply the coal, I brush white glue on the foam, and sprinkle a thick coat of coal on it. With an eye dropper, I cover the load with woodland scenic cement. I do this with the load on the tender.
Simon
selectorI would acquire some matte medium, say Mod Podge at Wally's or at craft stores, Michael's, and use that. It can be diluted.
Mod Podge "Matte" is not matte medium.
In the scenery experiments I did on my layout section test, I found that among the three I used, Elmer's Glue-All, Mod Podge Matte, and Artist's Matte Medium, Mod Podge Matte was actually the most shiny of the three.
That was surprising.
You can create such coal loads using the same method I use for ballasting.
To create a permanent load, you fill the car with "coal"....I use Black Beauty blasting medium - good for representing Anthracite, and coke breeze (the fines from industrial coke used in steelmaking) to represent bituminous coal. The load is then sprayed with "wet" water, and then diluted white glue is added.This will likely take several days to dry.
Another option, which will use less coal, less water, and less glue, is to shape the top of a hopper-sized hunk of styrofoam, then paint it black. Place some saran wrap in the car, then insert the foam.
Next, use a suitable brush to coat the top of the foam with undiluted white glue, then pour some "coal" onto the still-wet glue. Follow this by misting the load with "wet" water and then add some diluted white glue - just a small amount should do the trick.The load should be dry (and removeable) in a day or two.
You should be able to re-use the piece of saran to create more loads in similar cars, or perhaps will need a larger piece for larger hoppers.
If you wish the loads to be removeable, insert a steel washer into the top of the styrofoam heap before adding the glue - once the load has hardened, you can remove the load using a magnet.
I use "live" loads in my hopper cars, as, when empty, they're mostly too light to stay on the track, especially on curves.
I have made the foam and "coal" loads for steam loco tenders for a number of friends, though, and they do look realistic and don't cost much to create.
Wayne