Rix Products Overpass

[Anonymous]

I am looking for anything concerning construction of this kit. I am especially looking for hints on painting.

TIA
Wayne

[Javern]

I bought a can of spray paint at the hobby store called aged concrete, sprayed it real good then lightly weathered it, sprayed it with dull coat

[orsonroy]

Hints on painting? Drive around looking for an overpass that looks like the Rix kit, take pictures of it, and use those photos as a painting guide.

OK, I'm kidding, but only slightly. For most scenic elements, taking a walk outside is generally the best way to figure out what color things should be. Boxcars may have changed a lot since 1930, but asphalt hasn't.

For the Rix kit (one of which I need to paint myself!) I'd start with Floquil or Polly Scale aged concrete as a base. If you want to paint the I beams as metal, paint them dark brown for the steam era, and green or blue for modern. Overspray all the concrete areas with an overspray of thinned aged concrete lightened about 25% with antique white. Once dry, lightly overspray the deck with thinned grimy black. Mask four lines (tire tracks) with ripped (not cut) masking tape lightly tacked to the deck, and overspray with thinned black (straight black, not grimy). Add rust spots to the I beams to taste (don't overdo it!). Add another thinned overspray of black to the underside of the bridge, and add a few pigeons. Finally, I would suggest NOT adding a black overspray to either the entire bridge or the bottoms of the supports. I just today spent some time under a highway bridge (got a flat on the way to work), and concrete doesn't age or weather that way.

[davekelly]

You know you're a model railroader when you get a flat tire and use the experience to learn more about how to weather an item!!!!

[Noah Hofrichter]

Or, to add to Ray's tip about painting tire tracks, check out the last page of the June MR, it has a tip using plastic rods. There's also an article about building an railroad overpass that may give you some idea's as far as weathering a bridge anyway.

Noah