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Comments
The Xylene left a real light film or residue that was easily cleaned off with a little glass cleaner. That also works to clean an Envirotex area that gets dust or fingerprints on it. Using Windex or 409 and one of those cloths for cleaning a computer screen works pretty well.
As far as sanding the surface, it takes a lot of effort and creates a bunch of dust. Snading too far and into the Envirotex is no problem. Clean up any of the dust and add a thin coat of fresh Envirotex and the scratches will disappear.
So here was the before with all the bubbles:
And after:
You can see some of the surface scratches I put in while getting a bit aggressive removing the old Liquitex. Won't matter much once I get the ripples in.
The solution to the original problem was in the application. Karl had a theory that the Liquitex probably "skins over" just a tiny bit and going back over will block the original layer from out gassing the bubbles. I got a nice email from Dave Frary. "You got bubbles because you repeatedly brushed the Liquatex on the surface. This is a no-no." The trick is to use a large soft brush (like a make-up brush) and plop the gloss coat on and don't brush it...dab it in place.
This next attempt, I'm going to use Mod Podge. It'll take multiple layers but should look pretty nice.
Looking forward to the next update.
Karl.A
I was going to recommend ripping it all up and starting again.
I added a layer or two of Mod Podge and it looks much better. For the areas that would be less turbulant, I dabbed on Mod Podge with a large soft make-up brush. (Sorry about the over-exposuer on this pic):
As the current increases and the water gets more active, I used a round synthetic brush and "placed" blobs of Mod Podge (towards the trestle and the stream). Smaller blobs; closer together:
As careful as I was in pouring the Envirotex I still managed to get a couple drips here and there. Rather than make the entire log wet with more Envirotex, I added some Mod Podge on and around the drips:
The result is that the log looks like it's wet but starting to dry. It's pretty effective on the bark but not nearly as good on the end grain:
I used a small flat brush to add a little gloss gell around the tires and pilings and the stronger current lines near the edges of the logs.
Here are some overall pictures of the area I've worked on. There are a couple milky white spots where the Mod Podge isn't completly dry and I still ended up with tiny air bubbles within the gloss in some spots, but nothing like the huge cluster earlier. That being said, I'm looking forward to any suggestions or comments.
How long does the modge podge take to fully dry?
The Mod Podge dries fairly quick unless it's applied heavily. In that case, it can take 24 hours or more. I had some really thin applications dry in less than an hour. For it to "cure" is anybody's guess. In Frary's video he says that he seals it because Mod Podge remains sticky and will collect dust.
I think it took about 9 or 10 coats of Mod Podge to complete the ripple effect. One interesting thing I learned is that if you apply the Mod Podge in a very thin layer and allow the impression from the brush to show, you'll get a frozen water look. It's pretty neat...seems as if the lake had just skinned over with a fragile layer of ice. Not what I was looking for, but it may be useful to someone modeling a winter scene. Here's a look at the rest of the pond...
I also fooled around and made this log that looks like it's falling into the water from the log brow. If you've seen how Dave Frary makes a waterfall using a plastic bag, this follows pretty much the same method. I streaked gloss gel medium onto a plastic bag in the shape of the splash, then epoxied strips of plastic from a clear Solo cup to give it the curved shape. I built up more and more of the gel medium, colored it with a light wash of dark green and brown, dry brushed some white on the tips and added a final layer of Mod Podge.
It's not glued in place since I doubt I'll leave it there permanently. The log is hollowed out and filled with lead fishing sinkers on one end to make it defy gravity.
I still need to add the stream feeding into the pond, but other than that, all the major elements are complete. There are several miscelanous odds and ends to take care of and scenery details to touch up and finish.
From where I stand, the punch list looks to be getting smaller!
I like the effect of the falling log!
The punch list getting smaller is always a good feeling!
WOW and really like the log falling look.
Good job.
Guess with those massive logs moving all over the place, something is bound to fall over.
It probably seems like a lot of work on minutia. But when viewed in context, I think it goes a long way in selling the illusion:
For the log buggies, I wanted to make a way to tie down the lumber based on this picture in the Pino Grande book:
It's a little tough to see, but each buggy has 2 wood ribs with a bolt/hook type of harwarde that the chains fasten to. Each chain connects to the bunks that are mounted on the deck. I made the hardware out of thin brass wire and added a NBW at each corner. Here's how the first one turned out:
If you look at the prototype picture, the lumber is much longer. On mine, I cut the boards at around 10 scale feet (just like the wood on the loading dock). I thought the longer boards would look funny, but the shorter 10 footers also look odd. Makes it seem a little stubby. But, what do you guys think? I've got three more to go.
I think the boards look good and are not too short. I really like how you've tied them down.
It looks great!
Jim-
I may try doing a buggy or two with longer boards. I can tell I need light chain for the short loads. As far as couplers, I'm guessing link & pin would be the way to go. I know nothing about trucks and couplers. Got any suggestions as to a make and model that would work?
Brett-
I tried to google "rooster bar" and here's what I got:
Brett has a good picture of one on his On30 log train disconnect trucks page. The link and pin system is pretty small for HOn3 but works pretty good in On30.
Maybe but it sure looks so good. An excellent job Bill!!!!!!!!!!
Jerry