Battling Blue

I rarely use blue paint on structures, but decided to for a change. For one thing I couldn't live with myself if I used white with green trim again, though I'm sure I will in the near future. It just seems to suit most structures as well as the landscape they sit in.

Blue paint itself, was rarely used in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Not so much a taste or aesthetic issue, it was a matter of cost. The pigment for Ultra Marine Blue was mined from a semi precious stone called Lapis Lazul. It was ground into a fine powder and mixed with resin. The next step was to knead it in linen bags where it sat for weeks in water until the pigment leached out. In the mid 1800's, Lapis Lazul was nearly equal to the price of gold.

So, rarely was it used on buildings; instead white was, being the cheapest and most prevalent color. But I decided to use it here on our next Quick Kit # 31, called Hooper's for now( due out next month). It's only being used on trim parts and windows. I decided if I were to choose blue, I would only do it if it were weathered heavily, lots of chipped paint. Plain, unweathered blue on a model railroad might be too stark a contrast and stand out more than any other colors, even red.

The blue I'm using on Hooper's is Polly Scale St. Lawrence Blue; it's a fairly modest shade of blue, not Royal or Navy. This shade inherently has a faded look to it, so half the battle of toning it down is already done.

So far I'm happy with the results and welcome the change of pallet.

Test Lab

Here's what I really like about this hobby; when it comes to modeling you can do whatever you want. There's no limit to what kind, type, era, geography, etc...lately I've been having a staring contest between my modern day layout and some old clapboard structure from the previous layout as well as some kit models. While I'm enjoying modeling the BNSF and CSX immensely, I'm still craving something else. That of course is modeling the 1950's waterfront. So I've embarked on what I figured I would end up doing; modeling a small shelf layout/diorama where I can model a stretch of waterfront. I've started with what I had laying around - a 12" deep hollow core door to which I added an inch of rigid foam and started cutting away to create nearly seven feet of waterfront. A single length of track runs from one end to the other. Simple.

As much as it is a layout, I'm thinking of it more as a test lab, for new techniques ( new to me anyway) where I don't care too much if I screw it up - it's just a door! But I think what will happen as it's small enough that I can pay a lot of attention to it, I will endeavor to detail it as much as possible. If nothing else I will have a place to run some steam locomotives back and forth. The pic above reprsents what I've thrown togther so far, stay tuned.