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More Jones Island updates in this Second Midday Modeler spot, recorded LIVE from the Model Railroader Workshop.
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Join the cast and crew of Model Railroader and Trains.com for this Live recorded session from the MR workshop at Kalmbach Media. This is the second video that was live streamed via Facebook, but avaialble after the fact only to Trains.com Members. Enjoy!
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Model Railroader 2026 Calendar
Don't miss Model Railroader’s all-new 2026 calendar, featuring Rod Stewart's spectacular layout!
I agree with Kerry about using an X-acto blade to scrape the paint off window frames or other surfaces to be glued. Much faster and less messy. I used #15 chisel blade. Rust-Oleum also makes a “Khaki” in their camo paint line which is great for older concrete. Its darker, but sometimes thats what you want. Great series, very enjoyable and educational…
David: I enjoyed mid-day modeler. Happy to see some discussion about paint incompatibilities. I have been modeling for quite a few years; going back to Floquil and Scalecoat paints, on to PollyScale (which I really liked), and now on to Tamiya and Vallejo paints. Currently I really like Tamiya spray can primers. They cover extremely well and dry with very fine detail. However, I have not had great success covering Tamiya primers with Vallejo paints. Even with a coat of Testors Dullcoat, the Vallejo paints just don’t seem to adhere to the Tamiya primer nor do they dry to a hard finish. Do you have any experience or recommendations regarding primers for use with Vallejo paints? I have tied Vallejo airbrush primers with rather unsatisfactory results (but I to invest more effort here). I just purchased some Vallejo spray can primers to see if I can improve my results. The Vallejo paints offer a great color pallet and I continue to use them, but I just need a technique that will provide a more durable finish without 6 coats of Dullcoat.
I would like to echo the earlier comment regarding audio: Lapel mics would be a good idea. When someone is talking from across the room, we can’t hear them. And even when someone turns their face away from the iPad, the sound fades.
And the take-away for the problems gluing pre-painted windows is, I assume, that you should mask the surfaces where the glue will go.
So, what is the take-away for the paint problems? Should we try to use paint from the same manufacturer if we’re painting in layers? Or maybe just make sure that the layers of paint are of the same type (both lacquer, both enamel, etc.)?
I purchased an Ertl plastic model building to make into a lumber yard. Because the original footprint, consisting of a small, peaked-roof front section attached to a large, flat-roofed section was way too big for my space, I decided to modify the back section by only using one or two sidewalls and thereby creating a rectangular back section that was about half the depth of the original.
My question is, since the original flat-roof section is vastly too big for the new section, what should I use for a roof? Would it be a really bad idea to cut the original plastic roof to the new size and add a new back overhang to it?
Photos are attached.
Chris Poppe
/Users/Chris/Desktop/IMG_6650.HEIC
/Users/Chris/Desktop/IMG_6651.HEIC
The Camo paint has CARC in it. Originally made for military application, it is heavy duty paint for little give for minute detail items.
Switch lists or train lists are def the way to go, especially in a yard scenario. Grab a cut of cars and reclassify them to diff tracks. Even with a local, get a built train out of the yard, do pulls and spots along the way.
If I need to remove paint from window frames before gluing I use a # 11 blade held perpendicular to the frame and scrape it off. This quickly gets down to the plastic without generating a lot of dust.
Hi David, Jenny and team. Will Olympia 3 videos be available on Trains.com? I’m not a frequent FB user, but I subscribe to Trains.com with the hope that all the MRVP type content is available to me.
Great show concept folks. Don’t drive Jenny crazy following you with the Ipad.
Thanks for your ongoing and successful efforts to make model railroading relevant and fun for all of us out here in the hinterland. We appreciate you guys.
Love this new series! Hope you continue with it since there seems to be a longer period of time between other videos posting. My model railroad club is building a 40′ x 60′ HO/HOn3 layout of Mount Union, PA and the surrounding areas in the early 1950s featuring the PRR and the East Broad Top Railroad. The layout will be a display in our new Bricktown Museum in Mount Union. We have over 11,000 historical photographs of the area. We would like to display some of these on the fascia. I noticed on the red fascia at the end of this video prints of what I assume are past MR articles on that part of the MR&T. Can you tell me where you get the holders for those prints? I think they might be exactly what we need for the Bricktown Museum layout!
For this series, do you guys need to wear the little Microphone that get pinned to your shirts? The sound is very hit an miss. If close to the camera, the sound is fine, if not, the sound seems muffled and volume to low.