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Disguising PCB ties in trackwork

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  • #1

    Disguising PCB ties in trackwork

    I was in the my reading room perusing the January Model Railroader. There was an article on building a concrete bridge. Instead of painting and weathering, the author took pictures of the actual bridge and applied them to the structure, thus acheiving the weathered look. Now if I made a decal sheet of my other ties I could apply it to the PCB ties, and they would just blend in.

    Just a thought

    Harold
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  • #2
    Harold, even pictures of good wood grain in the color you desire should work. You might want to make them slightly larger, across the tie width, so you can wrap them otherwise I think it's a good idea. Necessity is the boon of invention, or something like that, whatever![:0]

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    • #3
      My idea would be to take stripwood equal to the perimeter of the three sides plus a little for the wrap around on the bottom. Since the distance required for the decal sections would be known lines could be scibed into the wood strips for cutting to size. Then stain them to match the other ties. Digitally photograph them and print them out on decal film. Apply the switch decals while the switch is on the bench. The regular ties could be decaled before ballasting. Finding an easy way to blend the PCB ties with the regular ties has turned most people off to their use. Now with computers fake grain is available like that cheap press board furniture that looks real until you touch.

      Just a thought

      Harold

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      • #4
        Did a preliminary mock-up by scanning some stained stripwood the same as my ties and some redwood ties. At 200 DPI the results were quite good,with a higher resolution the PCB ties covered with a sheath would look the same as the wood ones. Just using regular printer paper and wrapping it around the PCB ties worked well. Now I have to find a better material to print the tie scan on. I think this will work.

        Will post more as this progresses

        Harold

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        • #5
          Great idea Harold,

          A while back I built paper models using cardstock from an office supply store. Maybe that would work.
          Cheers,

          Steve

          San Juan Lumber Company

          Niagara Frontier Traction Company

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