Re: Weekend Update 5/10/26

[ATSF_Ron]

I'm a little late to this week's party.  Still waiting on some micro screws and a couple other bits to complete my SP Mk series 2-8-2 shell conversion in another thread.  So in the meantime, I decided to get the second of my two older mechanism Kato SD45s DCC fitted.  As I expected, these run superbly as a pair in DCC, just as they have in DC.  I believe the nose lights were from Sunrise back in the 90s.  The jewels have yellowed over the years, but it's better than nothing.  SP diesels MUST have the proper light packages!!

ATSF_Ron

[robert3985]

Or for anyone who has to worry about chemicals, whether odor or toxins.  I can't spray indoors, and have to be careful what I brush paint inside.  Using an airbrush outdoors would be difficult most of the year.  Almost all of my painting is done with spray cans - run outside, paint, run back in.

The big-box-store craft paints work fine for weathering, but don't do well for base coats.

Sounds like you're super-sensitive to airborne fumes, eh?  I finally got tired of going outside to paint, especially when the weather was inclement or exceedingly cold.  I wanted to paint when I wanted to paint...so, I built my own spray booth which exhausts fumes to the outside and allows me to paint whenever-the-Hell-I-want. 

It's definitely not fancy, made from dimensional lumber and 1/4" plywood, with an industrial constant-run blower I bought at Graingers.  Uses a 4" dryer hose to an adapter plate mounted to a handy window, with a dryer vent flapper on it.  I've used it now in five moves, having to build a different adapter plate every time (not a big deal).  It also vents the 3D resin fumes from my 3D printing room, so I do my printing and airbrushing/rattle-canning in the same room.

Photo (1) - 3D printers and spray booth mounted in close proximity to each other in order to vent 3D resin fumes outside:


Note that in this photo, I am still moving in to my new 3D print/Spray Booth room and haven't completed the process yet although my printers are printing and the spray booth is fully functional.

Maybe one day I'll get around to painting the cabinet and booth...maybe.

At any rate, having the booth vastly improves the control I have over finishing my models which I've put a lot of hours into, and I am not at the mercy of the elements and time of day. AND, the bad fumes and particles are exhausted outside...well worth the effort I put into it many years ago.

However, there are plenty of commercial hobby spray booths available now that traverse a broad range of prices and features, with some being collapsible if you don't have room to keep it permanently set up.  It would be worth it to do some Googling to see what's available.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Scottl]

@robert3985 you are braver than me to print and paint on that rug.  I line the concrete floor of the utility room I work in with flattened cardboard boxes.  They accumulate and absorb more than I would like to admit.  I mean, s**t happens and rug is so expensive.

[robert3985]

@robert3985 you are braver than me to print and paint on that rug.  I line the concrete floor of the utility room I work in with flattened cardboard boxes.  They accumulate and absorb more than I would like to admit.  I mean, s**t happens and rug is so expensive.

Actually, I've got 3/4" plywood (finished one side) down now, covering the carpet directly in front of both the spray booth and the printing table.  Yup, sh*t happens for sure!

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[nkalanaga]

Robert:  Not so much "super-sensitive", but paint fumes did seem to aggravate both Mom's and my allergies, so I learned to avoid them back in the 70s, living in a trailer, as a teenager.  Mom just died this March, and I still don't like the smell, so I limit the indoor painting.

A spray booth would probably work fine, but I'm not going to start cutting holes in the walls to install one.  I've gotten along for over fifty years painting outside.

[robert3985]

Robert:  Not so much "super-sensitive", but paint fumes did seem to aggravate both Mom's and my allergies, so I learned to avoid them back in the 70s, living in a trailer, as a teenager.  Mom just died this March, and I still don't like the smell, so I limit the indoor painting.

A spray booth would probably work fine, but I'm not going to start cutting holes in the walls to install one.  I've gotten along for over fifty years painting outside.

If you've got a room with a window, there's no need for cutting holes in walls.  I'm working on a 1/4" Plexiglass piece that goes in this window.  The cardboard plug is just a work-around as well as prototype for the plexi one that only needs a couple of precision cuts to finish it up.

My friend and business partner is like you.  He's never had a spray booth, so he's just fine with running out to his unheated garage in the middle of Winter or when it happens to be raining or dust-storming outside.  I keep badgering him to either buy one or make one, but...he's happy as a clam with the front yard or garage.

However, for those who want one and think it may be too much of a hassle to use one, there are plenty of commercially made ones that are adaptable to just about any window arrangement as well has filtering & purifying equipment where a window isn't possible.

Frankly, it's a bit like attempting to explain how good watermelon tastes to a person who has never tried it...ya just don't understand what it's all about until suddenly you don't even need to take the weather or time of day into consideration whatsoever when you've got some model painting to do.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[nkalanaga]

No practical windows, either!  It's a double-wide, three bedrooms, Mom had the master bedroom until she died in March.  I have one of the smaller ones, and the trains have the other, with its one window covered over with backdrop.  So, no unused windows.

I've seen the window models, online, and agree that they'd work fine if I wanted one, and had a window.