October 2, 2011
The can of Floquils' Earth warns:
DANGER: EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE LIQUID AND VAPOR. VAPOR MAY CAUSE FLASH FIRE. CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE.
That means I probably should not spray the stuff inside the house. So, I go to a well-ventilated area, my back yard:
Fortunately it has been fantastic weather today. So I took myself out to the back yard and sprayed away. Lisa and the dogs were not too far away. Lisa exclaimed, "What is that awful smelling stuff?"
By the way. That is not a doghouse I laid the castings on top of. That is a plastic compost bin. We bought it at a yard sale. It works great. Inside that compost bin are lots of grass clippings and leaves. Lisa throws in all the discard fruit peels and such in there as well. It smelled just as lovely as the Floquil Earth.
Lisa commented that flies are attracted by the smell of her nail polishing goop. A thought popped in my head. Nail polish and Floquil paint contain solvents. Hmmmm... I did see a few bugs flitting about while I was spraying. I had to make sure I did not end up with unwanted details on my castings :-)
George explains to spray the details from all sides. I am glad he mentioned it:
I had to be sure I was not spraying too much on the metal castings. I need to figure out an intelligent means to line up the castings so I can spray each one from every side without over-spraying the others around it. Being only average I found myself at a loss. The kit's Herculean instruction sheets do not provide guidance. Mmmm... I'm sure I'll figure it out by the time I've gotten all the neat-o metal castings done.
After a few minutes the castings are no longer wet and they can be handled gently. They are not "dry" yet. My old train buddy Bob Pieczyk (may he rest in peace) taught me that anything sprayed with Floquil is not totally dry until you can no longer smell the paint. However, the castings' details are starting to come through already.
click the image above to view the full size photo in glorious detail
Pieczyk is the fellow that turned me on to craftsman kits. Bob would never shut up about John Allen, and George Sellios, and FSM kits, and narrow gauge, and anything great I like about this hobby. I miss Pieczyk. We used to hang out every Saturday and play toy trains at the club in New Albany, MS. Even the club is gone now. It burned to the ground along with a lot of our cool toy trains.
I gathered my primed yet uncured metal castings and brought them in the house to cure for the next couple of days. I can still smell them on my workbench as I type all of this. George cautions the modeler not to place the metal castings in an oven to speed up the curing process lest one finds his/her $265.00 plus $15.00 shipping a blob of melted metal and plastic :-) It is no joke. It is right there in step 6d of the Gargantuan "Detailing & Weathering Tips" sheet.
Thus, I heed the warnings from George and keen advice from beloved toy train buddy mentor Pieczyk and let the metal castings cure for the next couple of days.
click the image above to view the full size photo in glorious detail
NOTE:
Be sure to clean your Floquil or favorite brand of spray can immediately after using it. To do this turn the spray can upside-down and spray all of the paint in the line until you get just the clear propellant spraying out of the can.
Next up, step 1b of stupendous instructions sheet "A"; mixing the black alcohol stain.