Monthly Archives: January 2006

Steve Sherrill’s On30 MiniMeet

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Steve Sherrill’s On30 MiniMeet, originally uploaded by gerenm.

Donna and I spent today at Steve Sherrill’s West Virginia Mini-Meet. I showed just how easy it is to install the wipers on the Shay, and talked with folks about some other related projects — look for news on those soon.

This picture is of the most recent and nearly completed addition to Steve’s layout. You can see more pictures of the addition here: flickr album
And, I’ll be uploading some of my older pictures of his layout as I get time.

Driftwood Stain

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Many people are trying to replicate Floquil’s Driftwood stain color. Here’s a recipe that is nearly a dead ringer for the original.

Start with 1 qt of Sherwin Williams “Pickled White” Interior Wood Oil Stain Wood Classic.” Have the following tint added:

W1-20

B1-16

Y3-11

Y1-2

The only requirement is that the Sherwin Williams outlet you get this from must have the computerized mixing setup.

[This information originally appeared on the On30Conspiracy on August 7, 2000.]

In use, the stain needs to be thinned with approximately 1 1/2 quarts of Diosol.

I’m also told that the mixture works equally well using the newer water-based variant of the Pickled White stain. Again, it will need to be thinned prior to use, using water and a little rubbing alcohol.

The Black Art of Photo Etching

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I am convinced that photo-etching is somewhat of a black art – possibly even a form of alchemy. I say this because, like the alchemists, I started this process with some metal, some nasty chemicals and an idea. And, like the alchemists, I ended up with less of my original metal, a quantity of different nasty-looking chemicals, and an idea. And, an identical process does not always yield an identical result.

Actually, everything turned out reasonably well. I was left with a large quantity of parts, and a bucket of salt water and rust. However, there are a few things that you may need to deal with that are not included in the main instruction sheet.

In the next run, I’m hoping to have the process control a little better, for somewhat more consistent results.