Through the years we have gathered many 'magic' tricks to make the materials we use look like something other than what they really are. We can mimic almost everything imaginable.

We made many components of the train from Precision Board high density urethane (HDU). This HDU is pretty tough stuff but it isn't the heavy cast iron it is supposed to be. But no worries for we have the perfect cure for that. We simply paint the HDU to look like something else... in this case heavy cast iron. While everyone else we know is painting steel to stop it from rusting we are painting other materials with a special paint that actually rusts. The paint we use has iron particles in it and is a dark grey as it goes on. Once it is dry (after two coats) we then spray on a reactive solution which makes those tiny iron particles actually rust. After twenty minutes or so you can actually watch the rust form. It is a little more exciting than watching paint dry. :)

Here's the HDU train truck assembled and ready for paint.

I brushed on the two coats of iron paint (letting it dry between them), then sprayed on the first coat of reactive solution. This is twenty minutes later.

I waited half an hour before applying a second coat of reactive solution. Here's the piece an hour later.

Two hours later I snuck out to the shop to take some more pictures. The rust was beginning to look pretty cool!

It is amazing how heavy the running gear of the train suddenly appeared. The train looks a hundred years old in a hurry as well!

By morning the transformation will be complete. I'll post more pictures tomorrow.

-grampa dan