Will a matt spray varnish prolong the life of a card kit? In this series I'll put a Metcalfe kit through its paces subjecting it to the outdoor elements.
Hi Julian! Looks like it's going to be a really good experiment - and I love a good experiment! Sawing the kit in half was a bit brutal though, but I loved it! Sometimes we modellers need to vent a bit of frustration, and sawing a model in half looked like the perfect way to do that! Lol! All the best, Ian.
If varnish turns out the winner a great follow up would be a UV test with the different types of varnish. Using test samples of both the Metcalfe and home printed, with maybe even photo and std paper added to the mix.
That might be on the cards (pardon the pun). NZ has some of the worst UV rays in the world so with summer just around the corner, such a test would be a perfect time to do it - watch this space.
I will be watching with interest the experiment as it progresses Kiwi. Where I live in Qld's southern border area has a very comparable climate to Christchurch, so there will be merit in your findings. Cheers
Hi Julian. Does it feel strange working on your own layout again? Interesting experiment - I look forward to seeing the results. I was intrigued to see you saw the building in half! It would be an fascinating technique for those that model war-damaged buildings.
Unusual and interesting experiment Julian, looking forward to the results. Useful tip about UV protection I have two Velux windows and have found a couple of items (vehicles) have faded. Regards Barry..
Thanks for the video … I’ve had the foggy finish happen a couple of times and I put it down to spraying the second coat before the first was dry. Never thought about the temperature (who reads instructions anyway) and where I am in South East Queensland it’s not really an issue weather wise, but it’s a useful piece of information. Looking forward to the outcome of this experiment!
The sawing in half made me laugh! Interesting experiment. Re wildlife: I wonder if you could put a "cage" of chicken wire over it, to keep inquisitive birds out. Obviously squirrels would work out how to remove the chicken wire, but I don't think you have squirrels in New Zealand, do you?). We used to have a row of half relief terraced houses, built by mum in the mid 1960s for my dad's first layout. They were little more than paper, from a firm called Bilteezi (which were like the cheap version of Superquick, but a bit more photorealistic) - they survived three layouts and were actually still fine around 2015 when my dad finally dismantled the layout and sold it all off.
Wow Julian. As a modeller on a significant budget, I must say that I cringed when you took your wood saw to the station building. 😅 Let's see how the Christchurch weather destroys them further. Stay safe and happy modelling. Mon
@@oswestryroadtmd4850 my layouts are also in my garage but so far there is no visible sign of degeneration to the card buildings. I'm not sure that spraying matt clear paint or varnish on the windows is the best idea but you can't mask them obviously. Any ideas Julian?
A great idea and I'm looking forward to seeing the results. I understand that you wanted to speed up the test , were you concerned it may be a little extreme, and some protection from direct precipitation although would have taken longer given more realistic results.
There's a wee bit of concern there that the outdoor elements might be too extreme. If it rains, there's the chance the glue might dissolve, although I don't know what glue was used as I didn't construct it.
Watching the vicious attack of the hand saw makes me think of slash movies, on the other hand how do you cut your finger nails? The question of humidity and temperature is very much at the fore at the moment here in the U.K. as we fight to save money by delaying switching on the heating. Thanks for addressing a question that a lot of us ponder on but do nothing.
Dropping the spray can in warm water certainly helps avoid the foggy, hazey effect when I'm spraying models in the garage in the middle of winter - no heating in there.
I think it does. When I had the old Metcalfe station building on my layout, it was next to other card buildings that had been varnished, but only the station building got attacked.
You could have done the experiment without cutting the building in half...just by only putting the matte on one half and leaving the other half as built...you would still have the building intact in case you wanted to every use it after some minor repairs or massive weathering to make it look rundown.
Really looking forward to the results. What a great idea. Keep up these fascinating videos Julian.
Hi Julian! Looks like it's going to be a really good experiment - and I love a good experiment! Sawing the kit in half was a bit brutal though, but I loved it! Sometimes we modellers need to vent a bit of frustration, and sawing a model in half looked like the perfect way to do that! Lol! All the best, Ian.
Thanks Ian, there was a slight therapeutic nature to sawing the building in half. I must do an update on its deterioration.
If varnish turns out the winner a great follow up would be a UV test with the different types of varnish. Using test samples of both the Metcalfe and home printed, with maybe even photo and std paper added to the mix.
That might be on the cards (pardon the pun). NZ has some of the worst UV rays in the world so with summer just around the corner, such a test would be a perfect time to do it - watch this space.
looking forward to seeing the results.
Look forward to seeing the results. Thanks for the tip about the temperature and how to regulate the varnish. Roy.
I will be watching with interest the experiment as it progresses Kiwi. Where I live in Qld's southern border area has a very comparable climate to Christchurch, so there will be merit in your findings. Cheers
Hi Julian. Does it feel strange working on your own layout again? Interesting experiment - I look forward to seeing the results. I was intrigued to see you saw the building in half! It would be an fascinating technique for those that model war-damaged buildings.
Hi Paul, it certainly did feel a little strange back on my layout, but 2 months on now I'm well and truely back in the swing of things🙂
Unusual and interesting experiment Julian, looking forward to the results. Useful tip about UV protection I have two Velux windows and have found a couple of items (vehicles) have faded. Regards Barry..
Hi Julian.
A body farm for cardboard kits :-) I look forward to the updates.
Best regards Mark.
Thanks for the video … I’ve had the foggy finish happen a couple of times and I put it down to spraying the second coat before the first was dry. Never thought about the temperature (who reads instructions anyway) and where I am in South East Queensland it’s not really an issue weather wise, but it’s a useful piece of information. Looking forward to the outcome of this experiment!
Humidity could be factor when the foggy effect is encountered?
The sawing in half made me laugh! Interesting experiment. Re wildlife: I wonder if you could put a "cage" of chicken wire over it, to keep inquisitive birds out. Obviously squirrels would work out how to remove the chicken wire, but I don't think you have squirrels in New Zealand, do you?).
We used to have a row of half relief terraced houses, built by mum in the mid 1960s for my dad's first layout. They were little more than paper, from a firm called Bilteezi (which were like the cheap version of Superquick, but a bit more photorealistic) - they survived three layouts and were actually still fine around 2015 when my dad finally dismantled the layout and sold it all off.
No squirrels here in NZ, but we do have other pesky creatures, namely Possums, but fortunately not where we live.
Wow Julian.
As a modeller on a significant budget, I must say that I cringed when you took your wood saw to the station building. 😅
Let's see how the Christchurch weather destroys them further.
Stay safe and happy modelling.
Mon
We've had some pretty rough weather recently, but knowing my luck, we'll now have weeks of settled weather - not that I'd complain about that.
@@StationRoadModelRailway best not to complain about good weather. 😅
This what I want to do to prolong the life of the buildings on my layout since my layout lives in the garage
@@oswestryroadtmd4850 my layouts are also in my garage but so far there is no visible sign of degeneration to the card buildings.
I'm not sure that spraying matt clear paint or varnish on the windows is the best idea but you can't mask them obviously.
Any ideas Julian?
A great idea and I'm looking forward to seeing the results.
I understand that you wanted to speed up the test , were you concerned it may be a little extreme, and some protection from direct precipitation although would have taken longer given more realistic results.
There's a wee bit of concern there that the outdoor elements might be too extreme. If it rains, there's the chance the glue might dissolve, although I don't know what glue was used as I didn't construct it.
Good video
Watching the vicious attack of the hand saw makes me think of slash movies, on the other hand how do you cut your finger nails? The question of humidity and temperature is very much at the fore at the moment here in the U.K. as we fight to save money by delaying switching on the heating. Thanks for addressing a question that a lot of us ponder on but do nothing.
Dropping the spray can in warm water certainly helps avoid the foggy, hazey effect when I'm spraying models in the garage in the middle of winter - no heating in there.
Also - I'd be interested to know if the varnish works as a deterrent to silverfish, mice or any other critters that might invade the layout.
I think it does. When I had the old Metcalfe station building on my layout, it was next to other card buildings that had been varnished, but only the station building got attacked.
You could have done the experiment without cutting the building in half...just by only putting the matte on one half and leaving the other half as built...you would still have the building intact in case you wanted to every use it after some minor repairs or massive weathering to make it look rundown.
You should use a time lapse camera (you could make one with an old Raspberry Pi and a PiCam.
Interesting suggestion, I'll investigate. I did ponder how I could take a photo each day with the frame in exactly the same position.