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Once I have finished teasing out the cotton of the swab (3), it’s
decision time. If they are being used for steam release, I don’t
paint them – I declare them done. For these, all I need to do
is attach them to the locomotive or some other equipment’s
steam vent.
To make smoke rather than steam, I poke the swab shaft into a
base of cardboard or foam. I prefer to do spray painting outside
with a rattle can of Krylon or Rustoleum dark gray primer – I
find it makes a nice dark smoky color (4).
I have also found the cotton tends to blow around a little while
I am spraying it, which makes it harder to control the paint
application. To keep this from happening, I hold the cotton
down with a skewer or a tooth pick.
2
2. The beginning of the teasing process.
3. The finished look of the teased swab end.
3
Makin' Smoke - 2
To create the effect of smoke going over the boiler of a locomo-
tive, I stand the cardboard/foam base holding the teased swab
up so that the smoke hangs down at a 900 angle while it is dry-
ing. If I want the smoke to go straight up, I hang the cardboard/
foam base upside down.
The paint holds the cotton to shape once it has dried. After the
paint has dried, for variety I sometimes tease the smoke out a
little more to create a multi color look (6).
After the paint has dried, I cut off the excess swab shaft to
prepare it for mounting in a locomotive. For maximum clear-
ance, I cut the shaft as short as possible. I found that the
swab shaft fits quite nicely into many of my locomotive smoke
stacks (5).
4
4. The teased Q-tips swab painted dark gray and ready
to install in a locomotive.
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MRH-Mar 2013