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 90
0
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.
