Once I was happy with the appearance, I painted it lightly with
an all-purpose gray primer, which is a lighter color than the
gray used on the locomotives. I am careful not to spray too
solid of a color onto the smoke (8).
When I am done painting, I hang the painted smoke upside
down to dry. This creates the effect of the smoke rising up from
the chimney. Once it was dry I clipped off most of the wire and
glue it into the hole that I had drilled into the chimney.
For the smaller smoke stacks I use only a tiny bit of cotton,
but the procedure is the same. For these, I tease only a little
bit of the cotton on the swab before painting, or I leave them
unpainted, depending on their use (9).
Some items may not have a hole in which to mount the smoke,
or may require a hole too
small to be practical. The
small pipes of rolling stock
or vehicles generally fall
into the category.
When I run into these situ-
ations, I add a very small
amount of CA cement to
the end of the pipe with a
sharp toothpick. I let it set
for a second or two before
touching the swab cot-
ton on the pipe, and then
holding it there until the
CA cement sets up.
8. The teased cotton
with a light coat of the
light gray primer.
8
Makin' Smoke - 4
MRH-Mar 2013
