I’m in the process of building a grain elevator and I plan on using cardboard mailing tubing for the silos. I’ll have to fill the spiral seam, thinking joint compound for that. What recommendations for painting though? It will be a big structure with the silos alone being 15" high, 6.5" wide, and 30" long. Since it tubing I doubt that warping will be much of an issue.
Ideas?
Thanks
Rick
I did the exact thing for my layout - only it was for a cement plant.
I used joint compound to fill / smooth that seam as well … just sand VERY lightly though - those cardboard tubes will fuzz up if you’re too aggressive with the sanding and it’s very hard to get it to smooth back out.
For painting mine, I bought a quart of latex paint custom mixed to match a paint swatch I made using Floquil Aged Concrete. I brush painted the whole thing with a 1" brush making certain to brush AROUND the silos. Any and all texture left from the brush strokes helped in the textured appearance of poured concrete !
For the detail pieces and smaller structures, I thinned the latex a bit with water and shoved it through the airbrush … worked like a charm !
Mark.
You can use a damp sponge to smooth out the joint compound, instead of sanding it. That way you will not fuzz up the cardboard tubing. Wait until the compound is dry and hard, and then just apply the sponge.
Thanks for the tip on painting around the silo to give the texture. No problems with the cardboard swelling with the water based paint then?
Rick
Nope, no problems swelling - I think the latex paint dries before it really soaks IN to the card board. To be perfectly honest, I never even thought of that … maybe that’s why it worked !
This is the only shot I have - this is after the first coat of paint (the seam patches are just barely visible, the second coat hid them completely). The structure is 2X4 silos …
Mark.
Great ideas - but wouldn’t PVC tubeing be easier to work with? My [2c]
Another option is to give the tubes a coat of oil based varnish to seal the cardboard. That will raise the grain on the cardboard and stiffen it so not oly will it be less affected by the moisture in the spackle and latex paint, but it will be easier to sand smooth.
Dave H.
PS: PVC pipe is easier to use.
Ivanhen
Overall yes, and a second elevator that is part of this complex will probably be built this way. However, I had 3 constraints. 1. Cost, not that PVC pipe is expensive but I got the cardboard tubing for free. 2. Diameter, the PVC pipe would have been just a bit too big, the tubing is nearly spot on. 3. Weight, this is for a free-mo module set and this elevator alone would have wieghed at least 20 pounds if built with PVC (go pick up a piece of 3" PVC pipe!), that was the main reason for looking for an alternate solution.
Rick
Understood - and your reasoning is right on. If you do use PVC, it is also available in a lighter weight - usually used for exterior irrigation/drain applications - it’s about 1/3 the weight of the normal schedule 40 PVC. The other problem with this is that it’s usually only available in 5" diameter. [:)]
Yup, 5" might just be a bit too big for what I need![:)]
Rick