The Straco Layout, Part 6 - Painting and getting to the point

 Read all the installments of the Straco Express layout project here.

The next step was finishing the board. I had some Douglas Fir green paint left over from  a previous project, and I felt it was the perfect color for the Straco layout. It's a bright green, and rather than depicting realistic ground cover, it presents a more toy-like representation of grass that's in keeping with the bright colors of the Straco Express itself.

That's gonna leave a mark.

After the painting was completed, I worked on another little problem I had. I had purchased the shortest wood screws I could possibly find, but they were still a little long, as you can see.


One option would have been to file them off flush with the wood, using a Dremel tool. But I didn't want to put that much time into the project, plus I wasn't sure I could get the screws down level with the wood without gouging the wood at the same time.

I'm really not that bad a photographer.
The registration's off on the packaging,
which is why the lettering looks funny.

So I purchased some  furniture pads, and the problem was solved. I twisted the pad onto the exposed screw until the pad's adhesive made contact with the wood. Then I just pushed down and a little bit, and the screw tip was completely covered.

Problem solved. And I don't have to worry about the
bracing scratching the table top.

Now on to the next step... laying down the track  (in a way that will ensure it will work).


#Straco