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Show me your tunnel portals

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  • Member since
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  • From: Shenandoah Valley
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Posted by BigDaddy on Thursday, June 22, 2023 10:33 PM

I love MarklinFromSweden's enthusiasm.  

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

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Posted by BigDaddy on Sunday, April 30, 2023 7:12 PM

Thanks guys.  In real life it looks very very flat, as if it were sprayed with dullcote triple extra.  I am happy with the colors though.

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

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Posted by BATMAN on Sunday, April 30, 2023 4:00 PM

BigDaddy

Here is my almost finished portal.  I'm the OP and you can scroll up to see what I started with.  This was all done with cheap craft paint and india ink.

 

Looks great, Henry.

Brent

"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."

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  • From: Harrisburg, PA
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Posted by hbgatsf on Sunday, April 30, 2023 6:50 AM

Water Level Route

 

 
hbgatsf
Did you paint the caps on the WS portals and walls in a concrete color?  It does appear that the castings have concrete on top of the stone but I wasn't sure.

 

The lighter gray you see there is actually the base color I started with on the entire thing.  As I applied washes of darker colors, I simply skipped on applying the washes to the caps.

 

 

 

Thanks.  That certainly simplifies the process.

Rick

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  • From: Ludington, MI
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Posted by Water Level Route on Saturday, April 29, 2023 3:56 PM

hbgatsf
Did you paint the caps on the WS portals and walls in a concrete color?  It does appear that the castings have concrete on top of the stone but I wasn't sure.

The lighter gray you see there is actually the base color I started with on the entire thing.  As I applied washes of darker colors, I simply skipped on applying the washes to the caps.

Mike

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Posted by mbinsewi on Saturday, April 29, 2023 1:59 PM

I think that looks great Henry.  You've really captured the weatherd stone color perfectly!

Mike.

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Posted by BigDaddy on Saturday, April 29, 2023 11:33 AM

Here is my almost finished portal.  I'm the OP and you can scroll up to see what I started with.  This was all done with cheap craft paint and india ink.

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

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Posted by hbgatsf on Friday, April 28, 2023 7:09 PM

Water Level Route

Both of these were done the same basic way.  Base of light to medium gray, thin black wash(es), thick black wash for the smoke effect (holding the portals upside down), then drybrushes of white and light gray.

 Al’s Portal by Michael, on Flickr

 Tunnel work by Michael, on Flickr

 

Did you paint the caps on the WS portals and walls in a concrete color?  It does appear that the castings have concrete on top of the stone but I wasn't sure.  I am going to use those and was looking for pictures of them but your pictures are the only ones I found installed.  Those that I have found are the stock WS product photos and they appear to be the same color on the cap as the stone. 

Rick

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Posted by doctorwayne on Wednesday, April 26, 2023 12:54 PM

Nothin' fancy here....

...just a plain "concrete" portal

...and another similar one at the other end...

...along with a beneath-the-layout view showing very little of an actual tunnel...

Wayne

  • Member since
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  • From: Shenandoah Valley
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Posted by BigDaddy on Monday, April 24, 2023 5:57 PM

BigDaddy
That portal gotten broken

Gotten broken? Habla ingles? 

Anyway I had two walls made of the same material.  You can see the original meh brown color on the edge.  This is version 1.0  This pic was taken outside in bright sunlight.  Inside it looks darker.

It needs an india ink wash to fill the crevices.  I also need to dry brush some white to simulate guano.   I used mixes of Walmart Apple paints.  Diluting the paint too much causes spotty coverage.

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

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Posted by "JaBear" on Monday, April 3, 2023 4:11 PM

 Tunnels by Bear, on Flickr

Wooden coffee stirrers glued to a thin corrugated reinforced cardboard backing. Smoke staining done using a 4B (?) pencil, smudged by finger.
Cheers, the Bear.Smile

"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."

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Posted by BigDaddy on Monday, April 3, 2023 4:04 PM

I did something similar and used india ink washes.  That portal gotten broken in the move and I don't know what happened to the original portal.  I never took pictures of my old layout.

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

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Posted by MisterBeasley on Monday, April 3, 2023 2:38 PM

Does it have to be a train tunnel?  I bought a hydrocal casting of a tunnel portal from either Wodland Scenics or Walthers.  It was about an inch thick, and that wouldn't work for the space I wanted to put it in.  So. I used liquid latex and created a thin mold from the portal.  That worked very well.  I don't have a picture of the train tunnel I used it for, but I like the casting so much I made another couple of them for a small bridge over a stream.

A bit later, I finished the scene.

I did these with a Rustoleum textured speckled tan rattle can spray, and used India Ink to hightlight the cracks and gaps.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

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Posted by hbgatsf on Sunday, April 2, 2023 6:15 AM

Thank you.

Rick

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Saturday, April 1, 2023 9:45 AM

-Photographs by Kevin Parson

I hope this was a help.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

  • Member since
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  • From: Harrisburg, PA
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Posted by hbgatsf on Saturday, April 1, 2023 6:35 AM

I am surprised that more pictures have not been posted.

I am confident that I can paint and weather portals.  Where I am having some trouble is fitting them in because I have clearance issues with adjacent terrain.  The biggest problem is that in a couple spots track curves into a tunnel after running parallel to a wall.  Setting the portal so that it is straight accross the track extends the hill/wall on the other side of the portal farther than I would like.

I would like to see pictures if you have something similar.

Rick

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Posted by selector on Sunday, March 26, 2023 5:29 PM

Oops, no!  Cheapo acrylic craft paints, the Plaid variety from WalMart.

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Posted by BigDaddy on Sunday, March 26, 2023 10:47 AM

selector
Finally, a stone portal, with the keystone. The stain was burnt umber with slate grey, some white, and a whiff of yellow:

Selector are we talking oil based stain?

 

 

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

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Posted by Pruitt on Sunday, March 26, 2023 9:52 AM

Here's one I scratchbuilt from stained stripwood years ago:

It's meant to represent portals similar to this one in the Wind River Canyon in Wyoming:

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Posted by mbinsewi on Saturday, March 25, 2023 9:29 PM

Mine is carved styrofoam, covered with drywall mud.

Mike.

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Posted by Water Level Route on Saturday, March 25, 2023 9:05 PM

Both of these were done the same basic way.  Base of light to medium gray, thin black wash(es), thick black wash for the smoke effect (holding the portals upside down), then drybrushes of white and light gray.

 Al’s Portal by Michael, on Flickr

 Tunnel work by Michael, on Flickr

Mike

  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Vancouver Island, BC
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Posted by selector on Saturday, March 25, 2023 4:12 PM

Woodland Scenics hydrocal timber portal painted with 'burnt umber' some yellow and tan mixed:

Does it look like it's well-treated with creosote? Stick out tongue

A W/S hydrocal concrete portal, stained with some burnt umber and slate gray:

It's a double-wide portal, but my track separation on that curve and the longer steamers meant I felt better sawing it in half and adding a plug of extruded styrofoam insulation board where the 'keystone' might have been.  You can just make out the edges of the 'stone' plug.  Engine black smudging using a paint brush for the smoke effects.

Finally, a stone portal, with the keystone.  The stain was burnt umber with slate grey, some white, and a whiff of yellow:

 

  • Member since
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  • From: Shenandoah Valley
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Show me your tunnel portals
Posted by BigDaddy on Saturday, March 25, 2023 11:40 AM

I think this is a Chooch tunnel portal left over from my last layout. I added some smoke weathering, but never actually used it.

The Iphone makes it appear a lot better than it is. In real life it is a hideous tan-flesh color.


I need some painting ideas, show me your tunnel portals.

 

 

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

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