Layout Dog Days

[Anonymous]

Seems to me that I am in the "Dog days" of layout construction. My track has been laid for ages and the mountains have sprung up from the benchwork. A few buildings are being built on my workbench. And now I'm starting to add grass & shrubs, and some rock details. The rock details are being formed from sculptamold in latex rubber forms. Once placed I have to wait for the scultamold to fully heal/cure before I can paint/stain them. It's seems as if things have slowed down to a crawl. Have you experienced this? Is this common? Seems like benchwork, track bed, roadbed, and track showed progress daily. Scenery seems much slower.

Trevor[:)]

[challenger3802]

Yep, I know where you're coming from. My layout's in pretty much the same stage, all trackwork finished and everything running just mountains of scenery to do, then the age old question of where to start??

Ian

[Anonymous]

Ian,

QUOTE: the age old question of where to start??

That's a big part of the problem. Where to start...indeed. I have to keep reminding myself, to "work on small pieces at a time", as I have read here over and over. My layout is only 8'x4' so I can't imagine how daunting a medium or large sized layout must be at this stage. That being said, I also have to remind myself that this is my hobby, and it is NOT a race. Like old Bob says and my LHS, "you're never finished your layout", so as I meander through the dog days of layout construction I keep these things in mind, and keep on keepin on, moving down the track.

Trevor[:)]

[simon1966]

Trevor, ironically, I think a bigger layout is in some ways easier. If one part is drying there is always something that can be done on another section of the layout.

[Anonymous]

May I please use this reason to convince my wife that I need a larger layout[:D]

Trevor

[simon1966]

QUOTE: Originally posted by TrevorG

May I please use this reason to convince my wife that I need a larger layout[:D]

Trevor

Sounds like a plan to me!!

My wife is extremely artistic and has really started to appreciate the MRR as it develops. A couple of months ago she said "You really do need a bigger space, don't you?" She meant it as well. She has a store room right next to my train room in the basement where she keeps all her silk ribbon and fabrics and other things and she is going to hand this space over to me!!

[Anonymous]

Hmmmm. My wife's sewing room is right next to my train room too. Maybe she'll come to the same conclusion some day....

Trevor[:)]

[MisterBeasley]

My wife is (so far) giving me something even more precious - time. I had expected to be constantly bombarded with requests for assistance in this and that while I was trying to get the RR built. Instead, she's leaving me very much to myself. (No, personal hygiene has nothing to do with this.) I think it's because she didn't realize how long this was going to take, and right now she wants me to get done with the pink foam board stage so our family room will once again be presentable. So, getting on with the railroad has become a high-priority thing for her, which works out pretty well.

[BRVRR]

Trevor,
I know where you are coming from. My BRVRR is only 4X10 but the scenery/landscaping seems to be the most time consuming part of the whole thing. I'm including structures in this statement. I tend to get wrapped around the axle in the details all the time.
A suggestion, try using Plaster of Paris or Hydrocal for your 'rocks'. Both cure much faster than Sculptamold.
I feel for you. Good luck.

[jacon12]

I'm still working on benchwork, if you call the backdrop masonite benchwork. Heck, I don't even have a good trackplan in mind and I'm forging ahead just like I knew what the devil I was doing.
Oh well, maybe I'll get a divine revelation or something..
Jarrell

[willy6]

Very recently, my wife(the war department) allowed me to expand my layout another 5 feet. Trying to be greedy, i asked if I could make a hole in the wall and run a tunnel through the laundry room back out to my mainline, that idea never made it to the budget committee.

[snowey]

I knew there was a good reason why I never got married![:D]

[dragenrider]

When I stall out on scenery, I go back to my 1 square foot method. I concentrate on one small square foot area and build the base scenery there. The next day I come back and add the paint and grass. The third day is detail time.

Behold, one more square foot tackled and complete in three days! Repeat this process and your layout's scenery moves quickly.

[Anonymous]

My layout has a running mainline but no scenery
I have some carboard strips in place but nothing further than that.
I am also rethinking my yard so that is in limbo.
Right now I suffer from L.O.F. lack of funds

[Anonymous]

I've got a layout in my basement that is about the same place as you are, Trevor... ONe big mountain is springing up in the background, getting rocks painted and added to it, and there are several buildings on the layout waiting for final placement.

I've not done much "scenery" work in my day, but have done lots of buildings, cars, etc... So, dad and I get together once a week to do the mountain/scenery, and in the meantime I paint and assemble the structures to keep things "progressing".

[rrinker]

Sometimes having a layout in the basement can be a bad thing... I went down for some lunch, and then detoured via the basement befor heading back up to my office. An hour and a half later, I had organzied all 6 new hopper cars, cut all the parts off the sprues, put the parts I'm NOT using (Accumate couplers, truck pins, and the dummy couplers) in my spare parts box, and completely assembled the first 3 cars! OOPS! [:D][:D]

--Randy

[MisterBeasley]

Hey, is this one of those left-brain, right-brain things? I've always felt more comfortable doing math 'n' science left-brain stuff like wiring or track work than artsy left-brain stuff like scenery and painting. So, once the track is in and everything is wired, I go for fancy signal systems rather than getting started on the scenery.

[rrinker]

I'm right there with you MisterBeasley. I have not an artistic bone in my body. I'm getting to the point that, rather than scenic what I have so far, I want to start on the expansion. You know, build some more benchwork, lay some more track, run some more wires. ANYTHING but paint backdrops, make ground cover, or weather the track. I figure if I hang out at the LHS enough, I'll find enough locals willing to trade work - I'd really rather wire someone else's layout than sceinc my own.


--Randy