New MR

[Anonymous]

Hello all:
I finally got started on my MR after experimenting several months with my diorama. I guess I am really a maverick odd-ball because I have no plan and I use non-traditional materials and procedures. I concluded that track plans are constrained by available space and I wanted to run trains continuously, so I ended up with around the wall and two return loops. I just add sidings as suggested by available space.and sensibility. The entire benchwork is supported by shelf brackets because I hate legs. The subroadbed is OSB and the roadbed is 1/2" foam insulation board. I use polyurethane foam to glue both the foam and the track, although in some places, I have used latex caulk
to glue the track down. In these places, i press size-graded kittylitter directly into the wet caulk as ballast. So all the track is glued to the foam roadbed. The polyureathane foam (Great Stuff, Home Depot) is phenomenal as a cement. Dries fast and won't come loose.
After I lay track and ballast, I have been brush painting the whole thing with a grey latex, then wiping most off the ties with a rag. I then come back and weather the rails rust brown using a small watercolor brush.
My interests are mainly in scenic effects and photography. The room is 16x16 and I am modeling West Texas SP in HO. You can see at::
http://www.railimages.com/gallery/Bryant-Mansfield

[Roadtrp]

Wow -- that is very good work with some pretty unconventional materials. It was really a great idea to get some scenicing experience with the dioramas before stating on your layout. I wasn't patient enough to do that -- I had to start running trains right away!

[dharmon]

That is some really nice work you've done there. Very nice indeed.

[AggroJones]

Very nice rockwork. Fantastic!

[philnrunt]

Good work all the way around, and good thinking "outside of the box!"
Guess I need to make a trip to my local Lowes.

[Anonymous]

Those are some great photos. I like your innovative approach to model railroad building. I too started testing my scenery skills on a diorama. Granted it was a bit smaller than yours and didn't work out quite as nice, I was able to learn a few things, especially about foam scenery. On my diorama I also used a wird idea that involved a foam filler like Great Stuff. I used latex-based DAPTex foam that I now regret. I didn't know that the latex based stuff would dry soft. I had some big gaps in my foam so I decided to use foam filler to fill the gaps. I applied the foam, molded it to the basic contour that I wanted with my finger, and when it was dry I took a wire brush and made the final shape adjustments. When all my scenery contours were done I painted the whole thing with flat tan latex paint. I now know that paint shrinks as it dries because the DAPTex was pulled away from some surfaces. Just for fture knowledge, doesn't Great stuff dry real hard? I used it once for a school project.
Reed

[Anonymous]

The shot of the steamer on the trestle is very good.

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys for the kind remarks and encouragement. This kind of feedback is encouraging especially in light of the raised eyebrows I get from some members of my family who find it strange that a grown man "plays with trains".
On the question from Reed about Great Stuff foam, it expands and dries hard. I run a thin bead and then smooth it out with a putty knife before I lay track. If too much is put down, it will swell up between the ties. But it is easily removed with needle nose pliers after it hardens. This spray foam is not intended as an adhesive, but it is the best thing I have found for the purpose ( both foam to wood and track to foam). For those of you want to try it, I suggest you wear gloves. If you get it on your fingers, it will have to wear off. One last note that I am sure that many of you know: Blue/pink foam board has a thin poly film on both sides that you must remove before glueing.
Best to all,
Bryant

[Don Gibson]

"The entire benchwork is supported by shelf brackets because I hate legs".

Better not tell your wife that. Beautiful work.

Cantilevered shelves sometimes have a 'spring' effect. If so, you may have to add legs to change the resonant frequency.

[Anonymous]

I agree with everyone, those are some great pictures and that diorama is incredibly good! how did you do the rockwork?

[Anonymous]

Well, Flyingscot, thanks for the complement. And Don Gibson, those kinds of legs are a whole 'nother subject cause I am a natural 'leg man'. But in thinking about it, I anticipated that benchworklegs would be a problem, what with my big feet always colliding.
To do the rockwork, I make up a bunch of castings using plaster of paris. Sometimes I use 20 minute USG wall plaster. If I want a harder casting, I add some plaster of paris to the wall plaster. I add a couple drops of terra cotta concrete coloring to the mix (see the website for procedure). Then when I am ready to do the rockface, I mix up a fresh batch of colored plaster, smear it on the bald mountain and just glue the castings on with the colored plaster. The pieces fit together like a puzzle. I just try to make the striated formations run parallel as much as possible. Now I am beginning to see that this is so much fun that I am in danger of overdoing it. I need to start working on trees.

[Anonymous]

An iconoclast opinion follows.

Bryan, I would not compliment the modeling, nor the photography. What I like is the atmosphere that pops out of your pictures. This demonstrates that minimal modeling pictured in an appropriate setting can be enough to convey a nice impression.

As for the modeling, the idea of brushing one's hands on a diorama is the best way to learn, and to make mistakes without too much expense nor too much deception. Be sure, I never had the patience to do that, as said the colleague above I too want to run trains ASAP!

What I don't like are the interferences between the model and what sems a natural background. The "pollution" of the blurred latter is quite uncomfortable.

As for the photography, what you have to learn is depth of field, i.e. the distance in which the picture is sharp. The best (and only) equipment ever to take model pictures is a 24 mm lens with a 2x converter. That makes a standard lens (48 mm instead of 50), but with the extended depth of field of the 24 mm. With the smallest stop (usually f:22, an f:32 would be ideal but rare to find), the depth of field goes from about 6" to 25" (4" to 30" perhaps at f:32). Stopping at f:22 necessitates both a strong light, and very slow speed. These settings usually allow even to place the camera right on the level of the layout, this gives an almost human view of it.
Bracket and select the best picture.

And please vary your angles, most of your pictures look the same. Use a versatile and stable tripod that expands and rotate in all directions, so as to select many different angles of view and at the same time always keep the camera steady.

Hope this helps, and bravo for choosing SP darling.

[Anonymous]

spmch: Thanks for the helpful comments. I know nothing about the technical aspects of photography and am learning as I go along. I got a Fuji 5000 digital for Christmas and it opened an entire new world of photography. Then, along about February I got interested in model railroading and built the dioarama just to take pictures. I enjoyed the results so much, I then decided to build a layout. So I spent a good number of cold spring days building a room on the back of the garage to house my layout. So I will be the first to admit that I am a rank novice in both MR and photography. But I have learned a lot so far and hope to keep learning as I go along. That is why I welcome yours and anyone's comments on how to improve.

[dragenrider]

......Wow!........[:O]


What more can I say?