WOW! Awsome photos!
Art , looking good , I haven't thought about large cacti , not prevelant in S. NM. Mostly the Arizona look.
Perry 1060
Like the look, the red rocks really remind me of Eastern Arizona, I travel through there often.
Jerry SP FOREVER http://photobucket.com/albums/f317/GAPPLEG/
Good topic. I have some New Mexico and some Arizona on my layout. Saquaro cactus is a need for me and I have been expermenting with plastic clay. If you are getting to that part of the desert I would like to discuss cactus making methods with everyone. Here is a pic of my first effort, all N scale in this pic for the forced perspective part of the mountain.
tstage wrote:I would have to agree with the prior recommendation of Pelle's new book on modeling. He's quite a talented fellow and the book concentrates heavily on the construction of his current layout.Pelle's talents as a graphic artist really shine but he also walks you through his processes and techniques so that you can accomplish similar things. Below is a link to the book on Amazon.com:Mountain to Desert: Building the Ho Scale Daneville & Donner River Tom
I would have to agree with the prior recommendation of Pelle's new book on modeling. He's quite a talented fellow and the book concentrates heavily on the construction of his current layout.
Pelle's talents as a graphic artist really shine but he also walks you through his processes and techniques so that you can accomplish similar things. Below is a link to the book on Amazon.com:
Mountain to Desert: Building the Ho Scale Daneville & Donner River
Tom
thanks for that link , i'd forgotten about Pelle's book , and it hasn't shown up at the LHS , so i ordered it last night .
El-Capitan,
I model the desert at around 4500 ft. No cactus at this elevation, but lots of scorched ground cover using painted sand and dried weeds. I also tried to create the look of heat by using strong lighting for photos.
I don't clean dust from any part of my layout, except my rivers and lakes. That's one nice thing about modeling the desert.
My website:
http://home.mchsi.com/~ironmaster1960/wsb/html/view.cgi-home.html-.html
Love the RSD-15's , got one in HO , same paint scheme, shown here rumbling through my yard in my fictional town between Lordsburg and El Paso, my home town. Boy do I miss the desert.
Just thought I would give you guys an update on where I am at right now. Everybody's input was greatly appreciated. The Pele articles were fantastic and are the basis for what you see in the pics below. So here is what I have done so far.
To start I used a wood frame with chicken wire. I have been tempted to use foam but because I am concealing my staging track lead I thought this would work better. After the frame I used Ultracal 30 as the covering. It is similar to hydracal but much harder. The drawbacks, as far as I know, it doesn't dry as smooth and is not as good at details (for castings) as hydracal. But I can get 100 lb bag for $45.... can't beat that. I used industrial paper towels dipped in the ultracal for the first layer and then a thicker mix spread on with a foam brush and my fingers for the second layer. I attached the rock castings (made of hydracal) and filled in the gaps with sculptamold. Painted the whole thing minus the castings and added sand to the paint before it dried.
That's it to date. Take a look at the pics and I will try to update you guys when I get some more done. Thanks again to all for the help.
My newest aquisitions, AtlasO RSD-15s. This unique paint scheme was only on these and some SD-24s and only lasted 1 year on the ATSF.
Here is my pride and joy Texas heading for Rincon, NM from El-Paso, TX (staging). The mountain conceals the staging lead quite nicely without using a tunnel portal.
Check out the Deming Sub by clicking on the pics:
Iceman_c27 wrote: This is interesting...because I am also building a BNSF southern Ca layout...most likely around Mojave although might be San Bernardino but it might be too 'civilised' and become too complicated...and Barstow has a complicated yard also...Anyway, WS has various size Talus in sand colours and I find them quite good...or if not, Scene Master has a extensive range of ground cover in various shades of tan to brown but I would prefer using WS where possible.Hope this helps but it's also good to see some good ideas because I really want to make the layout I am building now the 'proper' one.
This is interesting...because I am also building a BNSF southern Ca layout...most likely around Mojave although might be San Bernardino but it might be too 'civilised' and become too complicated...and Barstow has a complicated yard also...
Anyway, WS has various size Talus in sand colours and I find them quite good...or if not, Scene Master has a extensive range of ground cover in various shades of tan to brown but I would prefer using WS where possible.
Hope this helps but it's also good to see some good ideas because I really want to make the layout I am building now the 'proper' one.
One thing about Barstow is you can just pour a bunch of sand on the layout and say there's Barstow.
Check: http://www.railpictures.net/ and search on Barstow, there are some great pix's of that yard.
Just ordered the book from your link, thanks.
Pelle Seborg's touch is amazing.
As you all may know, his work was featured in MR within the last couple of years. That guy, all the way over in Denmark, did a remarkable job of capturing the look and feel of the little town of Mojave, Calif., and of the surrounding scenery.
One manager of a prototype motel there even added palm trees after seeing a picture of Pelle's layout and liking the look. (Life imitates art!)
I've been through that town numerous times, and I've never seen a case of a modeler capturing the essence of a prototype community any better. As for his natural scenery work, check out the locale when you visit the Tehachapi Loop (it's nearby)--Pelle really hit a home run.
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
el-capitan wrote: I looked on google earth and it does look like there is a roundhouse foundation on the West end of town, just after the ATSF turns to the Northwest for Hurley. If this was a foundation it was probably for the SP but just as easily could have been ATSF.
I looked on google earth and it does look like there is a roundhouse foundation on the West end of town, just after the ATSF turns to the Northwest for Hurley. If this was a foundation it was probably for the SP but just as easily could have been ATSF.
I did the same , saw it too. Looks long abandoned out there .
Very possible , being a diesel man, and not quite old enough to remember steam in that area I wouldn't know that, I'll look at Google earth and see what I can see there. Maybe remnants are visible from space. !! When I was a kid in El Paso , the yard there was always full of "F" units , got the ride one when I was about 12 , they took us through the engine cab and showed us the whole thing.(school trip). Those were the days.
GAPPLEG wrote: Thanks CHIP !!El Capitan, no I don't think SP had any facilities in Deming. That's why my home layout has a ficticious town thrown in to house said local items. I was just in Albuquerque last month and also last Nov. My Mom and Dad live in Rio Rancho , across the river there. Did you see the Rail Runner , really gaudy paint scheme. I take pix's when I'm out there too. Took a bunch around Gallup last time out. Sante Fe has a good sized yard and such there.
Thanks CHIP !!
El Capitan, no I don't think SP had any facilities in Deming. That's why my home layout has a ficticious town thrown in to house said local items. I was just in Albuquerque last month and also last Nov. My Mom and Dad live in Rio Rancho , across the river there. Did you see the Rail Runner , really gaudy paint scheme. I take pix's when I'm out there too. Took a bunch around Gallup last time out. Sante Fe has a good sized yard and such there.
This appears to be not entirely true:
http://www.cityofdeming.org/about.html
Here is a snippet:
Deming is the county seat of Luna County and was founded in November, 1881. Named for Mary Deming Crocker, wife of a railroad magnate of the Southern Pacific Railway system the town was the result of railroad expansion to the West. The Southern Pacific, building toward the Pacific coast, reached this point in late 1881, and made preperations for the construction of a round house and repair shops. This activity furnished the incentive for the erection of a city of tents and shanties. Six months later, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe completed its junction with the Southern Pacific at Deming, thus assuring Deming a prominence in the Southern part of New Mexico.
I don't know how long what was there, but I expect there were facilities there through the steam era.
Jeff But it's a dry heat!
As a matter of fact while we were waiting for the chief for our return home the rail runner made a stop at the station. It wasn't running in normal service, just a demo for local politians or something. Quite a treat. And yes, gaudy paint.
We did not make it to gallup. We did spend an entire day chasing trains from Belen through Abo canyon and into Mountainaire. The best railfanning I have ever done.
I had to freelance myself. The SF's base of operations on the Deming sub was in Rincon. Larger trains going from Belen to El-Paso would drop off cars heading for the Deming sub in Rincon. A local would depart Rincon daily for Hurley and then return. They also had a small engine faclity in Rincon but I just couldn't fit a nice size yard there so locals will depart from Deming on my layout.
Hey guys,
Thought I'd share my experiences with ya'll. I too was searching for the best way.
The single most thing that helped me get that "right" dessert look is using the Arizona Rock and Mineral brand of materials. I use Low Desrt Soil-#110-03 the most. I lay a base of Sculpt-a-mold-let dry. Then paint with my favorite light tan flat house paint, with some various shades of cheap acrylic paints to vary the colors and tones. Then I sprinkle the Low Desert Soil over the area. It's realistic b/c it's REAL dirt/sand/rock. You can get a real fine grade for roads, shoulders, foundations etc just by sprinkling through a plain old tea strainer. Than last, I use the Woodland scenic gound foam, I stick with the Burnt Grass, fine and coarse, the olive color , and earth-these have that dry-but still alive color that looks like that hearty desert scrub brush. I throgh a few of the Woodland Scenics talus-Nautural I think, the medium, and some Woodland Scenics weeds, Straw and Light Green for little weed patches.
I experimented for a while before I was satisfied. Later, I picked up Pelle's book, checked out his methods and found I was not far off, mostly the same materials. And I also model Southern California, so I compared my stuff to his photos, and it's good enough for me!!!
The key is the Arizona Rock and Mineral brand. It's worth finding a supplier for that stuff.
Later
Rich
I just looked at Woodland Scenics website....they have two shades of their Field Grass that might interest you Natural Straw and Harvest Gold And three colors of Static Grass ....Wild Honey Harvest Gold...just like the Field Grass and Burnt Grass The colors look much better in person.
underworld
el-capitan wrote:I am beginning to do scenery on my ATSF layout and have been pretty dissapointed with the selection of material from woodland scenics. I am modeling southern NM from Rincon to Deming and back up to Whitewater and Hurley. The stuff that Woodland Scenics offers for ground cover seems to be 1000 different shades of green but no browns. I also want sagebrushes and tumbleweeds. Does anybody out there have any experience with Desert Scenery that could offer me some advice?
Woodland Scenics does make some shades of their fiber (grass) material ranging from a nearly white yellow to a dark golden color, I've seen them in my LHSs. There are some real miniature cactus variaties....some I've seen as small as 1/2". There was an article....I think last year about using them on a layout. You could palnt them in something like a 35mm film canister and cut an appropriate sized hole in the surface to hold the canister. Nothing more convincing than the real thing!
GAPPLEG wrote: SpaceMouse wrote: I haven't done desert, but I have come across a couple things. Check Harold M's site for making sagebrush.Musket Minatures makes several different cactii. Can you post the link for Harold M's site, I could sure use that info !!
SpaceMouse wrote: I haven't done desert, but I have come across a couple things. Check Harold M's site for making sagebrush.Musket Minatures makes several different cactii.
I haven't done desert, but I have come across a couple things.
Check Harold M's site for making sagebrush.
Musket Minatures makes several different cactii.
Can you post the link for Harold M's site, I could sure use that info !!
Pacific Coast Air Line Railway
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
GAPPLEG wrote:Yeah I mix and match alot of ballast like material through out my turf too. Lots of colors available that mix in well and give that rocky , sandy look. I'm origionally from El Paso , Tx. so I grew up in that area and really try to capture that look out there, The sagebrush is the hardest to make right. I still haven't mastered that one.
The East end of my layout ends in El-Paso but that is just staging. My layout really begins at Rincon and ends at Silver City with trains being broken down and originating in Deming instead of Rincon as the SF did it. Plus I will have a SP interchange in Deming. Already collecting the rolling stock for that. My son and I took Amtrak to Albuquerque in May and drove down to pace the entire line. I took several hundred digital pics for scenery purposes. Also took panoramic pics that are blown up for my backdrop. They turned out much better than I would have expected. The largest backdrop is 2.5' x 50'.
One thing that you may be able to answer, did the SP ever have any facilities in Deming? I know they had water and the passenger station but I would like to know if they had a round house or any loco's assigned there.
I love that area and am thinking of going back next year..
SpaceMouse wrote:Why Capt. I believe you developed a stutter.
Apparently a computer malfunction. And they wonder why I haven't moved to DCC.
repeats deleted.