General Discussion (Model Railroader)

On lighting...
it's possible to get "daylight" lamps and tubes... these not only render better colour but are easier on the eyes.
this includes your work place... if it's very bright and you all get headaches get the tubes switched to daylight white at the next changeover. It also helps to have at least one tungsten filament somewhere in the room... it breaks up the frequency of the fluorescent light and helps your eyes.
Daylight tubes cost more but last longer... in my experience.

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Can we start again with this thread's adress/link at the top? ... might add the "snow" thread to that...
other useful scenery threads?
What happened to the operations thread?
How do you model corn???

So this thread doesn't get lost ... bump!

Modeling corn's a tricky one. Bill Danaby did it using some etched brass cornstalks available from Europe in the June 2002 MR ... but beware, etched brass is pricey. It'll set you back a 100 bucks or more to model anything more than the tiniest of fields. Bill solved this problem by modeling the cornfield up against the backdrop, so the field only had to be a few stalks deep. Here's the reference from the magazine index:
http://index.mrmag.com/tm.exe?opt=I&MAG=MR&MO=6&YR=2002&output=3&sort=A

Ken Patterson also demonstrated modeling a cornfield using some artificial grass, if I recall, in the August 1999 Mainline Modeler. Here's the reference from the magazine index:
http://index.mrmag.com/tm.exe?opt=I&MAG=MM&MO=8&YR=1999&output=3&sort=A

You know, after moving over to http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/ over the weekend when this forum was down, I've gotten used to the way things are organized into many more topics over there. Very handy and less chaotic.

They've created a special online forum clinic topic over there that's easy to find, so I think I'm moving over there with this and my other forum clinics as my primary haunt.

There's so much going on in this general discussion topic that I feel like I'm trying to carry on a conversation by hollering over the crowd in a crowded room buzzing with conversations. It's very draining to keep digging out these clinics now and then ... yet people keep asking questions that are covered in these FORUM CLINICS, so I know it would be nice if there was some place we didn't have to keep hollering over the din.

It's funny because I didn't think it was that bad here, until I went elsewhere this weekend and saw how much nicer it was to have the additional topic categories. If you select Active Topics over on this other forum, you get the equivalent of this forum's general discussion, so you get the best of both worlds. Very nice!

I'll not leave this forum, but I'll be hanging out over there more of the time, and posting updated versions of these clinics with new material: http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=64, as well as posting more new clincs over there as time permits.

Joe,

I totally dig your "clinics". However, I checked out that other forum, and it is so finely categorized that figuring out where I want to browse is almost like trying to figure out my income taxes! OK, not that bad, but there are just too many topics for my taste.

I almost think your clinics would "show" the best on your website. You'd present them in exactly the format you'd like. People would enjoy them, and people would definately link to them from the MR forums every time the topic of scenery comes up so people would see them / learn from them / become further interested in your site.

I know I would refer to them more often if they were on your site - instead of going, "ok, now where in those 13 pages of messages did Joe talk about ground cover...."

Just a random thought. Again, the material you're presenting is great.

Actually on the "other forum" if you use the New Post feature, it is similar to what you have going on here at the MR forums, it gives the last postings from your visit, the Active Topics is similar in that you cab say last 6 hours, 12 hours etc. I find it pretty easy to keep up with the posts, so if Joe's clinic is slow on posts, while it may drop, it is still reachable by going to the category it's under, plus they stickied it. It does take some getting used to.

I agree though Joe could post it at his site, but then how is anyone to know it's there if they don't know Joe and his Siskiyou Line?

I am waiting for the indepth lighting as it works with photography. The great indoor railfanning for those tired of high gas prices [;)]

Will you be discussing specific problems? Or should I post a new topic. I have been doing scenery for years and right now i am doing northern Ontario. Colour I can get but have run into a plaster problem.

Sure, ask away and we'll see if we can get an answer.

That will keep this topic on the first few pages where people can find it.

Once this topic gets buried it might as well not exist -- so go for it.

I read about carving rocks and have been trying (without success) for 45 years. I would like a detailed tutorial on how to carve non-sedimentary rocks (Granite etc.) I have tried in plaster and now in foam. It does not look like John Allen.

Thanks jfugate, I use plaster of paris to cast rocks in a mold. When I fill in the gaps with plaster of paris it seems to be a different colour and does not take my colour washes the same as the molded material. Has anyone else had this problem?
I mix the plaster in the same type of CLEAN containor.

Let's take the different plaster colors question first.

When plaster has set up and new plaster is added to it, the old plaster tends to rob moisture from the new plaster, which will make the new plaster dry out too fast and set up differently from the older plaster.

To solve this problem, make sure and totally soak the previous plaster with a spray bottle like a plant mister. And I mean SOAK the plaster until it stays visibly wet for at least a minute or so (the water doesn't just soak in).

Then add the new plaster and let it set up. Once the new plaster is firm, mist the entire plastered area ... old and new plaster ... a couple of times and let it set up for a couple of hours.

Once the new plaster has set up well (give it at least two hours), you should be able to stain it and have the stain go on uniformly.

Also, its best not to stain dry plaster. Mist it well again with water before you do any staining.

Keep a plant misting bottle full of wet water handy (put a few drops of dish detergent into the water) whenever you do plaster work and *always* wet the previous plaster well first and you should have much better success getting things to look consistent with your stains.

ARTHILL:

The thing most people do wrong when hand carving rock walls is they don't use thick enough plaster. You need to put the plaster on from 1/2" to 1" thick. Mix the plaster to be like soft butter so it holds its shape well.

Since you need to put the plaster on so thick when you hand carve rock walls, you need to plan ahead with your scenery sub-base so it's about 1" farther back than you want the final rock face to be.

I prefer to use patching plaster rather than plaster of paris for my hand carving work. Plaster of paris sets up in about 10-15 minutes, while patching plaster sets up in about 30-45 minutes. I prefer to have the extra working time.

If you have the plaster the right consistency (soft butter), you can push, prod, pull, and smear it around to get a rough, irregular rock wall-like shape. Then I give it about 20 minutes and come back just as the plaster is starting to get stiff.

I then gouge and break off bits and pieces of the plaster to "weather" the rock wall. You want to make the plaster do the work for you, because as it breaks off, it will form natural looking cleavage lines and rough edges ... far better than you could ever imitate with any shaping of the rocks you might do.

It helps to also carve some general cleavage cracks into the rock wall. Don't just do something random, create a sort of grain that is somewhat along the same direction. But don't do too many of these exactly parallel or completely connected -- or you will get a sedimentary look to the rocks.

Once the rocks have set up, I like to weather them a bit more with a small wire brush. The hand shaping you did at first doesn't do much to give the rocks a natural look, but the breaking, gouging, and cracks you carve later, along with the wirebru***reatment once they have set up well is what gives the rocks a more natural look.

Hope that helps. Perhaps I can demonstrate some of these techniques in my scenery DVD I'll be releasing next spring. Rock carving is one of those things that you just have to see done to *really* get it.

Thanks for the suggestion. I wet the area of the joint but maybe not enough. I use powdered paint in a very thin wa***o colour the plaster. Sorry if I gave the impression otherwise. 1/8tspn to about 4ozs of water. I never put detergent in it it just seems to sink in and colour the castings. A number of washes with a base colour and very light almost dry brush for the other colours.Then a wash of thin black.