I've been working on the little community in the corner, we all know we have to work back to front. I think I will need to make some fences and work on a better game plan for parking area. I also tried my hand at making a new water form for the waterfalls. Took a few days but it did cure clear. I had made up 3 strips so I'll have to peel off another strip and tuck it under the upper level strip and try my hand at some white dry brushing.
Lynn
Present Layout progress
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/p/290127/3372174.aspx#3372174
Transformed the gorge using ground goop, poly fiber, and a bunch of sticks twigs and ground up leaves oh ya and ground foam.Can even see the river bottom again. I'll be fixing up the waterfalls real soon.
I've been plugging along in one particular corner and outward from it as it is a deep corner and as we all know we need to build from back to front. Bridges are removed and my vision of a small town on the hill is perhaps starting to get some where.
Joe I never get offeneded so no worries. The main line has been tested extensively for hours and hours and adjusted as needed. I've tested with very small steamers to fairly larger steamers, I had thought steamers would be the bearer of bad track but it was one specific deisel that really showed a couple bad switches that I had to fix. The missing ties will be trimmed down and slid under the rails and in place as I go. I tend not to ballast for at least a year after track has been in place. Scenery is done from the back to front obviously and the area I'm in must be completed before the bridges can be left in place. Branch lines and industry spurs come last as I try to figure out where specifically the structures will go. For me this is a very large layout and because I'm not retired and work 4 and 4 I don't go full steam ahead like many folks as well in the summer months we ride motorcycles.
dominic c It looks like you have a big project ahead of yourself. But I'm sorry if you get offended, but looking at your track, it's hard to believe that all your engines run perfectly well. It looks to me that your track is not completey done. What about the missing ties? You have incomplete branches to your switches.What happens after ballasting? It seems more work has to go into your trackwork. I'm in that group that thinks the track has to be completely done and engines are happy in every direction before I can concentrate on scenery Joe C
It looks like you have a big project ahead of yourself. But I'm sorry if you get offended, but looking at your track, it's hard to believe that all your engines run perfectly well. It looks to me that your track is not completey done. What about the missing ties? You have incomplete branches to your switches.What happens after ballasting? It seems more work has to go into your trackwork. I'm in that group that thinks the track has to be completely done and engines are happy in every direction before I can concentrate on scenery
Joe C
Four ingredients measured at 1 cup each of celluclay ( paper mache), vermiculite, paint and 1/2 cup white glue. I did mine in a much larger batch to fill the bucket. All ingredients in pail Mix to smooth consistency
All ingredients in pail Mix to smooth consistency
Mix to smooth consistency
Thanks Dave winter is coming.
Lynn:
The bridges look really good!
Lots of progress on the layout too. Well done.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
After getting the track reworked and tested again I started reworking the corner where there will be a small bit of structures. Please excuse the mess as its a on going work in progress. Random pics. I got an excellent clearance price for this plaster cloth from curry's. I picked up a number of cans. Pulled out the 5 gallon pail of paint I havent used for quite a few years for making my ground goop concoction.
I got an excellent clearance price for this plaster cloth from curry's. I picked up a number of cans. Pulled out the 5 gallon pail of paint I havent used for quite a few years for making my ground goop concoction.
Pulled out the 5 gallon pail of paint I havent used for quite a few years for making my ground goop concoction.
mobilman44 Hi, May I offer a suggestion............ I have a window similar to the one in the pics. I replaced the white mini blinds with light blue ones, and painted in the backdrop to blend into the window ledge, etc. It proved to be a good thing to do, and you might want to consider it.
Hi,
May I offer a suggestion............
I have a window similar to the one in the pics. I replaced the white mini blinds with light blue ones, and painted in the backdrop to blend into the window ledge, etc.
It proved to be a good thing to do, and you might want to consider it.
Thnaks for the suggestion.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Puttering along like a slow chicken with his head cut off I managed to get the jmri talking to the digitrax command station, finished off some feeder drops to the buss, and did some cleanup programming in the ds64's. jmri doesnt lie with what is not right so got some board addresses worked out. As well I finally got the ds64 board mounted off the benchwork out of the way, just have to shorten and reattach the wires to each ds64.
I managed to get two bridges built and installed. Cleanup time and back to finishing wiring a couple more tortoise switches and onto track cleaning.
I also had to cookie cut a new incline to the dioramma base as the turnout just wasn't lining up nicely. As well the tunnel portals are in much better positioning.
Santa Fe all the way!Nice work, I'll be following your progress. Suggestion, Sky Blue craft foam board is pretty cheap and I think if you used it to cover the windows it would look nice. Also you can easily make them removable. Keep up the good work!!
Thats actually not a bad idea with the blue foam board and I just happen to have a few sheets kicking around. Will have to see,
hon30critter Very accurate work! It probably took longer to build the jig than it will to build the bridge using it. Don't take me wrong - I'm not critizing the use of the jig. Dave
Very accurate work! It probably took longer to build the jig than it will to build the bridge using it. Don't take me wrong - I'm not critizing the use of the jig.
Your quite correct Dave, the second bottom went together in literally 15 minutes and the second side went together like nothing. I did enjoy making the jig though and using MEK with the styrene made things move along sooooo much faster.
I got a jig made up for the two bridges I need. The bridges will be 17 inches end to end and sides with be 2 inches high.
I got another bridge setup and now need to build two bridges for the lower tracks. Itching to run a train again.
Found some time to get the two bridges installed, took a bit to get the track to flow nicely. I decided to go with mounting the bridges off the roadbed and go the cosmetic route with abutments.
hon30critter Lynn: I didn't see an answer to your question about Bill's use of triangles so I thought I would try to clarify what he meant. In the first picture of your Sept. 11 post you can see where the benchwork makes a 90 degree turn to the left. There is a track running very close to the edge of the benchwork right at the 90 degree bend. I believe what Bill was suggesting was to put a triangular piece of plywood with fascia in that corner so that the fascia makes two 45 degree turns instead of the single 90 degree turn. That allows space for a little more foreground scenery and avoids the appearance that the track is coming perilously close to the edge of the layout. He suggested that the square sides of the triangle could be 8" to 12" long but you can use whatever size suits you. By the way, your changes to the bridge/tunnel setup look much better IMHO. Dave
I didn't see an answer to your question about Bill's use of triangles so I thought I would try to clarify what he meant.
In the first picture of your Sept. 11 post you can see where the benchwork makes a 90 degree turn to the left. There is a track running very close to the edge of the benchwork right at the 90 degree bend. I believe what Bill was suggesting was to put a triangular piece of plywood with fascia in that corner so that the fascia makes two 45 degree turns instead of the single 90 degree turn. That allows space for a little more foreground scenery and avoids the appearance that the track is coming perilously close to the edge of the layout. He suggested that the square sides of the triangle could be 8" to 12" long but you can use whatever size suits you.
By the way, your changes to the bridge/tunnel setup look much better IMHO.
Thanks Dave I had figured out what he was talking about and actually added the corners to my trackplan and to the to do list.
First thing you will notice I updated the trackplan to keep things in order.I fixed up the track so the track above the tunnel no longer has a portal below a bridge end, I did this by moving the upper rail back and the tunnel rail forward and also had to move the switches a bit.I've been making slow progress on the layout, I didnt like the way the two bridge were over the tunnel entrances so had to take apart what I had as you can see in the before pics and fix things up.
Before pics, you can see the bridge/tunnel issue.
The left hand bridge These are pics at the present state with track reworked and tunnel area not closed in yet , working to get the bridges some abutments made up. I also got the mountains moved upward to where there in a better position. Quite a bit of plaster cloth work completed as well. Added two new tracks to goto the two diorammas, the diorammas are raised and will be backfilled. Thanks for looking.
These are pics at the present state with track reworked and tunnel area not closed in yet , working to get the bridges some abutments made up. I also got the mountains moved upward to where there in a better position. Quite a bit of plaster cloth work completed as well. Added two new tracks to goto the two diorammas, the diorammas are raised and will be backfilled. Thanks for looking.
These are pics at the present state with track reworked and tunnel area not closed in yet , working to get the bridges some abutments made up.
I also got the mountains moved upward to where there in a better position. Quite a bit of plaster cloth work completed as well. Added two new tracks to goto the two diorammas, the diorammas are raised and will be backfilled. Thanks for looking.
I also got the mountains moved upward to where there in a better position. Quite a bit of plaster cloth work completed as well. Added two new tracks to goto the two diorammas, the diorammas are raised and will be backfilled.
Thanks for looking.
mobilman44 Hi, You have done some beautiful work there, and a lot of it. Very, very nice! May I offer a suggestion............ on my "fill the room layout" I put in triangles of plywood on all the inside corners. They range from 8x8 inches to 12x12 inches. This has done two things........it allows for a more sweeping curve (be it rail or road), and it softens up the harsh corner. After figuring out the size of the triangle, I then put 1x4 fascia boards on the edges, and then fastened to the existing benchwork. The result is super strong, and IMO made a very nice difference. Hope to see more pics as you progress! Bill
You have done some beautiful work there, and a lot of it. Very, very nice!
May I offer a suggestion............ on my "fill the room layout" I put in triangles of plywood on all the inside corners. They range from 8x8 inches to 12x12 inches. This has done two things........it allows for a more sweeping curve (be it rail or road), and it softens up the harsh corner.
After figuring out the size of the triangle, I then put 1x4 fascia boards on the edges, and then fastened to the existing benchwork. The result is super strong, and IMO made a very nice difference.
Hope to see more pics as you progress!
Bill
Thanks for the suggestion Bill, the reason I post here is to get suggestions and hope to get many many more. Unfortunately I'm not exactly clear on what you mean.?
Thanks
MisterBeasley Wickman asked: Thats exactley the effect im after, an interior canal. where can i see more of your layout? My photos are at http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/8165 Thanks for looking.
Wickman asked: Thats exactley the effect im after, an interior canal. where can i see more of your layout?
Thats exactley the effect im after, an interior canal. where can i see more of your layout?
My photos are at http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/8165
Made it through all 39 pages, you should be proud of your accomplishments. I didnt realize you could pour envirotex on foam I always though it ate it. I really enjoyed the way you took photos not only of the finished scenes but the while you were working on them scenes. great job
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
MisterBeasley I built this canal to model an old mill complex. It's not physically deep, but I used paint and tinted Envirotex to make it look that way. I wanted to get the look of a disused waterway. If I were to expand this scene, which I can't right now, I would add another section of the canal at a slightly different level and put in a lock where they meet.
I built this canal to model an old mill complex.
It's not physically deep, but I used paint and tinted Envirotex to make it look that way. I wanted to get the look of a disused waterway. If I were to expand this scene, which I can't right now, I would add another section of the canal at a slightly different level and put in a lock where they meet.
thanks alot
lynn