TrainManTy: Actually my bridges are kind of a simple technique. Those bridges are modeled to look exactly like the bridges that are really at that location. I used 1/2 inch plywood (same from the freeway) covered the top with three sheets of styrene for the road, then took scraps and glued them to the side of the plywood, making sure that I kept my joints all lined up to represent the expansion joints of the bridge. Next came the sides which are square pieces of Styrene. On top of that I made a jig to cut small pieces and attached them to make the railing. The underneath supports are made from wood as you can see in the picture as the back bridges are just sitting there under the other one. If you need more info just let me know.
Noah Hofricher: I created the diorama mainly for pictures just as you stated: I was sick of wanting to show off my weathering job or paint and detail job on my engines when all I had was my desk. I also wanted something to practice on since I've never made a layout before. I was hoping to have it completed by last month to take some photos for Model Railroader's photo contest but my job as taken me to Hawaii for a month at a time this summer, and in fact I am on the "Rock" right now.
CSXFan: I'm not sure if I'm truly the one that needs to be teaching about painting backdrops since this is my very first one. All I can say is that I bought every book that Kalmbach has published on the subject since I really felt that a good backdrop is important. Make Danneman Has a very good book that I've learn a lot from. His Techniques along with some from Rand Hood and Pelle Seoberg all helped me a lot. If you still are interested on my version then just let me know, and I will try to do one. Hard thing is that right now I am in Hawaii and don't have all my pictures of that I took step by step.
--Zak Gardner
My Layout Blog: http://mrl369dude.blogspot.com
http://zgardner18.rrpicturearchives.net
VIEW SLIDE SHOW: CLICK ON PHOTO BELOW
jeffrey-wimberly wrote:
Jeff, I have the same town scene minus the mountains in the back and unless my eyes are playing tricks, that is one-hell-of-a super elevated track.
Regards,
Tom
Y'know, Jeffrey, if you don't put some money into maintenance, that old engine is just going to rust away. In fact, it looks to me like it's really gone downhill since the last time it appeared in WPF. Yeah, I know, you're going to blame the budding vegetation on El Nino or maybe Global Warming, too, aren't you?
Seriously, that's a great scene. Love the picnic table.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
zgardner18 wrote:Guys,Here is a little project that I have been working on for practice until I have the chance for a layout. It is a 3x10 diorama to look like the east side of Bozeman Pass at the summit just outside of Livingston, Montana. This is my first time ever creating a scene and I've never painted a backdrop before. I'm at the point where I can start putting down the plaster shell over masking tape. I plan on just using this diorama for photographing and I might power it for testing my engines as I make the transition to DCC. [IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f77/zgardner18/Picture042.jpg[IMG][IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f77/zgardner18/Picture043.jpg[IMG][IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f77/zgardner18/Picture051.jpg[IMG][IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f77/zgardner18/Picture045.jpg[IMG]The last picture shows the interstate bridges that I am custom making. The closer one is my first attempt to create something from scratch. It still needs its finishing touches, paint and weathering.
Guys,
Here is a little project that I have been working on for practice until I have the chance for a layout. It is a 3x10 diorama to look like the east side of Bozeman Pass at the summit just outside of Livingston, Montana. This is my first time ever creating a scene and I've never painted a backdrop before. I'm at the point where I can start putting down the plaster shell over masking tape. I plan on just using this diorama for photographing and I might power it for testing my engines as I make the transition to DCC.
[IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f77/zgardner18/Picture042.jpg[IMG]
[IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f77/zgardner18/Picture043.jpg[IMG]
[IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f77/zgardner18/Picture051.jpg[IMG]
[IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f77/zgardner18/Picture045.jpg[IMG]
The last picture shows the interstate bridges that I am custom making. The closer one is my first attempt to create something from scratch. It still needs its finishing touches, paint and weathering.
That looks really good! Do you think you could post a "how to" on the backdrop? I'd be very interested in learning how you painted it. Great job!
This weekend I was busy helping man the layout building with the RR modelers at Boothbay Railway Village, so did not get any work done on my layout. It was Day Out with Thomas, so I got in some rainfanning as the first run started:
The 2 foot gage Thomas is unpowered, so the museum's 0-4-0 Henchel provides the power
There is a downgrade, so the second Henchel provides additional braking to assist the brake man. No air brakes on this vintage equipment!
I also took a couple shots of the Dragon Products cement plant (aka Walthers Valley Cement and Golden Valley Canning) in the model RR building. The buildings and track have recently been installed; and the paved areas of the plant are being plastered between the buildings.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Here's some of my layout:
I also built a few diaramas, here are some photos of them:
Enjoy!
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Noah Hofrichter wrote:graphitehemi, That's really cool, especially for a first decal job. Gotta love the choice of road too!
Thanks! You've got a fine looking machine there yourself.
Very neat stuff again guys! The work here always inspires me.
GAPPLEG, I do treat them fairly carefully, but for the most part I've never had much of a problem with damaging the locomotives during normal running. The key is that I use brass or metal parts for things that stick out, like the roof antenna, lift rings, and sunshade. The brass parts will take a little bit of bumping and bending and still be all right. I think the antennas have been bent over and back a couple of times already during final assembly, and they are still fine.
graphitehemi, That's really cool, especially for a first decal job. Gotta love the choice of road too!
Jeremy, very neat scene, I like it alot. Do know who makes that pick up truck that's in the scene? I've been looking for one a lot like that, but haven't been able to find one (though I haven't looked all that hard either).
Zak, I really like that diorama. I've been thinking about doing the same sort of thing, as I need something to do photos on. As you can see by the photos I posted, right now the best platform I've got is the kitchen countertop!
Again, great work everybody!
Noah
I found one more picture of one day when I got bored of building and figured it was time to set up a little scene. So I rolled it out of the garage for better lighting, set up two trains and some cars on the freeway. This will give you a better view of what my diorama looks like.
Lionel collector, stuck in an N scaler's modelling space.
My offering for this week is a not-yet-finished* Atlas master series GP38 that I upgraded to an early-production GP38-2 - lightly "seasoned":
Proto: http://www.trainweb.org/csxphotos/photos/GP38-2/2570CSX-bc.jpg
* It still needs a horn, a plow, and side window awnings.
-Ken in Maryland (B&O modeler, former CSX modeler)
Amazing abilities evident in all the photos, as is always the case, Everyone. I am happy that this thread has such a strong following, and so many wonderful contributions every week.
Here is a recent image, a raw one, that speaks for itself.
It's our Provincial Statutory Holiday (BC Day), so we have a substantial gathering of folks at my place. Lots of laughs, good food, good drink, stories... I hope your weekend is a good one.
-Crandell
Almost completed my Ice-cream store, will post some shots later when it is installed on the layout. In the mean time a British shunter was seen running around in the yard! It caused quite a stir with the VO1000 crew.
Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum
Lan card in computer has been out for almost two weeks. Work had me coming and going.
Wow, did I miss the WPF !! This continues to be one of the best venues for inspiration.
Been stealing a moment here and there to continue getting ground cover on.
I stopped at Gaskins Switch this afternoon. I was hoping to get a shot of a Mopac fast freight flying out of the tunnel. If that didn't materialize, then I figured I'd at least have a chance of seeing one of the Cedar Branch & Western's turns headed to or from Fort Hold yard.
No such luck. After an hour of sitting in the baking sun and slapping mosquitoes I gave up. I clicked this fast picture of the interchange and headed back to town. Maybe next weekend....
The Cedar Branch & Western--The Hillbilly Line!
I picked up some WS people so I've been doing a little tinkering with them. Here's a MOW crew doing some minor repairs to a yard track after a derailment.
Jeremy
Alright... I don't know if mine should posted along side many of yours, but here's what I've been up to lately
Decals are not all on yet. This was origionally a Missouri Pacific Lines SW9 #9181. And I've detailed it to be a Wisconsin Central SW1200 #1230. Details include firecracker antenna, spark arrestors, mu hoses, mu recepticles, removed foot boards, WC maroon paint, and decals. Did I mention this was my first decal job!?
Jerry SP FOREVER http://photobucket.com/albums/f317/GAPPLEG/
Every one, wow! You guys have some nice work there. Anway for me, I got the base coat of Grey on my cliff. You can still see the crack in the middel where the 2 levals of foam is. But from a "Brid eye veiw", you barly can see it. Now all I need to do is add high lights.
My Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/JR7582 My Flickr Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wcfan/
Chuck Geiger wrote: I want to be Aggro when I grow up.
I want to be Aggro when I grow up.
Don't all we aspiring weatherers want to do so?
I've been reading WPF for a few months on and off, but I've never really had a whole lot work posting. This weekend I finally do though. I finally finished my GP15 models that I've been custom painting and detailing. They are done for the Wisconsin Northern, a little shortline that is located in west/central Wisconsin, north of Eau Claire. They run on a little over 30 miles of former CNW and SOO line track. The two GP15s are the only power that is painted for them, but they also use a SW1500 that is in Progressive Rail paint (their parent company).
This is the first time I've really ever gone full out on details on a locomotive too, from MU hoses to lift rings and most everything in between. I tried to go as protypical as possible, short of a couple of things that would have involved a lot of extra work. The stripe on the locomotive is actually a series of decals, so the only paint colors were the green and the black on the walkways and underframe, along with a few other colors on detail parts.
The prototype:
The models:
Not the best photos, but they give you the idea. I'm really happy with the locomotives, I think they turned out pretty well. Now just to decide what my next locomotive superdetailing project will be...