Ideas for modeling a Junkyard

sillystringtheory Oct 20, 2010

  1. sillystringtheory

    sillystringtheory TrainBoard Member

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    I found an older similar topic here but most of the photo links had expired.
    I have been messing around with some areas of the N scale layout that still need filled in with industry and have reserved an area for a junkyard.

    I have layed out the major pieces I have for it, and have set some fences into place to try to get an idea of where to go from there.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I have seen old shipping containers used as storage sheds and also having had the roofs cut out and used as bins. Hence the shipping containers. There is the typical quonset hut and possible some sort of mobile home to be used as an office.

    What else do I need? Any suggestions/techniques on how to paint and meld the cast junkpiles so they look like real junkpiles? Suggestions/criticism wanted.
     
  2. Kenneth L. Anthony

    Kenneth L. Anthony TrainBoard Member

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    This is not so much of a "junk" yard as a salvage yard, where discarded/ disused items are stockpiled in case they might ever be used again. I remember seeing a lot of stuff, old pipes and fittings and stair railings and etc behind a place that fabricated oilkfield and refinery stuff. This is more industrial than automotive.
    [​IMG]

    I recall painting different kinds of things with different kinds and degrees of spray-- black primer applied lightly, red-brown primer applied so it becomesd splotchy. Light gray, dark gray. A bit of nother colors, and some washes.
    When my rattle cans are no longer dependable to do decent painting, I set them aside for INDECENT painting.
     
  3. MOPMAN

    MOPMAN TrainBoard Member

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    Here is a pic of a portion of my scrap yard. Maybe you can get an idea or two.

    [​IMG]

    There are other pics in my album.
     
  4. Jon Grant

    Jon Grant TrainBoard Member

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    Although my junk yard is 1930's themed, you might get a few ideas for scrap. I made good use of something from a 'fancy-dress' store - a product called 'Angel Hair' which is nylon silver fake hair. Painted rusty and glued down it resembles scrap wire which has had the cladding burnt off.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Jon
     
  5. Candy_Streeter

    Candy_Streeter TrainBoard Member

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    Fantastic, Jon! I love that scene !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     
  6. Mike VE2TRV

    Mike VE2TRV TrainBoard Member

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    @Jon: great scrap yard! I like the middle photo a lot. :thumbs_up:

    LMAO - I'll remember that... :D
     
  7. MisterBeasley

    MisterBeasley TrainBoard Supporter

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    I have a box of very toy-like autos left over from a yard sale box-o-trains I got about 50 years ago for my teenage layout. Yeah, never throw anything away. I used a hobby knife and Dremel to "trash" these cars. Then I used a combination of brown and rust-colored paints, Instant Rust and weathering powders to get the old scrap cars look I wanted.

    [​IMG]

    I liberated a bunch of wooden coffee stirrers from work, slit them in half lengthwise, and scratchbuilt the fence. I've got a can of off-white wood stain, and I mix small batches with India Ink to get various weathered-wood looks. The sections of "pipe" are rollers from a smashed VHS casette.

    This small scene, incidentally, tucks in at the back of the layout, under a 45-degree roofline. That's why the adjacent building has the odd angle for the wall.
     
  8. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Great job with these old cars. Looks like they've been sitting there for decades.

    Boxcab E50
     
  9. Grey One

    Grey One TrainBoard Supporter

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    Just a few thoughts:
    Junk yard dog
    People
    Straws for pipes
    Fence(s) with gate where the track enters it
    A sign or two
    Tire tracks where vehicles have been
    Oil slicks / patches on the ground
    Kids watching over the fence
     
  10. Wolfgang Dudler

    Wolfgang Dudler Passed away August 25, 2012 TrainBoard Supporter In Memoriam

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  11. shortliner

    shortliner TrainBoard Member

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  12. Mike VE2TRV

    Mike VE2TRV TrainBoard Member

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    Boy does that bring back memories... :D
     
  13. Mindheim

    Mindheim TrainBoard Member

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    That's a pretty realistic scene MOPMAN. Modern scrap yards don't let the metal sit around long. It comes in, gets sorted, and goes right out. It's not there long enough to rust so the shiny look is very accurate. Nice job.
    Lance
    Visit Miami's Downtown Spur at: www.lancemindheim.com
     
  14. MP333

    MP333 TrainBoard Supporter

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    MisterBeasley, that scene is FANTASTIC! Very good work, thanks for sharing.
     
  15. fireball_magee

    fireball_magee TrainBoard Member

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    Lance recently Cast and Carbon Steel is sititng around at the junkyards.Not much money in it. Copper,Aluminum and "sheet iron" are whats really moving these days.The sheet iron goes to shredders and is moved as shred via gons.Its a neat process to watch.

    Just segregate your metals. Carbon steel goes one place,sheet iron another,aluminum another.
     
  16. Logtrain

    Logtrain TrainBoard Member

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    Yeah too bad it is all in Horendically Oversized scale and NOT Normal scale. LOL Those of us Normal scale modelers have to "bash" scrapyards if we want one on our layout.
     
  17. Paul Liddiard

    Paul Liddiard Staff Member

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    Perhaps then, you're not NORMAL. JK, I'm an HO sort of modeler, so these look pretty good.
     
  18. Mike VE2TRV

    Mike VE2TRV TrainBoard Member

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    For me, "normal" scale is 1:1.:plaugh::ptongue::plaugh::parghh:
     
  19. MOPMAN

    MOPMAN TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks Lance. I am a fan of your work also. Some of the most realistic modeling I've seen.
     
  20. Paul Liddiard

    Paul Liddiard Staff Member

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    LOL; ROFLMAO
     

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