Winter In New England

mikelhh Apr 3, 2013

  1. mikelhh

    mikelhh TrainBoard Member

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    Cheers guys!

    Boxcab you get about 30 minutes of easy working time, depending on the weather. Damp days are best. It can still be worked by re-wetting after that, but that's when you'll need tools like scrapers, although you can probably still smooth out small areas by rubbing it with a wet finger. Once it's completely dry it can be sanded.

    You can add acrylic paint too, but in my experience of adding acrylic tube paints, and somewhat contrary to the manufacturer's advice, it really hastens the drying. You have to work like crazy to get it shaped.
     
  2. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member

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    Wow, Simply awesome scenery Mikelhh! That is very realistic looking work, you cant hardly tell it from real life. What is the straw colored vegetation your using?
    Thanks for sharing your efforts, I am always learning something new here.
     
  3. mikelhh

    mikelhh TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks Tom. The grass is fine fibre cleaning cloth available from the kitchen section. The cloths are always very brightly coloured. I paint them by scrubbing acrylics into them with a stiff old brush. That causes them to mat, so once they're dry I give them a good brushing with a wire pet-grooming brush. Then I just snip out patches and tufts and glue them on. I rub pastels onto them too.

    [​IMG]

    Mike
     
  4. SYROUS

    SYROUS TrainBoard Member

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    Very well done, really looks like the real thing.

    Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4
     
  5. StickyMonk

    StickyMonk TrainBoard Member

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    Can you post a photo of the cleaning cloth so I know what to look for?

    I think I am going to try to do the same thing, but I have doubts if I will achieve the same effect.

    Sent from my Xperia Z using Tapatalk 2
     
  6. mikelhh

    mikelhh TrainBoard Member

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    Here you go Matthew

    [​IMG]

    They have glossy acrylic-tpye fibres. Cut the seams and open them out because they are double-sided. There are several brands here that are pretty much identical, and they're all cheap.

    Mike
     
  7. MarkInLA

    MarkInLA Permanently dispatched

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    Mike, unless it's a trade secret or if you already have in another post, please tell us how you create the barren trees..I've always favored this time of year for a MRR over others as the starkness is so dramatic, plus much less leaves/greenery to have to depict..! Also, would like to see the track plan of your entire RR..
    Great creativity Mike
     
  8. mikelhh

    mikelhh TrainBoard Member

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    Hi Mark

    No trade secrets on my layout :funny:

    Winter is a real challenge to model. I don't mean the snow: I think that's the easy part. Bare trees are another story, and I'm still working at it, trying to get the look I want.
    At present my bare trees are a real mixture of twisted wire, twigs, roots and sisal rope fibres.

    Here are some of the roots I have in stock:

    P1012460.jpg

    I paint them which helps preserve them, and I often add painted sisal rope fibres [coconut fibres too] to supplement them and to provide finer 'twigs'.

    This one is based on a root mass with the sisal fibres added, held in place by fine wire bound around the clump:

    P1012461.jpg P1012463.jpg

    Clumps like this one can be glued onto bigger 'trunks' to become part of a bigger tree.
    Dried tea leaves make pretty good dead leaves and leaf litter. Sometimes I've painted the usual Woodland Scenics and Heki foliage mats to suit as well.

    As for track plans: I don't really do them, but I'll see if I can work something out.

    Mike
     
  9. StickyMonk

    StickyMonk TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks for the photo, I will try to find something simular over this side of the pond.

    Sent from my Xperia Z using Tapatalk 2
     
  10. MarkInLA

    MarkInLA Permanently dispatched

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    Thanks for foliage info..and all...Where's that track plan ? Or, are your scenes only dioramas or modular, thus no track plan ?
     
  11. mikelhh

    mikelhh TrainBoard Member

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    No, it's an L shaped layout : 14ft one leg and 10 ft the other. I'll be continuing around the corner to make a U shape one day.
    I'll draw something up sometime. I'm not into the CAD programs.

    Mike
     
  12. mikelhh

    mikelhh TrainBoard Member

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    [​IMG]

    The scale is pretty wonky :cute:

    Jusr realised: the righthand leg of the layout is 9ft from INside the corner, not the outside. It's 11ft 6 ins along the outside.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 24, 2013
  13. Alan

    Alan Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Ah! All becomes clear :)

    Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
     
  14. mikelhh

    mikelhh TrainBoard Member

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    The hinged extension, far left, comprises two lines, as long as the layout is high, which is about 42 ins. It really does improve the operating, including providing another way to do a runaround.
     
  15. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Wow. All those photos you have shared, from such a compact space. Amazing work.
     
  16. mikelhh

    mikelhh TrainBoard Member

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    It's been a while since I added to this thread.
    Not much to report because it has been too hot here.
    I did make it snow though by sprinkling Woodland Scenics Flake Snow all over the place.

    An Atlas U23B...

    [​IMG]

    One of Guilford's ex Santa Fe SD26s...

    [​IMG]

    I've also added LEDs behind another backscene, this time the end scene behind the loco shed and road overpass.
    Here's a close-up of the tiny holes...

    [​IMG]

    and the view at night after it had snowed...

    [​IMG]

    I haven't been operating the trains partly because of the heat, but also because of all the loose snow. It won't be long before it gets dull and dirty, and then I plan to push it into heaps alongside road edges etc, all grey and brown and unattractive. I might glue it in place then, and give it some dirty washes of acrylic, with wet patches where it's 'melting'.

    Mike
     
  17. scottmitchell74

    scottmitchell74 TrainBoard Member

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    Bro, your pics are so incredible they're making me sick to my stomach, like finding out after practicing something for years (decades) that you're pedestrian at the the craft. I'm in awe!
     
  18. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    It has been a while! And well worth the wait. Those LED's are a great effect. I've never seen it previously accomplished. Wow. Nice!
     
  19. f2shooter

    f2shooter TrainBoard Member

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    Although I'll never be this good it sure helps me get some ideas for expansion of the CBAM&J. Incredible work?

    Rick H.
     
  20. hoyden

    hoyden TrainBoard Supporter

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    Thank you for sharing new pictures. Your Winter scenery inspires me.
     

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