Grain Elevator Diorama

Thanks folkS!

I got the window glazing and the roofs installed on the buildings. And in the case of the freight house building the base.

 

The elevator:

 

And the shed with its smoke pipe:





Next is adding decals and weathering.

 

Now it is time to get the diorama base ready. First is a quick general layout of the buildings:



Coming up will be laying the foam road bed.

 

I added the roadbed. For the photo I temporarily placed the buildings. You can also see the decals I added.





I am having troubles with bubbles in the decals but I am slowly getting rid of them. Once the bubbles are gone I will seal the elevator and begin weathering.

Also next is adding track to the diorama base.

 

Next is the base for the grain elevator and shack. One again here is a screw up that turned out right. I wanted to use an India ink wash to weather the scale boards. First the ink was not diluted enough. Secondly I was a little sloppy with the brush and it got on the rest of the base. I quickly decided to wipe it off. Well I liked what I saw. So I did the whole base with wash and wipe.

 

Track is now down!





The track is Atlas code 100 Snap Track. The roadbed is Woodland Scenics foam road bed.

 

Next I weathered the track. I used Folk Art Asphaltum. I painted both the ties and the side of the rails with two coats.

 

Tom, will your scenes connect together one day?

 

I hope so!

Yes that is the eventual plan.

 

Now I am ready to begin weathering the buildings. First I start with the roofs. I take a wash made from Folk Art Light Red Oxide and blue windshield washer fluid (1:6) and go over the roof one section at a time. After I paint each section I take a clean paper towel and wipe the wash off. I make sure I start at the top and wipe down just like any water would run off the roof.

 

Next I take a wash made from Raw Umber and blue windshield washer fluid and go over each roof section. And just like before I wipe it off with a paper towel.

 

Meanwhile back on the diorama I finished painting the base with Folk Art Acorn Brown. I used two coats to cover the base.



Next is ballasting.

 

I completed the ballast before we went on vacation.



I placed the buildings in their approximate locations.





Here it is with a covered hopper.

 

Tom:

The Grain elevator module looks great so far...


Stay cool and run steam......

 

Thanks Bob!

I began coloring the road. First I sanded the road to get somewhat smooth and remove any roughness from the areas I previously stressed. Next I painted the road with a coat of Folk Art Wrought Iron.







One thing I noticed after the paint dried was that I have a lot of little holes that I did not see during the pour or before painting. Looks like road crews will be out here doing some patch work. I wanted the road to look like an old country road but now I need to figure out a way to patch some little potholes.

 

Tom:

You can use some WS asphalt covering which will fill all those tiny holes. Then you can repaint the road with the Folk Art wrought iron.

Another option is to resurface the road with a wash of hydrocal. To remove bubbles from the mix vibrate, the mixing container on the tabletop.

I use a very small rubber mixing bowl for the hydrocal.

The bubbles in the hydrocal will come to the surface.

This how I vibrated plaster for dental models when I was in dental practice.

Stay cool and run steam...

 

Opps. Wrong set of photos.

Bob thanks for the suggestion. This the first time I have had something like this happen with any type of plaster.

 

Well, here are the right pictures.

A little further along now.

I began adding ground cover. I used Woodland Scenics Fine Turf – Earth in the areas that will be under the buildings or where there will be a stone driveway and parking lot.