No "Social Distancing" at the ice cream stand? Glad to see that your layout economy has been "restarted".
I've not yet poured any water on a diorama, so not talking from experience.. but I'd suggest adding another layer, but with enough that you know it will cover the entire river area. Another idea is you might want to create some wave effects. I've seen this done by painting mod-podge over the water, and then using an airbrush to create the ripples. Maybe the waves will hide the imperfection? You could try pouring a little lake on some scrap first to test this out. By the way, I'm really liking the scenery on your layout, it ties in all nicely together despite not having a lot of space to work with! I'm looking forward to getting to the same point you're at and making the layout look like a layout! On another note and out of curiousity, what is the width of your roads?
Thanks for the kind words Stephane. I am enjoying following your layout build as well. I have some of the W/S water effects that I may try at some point. I like the calm water look but it needs some disturbance behind the canoes to look better for sure. And yes, hopefully another decent layer will hide that spot. I'll have to measure them but I think about 2 inches. They are pre made roads by Leisure Time Products. I get them at my LHS but they can be ordered through some of the fine advertisers here on TrainBoard. In some ways I like them but I kind of think of them as place holders. Once I get all the major scenes done and move on to enjoying adding details and doing upgrades, I'd like to learn to make most of them look worn and well used versus freshly paved. Thanks for the comments on the scenery. Most of it is a work in progress but trying to make things flow was a goal. I think when I do get the scenic divide back in place at some point. it will have an even better feel to it. At least I hope so.
If you don't want to repour the creek, I'd suggest camouflaging it with Woodland Scenics "water effects" to make some gentle rapids. Depending ont he part of the world you model, a gently rolling rapid might be just as prototypical as a flat river.
As I am sitting here waiting for a database to copy over, I was going through my phone and came across this pic from last weekend. I have been pondering adding a corn field at one edge of the layout so I set up a few rows next to the farm. No so happy with the color of the corn. Not sure if just a coat of flat finish would help or if I need to paint it. Not even sure what color I would need to use. Thoughts? And of course, being board at the moment, the mind is wandering. I have a set of the W/S kids playing baseball that I am thinking could probably be dispersed among the corn, right?!?!
We have lots of corn fields outside Montreal.. never saw one that colour I think spraying a few shades of green (flat green, desaturated) and drybrushing the tips a wheat colour would help. Google cornfield photos for the right shade of green and tip colour!
And of course, being board at the moment, the mind is wandering. I have a set of the W/S kids playing baseball that I am thinking could probably be dispersed among the corn, right?!?! "If you build it, he will come." OR “If you build it they will come”
I would go with a 'Field of Dreams' setting way before "Children of the Corn'. But thats just me LOL. https://www.fodors.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/field-of-dreams-hero-1.jpg
With work and lack of sleep over the weekend, I didn't get that much done. With that said, here is what progressed. Started with finally fixing the section of crossing between these two tracks and now it is ready for the road to be put down. Next up, I put together another notebook for info on the layout. One has purchase info and miscellaneous information and the other has info on all the items I am using on the layout (at least the ones I still have it for). May still do one or two more to keep it more segregated and easy to access.
From there I moved on to working on the electrical substation. The paint work was basically finished so worked on shaping and sorting some wire parts. Here we see 7 of the 8 different shape parts finished. Then it was on to assembly. And that is as far as I got before deciding I was tired enough that I would mess up if I kept going. So, we shall pick up here next time.
I'm doing the same thing, but using a Word document to make searching easier for me. In it I have important dimensions, supplier names, electrical component specs, minimum curvature, wire gauges, photos and other facts that might come in handy.
You are definitely right that searching an electronic document it really the way to go so I probably should have added that I pretty much have it all electronically stored as well. Sometimes it's just cool to have a hard copy to browse. I also forgot to include this in my previous post so I will add it here to celebrate this special day
Maybe put the edge of the corn patch more "in the ground" with a dustier soil shade and a scarecrow? And watch those kids!
Quick update on things. I spent time working on the electrical substation kit Saturday. I had hoped to finish it this past weekend but alas that didn't happen. Some of the overhead wire and insulators took a bit longer to do that expected. So, I sill have two support braces, 6 wires that connect the overhead to the equipment below, and then the fencing before it is complete and ready to move from the workbench to the layout. Left my phone on the charger when I went down to the layout so no pics to share this week. I was able to obtain some items for future projects during the last week as well. Got another bulk dry goods trailer from Royale Models. This one is a different design from the last one. Some green and yellow wire so I can continue with wiring some more interior building lights. Some spray adhesive so I can try and work on the backdrop for the scenic divide. Still need to order a couple of terminal blocks for wiring the lights. On order is some more Gold Metal models chain link fence, another bottle of realistic water for the creek scene, and a few assorted details. My knee has been hurting again pretty good since Saturday evening. Hoping it feels better by the weekend so I can jump back into some of these products. Hope everyone following along is doing well and surviving these strange times. I'm thankful for the hobby and all the good folks here that bring a bright spot to the day by sharing pics, stories, and comments.
Ok....my wife says you are a bad influence...lol. I just placed a 200.00 order for some of those signs and some farm equipment, some more automomobles, some MOW equipment and a few pickups for Lucky Penny Yard. I still have to decide what I am going to use for my roads....hmmmm
Tell her I said she's welcome! My wife isn't exactly thrilled about some of my recent purchases either so she would probably agree with your wife.
