Ken, Each time you post a new photo, I am impressed even more by your modeling skill. Very nice scenery. Greg
AWESOME Cleggie ive been following this thread it one of the layouts that has got me started cheers Juan
Hello Ken, looking good, great shot! I like the way your scenrey compliments the trains, you have very good selection of color and texture! You are braver then I am running a train wiht new equipment unattended around your layout: I typically follow a train very closely if I put new cars or engines on it's maiden voyage. I had some nasty surprises (like the stack of my Z8 Challenger hitting the top of a scratchbuild gider bridge), so I like to be close to the train to avert disaster. This is specifically true in my helix, as a derailment means a 5 feet drop to the tiled floor. One of my projects is to put protective padding on the floor beneath the helixes.... Anyway, with the pace you are going I am sure that you willl achieve your objective to complete scenery by Christmas. We will all check on your progress (of course no peer pressure here, har har har....) Cheers Dirk
The maintenance crew are a bit stumped as some clown super glued the signal base to the baseboard:tb-wacky: Thanks for the kind words, I will keep on posting new pics as I progress That's nice to hear, trainboard is a super place to find insipration. Thanks Mike, more to come! Thanks Dirk, You are right I should be a bit more cautious when running new equipment, however the upper level is fairly safe. On target for my goal as long as I can keep from burning out or getting caught in modeller paralysis.
Ok the youtube issue is sorted and here's the video and an added extra bonus clip, enjoy: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGQQEid8wC4[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y90gCf_49Po[/ame]
Here are a few pics of recent progress, mainly painting the backdrop and preparing "Broken Ridge" for tree planting. Painting trees on the backdrop. Brushed on some white glue and sprinkled flock grass ready for tree planting. Do some touch ups after the white glue has hardened, then BRING ON THE TREES!!
TRT2: Thanks, and here are some more... I covered up the rails and the rock faces then sprayed on diluted white glue and gave the whole area a sprinkling of "burnt static flock grass". Now it is full on tree planting. It is a little awkward planting on the mountain slopes as I am a full streach standing on a stool to reach the top, or if I stand on a stool at the back "pop up" I am working right on top of the mountain looking down the slope. That makes it difficult to see the holes I drill in the plaster shell for the trees. I will take it slowly and have lots of breaks, stranding coffee in hand looking at the scene and imagining trees, trees and more trees:tb-wink:
Ok... this is the last push on the upper level, Helix Two. Over the next two/three weeks I hope to transform the last remaining area to something resembling scenery. So here is the last look at the basic bare boards before "teraforming" begins. I have just masked the rails and will tape some more news paper over the lower levels to keep any drips of wet plaster from messin' with the rails. I am down to the last of the 20Kg bag of casting plaster and hoping I will have enough... This shot looking back at Broken Ridge and the tree planting I completed last week. The center of the helix will remain open so I can stand up in the hole and have access to the helix track and the back of the loop.
Hello Ken, nice "pre-terraforming" shot. I can not wait to see the "after" view Maybe you could look at the pinetrees you have plantet so far and consider planting them in a little more "forced perspective" setup. i.e. the larger ones close to the track and the smaller to the backdrop. It nicely dwarfs the trains and is adding more "distance" to the scene... Bit looking very good as is Cheers Dirk
Out standing work only thing I would check is clearence on you curves for passenger cars,better now than later.Keep up the god work,by the way I am an "N" scaler allso,to keep the nosie down on my foam I layed cork down then track it helps. JIM
Thanks for the kind words Glen. The forced perspective idea is a good one although I don't think I will change anything at this stage. Maybe on my next layout? There is a foam roadbed under the track that seems to work ok. At the moment I don't have any passenger cars, but I do have some autoracks that I need to check going up and down the helii. But that won't happen untill after I have finished doing the plaster work as all lines are closed. Now for some pics: Helix Two down line ready for plaster Oh... look... Hollywood A listers Brad and Angelina become a perminent part of my layout, LOL. More plaster will be applied to form a hill behind the loop track after I paint up a backdrop for the wall. Fresh plaster that I will leave for a few days before lifting the masking tape.
Nobody knows what happened to Jimmy Hoffa but I know where to look if Brad & Angelina turn up missing Jamie
Jimmy Hoffa... Jimmy Hoffa... Hmmm... Rings a bell, maybe my last layout, LOL. Anyway, I have brought a new bag of casting plaster and here are the results. First I taped down some newpaper then dampened the area added some more newpaper flat on top and damped that down as well Then poured on the plaster Smoothing the plaster where I want to represent the hill side and roughing it up to represent cliffs and bluffs. It looks like I will achive my goal with a week to spare. I still need to paint the backdrop and get that looking tidy as well as doing the basic scenery So with two weekends before Christmas and my work having our breakup on the 19th, there should be plenty of time to get Helix two sorted and run some trains.
I finished the plaster work on Helix Two and did some painting and added some flock grass. I covered the rock faces with paper towels then sprinkled flock grass. After a day to allow the glue to cure I painted the rock faces and lifted the masking tape of the rails. Then went aroung the layout cleaning the rails and now I can run trains once more... YESSS! I had some problems with my first train run which hardly surprised me, derailments due to track movement. What with the plaster and glue splashing about the place the loop track around the helix took on a super elevation with one side of the track higher than the other. Got that sorted with a bit of digging around with a neddle file and some cardboard shim. Just need to add some trees and a bit more paint and we are done.
Hello Ken, good progress! It really transforms the layout! Quick question: Why did the rail shift? I thought you had it glued down? Cheers Dirk
ken this a first for me!!! 3 cups of coffee and all 22 pages WOW!!!! would you like to fly to the states and build my layout???? truly stunning work from somebody that could not be further away from the prototype!!!!! great work my friend:thumbs_up::thumbs_up::thumbs_up:
