That's one fine piece of modeling, Tom_ A trick I found for making insulators look like the green/aqua ones is to use the translucent green from cheap sun catcher kits, First paint the insulator pewter [ I tried silver and aluminum, too shiny } then apply the green and they look very close to the real thing
Thanks folks! Flash I keep telling myself I need to paint the edges but I need to get some more paint. Also I still have a list of some items I want to add to the diorama. Whne I am in the LHS I look for things to add to it, so it is still a work in progress. I am using it for photos right now and soon I hope it will be jioned by the Passenger Station Diorama I am working on. Some day I hope it will part of my overall layout (once I start working on it) One major item I need to add is a backdrop. When I get back from vacation I intend on doing it. Brian Thanks for the tip on the insulators. I have been searching for something and have not found much information on them. I'll give your tip a try.
Again thanks everyone. As I stated before this is still a work in progress. I am searching for additional detail items to add to it. I need some stuff, such as barrels, old crates, or something to put around the base of the tower and the shack. Also if I can find an outhouse I would like to add in the back some where. As I add stuff I will keep updating things.
Tompm, You are doing a great job on the water tower! While you are hunting details, here are some I remember: One tower I saw had two flood lights mounted on either side of the spout at the base of the tank. The crew had run an extension cord to power the lights from the engine. This tank was miles out in the Kansas plains west out of Newton, Kansas maybe 80 or so miles. Most tanks had a means of determining the water level in the tank. One unusual type had a small pulley at the top that had a small rope running down inside to a float. The other end had a red painted ball tied to it. When the tank was full the red ball was down at the bottom, when almost half full, the ball was half way too. (Reverse reading). Other tanks, had metal pipe made in the shape of upside-down "U" draped over the side of the tank. One of the legs slipped through large screw-eyes as guides. One end of the "inside" leg had the 25 gal wood keg float on it, the other leg outside, had a disk or ball on it. These kind would rise when the tank was full, or go down when water was drained. (Direct Reading). Most of these were close to the ladder. There was an 8" to 10" diameter hand wheel mounted on the spout to open the water valve too. It was mounted at one end of a long rod that had a loop bent on the tank end. This loop had another loop fitted through to act as a cheap universal joint when the spout was lowered, yet would allow the spout and this rod to fold up when not in use. It was effective since it only had to "work" when the spout was down.
It has been a while since I worked on the Water Tower Diorama. One thing that bothered me about how the diorama looked was the way the trees just looked like they were stuck in foam. After discussing this with a few folks I came to the conclusion that it needed something. Using Woodland Scenics Foliage in Light Green, Medium Green, and Dark Green, and WS Fine Leaf Foliage in Dead Foliage, Medium Green, and Olive Green I went to work. Here are the results.
I did some work on the Water Tower Diorama recently after a long hiatus. I am finally beginning to detail the diorama. The first chore, however, came unexpectedly. When I was about to begin working on the diorama I found that one of the utility poles had been snapped off. I have yet to find out whether the incident is kid or kitten related. At first I glued the pole back together but then I was concerned about it stability and how long it would last. I then thought why not do what the prototype would do: brace it. I then took an unused pole and cut it to size and glued to the pole and to the diorama base. The brace still needs to be weathered. Here are the results.
The next item is something that I see along railroad right-of-ways all the time: discarded rails and ties. For the rail I took an old piece of snap track and removed a section of rail. I then painted it with Folk Art Asphaltum and sealed it with Dullcoat. For the ties I took the ties from the same piece of snap track and painted them with Folk Art Asphaltum. I then trimmed the ties into individual pieces and touched them up paint-wise. I sealed them with Dullcoat and put them on the diorama. I still need to do some weathering to them. Also I need to add some weeds around them. Here is how it looks.
I built an outhouse from a kit. I don’t remember who the manufacturer was. I will check and post that information later. I painted the kit with Folk Art Dark Gray then sealed it. I then added some rubber cement. Next I painted it with Folk Art Amish Blue. Once the top coat dried I used an ink eraser to cause the paint to peel. For the roof I used Folk Art Raw Umber. I then assembled the kit and weathered it with dry-brushing Folk Art Charcoal Gray and a Charcoal Gray and blue windshield washing fluid wash. Finally I sealed it with Dullcoat. I attached it to the diorama. Now I need to add some foliage type items around it to blend it in. Here is how it looks now:
Your rock faces are spectacular. The rest of the modeling is great too, but you might have taken those rocks from beside a prototype line and shrunk them to fit! Bravo.
I almost forgot about the barrels. They are from Woodland Scenics. They were painted with Folk Art Licorice. Weathering was dry-brushing Folk Art Charcoal Gray and Americana Burnt Sienna.
Using Woodland Scenics Field Grass in light green I added some grass around the discarded ties and rail. I also did some additional weathering to the ties and rail.
I also began adding some grass at the tower base. I need to get out the HO scale weed whacker and cut down the grass some. Also I need to get a few more colors of grass and intersperse it with the grass I already planted. As I finish painting and assembling the detail parts I have I will be adding them also.
That's some really great model work there, Tom. Is set up to be tied into a layout or is it a static display? BTW where's BilliJo, BettyJo , BobbiJo & UncleJoe.
Again thanks for the compliments! At last I finally added another detail part to the diorama. This one is a fuel tank from Scale Structures. The tank is for the fuel to operate the pump for the water tower. Of course the LPP’s shouldn’t run since there is no vent for the fumes. Still waiting for that item to arrive.
I have now added the smoke stack to the shack. Now the LPP’s can run the pump motor with asphyxiating themselves. I know it is leaning but remember this water tower is off the beaten track and gets little maintenance attention.
