Now that all the tracks are laid and running, it's time for scenery. I spent the last 2 nights working on the mountain. It came out much bigger than I had imagined, and I like it. I hope to get the plaster (soaked shop paper towels) on there in the next week or so.


See some more picture in my photo album

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sofasloth,

Wow, that is going to look great! I have one question though, Is this a subliminal message?

quote:

Originally posted by CSX Al:
Wow, that is going to look great! I have one question though, Is this a subliminal message?

Funny, I hadn't even seen that. Good catch!

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.....Lookin good! Have you thought about having it go over the tracks for a bit. Tunnels seem to make the layout seem larger. Just a thought...... Keep up the good work ......................................Remy

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Remy:
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.....Lookin good! Have you thought about having it go over the tracks for a bit. Tunnels seem to make the layout seem larger. Just a thought...... Keep up the good work ......................................Remy

I've thought about it. I worry that in the event of a derailment I won't be able to get to the train in the tunnel. It would be neat to put a portal right there between the school and the church and another on the other side. Then I could have the mountain just go right down the front to the lower level rather than have a cutout like I have planned.

I also want to make a smaller mountain in the back right corner behind that area and have a cutout for where the track curves to go along the back wall.

It's gonna get messy soon. I have 50lbs of Structolite, a bulk package of shop paper towels and a bunch of Woodland Scenic pigments and spray bottles.

Well, it took a little longer than I thought, but this week I finally started putting down a little plaster. For now I didn't do the mountain, but instead did some of the smaller spaces to get a feel for the work.

I actually started casting some rocks with the Hydrocal that arrived today via UPS. That stuff is nice. It sets fast and I can cast several copies of the mold in an evening.

Then I mixed some Structolite and cut some shop paper towels in 1/2 to fit the narrow spaces I would be covering. The structolite is gonna take all night to set and it sure is some gritty stuff.

I wish I had just gone with a normal plaster like Hydrocal. The 40lb tub is likely not going to be enough to cast all the rocks I want AND cover the mountain, so I'll just have to use the Structolite. The texture is nice, a little more grit than I expected, but nice. I think it will help hide the edges of the towels even though I'll put another coat of plaster on top.

The biggest hassle is that I have NO sink in the basement to clean up with and since I am doing this late at night when the rest of the family is asleep, I can't be outside running the hose to spray out the bucket. I'll just let the thin remains dry in the bucket and then smack it with the rubber mallet to break it out. The chunks may actually be usable for some areas.

Enough ranting, time to pull some more castings from the molds. I'll get some pictures posted later this week as I get further along.

As many know I preefer foam. Why not try using some of the pink or blue stuff for your rocks? Just break it into lots of pieces and glue them as you are doing with the molded ones. No two are alike, just like nature itself. As for where does the foam come from for the pieces it is usually left over from building the mountain but since you did not do it that way you will have to look elsewhere. Eyeball construction sites for scrap pieces on your way home from work. FYI, your mountain can be made from one 4' x 4' piece of 2" foam. Don't stack it but cut out "rings" and push it up like a collapsible drinking cup. Carve the edges off the steps and scenic as you would any other way.

I have 2.5 sheets of the blue foam. I believe it's 3/4". I'm using it for making some retaining walls between grades and I have been keeping scraps to make smaller rock structures or to fill in parts of the mountain edge.

I already have 5 different rock molds and now have 3 sets of each rock molded just from last night. I have found that the rock molds are simple to do. I'm not worried too much about the repeating designs because I can flip them around like Rich shows in his DVD.

The foam would have worked out well for my mountain, but the cost would have been higher. I already had a lot of boxes that I used for the core and then I just used the newspapers from the recycling stack. A 50lb bag of structolite cost me less than $10. I have a bulk package of shop paper towels that I got 2 years ago with a Costco gift card that my old company gave at Christmas.

Foam would not have been possible for some sections between grades as there just wasn't enough room to put any in there. Where the 2 levels are very close it was just easier to put some cardboard strips, newspaper and plaster cloth across the small gap.

The structolite actually became mostly dry within a couple hours. I realized that I should have gotten a little more plaster on the towels, but I'll be brushing on a second layer of the plaster to strengthen what I have already done.

I think you're going to like the final effect of the Structolite. Don't give up on it too soon. I've been using it for my final coat on most scenery projects. Check out the next issue of OGR (Run 230) for how I do it.

It does take quite a while to set up, but the grit really hides tool marks and that "plaster look." When painted and drybrushed to bring out the highlights, it is very rock-like.

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Policastro:
I think you're going to like the final effect of the Structolite. Don't give up on it too soon. I've been using it for my final coat on most scenery projects. Check out the next issue of OGR (Run 230) for how I do it.

It does take quite a while to set up, but the grit really hides tool marks and that "plaster look." When painted and drybrushed to bring out the highlights, it is very rock-like.

Jim

Jim, I was looking at it again around 3am (yes, I was up WAY too late yet again) and I like the look of it. Between the gritty texture and the ground cover I plan on adding I think it will look good.

I will say that the structolite stinks when wet. The Hydrocal didn't seem to have an odor, but the structolite was kinda strong.

I may end up doing a mix of the 2 to test for some of the finish coat. That should take the edge off the heavy grit look.

I think when you color the Structolite and add some vegetation and ground cover, you will like the gritty Structolite effect.

Mixing the two should work, too, if you prefer. I'm not sure though how the setting time would be affected.

One of the big advantages of Structolite is its very long setting time. I can mix a huge bowl and not worry about it setting before I use it up. I would guess that the mix would set quickly.

Before I discovered Structolite, I would add sand to my plaster to give it some texture (and make it go farther too).

Jim

Ok, here are some pictures of the mountain covered with the first coat of plaster/cloth.

I need to wait until it dries and then I need to put on a second coat of plaster to add strength and better blend the edges of the towels. Then I'll add some of the rock molds that I have been casting.

The area between the grades came out nice too.

Looking really good! you have lots to work with there with all of those undulations and such!

- walt

Super nice job on the mountain. Can't wait to see some more progress. BTW have you seen any of the Sun's games? I see they're one game out of 1st right behind W Va who they play today.

Nice looking mountain you've got going up there.

To get ground foam onto the more vertical sections, you may be interested in a trick I came up with: blowing it on.

First, take a cardboard tube and cut a 2" T-cut on one end to make 2 tabs. Flatten out the tabs to make a sort of "spoon" for the ground foam.

Next, wet a mountainside with the usual glue solution (scenic cement or white-glue/water mix) getting it good and wet.

Then, put a teaspoon or so of ground foam into the spoon. Hold it up to the vertical face and puff into the end of the tube. The foam pile's top few bits blow onto the cliff face, and most of it sticks! Try different blowing patternsl you'll soon get just the right "stream" of foam stripping off the spoon's pile and dusting onto the cliff face.

Once you get the first little bit on, you can dampen the "foamed" face with glue mix lightly, and the next puffs will really cover well.

For areas further back, a gift-wrap tube is great, since you can use the longer tube to get the foam right up to the work without leaning in or climbing on it. For large areas, you can use a blow-dryer: just lightly dance an air flow near the tube opening to get the puffing effect without blowing up a cloud of ground foam.

I used this method to cover 60 square feet of near-vertical, vertical, and overhanging plaster-cloth mountain faces in an afternoon. I figured if it stuck ok for a year or so, that would buy me the time to go back and re-do areas with rock faces, more-detailed scenes, etc. 10 years later it is all still lush and green.

quote:

Originally posted by wild mary:
Super nice job on the mountain. Can't wait to see some more progress. BTW have you seen any of the Sun's games? I see they're one game out of 1st right behind W Va who they play today.

Thanks. I've never been too confident when it comes to creating things like this from scratch, so it's nice to get the "pat on the back." I sure hope that I learned enough watching Rich's DVD and reading all the forum posts so when I go to spray on the pigments it comes out good.

My wife wants me to make the peak snow covered. I guess it would be ok. It's not like the mountain is the Alps. Compared to the house sizes it's more like a tall hill.

Before I start painting the mountain I need to put the tunnel around the front and extent the mountain down to the lower level at the front. Then that abrupt stop to the front will go away.

We haven't been to a Suns game yet this year. We went to 2 games last summer. With two little ones it's hard to fit a lot of games in with all their other activities.

Looking real good, 'sloth.

Good progress ...sloth. Bob, your tips are great. Your scene looks great. The color, coverage and the mix of trees is excellent.

Pennsy, thanks for the kind words.

Gizzmo, that's a good idea about the angled lines to follow with the rock molds. Looks real natural and adds another level of interest to the rockwork.

Ok, now I am at a crossroads. I decided to make the front end of the mountain where the track goes around into a tunnel and extend the mountain down to the lower level. Last night I put up the portals, framed up the tunnel wall, painted the insides of the tunnel a dark grey and then added the cardboard webbing to blend it into the mountain.

However, I forgot to check for some tolerances and also forgot that putting portals on curves is a bad bad bad idea. So tonight I decide to check tolerances with an AC4400 and then with an Amfleet car. The engine just clears with about 1/8" - 1/4" but the Amfleet can't quite clear and starts to rub right around the middle. To adjust to clear the Amfleet I'd kill the clearance of the engine.

To put the portals on a straight section I'd have to put one so far out from where it is that I'd screw up locations that I have designated for a school, church, cemetery and parking lot. It would cost me a good chunk of space I don't feel comfortable giving up. It would also lengthen the tunnel a lot which could make it really hard to get items out in the event of a derailment inside the tunnel.

So do I give up a huge chunk of space and relocate several buildings or do I rip out the mini tunnel and finish the extension of the mountain to the lower level leaving the track open as more of a cut out than a tunnel?

If you ever plan on running a Challenger or Big Boy, you'll need lots of overhang clearance in portals or mountainsides. I would estimate 2 - 2 1/2" from the end of the outside curve ties.

quote:

Originally posted by SoCalStu:
If you ever plan on running a Challenger or Big Boy, you'll need lots of overhang clearance in portals or mountainsides. I would estimate 2 - 2 1/2" from the end of the outside curve ties.

The curves in this area are O54, so I won't be putting the really big engines there. I run my Allegheny on my O80 track on the lower level or on the O72 that goes between the 2 levels.

I decided to not tear it out tonight, but tomorrow I think the tunnel is being converted back to a cutout so I can feel confident that all of my engines that can run on O54 and smaller will run fine there. I don't want to give up more space since the mountain is already quite large and I don't want to have to worry if something new will clear the area if I run it there.

quote:

Originally posted by Gizzmo:
Just a heads up, I make custom sized portals. If you think you may need one shoot me an E-mail.

Gizzmo

I just sent you an email.

quote:

Originally posted by Sofasloth:

quote:

Originally posted by Gizzmo:
Just a heads up, I make custom sized portals. If you think you may need one shoot me an E-mail.

Gizzmo

I just sent you an email.

I am looking forward to this!

Rand