Mt. Coffin & Columbia River - 23"x41" layout

[M.C. Fujiwara]

MC, just wow man! Thanks for sharing, it's looking really good!  ;D

Thanks, dude.
The new camera helps make things look better than I could.
Also got some new lights (23W 4100k CFLs) for the lightbox I just built, but they help on the layout as well:



I'm just excited to have a lightbox in which to do some photos for magazine articles.
Tested it out on some models:



Even my piece o' crap first styrene shed looks half decent:



And the 20T coal cars are getting near mag-worthy:



The camera is great as it "exposes" what still needs to be done.  Like weathering, especially trucks.

Still need to play around with light & exposure combos.
But in the right direction!

[John]

I think one area that we  in the smaller scales have problems is modeling dirt ... while these are close - the grains are still too big .. any thoughts?

[M.C. Fujiwara]

I think one area that we  in the smaller scales have problems is modeling dirt ... while these are close - the grains are still too big .. any thoughts?

I found a fine-mesh tea-leave strainer at the local asian market that works great for getting a fine grade.
In my photos you see a bit chunkier dirt, plus ground foam & a lot of sawdust blown on from using the circular saw too close to the layout.
After I rip out the turnouts in the last picture & replace them with better, powered frog one, I'll layer in the sooper-fine dirt as well.

Here's a section that I have redone (but still need to layer the finer stuff in):



You're right: most of the granules look too big.

I did put the finer stuff over the track where a road will go:



Looks a bit finer, yes?
(right at the bottom left of the loco wheels)

The problem with super-fine dirt, though, is that after the alcohol & diluted glue, it can dry looking like molten mud.
So I'd rather have a little bit chunkier dirt, at least as a base.
I can sprinkle in the finer stuff slowly later.

But definitely a good issue, John.
Fun to avoid those ground-foam puffballs, too.

[John]

I haven't mastered it either - but the mud idea might be a good start - if you can sand it down somehow later on once it's dried ..  my dirt still looks like its made out of boulders

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Chris' Harlem Terminal trackwork inspired me to get off my a$$hat and rebuild another turnout fixture, this one a 4-turnout fixture with two curved, one wye and one ??.  The goal is to rip out the current fixture, which works probably 90% good, and replaced it with improved turnouts with powered frogs.

Before the BlackenIt bath:



After the BlackenIt:



Checking to make sure it actually "turned out" the correct curvature:



Next steps:
Build styrene bases for handthrows / slide switches (they go under the throwbar in a pocket)
Gorilla Glue bases / install handthrows & slide switches
Wire frogs
Test all works, electrically, BEFORE I rip out the old
Install new fixture
Slip replacement ties under the rails
Re-scenick & re-ballast

If this one turns out anything like the 2-turnout fixture I already rebuilt on the left side of the layout, then it's gonna be sooper-smooth railsailing from now on!

[M.C. Fujiwara]

More fun with lightbox & new camera:



Tried to weather the trucks by spraying Scalecote "graphite" on a plastic lid & brushing it on the springs & metal bits, then applying powders over.
Not sure how successful it was.

And on the layout:



Thanks for looking.

[Chris333]

So the main reason for replacing the turnout was the un-powered frogs?

Seems like they could be powered in place without ripping anything up.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

I power the frogs through a slide switch mounted under the throwbar & attached to a styrene base.
Powering the frogs was big reason, but I also wanted these four to be all one fixture (I had joined the original two & two on the curve and there's a slight straight bump where the rail joiners are), redo a few frogs & a few point rail notches that were a little bit deep for my tastes.
I probably could have powered the frogs without ripping things up, but it's a good excuse to install better work

[Chris333]

I've never done it, but you can fill in the frog a little so the wheels ride on it instead of dipping down.

[DKS]

I've never done it, but you can fill in the frog a little so the wheels ride on it instead of dipping down.

I have done this, and if you get the thickness just right, it works like a charm. I cut the part from a piece of sheet nickel silver with a jeweler's saw.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Looks pretty cool, there David.
Is that so the flanges ride on the metal insert, then if the gap between the point rail & the frog is too wide the wheel doesn't "thunk" down?
Good technique to know.

On the original curved turnouts I didn't curve all the way through the frogs as much as I wanted to, so there is a slight straight section which gives some of my locos a little wiggle.  This time I curved all the way through so it's smooth sailing.

Or should be: after I hook up the slide switches & handthrows I'll test the fixture before installing.  As is the trucks I push through seem pretty smooth.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Been mocking up the cannery, mainly because 1) I'm tired of looking at an empty lot & 2) it was too hot to work in the garage the last couple days (over 100 inside) and cutting cardstock in the air-conned kitchen felt much better (even remembered to use a piece of scrapwood underneath while using the xacto at the kitchen table).
 
At first I thought I'd go for a nice wide, massive cannery:
 


But somehow it didn't quite do it for me, plus I was at a loss to figure out the funkey roof angles.
 I'm sure I could have Picassoed it together, but then I came up with a better design:
 






Which I'm liking a bit better.
 There's room for three car spots: two at the loading docks and one almost a team track at the rear delivery door.
 I have proto-photos of either size & style, so it's really what fits the layout.
 
As it's the central structure / industry of the whole layout, it'd be nice to get the massiveness of it across: big wide wall of fish.
 But the big one is a little silly, too.
 I'm debating about putting a second story on the smaller one to give it some mass / shape. I'll mock it up tomorrow & see how it looks. A second story (smaller, like the offices the canneries had up there) might be too much & crowd the already crowded track that serves it. We'll see!
 

Here's what it looks like from a wider angle so you can see how it fits in the scene:
 


Any comments, thoughts welcome.
 Thanks for looking.

[nscalemike]

Looks good, I like option 2 better,  seems to 'fit' a little more.  Is the dock roof flat?  Some pics it looks flat others it doesn't.  What about making it a gable and tying in to the main roof?  It may be the tricky angles again and not the prototype look, just a thought though.

Mike

[DKS]

I like option 2 better,

+1

[dnhouston]

+1 for Option 2

I also like your idea of a 2nd story on a portion of the building.