Seaboard Central 2.0

[Lemosteam]

I like the colors, maybe just swap locations?  Similar trees tend to grow near one another in batches from seed drops.  To me it is the alternating colors that is disconcerting me.

[wazzou]

Agreed.  It's the Green/Orange/Green... 
In my casual, non-scientific visual experience, the trees that receive the most sunlight are the ones that turn colors more quickly and with the most vibrancy, assuming the same tree type.

[davefoxx]

I like the colors, maybe just swap locations?  Similar trees tend to grow near one another in batches from seed drops.  To me it is the alternating colors that is disconcerting me.

Hmm.  Good idea.  I'll admit that when I put the trees in I was being careful to try to be random, but it did create a striping effect.

Thanks for your input,
DFF

[jmarley76]

Now that photo I've seen, Jeff, and it's the inspiration of the first three trees that I kudzued.  I have to go back and add more leaves to those canopies and add more kudzu around, under, and on other trees.  In other words, I have more work to do.

Thanks,
DFF

It's the house hidden under there that makes it... 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I like the colors, maybe just swap locations?  Similar trees tend to grow near one another in batches from seed drops.  To me it is the alternating colors that is disconcerting me.

Yes, agreed.

And don't forget, you can always go airbrush them.

[mu26aeh]

I should try to take some pictures of trees right now, just so happens the other day I was thinking about how trees change colors in the fall.  I've seen plenty of situations where there is all green tree right next to an all yellow tree and another all green and one that is mixed etc.

[wm3798]

Just be cautious about TOO MUCH color.  Round these parts and on down south, the fall colors are far more muted, more shades of brown and amber than hot yellows and reds like you have in New England.  That was always the one sticking point for me with David Popp's New Haven layout...  The overarching plan and execution were outstanding, but those foliage colors just wigged it out for me.

[mu26aeh]

I think what hits me is the yellow/green/yellow/green pattern, and they are only in a line, not in a bunch/2-3 deep.  I know you don't have room on that ridge top to make rows/clusters.  Maybe if you re-order them likes others suggested.  Or maybe add some of the yellow/moss leaves on the green trees to show the tree is just starting to change, and maybe some orange/red  to the yellow.

[jpec]

I know you guys aren't in to the glycerin but here's something I found on the interwebs:

http://www.raildig.com/blog/scenic-express-supertrees/

Jeff

quote author=davefoxx link=topic=25551.msg493958#msg493958 date=1475524679]



The weights (I use additional clothespins) do help straighten the armatures somewhat during the drying process.  Once dried, either the soaking process or the dried matte medium does seems to hold them where they are.  However, you'll never get the really crooked trees perfectly straight.  That said, none of the trees on my layout have seemed to relax into a more crooked shape since planting months ago.  If you go out into nature, you'll see that most real trees aren't straight anyway.

DFF
[/quote]

[davefoxx]

And now for something completely different.  It's been over thirteen months since I touched the former SAL station project in Aberdeen.  As you may recall, @wm3798 was kind enough to make up some scale drawings and provide me with some N scale windows to help me tackle this project.  Well, scratchbuilding structures is not my favorite thing to do, especially when it's fidgety work, like cutting window openings.  That, of course, led to me walking away from the project for way too long.

In anticipation of the Mike McGrattan Memorial Train, I really wanted to have a more complete looking station to host the train, so I finally built the three rear wall sections and installed the windows and doors this afternoon.

Front:


I cut up some of the windows to make up the smaller windows on the rear facade.  I even mulled three windows together in the middle section.

Rear:


Finally, I roughed out the first floor ceiling, which will also be the base for the roof.  For those who were disappointed that I didn't build transoms over the doors, I think the roof overhang hides or disguises that issue:



I still need to laminate the rest of the first floor walls with styrene "brick" sheet.  That will clean up and hide the sloppy window holes in the subwalls.  I expect that the complicated roof structure with at least three different pitches and multiple angles won't be any fun.  Hopefully, I'll finish this project someday.

DFF

[wm3798]

I think that will work very well, although the prototype doesn't have a flat ceiling out under the eaves.  I think you should keep it though, and install some LEDs in the overhang to light the platform.  They're really easy to work with, and will make the station light up even in a daylight scene.

Lee

[davefoxx]

@wm3798,

Looks flat to me under the eaves of the prototype. 

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1316391,-79.4268656,3a,75y,232.2h,100.96t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sbzS8PiPbDTceNjhDACTw1w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

But, even if it wasn't, between the height of the layout and where the station sits, it will be hard to up under the eaves of the model.  Now, I've got to figure out that roof.

Thanks,
DFF

[wm3798]

You are correct about the flat ceiling under the eaves...  Good eye. 

For the roof, I suggest starting with the flat planes at the top, from the ridge down to the line where the curved overhang starts.  Build that out of whatever you're using for a substrate.  This will establish the line between the flat planes at the top, and the curved planes toward the eave.

Once you have that, make the hip rafters, at 45's at the corners, with the gentle bow in them to form the curves, then set the main rafters, maybe 2 on the short sides and 4 or 5 on the long sides, to form the bow on the next panels down from the top.  If you do the short ends of the building first, and trim the angled ends of the substrate to meet the hip rafters, you should have a small eliptical curve, which you should be able to trace onto the longer panels, so when you glue those corner angles down, they should be pretty close.  Keep a little sandpaper handy to true up the joint.

If you end up with a little gap, don't worry about it.  The finished roofing and caps on the hips will cover it.

Or, you could simplify your life by building it the way the computer did, with flat planes that are progressively shallower as you move from the ridge to the eave.



Lee

[davefoxx]

Thanks for all of that, @wm3798.  To complicate the matters, here's a picture from 1986.  It has the multiple planes and at least the middle section is somewhat curved:



Also, as you can see, in 1986, the roof was not standing seam metal but was diamond-shaped shingles.  I couldn't find anything in N scale to recreate that, short of shingling the roof by hand.  That's not going to happen.  Thoughts?

DFF

[wm3798]

Let me see if I can make a pattern to render in 3/D... you can print it on matte paper and do that....
Lee