Killashandra - Irish Nn3

[VonRyan]

I still have to take more photos, but the other day a nice surprise appeared in the post.
Some of the ubiquitous Peco N6.5 wagons. Two are assembled and have wheels, the rest are unassembled and I have no wheels for them.

[Chris333]

Whoa, those are pretty cool 

They must be made of unicorn cause I can't find them for sale anywheres.

[VonRyan]

Whoa, those are pretty cool 

They must be made of unicorn cause I can't find them for sale anywheres.

You have to purchase them directly from Peco. I bought mine second-hand.
The specific area of contact is the Peco Technical Advice Bureau.

[VonRyan]

It's been far too long since my last post.

But nonetheless, I have sorta made some progress... Kinda.

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At the Amherst show I bought some Silfor static grass, in 2mm length.
I bought one package of Spring and one package of Summer, but I'm thinking I should have bought them in 4mm length and that I also should have bought a package of the Late-Summer 2mm grass.

I'm terrible at decisions... And I want to get this right. I don't want the pIRA kicking in my door on account of me doing a shoddy scenery job.



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-Cody F.

[wazzou]

Put a layer of 2mm down and then come back and put another layer of 2mm down.   

[Jesse6669]

The pIRA?   

How about the ... railwIRA ?..  (sorry, couldn't resist.)

I'll be following as your grassing goes on, I just ordered my components for a home-made static grass bug zapper ($10 special from Amazon) and some flocking for the Millvale diorama.   I got some GaleForce9 stuff (winter/dead grass) which looks like a good color and was pretty cheap on Amazon. 

[Chris333]

That last photo with the goats.  That is just ba aaa aaa  aaad 

[VonRyan]

That last photo with the goats.  That is just ba aaa aaa  aaad 

It looked better on my phone. Whoops.

The pIRA?   

How about the ... railwIRA ?..  (sorry, couldn't resist.)

I'll be following as your grassing goes on, I just ordered my components for a home-made static grass bug zapper ($10 special from Amazon) and some flocking for the Millvale diorama.   I got some GaleForce9 stuff (winter/dead grass) which looks like a good color and was pretty cheap on Amazon. 

I listen to too much Irish rebel music from the Internment years.

I haven't a clue what I'll be using for my applicator. Probably a home-built job from an electric flyswatter from Harbor Freight.
That or I'm going to ask my friend Matt if he'll let me borrow the one he made from an outdoor bug lamp he snagged at an auction for $1. Runs right off of house current.
It can even make scale lightning!

Put a layer of 2mm down and then come back and put another layer of 2mm down.   

If only it were that easy. There are all kinds of lush grasses in rural Ireland, and trying to capture the look of an area that isn't all pastures and such will be tricky.
I'm going to have to rewatch The Wind that Shakes the Barley to better study the scenes that have the scenery I plan to replicate in miniature.

[Chris333]

That is just ba aaa aaa  aaad 

Sorry said that wrong [goat voice] ba aaa aaa aaad [/goat voice]

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Given the direction the goats are facing, it's [goat voice] ba aaa aaa aaad a$$ [/goat voice]
 

I've found that mixing 2mm & 4mm in a bowl creates a pretty good "wild" grass cover.
In small batches, you can go heavy on one or the other, depending on the wildness of the area.
If it's an area that goats or other bad-a$$ beasts have been then it'll probably be shorn down to fine foam, as even 2mm grass is pretty tall for a mooed pasture.

You can also 2-tone it by doing as Wazzou suggests: lay down a light 2mm, then after dry brush the tops with slightly-dilute white glue and come back with dark 2mm (sounds backwards but works better, though feel free to try on a test patch!)

Those little gons are very groovy.
I've been looking into Corsican metre-rail and those look like some fine fit.

Don't forget Excalibur was also filmed in the less industrial-spoilt spaces of the Emerald Isle and has plenty of quality green color reference.
(Though lots of mud, too)

Looking forward to seeing more of yr layout!

[VonRyan]

Given the direction the goats are facing, it's [goat voice] ba aaa aaa aaad a$$ [/goat voice]
 

I've found that mixing 2mm & 4mm in a bowl creates a pretty good "wild" grass cover.
In small batches, you can go heavy on one or the other, depending on the wildness of the area.
If it's an area that goats or other bad-a$$ beasts have been then it'll probably be shorn down to fine foam, as even 2mm grass is pretty tall for a mooed pasture.

You can also 2-tone it by doing as Wazzou suggests: lay down a light 2mm, then after dry brush the tops with slightly-dilute white glue and come back with dark 2mm (sounds backwards but works better, though feel free to try on a test patch!)

Those little gons are very groovy.
I've been looking into Corsican metre-rail and those look like some fine fit.

Don't forget Excalibur was also filmed in the less industrial-spoilt spaces of the Emerald Isle and has plenty of quality green color reference.
(Though lots of mud, too)

Looking forward to seeing more of yr layout!

My plan would be to do a base of 2mm, and then come back and add selective patches of 4mm.
The area the layout is recreating is a bit away from the usual grazing pastures so it's pretty grassy. Plus there are rocks. Which means I need to drop a line to some Irish lads and see about getting some local stone shipped over. I'd rather have the real thing than try and recreate it with plaster and paint.

There will be at least one big tree on the layout. The rest will be some smaller trees, bushes, and brush.
I have a pretty good mental picture of what I want the layout to look like in regards to scenery, so it's just a matter of getting things moving along.

[VonRyan]

Well I became motivated recently.
So, I decided to pick up some fresh lightweight spackle and start finalizing the land contours.
The keen eye will notice that there are some differences between the photos other than which side of the layout it is. (That's because before I took the second photo I ended up doing a wee bit more spackling.)





I still need to finish a few spots, build the cattle dock, put capstones on the bridge abutments, and build the stone culvert.
Of course I shall also have to paint the landscape once more as well as paint the cattle dock and probably the culvert.

For the culvert, the only thing I have at my disposal is a package of Peco moulded styrene sheets that are made to look like slate, or other slab-stone, walls.
I don't think that it works all that well for rural Ireland, but it is the only thin I have on hand at the moment. That being said, I'm open to other alternatives for stone wall material.

Once all that is taken care of I can get the ballasting finished and set to work on some basic scenery, starting with the dirt road and the riverbed. I determined that a section of my driveway has a suitable shade of fine soil for the dirt road and another for the riverbed.
As long as the weather isn't hot tomorrow, I shall begin harvesting the soil.
Better to do it now rather than wait. Knowing my luck if I were to wait, just as I need the soil it would rain for two days straight.


Yes, I can make progress. Sometimes.



-Cody F.

[pjm20]

I just noticed in your signature that your modeling North Korea in 2008?

[VonRyan]

I just noticed in your signature that your modeling North Korea in 2008?

Yes. Yes I am. 
The DPRK has some former Chinese National Railway DF4B diesel locomotives in service, same paint scheme but without the Chinese heralds and markings.
I happen to have an N-scale model of one in the necessary paint scheme, so I plan on modifying some PIKO coaches to look more like North Korean coaches.
But since I plan on using my DF4B for doing some Chinese modeling as well (the maker of the locomotive, CMR-Line, has announced proper Chinese coaches), the locomotive shall be keeping it's Chinese marking.
Plus, there is a european diesel that the DPRK bought a few of, second-hand, and this is how they look now:

[eric220]

Cody, with friendly intention but without mincing words, you really need to focus your energies. You've got six very different modeling interests and you're trying to fire up a company. If you ever want to see a project through to fruition, you have to be willing to say no to something that seems attractive at the time. With everything that you're juggling, it's hard to be sympathetic when you tell us that you've got money troubles or not enough hours in the day.