Seaboard Central 2.0

[davefoxx]

I repainted the lake bed last night.  Now, I'm toying with the idea of foregoing the Envirotex Lite and just applying a few coats of gloss medium.  This is from the suggestion of DKS in the model of his lake and also in Dave Frary's scenery book, which suggests two to three coats of gloss medium with the first one or two tinted blue.



I also realized that when I installed the realigned mainline yesterday, I forgot to superelevate the track.  So, since it was only one piece of track, I pried it up and corrected that mistake, as seen here in this terrible photo.  I love superelevation, which really conveys speed even in a still shot.



Also, I tore out my engine facility and relaid the track at an angle to increase the capacity.  Unfortunately, the original layout of these tracks left it too short to fit two six-axle locomotives.  Step one was to rip out a concrete parking lot to make room for the new tracks.  This was not a loss, because the concrete pad dried an odd color.  I'm not sure why, because the concrete batch was also used to pour two bridge abutments that turned out great.  The new tracks, as you can see, can even now hold three two-axle locomotives, so mission accomplished.

[wazzou]

Looking good Dave.

[davefoxx]

I applied a three thin coats of Liquitex Gloss Gel to the lake to add the "water."  I may add a few more coats to bring the gloss up even higher, but I'm trying to be careful to not go overboard on the wave action.  It's supposed to be a non-tidal lake in the sandhills of North Carolina.  I'm pleased, although I admit that it would look a lot better with a blue background reflecting off of the lake's surface.




...and a few short videos for those of you who have stuck around this long.  The Seaboard Central runs, too!

Enjoy,
DFF

[packers#1]

Nice man; I might try to do something for some algae growth in the shallows though. Looks really good though

[DKS]

[luis_lopes]

Once again really nice work.

Can't wait to finish my small layout and start on the big one!

Cheers.

[Philip H]

smooth trackwork, nice trains, well done lake color - even appropriate height waves.  Except . . . the waves appear to be bending 90 degrees around the corner under the bridges.  Real one don't do that (the physics is too complicated).

What's really sad i sthe waves are the ONLY thing I can nitpick.

[GaryHinshaw]

Looks great - especially the second shot.  Now bring that kudzu down to the banks...    I applaud your willingness to redo the track work too - much better flow.

-gfh

Added: nice videos(!), but I think you need a 10 mph limit through that curve off the wye...

[DKS]

The water actually looks better in the vids--ironic, since the waves don't move...

[seusscaboose]

This

needs to happen HERE


thanks for the inspiration.

EP

[davefoxx]

Thanks for the kind remarks, guys!

Philip,  you caught me.  I put in the first coat of gel gloss and then remembered that it's a non-tidal lake.  The only wave action would be solely due to the wind.     I may try additional coats and see if I can mitigate that somewhat.  If it really gets to me, I can sand it down and reapply additional coats of gel gloss.

Eric, I've got plenty of gel gloss and even an entire box of Envirotex Lite left over.  The next time I can get down your way, we can play with the water areas on your layout.

DKS, funny you should say that, because the waves not moving in my videos is just as obvious, to me, as other animate objects not moving in model videos, e.g., cars, people, etc.

Gary, I've got to do more research.  I need to make sure that kudzu is in the sandhills.  A lot of pictures that I've seen don't show kudzu in this area.  OR, I could say, "**** it," and just go for something not usually seen on model layouts.  I'm really tempted but for the cost of that material from Scenic Express.  Whoa.

Luis, looking forward to updates on your new layouts.

Sawyer, you're probably right about the water needing algae and I may try to add something in the next few coats of gel gloss.

Thanks again,
DFF

[davefoxx]

Added: nice videos(!), but I think you need a 10 mph limit through that curve off the wye...

That speed effect was for the short attention span of the average a$$hat.   

[packers#1]

Gary, I've got to do more research.  I need to make sure that kudzu is in the sandhills.  A lot of pictures that I've seen don't show kudzu in this area.  OR, I could say, "**** it," and just go for something not usually seen on model layouts.  I'm really tempted but for the cost of that material from Scenic Express.  Whoa.

Are you reffering to the Sandhills region in BOTH of the Carolinas? I live in the Sandhills on the Georgia border, and there should be kudzu around here; I believe I've seen some, and think there's a few patches in my neighborhood. Otherwise I would still add kudzu, it's a god identifier and there's still plenty of vines that grow everywhere if there isn't kudzu

[davefoxx]

Sawyer,

I'm modeling an area of the sandhills around Aberdeen, North Carolina.  Kudzu is a great identifier of the South, and there's some products that make it really easy to model.  Heck, it can hide a multitude of modeling sins.  So, I'll probably pull the trigger on a purchase from Scenic Express.  I need some ballast and other scenery products anyway.

DFF

[sizemore]

Looks good! Need some standing grass and a few lillypads for the frogs!

The S.