Modules for SWARMTrak ( a T-Trak goup)

[arbomambo]

and I also received a nice little 'mini scene' from Wooland Scenics; a 'Farmers Market', that helps add a little more life to the scene of this module...

 



 

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[Ed Kapuscinski]

I know I keep fawning over them, but I LOVE the simplicity of what you're doing here. It looks so real, and the attention to detail (like the shoulder on the road) makes it some real next level modeling.

If you want some critical feedback, I'd say try toning down the green on the trees on the skyboards.

[arbomambo]

I agree...
all I was trying to do was paint a distant silhouette on the horizon, using dark green matte acrylic craft paint...I need to go back over the horizon and darken it.
a bonus, for me, is that I get to try scenery techniques that I would normally not do (I model southwestern US).
Bruce

[arbomambo]

I added the chimney and TV aerial to finish the Blair Line lounge....






...and I did a little more detail painting on the Woodland Scenics depot....I'm glad I decided to paint the contrasting color, even though it seems a little 'gingerbread-y' to my eyes. (this is the same depot kit that Dave Vollmer is painting for his Colorado-based layout)...I may acquire a few more of these little gems to paint in various roads' schemes to help populate more T-Trak modules.

the kit provides a wealth of separate details, which, at first blush seem a little heavy handed, but paint and weather very well...they actually look the part.
Here I decided to detach them from their sprues, clean them up, cement them to the base, then paint and weather them in place.
There are actually a few more left to do...a soda machine, mailbox, assorted luggage, a trash bin, then various dry transfer decals...






here, I've posed the depot and base in place...I have to add window'glass', the "Hutton" station sign, and some window dressing before I cement the depot in place...

[arbomambo]

just a bout 'done' with the depot (perhaps a tiny bit of touch-up paint needed here and there)...all that's left for the depot scene is to add a baggage cart platform between the rails and track.

[arbomambo]

Sadly,
We won't be able to participate in this weekend's Pensacola show-my Mom had a fall at her home, fractured her hip, then suffered some stroke episodes after hip surgery.
The good news is that she received the surgery required to clean her carotids and is on the mend-facing two to three weeks of PT in a nearby facility. We should be able to get her back home by the second week of December.
So, suffice to say, no real progress on any modeling projects...
I did have a moment after work and between hospital visits to decompress with a half hour of finishing and installing this Blair Line billboard for the upcoming town of Hutto.
Before hr fall, I had also finished the Blair Line General Store, which will sit at the highway junction (facing the highway, away from the general public at a setup)

[arbomambo]

Here are some pics of the General store in progress; since these pics, a few more signs have been added. once in place, there will be an American flag, electrical meters and conduit, and a couple of gas pumps (the General store is also a gas station)

[wazzou]

@arbomambo Have you considered the possibility of turning the store 90 degrees to the right?  I get that the store currently faces the highway but it seems a shame to not have the viewers be able to see the front of the store some.  Additionally, the way the highway has that bend in it, the front of the store would be facing directly in the line of sight of oncoming motorists.
Just an idea.

[arbomambo]

Bryan,
you're right; it would be nice to 'see' this from the regular viewing angle, especially as I'm going to add a bit more detail to the whole building, front, back, and sides...
I did consider that options, even turning it 45 degrees, but couldn't rationalize it as a 'typical' arrangement...however, the skyboards are removable, and, in certain layout situations the module can be oriented the opposite way...I'm sure I'll build this structure again, at some point, for a different module and situation.
Bruce

[VonRyan]

Bryan,
you're right; it would be nice to 'see' this from the regular viewing angle, especially as I'm going to add a bit more detail to the whole building, front, back, and sides...
I did consider that options, even turning it 45 degrees, but couldn't rationalize it as a 'typical' arrangement...however, the skyboards are removable, and, in certain layout situations the module can be oriented the opposite way...I'm sure I'll build this structure again, at some point, for a different module and situation.
Bruce

Actually, the way you have it facing at current is atypical in that the back door faces the tracks. Usually a side-wall is parallel to the tracks, and the front facing the crossroad. If there were no side-street the configuration you have it in would indeed be typical of such a structure, but with the particular road formation you have there, the building looks out of place to my eyes.
By turning it 90° to the right, it would look more like it was built with a purpose as to arbitrarily placed by the giant hand in the sky.

Being the old-minded bloke I am, if I were building a store at that crossroads I would have the side of my store parallel to the tracks, that way I have a good place to put empty pallets, drums, etc. that won't clutter up the space at the rear of my store, which (given the small extension on the back) I am probably living in. Also, by having the back of my store perpendicular to the tracks I don't get passing trains stirring up dust right through my back window or the gust of air from passing trains catching my screen-door (which your structure lacks) and whipping it open and stressing the hinges.

Plus, from a public-viewing perspective, the front is now visible regardless of the configuration the module is in.

[arbomambo]

Hmmmm....
I may have to try that 'out' and see if it looks right...
.that orientation would put the back stoop close to the tree, and would allow more room for gas pumps in front
Bruce

[arbomambo]

I had a few minutes to go up to the office/hobby room and orient the general store in the manner suggested...
i have to agree that it doesn't look un-natural this way...

[Cajonpassfan]

Bruce, I have to agree, much better this way. And the store gets plenty of exposure from the main road as well because of the curves. Nice.
Otto
PS: sorry about your mom; hope things settle down for you.

[Santa Fe Guy]

Much better.
Rod.

[GaryHinshaw]

It looks very natural that way.  Nice job.