Aly Foxx's N Scale Layout

[Doug G.]

Getting a little kid a DCC system for her birthday! Priceless!



Doug

[davefoxx]

Thanks, guys!

As for the snow, here's where the experimentation has lead us.  While at A.C. Moore, a craft store, I bought a couple of packages of Woodland Scenics' snow that I came across by sheer luck, because Aly said she wanted to model winter or Christmastime on her layout.  I've never used this product before, so my first attempt was to paint on full-strength white glue where I wanted snow and then sprinkle the snow into the wet glue.  Unfortunately, the snow dried translucent!

So, I soaked the house in water and easily removed the disappointment.  My next attempt was to use white craft paint that I found in my hobby supplies.  I painted on the paint, again full-strength, and then sprinkled the snow into the wet paint.  This worked out much better, as seen below.  As you can see, we're turning a summer scene into a winter scene.  Now that we're satisfied, I'll go on and apply snow to the rest of the house and foliage.   Most importantly, Aly loves it.



DFF

[DKS]

You are such a great daddy!

[Chris333]

Snow all the foam depots!

[davefoxx]

Snow all the foam depots!

Oh, there’s only ONE Foam Depot, but it’s going to get snowed now.  Too funny.

DFF

[davefoxx]

You are such a great daddy!

Thanks, DKS!   By the way, I’ve got to go back to the information in one of your layout threads on modeling snow, ice, and slush.  It’s harder than it looks.

DFF

[Bendtracker1]

Hey Dave,
I just stumbled across this the other night.
Not sure if this is of any use to you or not, but it looked kind of slick? Maybe you could pull some ideas from it?

[DKS]

By the way, I’ve got to go back to the information in one of your layout threads on modeling snow, ice, and slush.  It’s harder than it looks.

Well, it's harder if you're after super-realism... not to put Aly's layout down, but I suspect you can take shortcuts and still make an acceptable--and fun--layout with her.

Here's a suggestion for burying the track in snow: Fun Foam. I used it as a test for my Hoboken layout (http://davidksmith.com/modeling/hmrr.htm) to see how the Unitrack would look. It's just two strips of white Fun Foam, one on either side of the track, and a third one down the middle. The illusion is reinforced by first spraying the track flat white. The foam is flexible enough that you can cut straight strips and bend it to match track curves.



The side strips are supported on pieces of plain old Foamcore, which brings the Fun Foam almost exactly up to track height. You could blend the Fun Foam into the surrounding scenery with your white-paint-and-snow-stuff trick you tried on the house.
 

[learmoia]

I assume they also make black foam for asphalt roads.

 ~Ian

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I assume they also make black foam for asphalt roads.

 ~Ian

Yep. I think it's Lee's weapon of choice for roads.

[davefoxx]

With the arrival of the PRR B60b baggage car this weekend, I got motivated to work on some scenery.  Aly has been asking about her layout, so we started applying lightweight spackling to the roughed out scenic forms at one end of the layout.  Aly wanted to try, so I handed her the putty knife and let her go at it.  She actually was careful and did not make a mess, which is something that is hard to do, especially when you're trying to get the first coat of spackling to just stick to the foam.  She's at a friend's house this afternoon, but I sanded the first coat and applied the second, to surprise her when she gets home.  We've got a ways to go, but we're off and running!



DFF

[glakedylan]

Dave
this is fantastic. i so enjoy knowing that your daughter and you share this model railroad.
reminds me of the days when my sons were young and interested and the shared times that meant so much.
thankful that you are such a super dad!
sincerely
Gary

[peteski]

Very nice! Good to see this thread active again!   

[chicken45]

Whew! I thought she moved to HO as well!

[davefoxx]

Whew! I thought she moved to HO as well!

My daughter is not, nor will she ever be, a HOer.   

DFF