Weekend Update 12/18/11

[JSL]

Cleaned the Layout room and did some more work on the fascia.

JSL

[chuck geiger]

It was a fascia weekend....

[nscalemike]

I was able to get 90% of the track down on the layout...until I ran out of cork and had forgot to order it in my NHS order...so I'm at a stand still for this week now    Sorry for the cell phone pics, the ex still has my DSLR and assorted equipment. 

Ian,  looking really good!  I have a couple questions if you don't mind.  Is this track plan posted on here some place.  I thought I heard this is not the same Conrail layout you started a couple months back.  Also, what is the base you are using?  It looks like the white beaded foam but I can't tell for sure.  And finally, how is the engine noise on it?  My rebuild will likely be on a foam base but was hoping to reduce the echo I had before.

Thanks

[davidgray1974]

Well I know its not the weekend yet but since I will probably be heading out of town by weeks end I thought I would go ahead and post an update today on what I've done this evening.  Went ahead and colored the remaining rock forms I applied over the weekend and painted the base "earth tone" color to the mountain side.  As you can see I still need to complete the right side of the mountain but may not get to this until next week.  Heres a few shots:






Thanks for looking!!!

David

[nscalemike]

A little bit of earth toned color adds so much to the layout.  Looking good!

[chuck geiger]

David, nice, what are you doing for trees and foliage?

[davidgray1974]

David, nice, what are you doing for trees and foliage?

Thanks Chuck!  Not sure as of yet about the trees and foliage.  Can't decide if I want to have a fall scene or a Spring/Summer scene.  As for the products I will use, I may just go with the typical Woodland Scenics make your own, or buy some "Ready Made" to save time.  I really like Woodland Scenics Woodland Classics. If I was to do a Fall scene I think the Harvast Blaze trees would like great on the layout.

http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/category/WoodlandClassics

Do you have any suggestions?

David

[Ed Kapuscinski]

If you're going to do fall, don't go the "shake the bag" route. The Woodland Scenics stuff looks ok enough, I guess, for a "train layout", but when you look at it next to reality, it starts to fall apart.

I guess my point is that they look ok as model trees, but not as "models of trees".

They generally fall down on three fronts:

Shape - real trees are generally fuller than their clump foliage + armatures approach allows.

Color - the trunks are all unpainted plastic (which looks like unpainted plastic), and the leaves are all uniformly colored (not likely across trees, but correct per tree), and over saturated.

Size - The trees themselves are about the same size as the decorative one I have in front of my house, about 20-30 feet. In real life, trees are generally twice that.

Honestly, if you're gonna do it, don't screw around, get these: http://www.scenicexpress.com/supertrees.html and DIY. If you want fall foliage, get the loose leaf stuff, and get out your airbrush to 1. tone it down, 2. vary the color tree to tree.

[rickb773]

Just out of curiosity, about how many trees does a starter kit make? (They dodge the question in their ads.)

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I think it really depends, which is why they can't really answer it. They sell them, essentially, by cubic volume.

If it helps, I think I used two boxes of them on my old door layout, and that had a belt down the middle and some others distributed around it.

[chuck geiger]

Ed is an expert at creating fall/winter scenes from the East. Go with what he says.
Just don't do puffballs or we will have to kill you. The Lehigh and Keystone Valley
Model Railroad Club in Bethlehem uses foliage cluster that are dipped is different
turf. I have used my own cured lichen, picked and pickled that can be dipped in
ground turfs after sprayed with glue. You have a lot of ground to cover, have fun. Look
at lots of pictures of the area you are modeling in the season you are modeling.

[Scottl]

I'll second Ed's comments about trees.  I went with the Noch leaf flake for foliage and it is a big step up in visual quality.  In the end, the box of Supertrees and foliage will make a lot of trees for very little cost, probably cheaper than WS.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

My biggest recommendation is to go really look at pictures of the scenery that you're trying to capture.

This is my own personal collection: https://picasaweb.google.com/103328750375507168249/WinterSceneryReferencePhotos

You'll be surprised at how the world really looks, as opposed to how your mind thinks it looks. For example, I learned that even in winter, grass is still often green, that trees are not brown, and that forests aren't just trees: https://picasaweb.google.com/103328750375507168249/WinterSceneryReferencePhotos#5687305627089311586

[rickb773]

I beg to differ. Puffballs are inexpensive and I think they do a great job portraying dense covering on steep hill edges such as along the Schuylkill River. Particularly if they are fronted by trees with trunks.

I think we get ideas of what looks good based on where we live and what fits our needs. Many, many folks like the trees made with processed weeds. To me, when they are done, they still look like weeds but I think that is because they don't represent the trees and dense coverings I see around me. It certainly doesn't mean their technique or modeling skill is in any way lacking. Their work, in most cases is outstanding, far exceeding my capabilities and I applauded them for it. It just doesn't meet my needs where cost (unemployment) is a factor. When money becomes available, I do plan on trying the ScenicExpress trees because it is so highly recommended by the modelers whose work I hold in high regard.

P.S. If you do attempt to kill me, if I have forgotten my army training and you succeed, I have both an Air Marshall and City Police Officer who will track you down and exact appropriate revenge. 

[pwnj]

I beg to differ. Puffballs are inexpensive and I think they do a great job portraying dense covering on steep hill edges such as along the Schuylkill River. Particularly if they are fronted by trees with trunks.

I think we get ideas of what looks good based on where we live and what fits our needs. Many, many folks like the trees made with processed weeds. To me, when they are done, they still look like weeds but I think that is because they don't represent the trees and dense coverings I see around me. It certainly doesn't mean their technique or modeling skill is in any way lacking. Their work, in most cases is outstanding, far exceeding my capabilities and I applauded them for it. It just doesn't meet my needs where cost (unemployment) is a factor. When money becomes available, I do plan on trying the ScenicExpress trees because it is so highly recommended by the modelers whose work I hold in high regard.

I completely agree.  I'm self-employed, got a wife with MS and 4 kids to take care of, so my annual train budget is approximately -$5.  Hence my railroad's moniker, "The Resourceful Route".  Whatever works, works.  I was searching for cheap groundcover ideas and found a website of a guy that makes miniature scenes for big-name movies.  You know what he uses for grass?  Not static grass.  Not fine ground foam.  He uses finely ground parsley flakes.  And it looks even more real than real, too.  If I can figure out where I saved the link, I'll post it here so the  patrol can have a lookie.  As for the scenic express trees, if I had money, I'd be all over those though.  They look great.  Meanwhile, I've got plenty of Cat5 wire, acrylic paints and homemade coarse ground foam.

P.S. If you do attempt to kill me, if I have forgotten my army training and you succeed, I have both an Air Marshall and City Police Officer who will track you down and exact appropriate revenge. 

I'll be the guy standing behind those guys.