Nittany and Lock Haven: An HCD Layout in N Scale

[R.Groff]

Good work looking forword to see more.
Rick

[Ed Kapuscinski]

MC's absolutely right. I think you have a good foundation there, just add some unsanded grout in there to smooth some of it out, and I think you'll be able to really nail the look in that one photo.

[primavw]

Thanks for the tips guys. 

[primavw]

I followed the advice given by some and blended a bit more peanutbutter brown into the shore lines, I also added a very dark forest green to the deeper portions of the creek bed. I then took a step back from my creekbed project for a bit. My main reason for doing this was because I had no topography to reference so that I could finish carving the area around the creekbed. So my next obvious step was to build hills.

So last night I cut foam ribs and glued them down. Tonight I laid newspaper balls and plaster strips. It all came out pretty decent.





I didn't do the entire layout, and I decided just a plotted line on the foam for the future placement of a background divider would suffice for now. I do plan on at least cutting and fitting one soon, but I most likely won't make it permanent until most of the scenicking is done.

I also figured one big problem I had with my previous layout were my hills were just plain short. So I kept that in mind. I do plan on carving rock faces into most of the vertical portions of these hills, and I hope to model the rock faces to appear to have been "drilled and blasted".

And before I forget, I don't plan on having the creek just stop dead at the foot of the mountain. I'm thinking of a way to accomplish that.

[primavw]

Some more work tonight.

Teaser:

[primavw]

This week I have been working third shifts, so between my kiddo going to bed and work, I spent some time building. I focused on rockfaces on the newly constructed hills. This time around, I wanted to avoid using the old WS rock molds. Not that I didn't like using them, but no matter how you turn the molds or attempt to change the way the plaster is poured, you end up getting a bit of a pattern effect as you go. Not only that but blending could be a bit tedious and leave you with mediocre results.

So, I decided to try my hand at hand-carving my rock faces. I used a lightweight spackle after experimenting with Hydrocal. I found that Hydrocal sets much too fast. The spackle isn't truly hard for several hours, but it is ready to carve in 15-30 mins.

I mainly used a wire-brush, an Xacto with a chisel tip blade, and a razor blade to carve my rock faces.

My first attempt looked ok, but after deciding I wanted to go with shale (common to the area I'm modeling), rather than a generic looking rock face, I tore them down and started fresh.

First attempt:


I was initially pleased with it, but I decided to try to model shale near my creek scene, and it would look kind of odd trying to blend the two variations together.

So I used some reference photos I found on the old interwebs:




I took me several hours between laying the medium, sculpting, and painting, but I came up with this:





The cave in the background will have the Little Juniata flowing from it, down a small, stepped waterfall and into the creekbed below. Not exactly proto, but it beats the heck out of having the creek dead-end into the scenic divider.

[primavw]

Some progress made the last few days but no pics to submit. I bought a code 55 Wye and LH Curved Turnout to connect my long spur to the main. I painted and weathered the plate girder bridges and cast the cement abutments for the deck bridge. I also scenicked the creekbed and added the first layer of gloss medium for the creek. I am guessing it will take up to 10 layers and several days to complete the water, but so far I'm happy to be almost finished with this scene!

[txronharris]

I think your rock work is pretty spot on. I like your idea of the cave to eliminated the creek flowing into the divider. Good job on the bridge too. Can't wait to see your new pics. Nice work!

[CodyO]

cave was an awesome idea in my mind very good work!

[primavw]

I have been working a bit on the layout here and there... although the progress is taking a little longer than I anticipated due to the drying time of the gloss medium I have been using to model the water in the river. I thought I had a bottle of water effects laying around but I'm not sure where it ended up. Once I find it or purchase a new bottle I can complete the waterfall.

I will give a full update later, but for now here is a teaser of the scene.


Once I finish this scene I can permanently fix the bridges in place and complete the circuit as far as track work goes.  Thoughts, comments, criticisms welcome.

[Philip H]

Your bridge looks great - but that locomotive is way too clean.   

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Thought: 8098 is beautiful 

And the layout is looking good too.

[Baronjutter]

Very nice bridge!  A kit or did you make your self?  Excellent weathering.

[primavw]

Your bridge looks great - but that locomotive is way too clean.   

Yes, yes. I plan on painting the grilles, possibly changing out the handrails and attempting to scratchbuild the antenna array, and spraying the whole thing down with dullcoat before a light weathering. NS keeps their fleet pretty darn clean, its hard to find a shot of 8098 with a speck of dust on it, although CR blue doesn't show dirt as much as black.

Very nice bridge!  A kit or did you make your self?  Excellent weathering.

The bridge is Micro Engineering. There's actually a pair there and a kitbashed Atlas deck girder bridge but its hard to see from this angle.

I put a layer of Polyurethane on the creek today so once that's dry I will complete the track work and take a few pics.

[primavw]

Unfortunately, as is the norm, I have been too busy to make any large strides with the layout. I did manage to complete the creek itself and most of the scenicking immediately adjacent to it.

I may or may not have mentioned that I weathered the bridges, kitbashed an Atlas deck girder bridge, and sealed and painted the creek itself. I also experimented with unsanded grout and think it turned out ok. I also changed up the trackwork around the creek scene to make for more interesting operations on the layout.






Atlas bridge:

I added bridge sides and some diagonal braces for a more realistic look.

Bridges in place, waiting to be glued down and track laid.


Lastly, I put three coats of polyurethane to the "command shelf"


 I will be switching to third shift this week so I should be able to make some bigger progress. My immediate attention is on completing the track work.