Millvale, PA Diorama

[Ed Kapuscinski]

No. It's good, I trust?

Very.

Now, back to the modeling... the bridge looks good, but I'm afraid the foam texture might show through too much where its exposed.

[Jesse6669]

I hear ya Ed... the cardstock is extremely smooth by contrast to the exposed cells of the foam.  With paint we'll have a better idea. 

The upside is the prototype is in really bad shape (especially the center pier) and had a lot of areas with crumbled concrete where it  should be rough.  Anyway, I was thinking of trying to put a thin skim coat of lightweight spackle on some areas and see how that looks.  The alternative is a few more coats of matte medium and sanding.  The exposed open cell foam (like the ends of the center pier) when coated in matte medium becomes stiff although with a slight flex, but it is sandable.

Again, part of this is just to explore the material and technique, and this is a ton easier than casting this whole underpass!!

 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Oh yeah. I think it might also be possible to just hit the exposed foam with some putty (wood filler maybe?) and solve the problem.

[Mike C]

  I used some WS HO scale foam road bed for roads on my layout . After painting the foam I feel that it looks like weathered blacktop . The paint smooths out the open foam look nicely .

[wm3798]

Nice start to a nice project.  I'll be interested to see how you do the spawled concrete.

[Jesse6669]

I dug out the spackle/drywall compound and did some "concrete work" on the underpass.  Pretty much just winged it, but I like how it turned out.  Basically I smeared it on to the deck sides (with the precast decorative cut-outs) which were cardstock with open-cell foam in the middle--then smoothed it over with my finger.  After it was mostly dry, I flaked off some bits and pieces.  The bigger chunks cracked off were just carved off with a knife.  The crumbled pier end was pretty much the same.   

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Before

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After (in b&w to be closer to real color).

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I also did a little test patch of distressed asphalt with drywall compound, which I think turned out ok but it needs a good color.  It was just a very thin coat of drywall then used my finger to pat at it when semi-dry to lift up sections.  I think the pavement color needs work-- it should have more of a bluish tint compared to the more brown/yellows of concrete.

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[Jesse6669]

Behold the wonders of the internet.. Found this photo (no credit available, but not mine) of an S4 in Chessie at Willow Grove.  Was trying to find a decent photo of the wagontop boxcar used for storage but you can see it right behind the Alco. It's really gonna be tough to weather that FVM wagontop...
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[Jesse6669]

Making progress on the underpass;  I think its nearly "finished" -- at least the basic structure.  I put a coat of paint on and while there may be a couple spots like the center pier ends where I'll put a bit of joint compount on to lessen the spalling effect, I think it's decent.   I painted in a neutral gray acrylic, but it seems a bit dark and like it needs a little brown.. It will need some weathering where the water has caused the damage to the concrete with white/light gray as well.  So maybe washes with a thin light tan or hit with the airbrush. 

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[wazzou]

I think you're doing a fantastic job.

[Jesse6669]

Another update on the underpass.  I just put several washes on, first of concrete gray to "brown up" the color and then reefer white.

I'm going to need to put this in place soon-- plan to put down the paving (a thin layer of drywall mud) then set the underpass in.  Then I'm thinking the basic scenery shaping can be finished then start laying track.  I'm probably going to put in the two Willow Grove yard tracks first, directly on foam.  The mainline on the P&W will be on a layer of 1/8 cork, same for the middle two tracks (mains) on the Conemaugh.. the sidings will be direct on foam. 

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[conrailthomas519]

  Now that's cool!!! Nice Work

[wazzou]

That really looks great.  I'm excited to see it all come together.

[railnerd]

Looks completely awesome…  Can you remove it to "pave" the roadway below?

[Jesse6669]

Can you remove it to "pave" the roadway below?

Yep, at least for now it can be removed (which made painting/weathering much easier).   Once I slather on the "paving" it will likely be stuck in place, and once the tracks for the P&W main on top are down it's dun fixed!

Thinking, maybe I should stain/weather the paving (joint compound) dark gray when wet.  Hmmmm....

[dnhouston]

Nicely done