Today will be spent casting rocks with tinted plaster. I am using the Tempora paint I found and it is working well. As well or better than the Woodland Scenic's tints and certainly cheaper. The foam section that goes in front of the backdrop gets the rocks. And visible in the photo is the blue marks were the stream from the backdrop will carry onto the layout. That foam is going to get a base coat of paint today. Once that dries I will be using Gorilla Glue to adhere the stonework. 100_5141-1 by John Moore posted Jan 21, 2018 at 2:55 PM In a postscript to the above post I used the Tempera paint on the white foam and so far it has been totally unsatisfactory in coverage. Works great as a water based tinting agent however.
John, you might consider Ritz dyes. I found they work great with Hydrocal and other plasters, also with Sculptamold. So they might work in place of Tempura. Dunno about cost comparison.
The Tempera is working well with coloring the rock molds just not good for coverage of the white foam. So I went back to my supply of artist's acrylics which I have a wide color selection to utilize and that is covering well. That means another trip to Wally World for some more acrylic paint tomorrow after my doctors visit. 100_5143-5 by John Moore posted Jan 21, 2018 at 8:50 PM
A quick note- Dyes can be found in two places, in WallyWorld. The "chemicals" aisles, (should be near the bleaches and laundry soaps), and in the crafts- fabric/sewing area. So be sure to check both, to find what you desire. Can also be ordered from them on line.
Having once tried Ritz dye I prefer not to. Water based acrylics offer a wider palette of colors and can be tinted up and down in shades by just mixing in a little black or white. Some of my rock castings have a mix of colors done by swirling in some other color other than the base color with the plaster. So a visit to Wally World this AM prior to my doctor visit yielded some more colors for a reasonable price. 100_5144-1 by John Moore posted Jan 22, 2018 at 1:04 PM The raised area right next to the backdrop has its base colors now applied. In about an hour I will apply some more color variety and then apply the rock work.
Been working on the back wall where the hidden staging area will be and the back loop of the continuous loop track will be. A lot of rock casting work has been done and when set it will get flipped over, where there are more rocks, and my pine trees will be set in, and maybe a cabin or two. I am going to take advantage of my pine forest out to the side of the house. Lots of pine straw on the ground there, so much that I harvest it and use it for mulch. I am going to take some of it and put in in a mini food chopper for a realistic pine forest ground cover. My sky blue wall paper came in so I will work on the port backdrop at my leisure, also got in my mini under cabinet lights. Will show them later. 100_5145-1 by John Moore posted Jan 23, 2018 at 11:01 AM
Finally got the glue to dry so I could set up the one wall of the canyon/staging area. Then I blended the rock work and installed the log houses and resort on top. They were in the previous layout. Tomorrow I will slide this forward again and work some more on the top. It is an area that won't be seen unless you are on the corner by the mine. 100_5154-7 by John Moore posted Jan 23, 2018 at 11:56 PM
Your work blends nicely with the backdrop. I assume bushes, trees, etc. will be added in the future. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the original Turtle Creek Central develop, so looking forward to this latest generation evolve.
The resort buildings of the original Turtle Creek Central are now in place on the ridge, and ground cover, and three species of trees added. The tall trees once again do their job of hiding the barely perceptible seam and color blending of the two backdrop panels. 100_5156-1 by John Moore posted Jan 24, 2018 at 2:17 PM I still have work to do to get the stream to blend better with the backdrop. 100_5157-2 by John Moore posted Jan 24, 2018 at 2:17 PM The rock work that goes down only runs for three feet. The blind ends are where I start bringing the ends out in a gentle curve toward the ends so they are not yet detailed since I will be building them out. The left end is where I tie in the Macie Moly Mine substructure which when the glue is set and this is in place will be my next area of work. This door is a 36 inch wide door and it would normally violate my 30 inch reach rule. However this layout structure comes out from the backdrop 6 inches and then the backside of the run around track, or continuous loop track, and staging tracks brings it out yet more distance so I am under 29 inches. The high plateau where Lonesome Cove is in front of this so I am under the 29 inches of reach for the main operating area. As far as reaching the staging area in the canyon I have a set of grabbers that measure 30 inches long to reach in and pick-up a car if a derailment occurs. With that I have a healthy 5 foot of reach from each end. Basically the staging and back track of the continuous loop is in an open trench hidden out of sight by scenery
John, your creativity and imagination are, as before, beyond the reach of us mere mortals....or sumpin' like that. Am Likin' It!
Finished the back canyon wall and now glued to the layout. I added some dead trees including one which is from an ancient Dogwood out back of the man cave. After some work and trial and error I managed to get the water blended with the backdrop. White water stream with a blue tint from all the Molybdenum deposits in the area. There are also a few deer added behind the dead tree on the right. A buck, doe, and a fawn. And the round tuit piece of cardboard is my no frills 8 inch radius template. 100_5162-3 by John Moore posted Jan 25, 2018 at 10:34 AM With some room now I laid out the wallpaper described earlier in this post. One can dry brush some white or light gray acrylic paints to added to the clouds already there. Just a mild bit darker than the blue shy of my Walther's backdrops. 100_5158-1 by John Moore posted Jan 25, 2018 at 10:34 AM And last is the under cabinet lights described earlier that I had found on the internet and orfer through that big internet outfit that starts with a Amaz. They are powered by a small transformer and connected by USB cables. Three in a package and all the cables and mounting hardware. Very thin profile so easy to hide. And they are bright little rascals. 100_5160-2 by John Moore posted Jan 25, 2018 at 10:34 AM Today I will start work on the Macie Moly Mine spur and design and layout the staging track and back leg of the continuous loop track. Have to design carefully here as I have the mine spur the staging tracks and the upper level grade all in this area. Also I have a passing siding and that stone works structure and spur. So I am digging out track and roadbed and figuring where the wiring goes for the staging as it is the only area I will have powered throw turnouts. And somewhere at a point I have to order my Woodland Scenic's incline and build a trestle or two. I have two Walther's plastic trestles, some assembly required, okay a lot, and an old Campbell wood trestle kit.
Have spent about four hours first hunting for my track, then fighting with my track. How a simple staging design could give so much trouble can only be accounted for by the presence of old Mr. Murphy. I have ran rail joiners up under my fingernails, dropped things, lost my spectacles amongst other things. The Big Guy left the room when I turned the air blue calling the track by every name but track. But I think I have a final product at last as far as the staging track. Just got to slide the whole thing in place without it coming apart and secure it. 100_5163-4 by John Moore posted Jan 25, 2018 at 2:31 PM
After some trials and tribulations I finally got the track in. That is thin cork, spray painted gray that it is on, Spiked down sparingly but there will be no ballast back here, I am keeping it as trouble free as possible in this area. Turtle Creek Central number 12 is being used to test the track work. Now working on, finally, the sub-base structure for the mine. 100_5164-6 by John Moore posted Jan 25, 2018 at 8:38 PM
Each track is good for about 10 cars and maybe two locomotives. The one end that would be more difficult to get to is made up of flex track directly off the turnout. Keeping things simple. The left side has a little more track work where I have a few short pieces that join the flex to the turnouts. It is also where the manual turnouts are located. So I can stage three of the short trains here. May go back and install the Peco turnouts on the left so I have power routing and block control and feed all the power from the left. Gets me away from wiring issues and it worked on the original layout. Going to install a mirror in the mine area when I get to doing the scenic work on that area to give the impression that the mine track run further. I have seen mirrors used before on layout but this will be my first foray into this area.
Saturday morning and still working on the left approach to the staging. Knew I had some left turnouts somewhere, missing since the move, and finally found them this morning, in the very bottom of a box of course. Found a cheap mirror at the dollar store and dismantled the plastic frame around it and last night glued a foam framework around it that had been pre-painted. Still building up the foam substructure around the mine. 100_5165-1 by John Moore posted Jan 27, 2018 at 10:23 AM
I have the mine area prepped now so I can lay rocks and other scenic materials in. Also prepped the base structure for the mine. The blue is for the Molybednum ore and it is Phylo blue applied over a pewter grey. Areas not completely covered by the rockwork and other scenic material has this showing through and the same with the ground cover. And you can see the effect the mirror has. 100_5166-2 by John Moore posted Jan 27, 2018 at 12:28 PM
Painstaking rock work and far from done. 100_5167-3 by John Moore posted Jan 27, 2018 at 4:38 PM And a overall shot. 100_5168-4 by John Moore posted Jan 27, 2018 at 4:38 PM Rainy day Sunday and I will be casting more rocks to complete this area and get a bit ahead for other areas. Would be nice if they made a large rock mold about a foot wide by nine inches tall. I tried the tinfoil method which I didn't like as much. They were used right under the stream. All this rocks will get blended the same as I did the previous ones.
John, love your work. You're an artist in the true sense of the word. Though your medium may be a little confusing to the purists in the "Art World".
