I bought Organza (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organza) in a shop for handicraft work and gifts. I cut stripes and glued them to the colored brass poles with instant adhesive. Airbrushing with dark gray and partially with a rusty brown gave the finish. The gate is soldered out of thin brass wire, then organza is also glued to it with superglue and airbrushed.
As soon as ATLAS turnouts are available again ... The plan is to build at least four modules, the benchwork is already done, the modules are awaiting their tracks - and I'm waiting for turnouts.
Your work is absolutely fantastic- the photos with backdrops are stunning, excellent work! I look forward to following along eagerly! My best, J
You have provided some truly fine shots of your layout but to see it in its entirety was a bit of a surprise. The fact that it is so small was a bit of a surprise but there is no doubt in my mind as far as the quality of your detailing is concerned... it is a truly beautiful diorama!!! I know that I could learn some things from what you have modeled!!!
Thank you very much for your friendly comments! In the moment it seems to be "only" a diorama - but it's the first of several modules of a modular switching layout. The benchwork for the first four modules is already done. I'm just working on the second module, it will be a grade crossing.
WOW! That is one awesome scene. Not over crowded at all, very compact but believably so. The scenery is fantastic!
The first picture of the second module: The track plan is not overly complex. :funny: The fun in operating sessions will result in additional tasks that have to be done here - using the horn and bell for the engineer as well as in turning on and off the crossing signals. Not only red lights will be flashing, a small sound module with the typical bell sound and a speaker will be mounted underneath. And the conductor will be responsable not to block the crossing longer as necessary during switching operations - sometimes this will need an extra split of a cut of cars.
Module #1 is nearly complete - two aspects bothered me: At first, the roofs of the structures were completely bare. They needed something on it - air conditions, cooling units. So I added cooling units and air ducts on the roof, shown here is the cold storage: Second, the tire dealer. There have to be stacks of new tires and heaps of old tires - I added them, shown here: These details were made as 3D-print; I drawed them on my computer and let them print out by a manufacturer.
That's a tank car: I made these tanks as a 3D-print. For the moment they are used as a car load, but they are also useable for a chemical industry plant or similar.
I take it Lance Mindheim's layouts were an inspiration to you? The styles look very much alike. Going to have gang graffitti painted on those nice blank walls? They used to put fencing around the discard tire pile, so workers could just toss the tires in and the fence keep them from bouncing off the pile and rolling away. A big gate swung open so they could get to the tires and throw them up on the haulaway truck. Nowadays I think they use dumpsters, the big rollaway kind. Discard tires means they install and change tires at this business? If not, where do the old tires come from? Hate to be picky, as it's a beautiful module.
Exactly - his work is a great inspiration! They sell tires and also change tires. Most of the old tires are stored inside till the next time a gondola comes by. But sometimes there are too much old tires and these are tossed to the outside. At the latest then it's really time for the next gondola. At the moment I'm working on 3D-printed loads of old tires for my gondolas.