I first tried using cardboard strips on my last around-the-walls layout and liked it enough to do it again on this larger layout:
Unfortunately no. Which is why progress is so slow. I have had more time this fall burning off PTO to work on it and a few days at the end of the year burning PTO. Then progress will slow again as wife has house DIY remodeling projects to keep weekends busy.
Your gandy dancers might have a hard time with that mountain spur, though. That cross level looks a wee bit steep!
Well, looks like I haven't updated layout progress in a while. I've been busy laying plaster gauze down and have covered almost all of the cardboard strips. Have laid quite a bit of plaster gauze - into my 3rd 5lb roll now which I hope is enough but have a 4th roll if need be: Pretty soon it will be time to start buttering on plaster
Looks good. Amazing how a little (ok, a lot) of plaster cloth can make the Cardboard Pacific look more like a model railroad.
Wow, that's a lot of cardboard strips to cut up (and secure in place.) I hope you had a heavy duty paper cutter or something similar! It's appears to be an excellent example of the method. And, I suspect, a cost-effective method for a large layout. Having just moved to a new (to me) house, I have a generous supply of cardboard. But I think I'll stick with stacked/carved foam board for my small, HCD layout. Besides, most of the empty boxes are promised to a friend that has to move soon.
I put a piece of Luann on the floor and used my utility knife to cut long strips. Hot glue secures each piece in short order. I found on my last layout I could essentially make land forms with cardboard strips. I guess the alternative would be buy sheets of form for more money and carve it away, throwing much if it in the trash. As for carboard boxes, every day is Christmas courtesy of Amazon so no shortage of that. Saving on sheets of foam, I can spend more on trains! ;-)
Excellent points, Fitch. Of course, the size of the layout multiplies (or minimizes) the difference in cost and/or effort of various methods. And the scale also affects relative cost. N scale needs less area, material and support than HO or O scale do. Different horses for different courses, and vise-versa. But there's absolutely no argument: your methods obviously work exquisitely in your circumstances!
Some years ago it was possible to buy those strips of cardboard at a local shipping company and at a former K-Mart. Like 40 years ago. Oh well.
This looks great, look forward to seeing your progress on this. I remember using this method in the '70s, is it still common or are most people using foam? also, that is a lot of CARDBOARD strips on TRAINBOARD,did you get BORED?
I tried mixing a little plaster with some Zip Texture raw Siena pigment power. About a 1/2 tsp with 1 1/2 cups of plaster. It's not bad. I has some burnt umber powder also. Interestingly the canyon walls of Ruby Canyon have a bit orange pink cast to it. Interestingly, I played with the Zip Texture powders (Burnt Umber and Raw Sienna) and looked at online photo's of the walls of Ruby Canyon. They were quite orange. I used one of the crude cheap brushes from Home Depot to paint on a very sloppy soupy plaster over the plaster gauze to cover it and this was the result. Unfortunately you can still see the shape of the layers of plaster gauze and the cardboard stripes so I will need a thicker coating. As you can see in the photo above, too much of the vertical cardboard strips pattern can be seen, as well as the horizontal lines from where the layers of plaster gauze meet, under the colored plaster I painted on. Plus there are a lot of paint brush marks. The sandstone of Ruby Canyon is what we geologists refer to as massive sandstone (meaning it lacks layering or stratification. I've decided to revert back to the easy to use Drywall Mud to apply over the top in thin layers to cover over those patterns and sand smooth. It will probaby take a couple layers and then I'll end painting over it with an appropriate latex paint color. I will add a bit of the raw sienna to the plaster in horizontal areas, even if I color over it. It makes it easier to see the irregularities to have a bit of color in it. I also worked on more yard trackage - here added tracks for the engine area;\
I"ve been putting a thin coat of plaster over the plaster gauze to provide a covering shell. I mixed a bit of color to make it easier to see but plan to put a layer of latex over it for a desert color with some sanded grout. Here is a photo where I started applying plaster over the plaster gauze a few weeks ago. I probably have about 1/4 of the plaster gauze covered at this point. It will get a coat of latex paint later. It's a bit tricky to put down. After mixing it to a milk shake consistency, I spread it over the plaster gauze that immediately sucks moisture out of it so I have to spray water as I'm spreading. It tends to have brush marks or ridges depending on if you use a brush or spatula, so I have to spray more water to smooth it out.
The section above is about 9 inches wide but I'm hoping a good back drop will help. I've seen some narrow area's look quite good on other layouts. One thing I do need in that area is better lighting. The ceiling LED lights don't quite reach that area well.
