In between yard work assignments, I actually got some work in on the RGW. More attention to the Boeing Cedar River Bridge crossing, this time completing the end supports to the west and east side of the bridge itself. Here is the east side ramp: The west side ramp: The combination: Behind the bridge you can see the foundation arrangement for the Renton Library which spans the Cedar River. Here is how that looks in real life: I am going to angle the foundation to provide some visual interest and to assure everything isn't parallel. Waiting on my Grandtline order of doors and windows to arrive and a styrene order from Hobbylinc. More to follow.
I was surprised when they built that library. Wonder if they could get away with doing it these days?
As I recall, it was Dave Sabey who bought a building near Boeing, put it on a barge up the Duwamish River, then through the Chittenden Locks, onto Lake Washington and then up the Cedar. Doubt anyone would even think of such a thing today, let alone get the regulatory ok. It was supposed to be a business office for his company. He outgrew it very quickly, then donated it to the city, which turned it into the library. It recently underwent a multi-million renovation. I was lucky to have a client be the successful bidder and I wrote the performance bond on the project.
Pretty Spartan crew last night, only three of us. But we did get a few things going. Bob did some experimentation with different mixes of static grass. He used combinations of 2-6-10mm grasses, even doing separate applications to see which combo was our best option. Here's a looksee: We decided on a mix of 6 & 10 then a second pass with 2mm. It looks the best by far. It's the lower left combo. He also tried to make grass tufts, which were placed on the wax paper. He also completed the static grass around the lumber mill. Scott began to shape the inner track gravel road in Renton Yard. Our old friend Mark returned for the evening and tore out his old work in the Stacy Yard, replacing the thin foam with styrene to act as the asphalt surface. As for me, painting the mainline Cedar River Bridge crossing in prep for foliage and static grass. I was disappointed the paint didn't dry during the evening, as I hoped to get more done. But that's another day. Thanks for checking in. M
Looking at the static grass, and scenery accomplished to date, is there a specific season you are portraying? Lighter grass colors have me thinking perhaps late summer?
Just spent an hour out in the train room. Was able to install the hidden "end" of the river. Also installed the pilings for the library. I filled the gap with liquid nails. The rubber bands are holding the piles upright. I finished the evening repainting the riverbed: The Real Water arrives next Monday, so I'm going to make the initial pour for both rivers Tuesday evening. Will see how it goes.
As so many people seem to have different experiences with the various waters, I'm always interested in reading about outcomes.
Just completed my first ever application of static grass and there is a learning curve; but it's not too steep. Here are two shots from same vantage point, different areas of focus. I used a summer grass blend of 2 and 6mm, followed by a few grains of burnt 10mm. I also sprinkled burnt grass and blended turf ground foam in some of the areas. Need to let it all dry, then vacuum up the grass where no glue was applied. I found glue straight from the bottle, then hit with wet water worked best, it's a very dry day here today.
Tonight was round one of the big pour using Woodland Scenics Realistic Water. It started much earlier in the day with a tweet to Woodland Scenics asking them for advice on how to dam up the open end of the riverbed. They were generous with their time and gave me several ideas. They suggested clear plastic or styrene. They advised using double stick tape to adhere it to the fascia. They also suggested if we wanted to remove the dam entirely, to coat it with vaseline and leave it in place for a minimum of three weeks. I borrowed bits and pieces of all of those and added my own twist. The twist was wax paper taped to the fascia with frog tape. I then attached a 2x6 board, clamped it in place and folded the wax paper back over the top to meet double stick carpet tape. This formed a nice straight edge. The final step was putting down more frog tape on the riverbed, then coating (some would say smearing) the back side of the dam with vaseline. After the first 1/8th inch pour of Realistic Water, it looks like this: And looking length wise: Now WORD TO THE WISE; safeguard the area under the riverbed, have a bucket handy and make your first pour good old h2o. You're actually checking for leaks. If there aren't any, vacuum up the water and let it dry, then pour on the Realistic Water. Yes I screwed up. Wain returned and began working on the roadwork in the Renton Yard. The individual planks are 1/16 balsa. Bob began adding random grass around the lumber mill. It looks great and adds so much realism. That's it for now. Thanks for checking in. M
Three weeks? That's quite a long time to cure. I did not know it could require that much to be safe. What is the time they suggested between pours? Is that also longer? I like your use of the word "random".
It does take a long while to cure. When we pulled the 737 in the pond prank, it dented the water in several places. While we were very disheartened by it, a few days later we noticed it had healed itself. Amazing stuff.
When can you safely make a second pour? Hopefully there is no problem with such as any bits of dust, between pours?
