Thanks man. Here are a couple pictures of the panel shot this morning, in somewhat better lighting: I plan to finish the back and side fascia panels this week.
Very nice work! I have to admit I'm a bit intimidated by the idea of building a panel like yours, most likely because I never attempted it. I plan to have one on my next layout though. Everything looks great!
Thanks! Perhaps I shouldn't post how I built it, because it'll only make it more intimidating. I will say that it's not for the faint of heart! But oddly enough, building it brought me lots of enjoyment. It's almost bittersweet that it's completed -just because there was so much research and anticipation and deciding and figuring out the circuit, and then actually constructing it! I will say, that it's very nice not constantly leaning over the layout to manually throw switches. The panel works flawlessly!
This is really a nice layout for the space! How would you change it to run on a 4x8 foot bench top? PM me and I would like to discuss this!
Joe- Thanks! David- I'll check my PM from you and respond. But generally, with a 48" x 96" as opposed to 40" x 80", I'd just generally broaden the layout as much as you can with the bit of added space. However, If you're like me, and have the layout up against a wall, I'd recommend keeping it no deeper than 40" But that's MHO.
I was in Petaluma, CA over the weekend with my wife. Petaluma is just north of San Francisco & Marin. It is a cute, semi-coastal farming town with a population of about 50,000. I would describe the town as: friendly, artistic, well-educated, ideal-climate, libertarian, slow-paced, clean, environmentally-conscious, historic, and organic. It also has a good bit of railroad history. Needless to say, I am considering moving there once the current project I am on is completed Petaluma is probably the closest real town that represents my freelanced Portola Valley RR. I'm finally starting to shift the focus of my layout-work from mostly-mechanical/functionality-oriented, to landscaping. So I wanted to touch on Petaluma, and some of the pictures from the area to, perhaps, foster some discussion on this type of scenicking. This shot really captures [most of] the elements of what I desire for the Portola Valley Railroad: I hope to achieve this look of golden hills and scattered California oak trees. This scene is typical of the California Coastal range mountains/foothills. A bit further inland; similar texture, minus the trees. Anyone wanna guess what famous race track is on the other side of this hill?? Clever little iPhone 5 panorama shot. These tracks & trestle are actually for the former Santa Rosa-Petaluma RR trolley. They are currently in the process of being restored. Even though this was once a busy industrial area. It is now bustling with shops and restaurants. A really cool area to hang out!
Here's the little Petaluma & Santa Rosa Trolley engine An old UP Caboose near the Petaluma Train Station: Obviously, the Petaluma Station: Architectural sexiness:
Those are some inspiring shots for sure. Love the one of the tracks running down the boardwalk. Oh, and Sonoma Raceway?
Chris- I agree that they're quite inspiring. I love this area. Northern California has enormously diverse geography. And also a ton of railroad history. It's a shame that model railroading isn't more popular out here! And you are correct: Sonoma Raceway! Although, to many of us, it'll always be Sears Point Raceway.
Tonight's projects: I got my Micro-Trains Waterfront Hotel mostly done. I plan to add details, weathering, and lighting eventually. It will be mounted on a pier, not on the mount that it comes with. And for $3- I made the token electric fly swatter static grass applicator. $2 for the fly swatter w/ coupon at Harbor Freight Tools. And $1 for the strainer at the Dollar Tree.
With Summer activities starting to wind down, I've been trying to squeeze in more time on the layout. I've been finishing up the fascia this past week. I found that there was no real good way to glue the corners of the fascia together. I couldn't just use wood glue, because I didn't have clamps that'd hold the two panels together while the wood cured. I ended up applying CA to a piece of balsa wood and used in as a strut on the inside corner. I held the strut in place for about 30 seconds (also applied wood glue to the main seam) and allowed it to cure. The corners are now very solid and straight.
I've just about finished my fascia on the Portola Valley RR. There's a bit of touch up work, and I still have to attach the big hill/tunnel structure to the layout and back fascia panel. Here's a little overall shot of the layout. Not a lot has changed up here lately, but hopefully I'll start making progress on the scenery soon. - - - Also, if anyone is curious what a typical beginner's layout to do list looks like, here's my general list. In no particular order. - Final inspection/adjustments of track imperfections - Glue track: hot glue dab method - Shape foam to create final form of hills/depressions - Ballast track - Secure hill/tunnel structure to base foam - Cast-and-place rock outcroppings - Trees: "M.C. Fujiwara oaks", WS, and naturally harvested armatures - Shores of inlet/river: rip raff shores, sand, paint base colors, details - Wharf Scene: detail MTL Large Pier, weather, wiring/lighting - Wharf Scene: Build MTL Cannery Kit - Wharf Scene: Boat kits for river/inlet - Wharf Scene: install all buildings + details - Practice: river/inlet water mediums to achieve desired water look - Apply river paint + water texture - Practice: Golden static grass, turf, earth, etc. - Apply grass + earth textures - Bridge abutments and single pier for double truss bridge - Tunnel portals - Styrene roads (using David K. Smith method) - DCC System: Install NCE Powercab, mount UTP and cab holder in fascia - Add decoders to locomotives - Paint/mount vinyl flashing backdrop - Stain benchwork legs + touch up black paint - Vineyard (Fujiwara method) and other agricultural details - Power lines + fencing - Passenger station - Roadside service station/tourist trap - Main Industry at yard: decide on a kit, purchase, build, detail, etc. - East spur: possible team track infrastructure or small industry If anyone is curious about my list, or has any suggestions, please chime in!
haha I know, eh? . Fortunately, I don't have too much left to purchase (for this specific layout at least). Main things are: DCC system, decoders for three Kato engines I plan to convert, a main industry and a couple small structure kits. The rest of the list is mostly "labor", scratch building, and using kits/materials I already have. But this is a dang expensive little hobby! And there is ALWAYS something else to buy!
I've moved into scenery mode on the Portola Valley RR. Much of it has been experimenting off of the layout, but I'm starting to commit to on-layout work as well. I practiced using my static grass applicator with a mixture of Light Green, Wild Honey, and Harvest Gold. As far as I'm concerned, the modified electric fly swatter (or 'fly flocker' as I call it) works plenty well. Here's my little stock pile of grasses, and ground foam: I precast rocks these rocks using Woodland Scenics rubber molds. I attached them with Aleen's tacky glue, and then painted them using the earth pigments from WS. Unfortunately, I only had joint compound [to fill in the gaps surrounding the rocks] at the time of installation. The joint compound doesn't take the wash color well, so I'll have to go back and touch up those white spots. No biggie. This turf layer is intended to be a base that I will apply the static grass on top of. Hoping it turns out as I have envisioned! I'm still debating on how i will execute the shoreline of the river. For me last night was a bit of a milestone; I glued my track down using a hot glue gun, and finally glued the tunnel/hill structure (rear left/center) over the track. This was quite a commitment (for my noob-ness) but it's done and i'm happy. It will allow to move forward on projects that had been delayed because the tunnel hadn't been installed. In the construction world we call this a "critical path" item. Prior to gluing the tunnel down, I had to ballast into the tunnel. Per other's recommendations and general common sense, I only ballasted where visible from outside of the tunnel. A few things I learned about ballasting: a) Use Mike Fifer's method as seen on his Youtube video about ballasting Unitrack b) As he recommends: use a baby medicine dropper for applying scenic cement! It makes it soo much easier c) ballasting is not as annoying as soo many people make it out to be d) If you did it right, your trains will run better. The track is more solid, and sounds more solid after ballasting. I only ballasted in spots that aren't very prominent. Moving forward I will be using a mixture of ballast colors (grey and a charcoal-ish darker gray), along with a wash of india ink and blue wiper fluid.
This weekend I tried my hand at the speaker wire oak trees based on the tutorial by M.C. Fujiwara. Seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tnBIdbL9sY The trees start out something like this. Four strands (three is recommended buy I lost some wire strands in the stripping process) of 16 gauge speaker wire. About 7" long each. Wrapped around a bamboo skewer. I spent about 30-40 min (felt like 2 hours) twisting wire. Then trim as needed. Paint the armature with a mixture of: white glue, fine sifted saw dust, drop of dish soap, and touch of water. I let it dry then added a second coat. I spray painted with grimy black, let it dry; then added poly fiber; then spray painted with a dusting of rail rust. Then hit it with hair spray, ground foam, more hair spray, more ground foam, etc. Here's how the first one turned out: Temporarily planted. As you can see in this harsh natural light, I have some poly fiber to cover up: Then finished a second. I felt like the trees turned out OK for a trial run. Hopefully quality improves with practice. -Noah
Quick update from the newb.... I finished painting all of my rail ties and spike heads, and then applied Neolube #2 to the rails. This is a crappy photo, but you get an idea of what it looks like. I'm quite pleased with the results. Back to ballasting... As you see above, I ballasted part of my track, but that portion is mostly in the tunnel, or pretty well hidden. The parts that are showing will be re-touched up. I'm taking a new approach to the ballasting of my layout: I first bought the Woodland Scenics Ballast against other's recommendations. I thought "scale aggregate is scale aggregate, right?" I was incorrect. I found that the WS ballast is like little beads. Almost like, I dunno, poppy seeds or something. I purchased a single bag of Arizona Rock & Mineral ballast, and was much more pleased with the aggregate quality. However, the type I purchased was far too dark for my needs. I'd like to find a ballast that resembles what I'm used to seeing in Northern California -medium dark gray. I've been practicing my ballast technique off of the layout on test strips of track. I was under the impression that ballasting was kind of a wam-bam-thank-you-mamm kind of job. That's what many youtube videos and other tutorials led me to believe. Well, I have decided I will take the approach of doing only 15-20" at a time, and cleaning off each individual tie with an 18/0 brush. I then applied "scenic cement" using only a drop at a time (not flooding the ballast). After it absorbed, I do a final scouring for bits that have stuck to the rails. This is Arizona Rock & Mineral ballast. Too Dark. But I like the aggregate texture. Here is Woodland Scenics light gray and cinders mixed together. Looks like crap. It doesn't blend well, and the texture stinks. I added decking to the MTL Large Pier. Although, as I said before it likely won't end up on the layout, so I might eBay the thing. I still plan to scratch build my own pier to contour to the shore, and have something more substantial to house the various wharf structures. I weathered and painted my Kato bridges using Floquil grimey black and rail tie brown. I still need to add some rust to the bolt plates and little filthy details like metal-scratch graffiti. This is the area where my wharf will be. I do not have a town center on the PVRR. Other than the main lumber mill at the yard tracks, the wharf will be the hub of my layout's built environment. I cut away the fascia and foam here, as a road will enter from the right. The "wall" of foam behind the wharf building will be a salty-weathered wood retaining wall; this will transition I cut the black 0.030" styrene for the main road the passes through my layout. There will be driveways that lead into the Lumber Mill, and another to the Team Track infrastructure.
