I forgot that I had a Zona saw. About mid way, I remembered and used both in combination. Found that starting a cut with the x-acto, because mine has a wider kerf, made it easier for the Zona to complete the job (less binding). Overall, the Zona is a better saw. In total, 21 castings were made. Three whole units remain, along with many small pieces.
FYI, plaster is fairly abrasive, and these saws essentially cannot re-sharpened. Good things these aren't $200+ hand-made woodworking saws. Not saying that Zonas are not used in fine woodworking either, but most dedicated woodworking saws are designed to be re-sharpened multiple times (excluding coping/fret saws, which have interchangeable/replaceable blades).
I have been fully aware that the saw blades were working beyond their design but I really had no other choices, at hand. They'll be replaced when their work is done.
Hang on to 'em; you never know when you'll need them for cutting some more plaster! Dang, I've become my father (and his father before him)!
Now I'm cutting the WS panels in strips 2 courses high. I have almost enough to make a protective border wall along the top. Crazy, but for this softer plaster, the x-acto saw blade performs better. If it doesn't look tall enough, I might place it atop a wood strip acting as a concrete foundation. I'm going to paint the panel walls in shades of brown (like brownstone). There's plenty of gray and the contrast might look better. I also have a bunch of white F-type barriers (also called Jersey barriers) that can make a decent border, somewhere.
The tunnel portals were made as brownstone so I kept that color for the cast wall above. Since the mesa area residents needed fall protection I made a short continuous wall, also in brownstone. The color actually is Burnt Umber. I've run out, but have more wall panels on order. The wall is glued down with cheap PVA. I folded down the front shelf (it's on hinged brackets) for ease of access.
Your hinged shelf has just given me the answer to a problem I have been tossing around in my head! Thanks!
A few days ago work began on assembling a Freight Terminal building. Painting parts on the sprues was first. Acrylics are great but the light colors need so many coats. Following Blue Top RR's esthetic, all roofs are blue. There's lots of yellow trim to remind workers the importance of safety. Walls are always some shade of brown, this time Tuscan Red. Work ended early this afternoon as garage temperature passed 98F.
The Walthers Freight Terminal Building is complete, in traditional Blue Top RR colors. Next up is an incomplete house, under construction. The layout already has 8 complete homes and 2 small apartment buildings. There's no real need to "finish" the house.
I am really liking the Blue & Yellow and Rust or Red, on the terminal building, looks great! And the accessories Yellow is awesome.
The strong colors are part of my grand plan to hide/disguise my lack of artistic ability. I truly admire those that can create realistic painting, models, and weathering. My old hands are kludgy and unsteady. The ability to focus, through bifocals, on these tiny n scale elements is a challenge. In effect, the unevenness of painting and assembly becomes the weathering. I was also trying to hide the style of the Kato and Tomytec buildings, to try and blend them with American structures. I wanted them to look as un-Japanese as possible. I do love their quality. Many Kato buildings can be assembled without glue, their tolerances are so tight and design so well engineered.
As it's been very hot in my garage (currently 102F), progress has been on the slow side. This morning I decided to install a fascia on the front side. It's 1.25" tall by 80" long. It's needed to protect the front of the 1" extruded styrofoam sheet. Stained it with the usual Espresso Brown. Those screws you see are into the styrofoam, so they're not doing very much. There's a good coating of Titebond behind it. If it loosens, I'll put in a triangular piece in front (screwed and glued). At the top level, I originally placed a sheet of 1mm white foam. I didn't like it as it bubbled quite a bit. I had some leftover grass on paper and gave it a shot. That worked out well. I've ordered more. I'm going to try some 1mm black foam sheet for a road, glued to the grass or maybe taking out a 2" strip for the foam road. Trying the houses, apartments, and church at various locations. Have to allow for people and car access/parking. All the locos are running well. Tried out the Kato set of 8 hopper cars. They also run well. My 4-year old grandson has great fun and is slowly learning how to run them. We have had a couple of slow crashes where the trolley crosses the hoppers for the cement plant. When operating that small switching area, have to remember to park the trolley at the passenger station.
The layout is looking good. The grass mat makes a big difference. It’s great that your grandson is enjoying the trains with you.
I just noticed, you could add a cog-railway commuter line up the steep climb to the neighborhood across the back. Or maybe a cable-car pair, with the cable looped around a capstan up top, lowering one car as it pulled the other up. Interesting modelling opportunities!
That cog railway idea certainly is interesting. I started checking them out. Fleischmann appears to be the sole manufacturer of a cog steeple cab electric, almost right now. That is, it's been discontinued but they're bringing it back. It's on pre-order for $280 (ouch), including two passenger cars. They also have the necessary rack and pinion flex track. However, the asphalt paving crew put in the roadway this morning, alas. They continued with a roadway on top, along with some paving around the apartment buildings. The landscapers were also busy laying down more sod, until they ran out. Fresh grass looks great against fresh asphalt. The 1mm black foam roadway (comes in rolls) scales to a prototypical 6" of asphalt (approximately). It cuts easily (2" wide) and seems to work well with pva glue. It has some lateral flexibility, letting you make some tight seams. By the way, I've noticed how many folks are afraid of placing seams in modeled asphalt. In real life, you see seams often, as roads are patched, repaired, and resurfaced. Usually, the new color and texture doesn't match the old. This mismatch is also true for concrete roads as concrete sourced from different plants often have different types of cement and aggregate. As far as seams in the grass mat, I'm thinking of disguising with tree lines and vegetation. Besides, neighboring grasses often don't match in real life. Some homes have Bermuda grass, some St Augustine, some Zoysia, and many others. Some lawns are mostly weeds, others are manicured. Parts of my lawn are starting to turn yellow from the Texas summer, while shaded areas have poor growth.
The one big negative is that there can be no loose items on the layout when you lift the top. Even with that, it has been a great back and knee saver.
The asphalt contractor completed the roads, driveways, and most of the parking lots (missed the church) in Rockwall's upper level. The quality of the paving is wanting but that sometimes happens with the lowest bidders. All this level's buildings are now firmly glued down. The landscaper completed the sodding, but needs to return to plant trees, bushes, etc. The church has planned a wedding, soon. Lower level paving should begin by the weekend. The line painting crew promises to get in here ASAP, but they seem sketchy.
