Luckily, Mike, this is the last of my major mess makings for the layout. I find this part to be the most fun, too. Something about creating my own little world.
Well, the plaster and joint compound was all dry, the sun was out, and I was tired dealing with spreadsheets and databases, so I shut down the work PC and headed out to the shed. Sanded down the plaster, vacuumed up the mess, and removed the tape and protective towels. And then it was time to colorize this section of the world! Here are the colors, ready to be applied I started applying, and decided to take a couple "in progress" shots, since I rarely do. Here, you see the camouflage aspect of doing the pigments. You dob and blot them in place, not paint, and avoid smooth/straight lines, and always let the colors overlap and run together Here's a close up of one area
Only took about an hour, and I went to clean the foam pads and get the camera. When I got back, the snack shack was already down next to the lake, and Ike had driven his ice cream truck down, as well! The road isn't even open yet! This shot shows how the lake will sit in the space. The dark area is the deepest part, and I ringed it with reddish brown for the shallow areas. Will still need some final touch up before actually pouring the "water" A close up of Ike's truck, and the shack
Here's the Lake Jacalar sign, adjusted and placed next to the highway. Because of the placement, I added a "back side" sign, exactly the same, to it, so the folks driving in either direction know what this wonderful vacation spot has to offer
The little snack truck reminds me of the one in the small movie The Station Agent. A neat movie about a guy who is willed a small railroad station. The cool thing is the movie was filmed right here in Northern Jersey. People pass the snack truck depicted in the movie every day. Your making me jealous, I got plaster cloth down three weeks ago but packing is keeping me from progress. Nice work:thumbs_up:
With Passover starting this evening, and then beginning the painting of the family room, I probably won't get much work on the completed this week, but I was reasonably successful in getting out each evening this week to make progress. Here's an early shot of the beginning of my oak forest, which fills the triangle in front of the Cherylton depot, and heads down the hill into the Lake Jacalar park And here is a more "completed" view of the forest. "Completed" is in quotes, as there is still a lot of work to be done just in this section (stuff on ground, gluing most of the trees, small shrubs). Also, you can see in both pictures how I've been doing my "work from the back" approach, and the foreground tracks are still "raw" unitrack.
This is the area of the park where I am going to put some picnic tables. You can see the entry road (brown dirt/gravel), and the parking area (grey), and the green turf is the actual park grass. The area in front of the three pines is flat, and will have more ground cover and tables added. A small fence in front of the pines will ensure visitors don't go wandering off under the bridge (though it won't be much of an impediment) There is another large dead-fall tree, just to the left of the picnic area
This is a close up of where the snack shack is going. And, here are two wider looks at the main park area; I used the WS fine buff ballast to make a beach area, but may change that.
Found an old time photo of Laurel Gulch, back in its hey day. Looks like the Wells Fargo folks might have been using this as some form of advertisement, what with their stage front and center.
A couple other "scene level" shots I played with today, just before my home server crashed, taking my web site with it Another shot of Laurel Gulch And, a view looking into Lake Jacalar park
Got the most of the rest of the detailing around the lake completed the past couple days, and just made the first pour of water into the lake. It looks all blue in the photos, but it has 24+ hours to sit, before I can make the second pour to get it up to the shore level. The following are just iPad snaps. Here is the California Zephyr, going past the park, where a family is having a cookout Here we see the CZ going past the rest of the park
These photos show some of the visitors enjoying the scenery Kids are happy the ice cream truck showed up, no one is manning the snack shack I think the lady was heading to the snack bar, but got distracted.
Looking great! Love how each scene tells a story, draws the viewer in. Reminds me of Summers in New Hampshire.
Again, just some iPad snaps, showing the water pouring progress. I did have a small problem of a leak somewhere in the river bed, which eventually seeped all the way through to a couple of feeder wires, and then under the bench work. Not a big mess, just a lot of dried "water" on my notepad and some TeamDigital manuals. Hopefully, I can find the spot, or it is already plugged, before the rest of my pours. Here is a view of the lake, itself, as it is filling. Clearly, the Corps of Engineers are taking their time, so as not to disrupt the region And, this is a view of the river as it goes under the rail bridge, towards the lake
Here are two views of the river as it wends its way down the mountains past Laurel Gulch Looking upstream A view from the mountains down at LG
