Scenery in the Ravine Part 2

Somehow I missed taking some progress shots on this module. But here is where it's landed for now. I completed the static grassing and added many of the conifer trees from the old layout. I also added a couple of my redwood trees on the edge of the module as the next module to be built will introduce the redwood forest. 

The river is to have gravel and water added, and I plan to add some light foliage to the nooks and crannies on the gorge cliffs. Of course, the steel viaduct is still to be completed, but for now, the plywood bridge has been painted brown as a stand-in.  

Stone Roundhouse Scratchbuild Part 6

 

This may be the last update for the roundhouse for a while, I'm pretty happy with where it ended up. 

I added some wooden flooring, scribed and weathered balsa. In time I'll rafters, framing and vertical roof supports and I hope to detail the interior. But for now, it's ok. I scratchbuilt doors using pre-scribed balsa sheet and added framing using cardstock. I made a card template and mass-produced these over several evenings. For now, they are just glued in place.

I also took a photo of the exterior of the roundhouse and duplicated it in Photoshop to make a continuous print that could be used as a stand-in for a back wall. Again, it is not a final solution, but more like a temporary stage prop to help the illusion. 

Lastly,  a temporary roof was made with cardstock and copier paper layered on to represent tar paper. 

The layout is being prepared for its ultimate test, being able to move. I'm very pleased to have the roundhouse project to this point prior to moving as it feels like a natural stopping point for this module. 

Modelling blurred aircraft propellers

When I model aircraft I typically always build them with their landing gear raised, as if in flight. The one drawback of this is that the propellers are always static in the display. When I take photos of the models I use a hair dryer to spin the props. This creates a great picture but doesn't look good displayed in a diorama. 

After searching the internet for different solutions, I found someone who had created some artwork of blurred propeller discs and made them available on a modelling forum. I got a good supply of these printed on clear acetate and then attached an exacto blade to a small drawing compass to cut them out accurately.

My son and I added one to his model of a RNZAF Corsair and the results look quite good. So we've decided to add them to a Mitsuibishi Zero he had completed previously. We're also completed a Hawker Typhoon model together with one of these discs as well. 

To display these models, I found artwork of relevant air combat scenes online. I usually had to clone out the main aircraft in the picture to be able to replace it with the model. I cut some 18mm boards slightly smaller than the picture and painted the back and edges black. Once this dried I glued the printed scene onto the board with Mod Podge and then trimmed the excess. Then it's a case of mounting the model to the board so it looks like it's part of the scene. These "photoboards" can hang on the wall like a picture. We've created two from the Pacific theatre, with the Corsair and the Zero. Even though they are different scenes they visually go together nicely. The Corsair flying into the scene on the left and the Zero flying out of it on the right create a nice parabola your eye naturally follows, drawing you through both dioramas. The Typhoon is sporting D-Day stripes and is displayed doing what it did best, diving in for a ground attack.

Stone Roundhouse Scratchbuild Part 5

With the stone roundhouse off the jig, it was time to test it on the layout. I'm happy with the colouring and how it compliments the backdrop colouring, looking like the stone was quarried locally. Next steps will be to glue it in place and add ground cover to blend it into the scene.

In terms of the interior, I plan to make a wooden floor. The few prototype photos I've been able to find show early roundhouses either had stone, dirt or wood floors. After reading about others experience with making service pits, I've decided not to add these. Though, one or two could be added at a later date when I spend more time on the interior. 

After gluing it down I will need to scratch build some doors and a temporary roof.

Static grass Part 1

This post shows the progress of adding static grass to the yard and town modules. I am using a mixture of Noch, Silfor and Woodland Scenics static grass. My static grass applicator was from AliExpress, and works really well. I haven't tested any of the more expensive models from Woodland Scenics and Noch, but I'm not sure that their results would necessarily justify the increased price. 

I particularly like the results of the patchy grass around the team and stockyard tracks, which are buried in the ground. The tufts don't interfer with the rolling stock and adds to the overall look of the scene. 

Stone Roundhouse Scratchbuild Part 4

 

Just a short update on the Stone Roundhouse project. I used the same 'leopard spot' technique that I use for painting rock casting to paint the roundhouse stones. I painted individual stones an assortment of earth colours and then blended them together with a earth tan wash. On a test section I first tried a raw sienna wash, but this turned out too yellow. The tan gave more of the colour I was looking for. I was sure to check out the colouring under the layout lighting at several stages to make sure that it would end up looking right on the layout.

After the paints were completely dry, I light dry brush with white brought out some highlights and dulled down any bits that seemed too bright. The next step it to remove it from the jig and install it on the layout.

Scenery in the Ravine Part 1

The last time I posted about the ravine scenery the rocks were all still plain white plaster. I painted these using the woodland scenic 'leopard spot' technique. Except, I just use cheap acrylic earth tone paints instead of the Woodland Scenics colours. I make up thin washes of each colour and spot them around, making sure to leave sufficient patches of plain plaster. Then this is all tied together with a wash of the colour that you want to use as your dominant colour. For this I used a black wash, yielding a dark grey colour. If any colours appear too intense I hit it with some wet water from a spray bottle.

These photos show the rock faces while they are still a bit damp. Once they are completely dry I'll dry brush the faces to bring out the highlights and help blend the different colours together. 

Stockyard fences part 2

With the fences repainted I installed these on the layout. The stockyard sits at the edge of the layout, allowing the viewer to look out of the yards to the loading of the stockcars. I drilled an appropriate-sized hole for the posts and simply inserted the fences into the ground. Later on, static grass will help blend the fences into the surrounding scenery.  The loading ramps are also salvaged from the previous layout. They were 3d printed by another New Zealand-based modeller. 

Stockyard fences

I'm still working on the roundhouse project but here's another small project that is on the go. 

One of the new modules needs a stockyard. I aim to have one at each end of the railroad. Most of the stockyard fences I salvaged from the old layout are fences made by Peco. They are flexible, and for some reason, possibly this same flexibility meant that the previous paint job was flaking. I gave them another undercoat of white and then brushed on a black wash. This gives a mottled grey, mimicking weathered wood. 

The next step will be to add this to the layout, which I'll post about later. 

Stone Roundhouse Scratchbuild Part 3

 After sorting out the jig and wall template for the front and far side of the roundhouse, I added the layer of clay and started carving. This went faster than I expected. I could have benefited from a smaller pick, as the one I had was quite long (from my workshop) making it a little harder to use with finesse. 

As it dried, I test-fitted some doors from my two-stall engine house from the old layout, which I used as a template for the engine doors. I would like to be able to have some of the doors be able to open and shut, but I'm not sure yet how I would make a resilient hinge that is also discrete. I will keep researching this and may initially just glue them open.

The prototype roundhouse has supporting columns in between each stall and on the edges of the roundhouse. At this stage I don't think I'll add these. Because they will be thin they will be more difficult to carve and additionally, it would likely draw more attention to my uneven stall spacing. 

Stone Roundhouse Scratchbuild Part 2

 

After building the side wall, I made a cardboard wall template for the front and far wall of the Roundhouse. Test fitting the template on the layout was important and I snapped a few photos below. Even the bare walls give a good impression of how the structure is going to change this whole scene. 

To make sure the clay dried at the correct angles for the front of the roundhouse I created a jig from plywood. I laid out a sheet of paper, took a rubbing with the pencil of the location of all the roundhouse tracks and then plotted the front wall of the roundhouse on the paper. The paper was then placed on some scrap plywood and cut out with a jigsaw. I cut two bits of plywood and spaced them out with scrap wood. Finally, I used Mod Podge to glue the cardboard wall template to the jig so that when the clay dries it will not pull the cardboard away from the jig. 

I'm looking forward to seeing this scene come to life as the project progresses.

The cardboard wall glued to the plywood jig

Stone Roundhouse Scratchbuild Part 1

While most of the buildings from the old layout are being reused for the modular layout, I was excited to have space in my design for a roundhouse. Early on I decided I would like to base the building on the Denver, South Park and Southern's stone roundhouse at Como, Colorado. This structure, which survives today and has been preserved, was built in 1881. In its current configuration, the engine doors have been squared off. I read somewhere when this occurred, but I can't recall what the year was. But it was sometime after the turn of the 19th century. I will be modelling the doors as full length, with the arch. 

There is a kit available for this building, but I wanted to scratch-build something to suit my space. I also knew that my track geometry coming off the turntable was not perfectly spaced, due to the way my yard tracks lined up with the turntable pit. 

The most attractive feature that I want to model is the rough-cut stonework. I had read several articles about modelling European stone buildings using air-dry modelling clay. After figuring out the measuments, I decided to start with the wall closest to the layout's edge. 

I created a wall template from thick cardboard. This allowed me to cut out window and door spaces and would give the clay some support. I brushed on a thick layer of Mod Podge and then rolled out the clay on top, trimming it to fit, using the cardboard template as a guide. 

Then using a pick, I started carving the grooves for the stonework. My blocks are larger than the prototype, and the grooves are likely out of scale too. However, I'm pleased with the look that I achieved. 

While carving there is a lot of clay 'flash' that makes the carving look terrible. In my first attempts I tried to remove this and ended up making a mess. Then I read an article where they they said the secret is to leave all the clay 'flash' in place and brush it off when its dry. This worked really well and as the clay dried over the next day or so I felt it kept looking better and better. 

Finally, I test fitted some engine house windows, which I was pleased to find fitted perfectly. I'll paint the window frames and doors a similar shade of red to the prototype. 

Knights of the Sky & Dangerous Skies Exhibitions

 Recently we took a family holiday to Blenheim, which is near the top of New Zealand's South Island. A little-known fact is that Blenheim is home to two stunning exhibitions of World War I and II aircraft. The World War I exhibition is owned by Sir Peter Jackon of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy fame. Not only does it include incredibly rare aircraft (including some which are airworthy), it does so in giant dioramas that tell important stories about the aircraft and the people who flew them.

After the success of the World War I exhibition, the local group whom Jackson contracted to maintain the exhibition added a World War II exhibition. Both are of impeccable quality and offer an incredibly immersive experience. More information can be found on their website.

I personally love the exhibition from a modelling perspective. It offers a glimpse of modelling on a 1:1 scale rarely seen and is a wonderful inspiration for our smaller-scale modelling.