After my last post I came to the conclusion that my module has gone beyond being just a module, but a part of my home railroad.

In all further posts I will refer to it as the GOP.  This stands for the “Get Out and Push” railroad company, which I mentioned in building the waycar kit.  The reference comes from a book of classic logging pictures.  This was a book borrowed from the local (at the time) library, and I don’t currently have access to it, so I don’t remember the name of it.

The book contained a picture of a locomotive which was derailed on the side of a narrow gauge line.  Ironically the name painted on the side was the GOP;  I am guessing that this might have been a fairly regular occurrence.

My intention is to eventually build a logging themed layout, or at least a section devoted to logging – which will be the GOP rr. co.

After cutting out the outline for my pond I screwed in the parts for the bottom of my pond.  I then used a hot-glue gun and attached the cardboard strips to create the ground shapes I wanted.

After getting all of the cardboard strips fastened in place I used plaster cloth to cover it.  I used two layers, alternating the pieces.  After this had set up a bit I brushed on a coat of plaster for extra strength.

I intend to make up a thick batch of plaster and use some casts to complete the look of this scene.

After a couple of requests for pictures of the Downtown Deco Back Alley kit here it is:

It is still a work in progress with many details and weathering left to do.

I found it interesting to build a hydrocal kit for the first time, I will definitely be building more in the future.

Lately I have been busy adding scenery to the area of the San Leandro Historic Railway Society’s layout representing Antelope.  This area has been really plain for quite some time, and after seeing prototype pictures I decided to take care of it.

I am a firm believer of using layers of scenic items to get the most natural effect.  Here I started with clumps of poly fiber and worked them into small balls.  After using white glue to hold them in place I covered them liberally with scenic glue (thinned white glue with a couple drops of detergent) and followed with sprinkled ground foam.  The smaller clumps are made using Woodland Scenic’s underbrush (a clump foam product).  I also hit them with a layer of scenic glue and ground foam.  After letting them dry overnight I went back with the vacuum to remove any excess foam.

For the trees I decided to leave the bases on, in hopes of them being more sturdy when bumped.  I glued them in place using white glue, after they dry I intend to come back with ground cover and hide the bases.

I recently started a new kit from Downtown Deco.  It is a hydrocal (plaster) kit of a back alley.  Basically it is a series of five buildings that are only a couple of inches deep, designed to be placed against a backdrop.  I was given this kit, unfortunately a couple of pieces were broken and the box cover was missing.  With the cover missing I had to look online for pictures to figure out how to put together the major portions of the kit.  The instructions were pretty good, but were missing an exploded diagram to identify each of the pieces.

I glued the broken parts back together by using white glue.  This worked pretty well, however for the next model I intend to try 5 min epoxy.  I then glued the walls together again using white glue.  I found that this was a little bit brittle, but does an OK job of holding the fairly large pieces together.  I came back the next day and filled the gaps between the individual pieces with putty.  Sculpting tools assisted in filling the gaps to make them look less like a gap and more like a damaged area of the building.