I have spent quite a bit of time lately working on a module, building the backdrop.  I used luan plywood for it, though in hindsight I think I should have used masonite instead.  The major reason is how flexible the tempered hard board (Masonite) is compared to the plywood.  I primed it and then painted it blue.

I hot glued the two tunnel portals to the backdrop and the roadbed.  The circuit board in the middle of the picture is the reversing unit.

I have been really busy lately, working on several different projects at once.  Most of the work has been on my home layout, the GOP (Get Out n’ Push).

I have completed most of the track, with only two switches left to install and the siding they support.  Wiring has been coming along slowly, in part through waiting for my NCE Power Cab, which showed up the other day.  I am also waiting for a reversing unit and a circuit breaker to complete the wiring.  So far I have installed three of the nine Tortoise switch machines.

I have also installed part of the fascia across the front of the module, unfortunately I was unable to get more tempered hardboard and instead used luan plywood.  I don’t think that this will work as well especially as it does not bend as far.

I ran a small switcher engine on DC power the other day, it was great to finally be able to run something, only if it was a couple of feet.

I have been really busy lately so I haven’t had that much time for modeling.

I have been working on this section a little bit at a time.

This picture shows how I have mounted the sub-roadbed (1/4″ plywood) and used risers coming up from the cross-members.  The major difference in this from the standard L-girder construction is that they usually use crosspieces at the top.  Hopefully omitting these do not hurt me in the long run.

I started to install the roadbed on the top of the plywood.  I used standard white caulking  to fasten the material into place, using pins to hold it until it set.  As you can see from the picture I have the switches setting nearby to check the angles for the roadbed.

After laying the roadbed the next step will be to start adding track.  I will wait until it is all into place before adding the top most layer of track, coming out over the reverse loop.

One of my recent projects was to start building the next module for my home model railroad, named the Get Out n Push railroad (GOP).  This module will start with a semi industrial area on the right, where it joins with my previous section.  In the middle I will be building a mill pond and mill, and on the left will be a logging scene above with a trestle lower down.

This picture shows the early L girder construction, over which I have laid cardboard to cut templates.  I used flex track to lay out my plan on the cardboard and then used them to transfer onto 1/4″ plywood for the sub-roadbed.

Here are the first sections of the plywood after being cut out.  The major difference between this table and the previous is that most of the other table was in plywood, creating a flat surface for my city.  On this one I want it to progress from city to the deep woods so I needed more flexibility for terrain.

The next step is to cut and install the elevation risers to bring the sub-roadbed to the correct grade.

The L-girder construction is very easy, relatively cheap, and very strong.  As you can see above I modified the basic design to create the odd shaped L table I needed.

Learning from my previous experience, I waited several days for the molding material to cure before removing the parts and the containers.  I learned another valuable lesson with these molds.  If you look at the mold on the left you see that it is very thick (to account for the thickness of the middle part).  I decided to mold some barrels made from previous casts, as you can never have too many.  The only problem was that it was very difficult to remove the parts.  The thickness of the mold should only be a little bit more than 1/4″ thicker than the tallest part.  Otherwise, the mold won’t have enough flexibility to assist in removing the parts.

One of the items I received from my wife for Christmas was this Downtown Deco kit, the Trackside Tavern.  It is a hydrocal kit, which allows for an incredible amount of detail to be molded into the walls.  I used white glue to fasten the pieces together, this worked well but was very slow.  I think for the next kit I will try epoxy cement.  I had to use the weight from the pliers to assist in keeping the walls straight while the glue cured.

After my decent success with the smaller molds I decided to try making casts of larger parts.  I created the containers for the molds using sheet styrene.  I scored and snapped the pieces into strips, and then hot-glued them into place.  After gluing the part to the bottom of the container I used BB’s to estimate the amount of material needed (rice would probably be more accurate but I made use of what was available).

I mixed the molding material according to the directions and poured it into the containers after I had sprayed them liberally with mold release.  Based on what I have learned from previous attempts I made the pour and then left them undisturbed for about 5 days.  The overall results were favorable so I will be letting them cure for up to a week before removing the molds from the container.

As you can see in the picture, I have added quite a few trees on the hill and in the tow yard.  I built most of them using various Woodland Scenics products.  I still need to add underbrush (maybe should have done that first, not sure) and a sprinkling of ground foam to some of the trees.

All that I can say is that it takes a lot of trees to cover a small hill.  I found that I like the fine leaf foliage product for the best realism (the olive green trees lower on the hill).  The ones here are just large pieces that I picked out and glued into place.  I realize now that I probably should have went for a darker color, though I should be able to fix it with ground foam.

I decided to try my hand at casting parts.  After talking with the staff at the local TAP Plastics I decided that urethane molds were the best choice for my desired results (I was also considering silicone, but this looked a little bit easier).  I followed the directions in creating the mold, making sure to use plenty of spray release on the original parts.

Here is a picture showing my first attempt at casting parts.  Note how only a part of the closer cast is white – this picture was taken right as it started to change.

I ended up doing two practice pours so far.  As you can see the results were slightly better on the right hand part.  Also in this picture you can see that I cut the mold in half; the mold sitting on the edge of the cork board apparently did not get enough mold release before I poured – causing major “stickage”.  I think that for the next molds I make I will only cast one part at a time.  The different masses of material needed in the parts caused wildly different curing times between each of the parts.

This technique was rather fun, though fairly expensive.  The level of details that you can get in the parts is amazing, though it takes a little practice to get it right.  If you ever decide to give it a try make sure to start on a relatively easy part until you get the hang of it.

After the epoxy had set I used Woodland Scenics Water Effects.  The instructions were extremely limited on this product, at least what was contained on the bottle and what I could find on their website.  The stuff went on like caulking – I used a paintbrush to shape the product.  Luckily I made the correct guess and found that it was water-soluble and was able to clean the brush after the application.  According to the instructions it should dry clear.

Here is the picture of the area after I added the first layer of ground cover.  I used the Woodland Scenics scenic paint to color the rock castings after they had been glued in place.  Diluting the colors by at least 50% allowed me to wash the rocks in layers, creating a very natural look.  I tried some clumps from the pot topper for the grass, though I still need to fill in around the edges.  I am not sure of the results on these yet – they might work better in larger patches rather than this size.

After allowing the ground cover to dry completely I mixed up several batches of epoxy resin from my local TAP plastics (which I recommend as an excellent source for anything plastics related, they have a lot of information available for free).  I tinted the water lightly, alternating between blue and green in the batches.  Using the resin tints provided for very clear water, I think I will do my next water area trying Floquil paint instead of the tint.  I did get some creepage up the sides as you can see in the picture.  On the bank I will add a little ground cover to hide it, and the edge can be sanded down easily.