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.

]]> http://www.railroadredux.com/2010/08/scenery-for-antelope-at-the-slhrs/feed/ 0 http://www.railroadredux.com/2010/08/downtown-deco-back-alley-hydrocal-kit-part-1/ http://www.railroadredux.com/2010/08/downtown-deco-back-alley-hydrocal-kit-part-1/#comments Sun, 15 Aug 2010 09:36:27 +0000 Dom http://www.railroadredux.com/?p=342

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.

Once the paint had dried (though in hindsight I probably could have applied it right away) I spread ground-cover over the painted areas.  I started with a layer of fine brown turf and followed it with patches of green.  I then used the underbrush ground foam from Woodland Scenics.  I sprinkled on each layer before applying scenic cement over all of it.

After installing the ground-cover I realized that I did not like the look of the foam-core for the street crossings and took them out.  I left the parking lot over by the meat packing plant as I still intend to try making worn asphalt with it.  I used pieces of strip-wood to make the crossings, checking and re-checking for clearance for smooth operation and easy cleaning.  I used a hobby knife to score the ends of the individual boards at 8 scale feet intervals.  I used a tack to create nail holes in the boards.

In the area between the crossings I used fine ballast to simulate a gravel road.  I think I will use this technique for the rest of the road up to the parking lot.

And yes, I just had to make sure the model of the GOP caboose was in the picture.

After the plaster cloth had mostly dried I mixed up a fairly thin batch of hydrocal and spread it over the cloth.  This provided the sealing layer for the cloth, I made it thin enough that some dripped down on the floor below (oops, though not really a big deal).  It also added to the strength of the area.

I love blue painters tape…it makes covering track so easy.

After the hydrocal had dried I used acrylic paint to cover it.  In hindsight I probably should have started with the darkest color first and only gave it a few highlits with the red brown and yellow.  The color is rather similar to a red clay near the area I grew up in, so I decided to leave it and hope for the best.

I cut out the area where I wanted the ice house  to go as I found out that the ice house had been set for the height of track plus cork.  I lowered the model by the amount needed and used strips of cardboard to build the structure for the plaster cloth.   I used hot glue and staples to hold the pieces together and to the edges of the table.

The nice thing about using hot glue and staples was that you don’t have to wait very long for it to set.  This was my first attempt at using plaster cloth, before I had used the paper towel and plaster of paris method.  I was quite impressed by this product for several reasons.  The first was the ease of use, you simply cut a portion (or tear, which I found to be too messy) dip it in water and drape it in place.  I made sure to overlap each area with two layers going in different directions for added strength.  The second reason I was so impressed with this product was the complete lack of mess (ok a couple small drips, but that was it) compared to the previous methods.

I tried an idea that came to me in building a roadway.  I used poster board and cut it into the shape of a road.  I used track nails to fasten it into place.

After the scenic cement had finally dried I used poly-fiber and underbrush from Woodland Scenics.  I also used their scenic cement to fasten them into place.  After putting the cement onto the scenery I sprinkled ground foam over them.  This picture was taken right after I had done this.

I later used a vacuum to pick up the unattached ground foam, cleaning up the look of them.

Due to an issue with a method of securing a building I tried I knocked the dock off of the Champion Packing Co. model.  I decided that it would be easier to ballast it into place before reattaching the building.  I used the template to make sure that the dock was positioned properly before using a bit of caulking to secure the dock into place.

I first dry-brushed the ties to weather them a little.  I then set the building in place (I didn’t glue it to the dock as I have a bit more work to do on the building, such as lighting) and spread the ballast with a brush.  I found that a soft brush had the best results for me, though a foam brush did help with the rough in.

Following tips from multiple sources I soaked the ballast by the ties with rubbing alcohol before using the landscape cement.  I found that, as promised, it helped to “suck” the glue into the spaces between the ties and help with the spreading of the glue.  I found out the hard way that you need to make sure that the shape is exactly as you want it before applying either the alcohol or glue, although it was fairly easy to repair those spots with a light sprinkle of more ballast and more glue.

Waiting for the glue to dry before starting to add bushes was annoying (overnight – had to wait).