Continuing Saga …

Myles, Good job on your emergency surgery. Glad you got it sorted out. Thanks for sharing the pics. Happy Thanksgiving!

Tom 

Nice work!! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Gobble!

Hope everyone had a great holiday. We did! My granddaughters were here and Anna, the 11 year-old, tech savvy, budding photographer took close to 300 pictures of the trains including several videos which I've posted on Facebook. She had an interesting approach and was much more artistic than I am. Here's some of her pictures.

She agreed to do this again next year when most of the layout will be finished. She's a very neat, talented kid! Sings and dances pretty well also (plus piano, acting, writing). Whew!

Speaking of the layout, I did get to work filling in the open areas in front of the mountain. This time, instead of messing around with piles of cardboard strips, I resorted to trusty aluminum screen wire. This went very quickly. I finished putting the screen in place. The final decision about the ponds is this. The small pond will be in the front and will drain through an stone arch structure out of the layout through the fascia board. I chose not to build another pond in the back area primarily because it's so hard to get at. I'm going to just terrain that section with more rock and slopes to add interest. The other problem besides access was how deep I would be able to go with the waterway, and having to cut the subroadbed panel to narrow it for a RR bridge. This may be a cop out, but I really wanted to do the detailing where I could reach it from the aisle and not on the board on top of the platform. Every time I put that piece of OSB onto the railroad and climb all over it, I disturb more ballast.

Here's all the screen in place

Now I understand that a triangular shaped gulley is very unrealistic, so after the Gypsolite cures, I'm going to add more contours with Sculptamold and make it a bit more natural. The pond is going to be sitting at the bottom of a considerable gulch which again, may or may not be realistic. It will be more like a deep puddle.

After all the screen was in place I started plastering right away, but this time, I really covered the exposed areas with more protection (including the floor).

And then the plastering began. The most annoying thing about this, besides the general mess, is that the Bounty towels I'm using are two-ply, and the plies separate sometimes in the plaster dip. When this happens, the strength disappears and it starts falling apart. It seems worse if the plaster solids are too high and the weight of pulling the towel out of the bath is too much and it tears. In some cases, I'm able to use the pieces, otherwise I have to trash it.

I almost got it done by dinner. There's just a couple of areas of the pond that need finishing. Tomorrow I'll finish this first coat and maybe start working on the area by the swing gate. The plastering is such a mess, I might as well get it all done at the same time.

My grandson came over yesterday to work on his USS Hornet model. He had an interesting suggestion about what to build on the swing gate area. I'm thinking about putting something like the Howard Grain Elevator kit by B.T.S. there. Grandson suggested that I build the building right across the gap and when the gate's open the building interior will be visible. Like I've said, he's very creative. I may do something like this... maybe.

I really like that idea of the building being exposed when the gate is open, that is very creative. Better make sure your power cutoff is in good working order as you show it off!

I also disagree with you on the triangle pond. After all the pond got formed because the RR built up the roadsides and the water only had one way out.

Thanks for the updates!

Twenty years ago or so when doing scenery on my railroad i used Bounty paper towels dipped in slightly diluted joint compound and never had any problems with it tearing. Perhaps the quality has changed. Instead of Bounty you may want to try Scott blue shop towels available at NAPA and most other auto supply stores. They are stronger than Bounty.

I may have enough Bounty left to finish all the terrain. If not, I'll take you up on your suggestion. 

Re: the pond. You're right. The pond's there as a result of the railroad's messing with the natural lay of the land. It's great when you're master of all you survey.

Trainman2001 posted:

Hope everyone had a great holiday. We did! My granddaughters were here and Anna, the 11 year-old, tech savvy, budding photographer took close to 300 pictures of the trains including several videos which I've posted on Facebook. She had an interesting approach and was much more artistic than I am. Here's some of her pictures.

She agreed to do this again next year when most of the layout will be finished. She's a very neat, talented kid! Sings and dances pretty well also (plus piano, acting, writing). Whew!

Speaking of the layout, I did get to work filling in the open areas in front of the mountain. This time, instead of messing around with piles of cardboard strips, I resorted to trusty aluminum screen wire. This went very quickly. I finished putting the screen in place. The final decision about the ponds is this. The small pond will be in the front and will drain through an stone arch structure out of the layout through the fascia board. I chose not to build another pond in the back area primarily because it's so hard to get at. I'm going to just terrain that section with more rock and slopes to add interest. The other problem besides access was how deep I would be able to go with the waterway, and having to cut the subroadbed panel to narrow it for a RR bridge. This may be a cop out, but I really wanted to do the detailing where I could reach it from the aisle and not on the board on top of the platform. Every time I put that piece of OSB onto the railroad and climb all over it, I disturb more ballast.

Here's all the screen in place

Now I understand that a triangular shaped gulley is very unrealistic, so after the Gypsolite cures, I'm going to add more contours with Sculptamold and make it a bit more natural. The pond is going to be sitting at the bottom of a considerable gulch which again, may or may not be realistic. It will be more like a deep puddle.

After all the screen was in place I started plastering right away, but this time, I really covered the exposed areas with more protection (including the floor).

And then the plastering began. The most annoying thing about this, besides the general mess, is that the Bounty towels I'm using are two-ply, and the plies separate sometimes in the plaster dip. When this happens, the strength disappears and it starts falling apart. It seems worse if the plaster solids are too high and the weight of pulling the towel out of the bath is too much and it tears. In some cases, I'm able to use the pieces, otherwise I have to trash it.

I almost got it done by dinner. There's just a couple of areas of the pond that need finishing. Tomorrow I'll finish this first coat and maybe start working on the area by the swing gate. The plastering is such a mess, I might as well get it all done at the same time.

My grandson came over yesterday to work on his USS Hornet model. He had an interesting suggestion about what to build on the swing gate area. I'm thinking about putting something like the Howard Grain Elevator kit by B.T.S. there. Grandson suggested that I build the building right across the gap and when the gate's open the building interior will be visible. Like I've said, he's very creative. I may do something like this... maybe.

 

Great pictures and great progress, It is coming along nicely. I like the grandsons idea also. I don't always comment but always check in to see how you are doing and as always it is wonderful to see how things look! Again great job!

Thank you! I definitely like when people check in so I know I not sitting here writing all this stuff for 3 people. It's hard to believe that this project is well into its fourth year, and at least one more to go. It depends on how many structures I can get next year. I'm planning out my build (and buy) schedule, and it may be more than a year's worth.

Today I finished up the base Gypsolite coat on the pond area and started working on the subterranean stream bed. I then did another un-covered area with screen and Gypsolite. Definitely moving along.

I changed my plastering routine. Previously, I was mixing the plaster in a container and then transferring three batches to a shallow container for dipping. I was getting a lot of waste since the water was gradually leeched out of the mix and the stuff at the bottom no longer soaked the paper towels properly. This time, and since I was needing a smaller quantity, I did the mixing and dipping the same container. It's the plastic box that Cascade Complete Tabs come in. It's the right depth and has straight sides. I marked the water line on it and with four cup full of Gypsolite, it gives the correct viscosity for dipping. Instead of dragging the towels across the surface, I just submerge the towel in the soup and turn it over and get it fully saturated. It seemed to work better AND I wasn't getting the torn towel problem.

After finishing the remaining layers in the pond gulch, I started working on how to get the water out to the layout's edge. I cut an opening in the fascia to line up with the opening in the gulch. A stone portal will dress this out when I build it. 

I then used screen to form the creek bed that will carry the "water" out to the river that apparently runs down the opening in the middle of the layout. I formed, cut, reformed, cut more and folded the screen until it approximated the channel I wanted. 

I realized quickly that it would be next to impossible to apply the plaster towels while the screen was inside the layout so I paved the channel with them while outside and then attempted to put it inside. It was a total mess and did not work at all. So I went to plan B. Plan B was forming the tube outside the layout, letting it cure and then inserting it into the space. I set up some 2 X 4s on my plaster table, held it with some spring clamps and, hopefully, this will cure hard enough to manhandle into the space. Also, it all needs to be water tight so the resin doesn't all end up on the floor. If it works, I'll only have to apply more plaster to the mating edges.

I'll give this two full days to cure. While this was curing I started working on the next area needing terrain. When you put screen across such a large span and load it with heavy plaster towels, it sags pretty bad and it needed some support, so I quickly assembled a pile of scrap foam and other stuff all held in place with Lo-temp foam hot glue. It will still sag, but it will have more natural undulations.

Again, I masked and protected all over and had to come up with a nice way to hold the screen to the fascia board. It's been a long time since I had to do this on the left-hand end of the layout. In this case, I decided to clamp the edge of the screen between a couple of layers of Masonite strips. I clamp the strips about 1/4" below the fascia edge, and pilot drilled for small screws. I loosened all the clamps holding the strips loosely by the two end screws. I bent the cut screen at a right angle, put it between the fascia and the first strip and tightened all the screws. It really worked.

Here was the screen in place ready for some more plaster.

And in a short time, here it was all covered with wet plastery paper towels. Yesterday's work was curing nicely and will be rock hard tomorrow. I'm also going to do the area on the swing door, but I have to think about that since I'm planning on putting structures there so too much undulations will be unwelcome. I will have to match the land shape in the area where the swing door and this part of the fixed layout merge. I want the gate to be almost invisible when it's all done.

You mentioned that you appreciated people checking in so you would know if you were just posting to 3 people.  I am still a great fan that follows your thread.  Your dedication is amazing, your skills are remarkable and the buildings are wonderful.  Your project has inspired me to redo my layout even though it is nowhere as neat and polished.  My skills take me only so far, but your work shows that you are a problem solver and that you are not afraid to experiment.  Thanks for keeping us updated. 

3 people?  I bet its more like 30 regulars and 30 more occasional readers. Backtrack and revisit names sometime, double that count and I bet your close to the count on regular readers. Eg  I lurked on the forum for a year or two before I joined, and even then only joined to ask a question of GRJ.  Then NQDY Nichole's freindly, encouraging, posts, about friendly encouraging posts,  inspired me to post more often.  I sure miss her being around.  Exposure to that type of attitude keeps me extreamly well grounded all day....anyhow more than three readers for sure

I like the arch.  Overlaping scenery onto to the sides "where it doesnt belong" strikes me as a little world, uncontainably spilling over into our own.

Around my mine,  I almost painted strata and loose mineral layers onto the sides, like a cutaway view from a textbook.  The idea really struck me when some dirty oil got spilled by a room border on my grandfathers benchwork and he didnt even bother to clean it,  let alone tell me and appoligize (evicted eventually).  So anyhow Im cleaning up oil with.... Bounty paper towels,  lol,  and realised it happened right where the operating oil rigs used to sit... Click clack.... Click clack.... Had they still been there, the side would have looked like a cutaway of the oil deposit. It was hard not to smile then, so I did. Later, I not only didnt smile, I winced from not smiling.... Ever yell lots with a torn chest diaphram? FYI, I advise you to skip that little adventure. Lol.

The big puddle actually seems prototypical to me.  I know of a few areas along the tracks that may be dry or waste deep at times and natural ponds that are just as shallow but never dry and had no visible feed. A creek flood stocked the ponds with bluegill one year too. They lasted for about 5 years in the big one till a solid freeze up came along. I was so bummed; no more ultralight fishing, and the snapping turtles moved on again too

Hey, a few visible fish is a good idea too.

Good ideas on the tube and the facia attachment!  I think it will all look great!

I am also still watching, I am learning and just don't usually have much to add. I also appreciate you taking the time to document everything for the rest of us that are trying to learn how to do all this stuff. Please keep the posts coming.

When scrolling down to hit reply, I just noticed there are 51 likes and almost 58,000 views so I think there are quite a few of us silent watchers out here.

I read it everytime you post I have never done the paper towel thing I always used the plaster cloth rolls maybe I should try the paper towel route. do you use regular plaster of paris or joint compound.  

With all the positive reinforcement, I will keep writing. 58,000 hits is pretty good, but remember, this thread's been running since April 2013 and there was a thread that preceded it that started a year before that. But, what I'm really happy about is the reaction from readers which is exactly my intention. I am always learning and always experimenting and you can too. The problem is when I finally get it perfected, I don't need to do it anymore. Case in point, plaster paper towels. So to answer the question, I use Gypsolite undercoat plaster. It has a lot of texture, dries very slowly and has long working time. It's downside is that it's very lumpy and if you're looking for a smooth surface, you have to overcoat it with something (Sculptamold) which is more work. It's also very inexpensive. I would be broke if I used plaster cloth for this much area. If I was doing a little job I would choose plaster cloth every time. Gypsolite costs $19.00/50 pounds. You get it from commercial sheet rock or building supply houses. I don't believe THD or Lowes has it. Plaster of Paris, like plaster cloth, is very expensive when bought in Hobby Shop sizes. The W-S display at my LHS is strictly for the small HO project, not an O'gauge goliath. 

Today, I finished enclosing all remaining open areas on the layout's right end. Instead of paving the swing gate with screen wire I enclosed most of it with OSB. I did this for a couple of reasons, most importantly, I'm going to put a structure on that gate so flat won't be a problem, and I'm running out of Gypsolite and don't want to buy another 50 pound bag since I'm basically done with it. I did have enough left for a small part on the left end that is an elevation transition to the plaster fixed portion next to it.

I used my standard L-girder risers and cleats with 1X3 and 1x2. It took four sets to support this piece solidly and I fastened it to the fascia board. I also made a new fascia board which fits the space more precisely. There is a piece of 1X2 supporting the tail since it was drooping a bit at that spot.

I needed to add an end support on the left end for a place to fasten the screen. I didn't want it to wrap over the edge since there is a clearance challenge on this end which could prevent the gate from closing completely and causing track gaps. I made a cross piece to provide this location for stapling. At first I had it flush with the structural piece below it, but this placed it too close to the fixed jamb. So I added a couple of pieces of 1/8" Masonite scrap between it and the gate structure to offset it about 1/4" and this worked.

I have a small pair of tin snips that were my dad's that work well for cutting aluminum screening, and I wear heavy leather work gloves since this stuff can get nasty. I used a medium Sharpie to mark the screen, cut and stapled it in place.

I was ready to mix up some plaster and I realized that there's a couple more places to pack out before plastering. These were at the transition between the outer loop coming down the grade and the inner loop. For the larger gap, I returned to cardboard strips since I was able to hot glue it on the OSB's edges and not have to staple screen on the surface.

For the transition gap on the gate, strips were not needed so I used a bit of this and that to fill the space. It just had to support the Sculptamold until it cures. Again, hot glue is the adhesive of choice.

As before I used a lot of masking to protect existing things. I then mixed up a small batch of Gypsolite and paved the screened in area, and then mixed up some Sculptamold.

I lathered on the Sculptamold on both places. The upper one has enough contour to allow me to engrave some layered rock. The gate area was pretty mundane so I just scratched a little bit for some interest. I'm happy to have that area finally complete. I left it for last. Notice I masked the tunnel portal too.

So here's all of today's work.

Oh... and one more thing. I took advantage of Walther's sale and bit the bullet. I ordered the Plastruct Chemical/Refinery kit. This will eventually go on the last unfinished area of the layout. I didn't finish it because I wasn't sure of the build width of this project. It can be built in different configurations so I'm going to make it longer and narrower.

I've also gotten the estimate for the second rebuild of the Berheim Distillery from André. After seeing my completed distillery the owners of Heaven Hill are more excited about having this building for their visitors center here in Louisville. After building that I will build the refinery.

I'm planning out next year's build schedule. I want André to cut my engine house design, and the Nighthawk's Cafe. Both of these will be 2017 projects. I am also noodling B.T.S's Howard Grain Elevator. That's a pretty ambitious list. 

I think the reasons why you chose what method to use when are very instructive.

That's a very interesting lineup you have for next year!  Looking forward to it!

Thanks Mark! It really helps to have future goals to shoot for. Again, I really can't imagine what retirement would be like if I didn't have these engrossing and interesting things to do. In fact, I've decided—after watching that new series "Mars"—that I want to be alive when man reaches Mars. The show has that in 2033 which is in 16 years, so I'll be 87. That could be reachable unless something crumby happens, like falling down the cellar steps and smacking my head into the concrete wall at the bottom.

Today was a good example of finally figuring something out when I'm almost done using it.

I first applied a layer of Scultamold (STM) onto the stream bed tube. This will be the final layer of stuff to form it up. I needed it too since it was still flexing too much and the stream bed had cracked. The STM will strengthen and seal it so I can paint it in prep for the resin. I fit it back into the hole and it will work. There will be some creative plastering at both ends to blend and seal it into the framework, but it should work. Before the STM set up I added some tallus rock to make it more interesting. This picture was shot reverse angle aiming to the layout's perimeter (and my flannel shirt).

I had excess STM which I slathered on the pond's bottom. There will need to be more than this to finish it up and ensure it's sealed.

I started fitting rocks to the gulch walls trying to fit various chunks I had left over, but didn't like the results so I decided to cast some new ones. This time I made a sensible and workable support structure so the molds didn't leak all over the place and make an incredible mess like they did the first time I used them.

I had more of this strange honeycomb paper packaging material that I hollowed out a bit smaller than the perimeter of the molds.

The resulting casting was very good and complete. The weight of the plaster was sagging the middle a bit too much so I carefully lifted the filled mold and stuck a chunk of foam to support the middle. It worked.

Here's the resulting casting.

I also used this same method on the taller/narrower mold. It even worked better on this one. A little bit was leaking out the side so folded piece of cardboard lifted it enough to stop the leak.

Fitting to the space was trial and error. I marked the upper line once I was able to slip the rocks into position. That required trimming the bottom and sides until it fit the space. I used a bare, coarse-toothed, hacksaw blade to cut and score the plaster to let me fracture it on the line or cut it through completely.

The stream will cascade over the rocks on the right end. I will built up the lip so it will create a little waterfall for more interest. Kathy Millat has a video on making falling water that looks like something I can pull off. You first make the cascades with clear silicone caulk on Saran Wrap, pulling out the streams with a tooth pick. You transfer the cascades to their location and again adhere them with the caulk. After letting the resin penetrate through to dry brush white to add foam.  You really won't be able to see the reverse angle view unless it's from the GoPro camera on a run-by video, so I might not use rock casting, but rather will sculpt my own strata old school.

This is another subtle reason to use L-girder and ribbon roadbed. You end up with open spaces where you can make interesting topography without resorting to using a saber saw to cut into a flat table top. My RR is a combination of flat areas and those with contours and curves due to this construction.

Two additions to my car fleet arrived today from American Excellence Trading. The fist is a 1975 AMC Pacer which I had, and the other is a 1956 Cadillac Eldorado which is one of favorites of all time being the first big-finned car on the road. I was a completely different car from the rest of the line and was actually the predecessor of the 1958 Caddie which had a similar rear end. I wrote about it in more length on the 1:43 thread earlier tonight. Pacer was interesting and the worst car we ever owned.

Tomorrow, all the Gypsolite will be hard and I'll finish up adding all the STM. By the end of next week, I think all this new terrain will be landscaped and the trains will be running again.

This thread is very addictive, Myles. 

Max, it's like that for me too.

More plastering today and it's almost done. I finished up attaching the stream tube and sculpting the un-seen rearward-facing slope. I attached the two long faces of strata rock and also added the last bit of rock detail to the grade embankment. I did some finishing up details while this was starting to dry and went to work making the master for some plaster random-stone walls.

First up was attaching the stream tube now that its STM was hard enough to handle. In this case, instead of using Gypsolite-soaked paper towels I used Hydrocal-soaked paper towels. I did this because I wanted the smoother surface detail and faster curing. Within a half hour the tube was secure and apparently water-tight. As you can see, I then added a load of STM and carved the strata rock.

Now... after looking at this picture, what comes to mind?

You've all heard the aphorism, "Painting oneself into a corner", how about a corollary "Plastering oneself into a tunnel." Only after all of this plaster dried hard, did I realize that I hadn't painted the inside! Doh! I'm now going to have to color the insides as it sits on the layout. I'm going to have to be creative again and make a right-angle paint brush. Again, it proves my point, "I am not patient, only persistent."

While piling on the STM, I adhered and shaped getting the long rock walls in place. Rather than fill the upper large gaps with piles of STM (and wasting a valuable resource), I filled the space first with some construction green foam, and then topped it off with STM. 

Other than the "unnatural" sharp corner, they look pretty slick. "Water" will cascade over the edge in the lower right in this picture.

Before cleaning up the mess I added some more rock castings on the rear embankment. This was a much more conventional application: wetting all surfaces first, slathering STM on the backs of the castings and to the wall, and sticking them on. Using a putty knife and a wetted gloved finger, I smoothed all the joints and contours.

There was a large gap where the new OSB panel fits to the existing roadbed which I wanted to fill. In this instance I used light-weight spackle to fill the gaps. A light sanding next session will make it ready for landscaping.

Now all of this has to dry rock hard before painting and ground cover. While the drying began I peeled off layers of plaster on the putty knives handles and put on a new layer of masking tape. Previously, I put masking tape on them and after peeling it off, had a perfectly clean handle.

Yesterday, I started to make some random stone castings based on a commercial piece of Chooch rubber rock face. It has a self-stick backing which was going to make this easy... yeah...right! I stuck the piece onto a piece of plate glass and built a nice Lego barrier around it. I was all ready to mix up the silicone mold material and found that the Part B of Smooth-On 00M00 25 silicone mold material had exceeded its shelf life and was almost a solid. It should be a nice smooth creamy consistency. So I had to stop and order more.

This was a fortuitous occurrence. When I awoke this morning and thought about this casting I realized that the thickness of the Chooch wall was only about 1/8" thick. If I would have proceeded making the mold, the resulting plaster cast would have been too thin to be usable. Hydrocal is strong, but it is friable in small cross sections. My wife thinks I should plan ahead a little better for this and the tunnel tube.

So, after all the plastering, I went about making this model thicker. I added three layers of chip board to the back making it about a 1/4" thick which should hold together in plaster.

After carefully trimming the various cardboard layers, I soaked the edges with thin CA to harden them and then added a layer of Squadron white filler to give a more suitable surface for silicone mold making. My plan is to use this random rock sheeting as a basis for the surrounds of the subterranean stream and other building foundations. But, I may not do anything at all. I may have the stream come out of the layout as if we made a geological cut and found an underground stream. I'm even thinking about faking a water fall off the opening in the fascia board.

Tomorrow, I sand a positive relief angle onto these edges so I will de-mold more easily.

Weekends are no work in the shop, and on Monday I have to go to THD and Michael's to get some supplies including some more white, gray and black acrylic tube paint, so the painting can commence.

I don't know where you find the time to write such fulsome descriptions, Myles - but keep it up.  We're reading every word. 

MaxSouthOz posted:

I don't know where you find the time to write such fulsome descriptions, Myles - but keep it up.  We're reading every word. 

I agree with Max.  Thank you!

Thanks fellas. Actually, I sit with my MacBook Pro on my lap while watching mindless drivel about Trump et. al. on MSNBC. I wish there was a way to turn all this writing energy into money, but I'm content that it has its intended affect on my followers. As I've said countless times before, the act of capturing all this stuff is helpful to me because it gives me new insights. I also enjoy re-reading the whole saga because when you see the finished products you forget how much effort it actually takes, and it's good not to forget that.

In wrestling with the best way to make my own random stone walls, I actually dreamt of a way this morning. This wasn't one of my "Laying in bed in the morning building stuff in my head" things. This was an actual dream where I carved the master in clay before making the mold. Eureka! I bought clay carving tools last year to make figurines, but cab also use it to carve stone walls for masters. The mind works in mysterious ways.

Next week I'll give this a try. While making multiple plaster copies of something is cheap, the $30 for a couple of pounds of silicone mold material definitely isn't. I also have W-S liquid latex which is much less expensive, but many, many days slower to produce a mold. As usual, you always pay more for speed. Carving these walls will give me the opportunity to make some nice scale-looking stone foundation walls for some upcoming buildings.

Sounds like fun, its always nice to make something of your own!

I have dabbled with plaster castings from time to time, but I have come to the conclusion that it is just as easy (and much cheaper) to just carve originals from pink foam for whatever I need. I find that after a little practice, I can make quick progress on any given style of stone or brick. Plus, this technique ensures that everything is truly unique and gives much more variety to the layout.

A few examples:

Avanti,

I would say your practice has paid off big time!  Painting too.  Thank you for sharing!!!

Trainman,

That is cool about your real life dream!  You will do a great job!  Yes, after seeing what money and effort goes into making molds and casting that my daughter did in making parts for her dolls, not to mention the scrap material, I do not want to tackle the casting process myself.  Now the next guy will swear by the mold and casting method!  There are many ways to skin a cat, as they say!

Myles,

It looks great. Everything you have done is top notch. I can see that you have enjoyed every minute of building this layout.

Alan Graziano

Myles,

Great work and adjusting. I'm even more so glad to see that I am not the only one who makes these kinds of errors. You made my day!

Good! Glad to know I'm not the only person who does stupid stuff now and then. Always said, I show the good, bad and very ugly.

No building since it's Sunday, but woke up thinking about upcoming projects. It's nice having a basically un-stressed life so most of my thoughts are about creativity related to model trains. Life is good!

I was going to build a Rick House for the distillery. It's a multi-story building housing thousand of racks holding Bourbon in barrels for the required number of years for proper aging. From the outside they are a big box with lots of windows. Air flow through the building is essential to ventilate the aging barrels and remove alcohol vapors. 

Here's what I was originally going to construct on the bare space next across the street from the boiler house.

But this building is boring! So I thought, "What about making it under construction. They build them inside out, by putting in all of the rack structures and then skinning the outside. This would add interest and give my construction equipment something to do. I've contact Buszick Corporation who is the company in Bardstown, KY that builds these things for the whiskey industry. Then I contacted my Heaven Hill patron for whom I'm building another Bernheim distillery and he sent me many pictures of their new Cox Creek warehouse complex development. These building are huge and they're building 8 of them. Each holds 60,000 barrels of Bourbon.

And here's some of the construction.

Construction is not difficult, just very repetitive. I'm hoping to get some working drawings from the contractor to give me more specifics about lumber sizes and placement. It looks like 12" X 12"s for the verticals, 8 X 8s for those cross beams and 2 X 12s for the horizontal members and floor boards. Foundation is not complex either.

I'm not planning on building and entire floor, but part of a floor and part going vertical to show how it all goes together. A lot of Mt Albert scaled lumber could be in order. BTW: Heaven Hill has sent Andre the money to cut the Distillery so it will be next up on the workbench once Andre clears his schedule. I also see a lot of NBW sets.

Here's a view of the first barrel in place. The rick racks run across the building as you can see by the foundation footings sitting underneath. The ricks are on a slope so the barrels roll to the aisle for unloading.

Here's the site plan showing the extent of this project. Heaven Hill already has almost 1.5 million barrels in storage. Bourbon is a big deal world-wide and distillers are adding as much capacity as they can. Trouble is, you don't get any product for at least 4 years. The good stuff is aged 12, 18 or even over 20 years. Hard to predict who's going to drink what 20 years from now. I'll keep you posted on what's going on.

Mmm.  Bourbon.  Now I see the real  attraction.  

I have to find a way to have the smells of the warehouse in the room...

The Plastruct Refinery "kit" came today. I put kit in quotes since, as some have said, it's really a scratch-build project with some drawings and rudimentary instructions. At least I don't have to decide what size tubes to order.

I will be able to change the configuration to fit into a different part of the layout. I was originally going to put it in one spot, but if I stretch it out, it will fit nicely between the back yard tracks. So... instead of this:

I'm thinking about putting it here:

I'll have to see how long some of the horizontal vessels are. I would be a good spot since there's a lot of linear, straight yard track for the tank car loading dock. It could almost fill up this entire space.

For the other space, I'm thinking about the B.T.S. Howard Grain Elevator. That could work out well in this space. It obviously needs some additional framing and support.

If you move the office location, the footprint is about 13" wide. So that space would work well.

After hitting THD and Michael's today for more supplies I really got into ground cover on the right end. But the first thing I did was start to prepare the "falling water" effects using the Kathy Millatt method. This involves clear silicone caulking put onto some Saran Wrap and then drawn out into strands with a toothpick. After it cures, you cut the Saran Wrap with the strands and adhere to the rocks with some more clear caulk. Each strip is measured to the rocks to which it's going to attach. I will also use W-S Water Effects material once the epoxy is cured. You pour the epoxy directly through the strands to homogenize the whole thing.

I got a lot of ground cover done. After painting with the earth colored paint, I laid down coarse green and off-green ground covers and then fine green turf over the wet paint. I then spray with "wet water" and spray W-S scenic cement. After a while it's pretty secure. 

I did the swing gate, and the stationary portion. I did next to the tracks and colored those little bits of rock outcroppings. Finally, since there was a very noticeable depression in the fixed area, I colored that to be an impromptu pond or retention basin. I'll install some tall grasses and then pour in the Envirotex 2-part, epoxy bar top coating and let it seek its own level. I believe it is all water-tight. Perhaps I'll test it with real water to see where it actually goes before wasting the expensive epoxy.

There's a lot of undeveloped property here that some sharp real estate guy's going to make some moolah on it. My wife thinks there should be some run-down housing based on it's location near the rail yard and away from downtown. Sounds like a good idea to me. I always take her ideas when offered.

The last thing I did was color the stream bed. Colors used were the earth colored wall paint, acrylic raw umber and acrylic mars black. I blended the colors with a brush soaked with plain water. Kathy Millatt mixed her epoxy with some Tamiya olive drab to tint the water slightly green. It looked pretty good and I'm going to try that also. The darker center will add some simulated depth to the water.

It's very satisfying getting the bare OSB covered with something that looks "natural". And it goes pretty fast once you've reached this point.

I've never heard of a bascule bridge over a road.

eddie g posted:

I've never heard of a bascule bridge over a road.

There's water, too:  

[Sorry for little hijack, Trainman]

The Kathy Millatt method looks like it will be very effective!  I have never seen this method, so it is good you are sharing it with us!

Smells? A snifter comes to mind

The glass, not the locomotive part

Decided to take a risk today by actually putting water into the pond and down the stream and see where it goes. I felt that regardless of the outcome, I wanted to know where the resin was going to go. Boy! Glad I did that because it would have been a freak'n mess!

Here was what happened with the meadow pond. There was a low spot on the right edge and then even more low areas beyond that. Sorry about the reflection of the overhead florescent light.

So I got out the STM and filled the low spots and made a new berm to hold water...literally. The water did not leak through the surface, which was a good thing. When this sets up in a couple of days, I'll paint it and grass it, then I'll be ready for the resin pour. I will put some long grass in place before pouring resin.

When I poured water down the stream similar things happened. It didn't track well over the first falls, then it pooled in the middle and lastly never made to the final falls, but instead took a left turn into the track ballast next to the stream and finally through some porosity onto the floor below. So I had to do some major "Army Corps of Engineering" stuff. After this too sets up, I'm going to pour more water down it and check to see if I got the flow I'll need with the expensive resin. Once the resin goes on there's no turning back.

I then turned to that back embankment, by finishing up the rock painting and laying ground cover on the whole deal. I should have done this end of the layout 3 years ago when I was younger. It's not fun for me to sit indian-style on top of the layout bending this way and that working on those back reaches. But I prevailed.

I also did work on the pond gulch (I have absolutely no idea what to all this geological anomaly). I painted the rocks like I have in the other strata areas with dark gray top and bottom and some yellow ochre in the middle, then with a black alcohol wash. I then painted the basic the raw umber and black mix. The rest of the surface will be the earth tones which will kind of a wash area. obviously "rain water" will come down that slope from that direction as well as the waterfall on the right end. I darkened the rock where the waterfall will actually be. This pic also shows more grass in that inter-track area to the left. At that point I ran out of two out three of the W-S ground cover products I was using. I need to get more and also some more bar-top epoxy.

I almost wish I hadn't done any ballasting since so much gets disturbed in all this work that I have to do a lot over again. Luckily, I still have a substantial amount of roofing granules and probably won't have to get more. You can see many spots with bare Flexibed showing through. Once the scenic cement lets go, you have to vacuum it all up and lay down new stuff. I am saturating it more with cement that I did when I first installed it.

When I ran out of ground cover that ended the field work for the day, so I started working on the casting master for the stream outlet. I'm using the special, tin-free clay that I use for making silicone molds. You need to use this clay since it doesn't affect the silicone's curing. It's harder than I thought and I may turn to the "Carving green foam" method.

First I needed to create a 1/4" blank of clay upon which to carve the stone shapes. I used some 1/4" styrene square rod to set the depth with my "rolling pin" (a piece of brass bar). 

After trimming to the drawing underneath, and making a cap strip, I marked the surface with a divider and then started carving the mortar lines. I used a tool to create some texture too. The difficulty comes when dealing with the little bit of clay that's displaced when one groove crosses the perpendicular groove. It's finicky work and makes you appreciate the work in making masters for the likes of Scenic Expresses urethane castings. If it doesn't look right, I'll scrap it and do it over. The other choice would be to make individual "stones" and apply them to a clay base. While that might take a bit longer, the results could be better. You have to remember that everything you see in the master is going to show up in the plaster copy. The curvature of the arch almost exactly matched the diameter of a roll of 3M Blue Tape. You don't need to worry too much about draft angle (that positive slope away from the mold's front so it can release from the mold material) since the silicone can stretch.

Tomorrow, I'll buy more ground cover and then get back to this mold master.

Today was a day to solve some problems and change direction a bit. I woke up thinking that I'd forgotten how to do the resin water. You really don't actually fill any volumes with it. The resin is simply too expensive. You create a flat surface and simulate depth by coloration. While I was getting the coloration right, I didn't have a smooth surface, nor a level one. So first thing this morning, I mixed a thin bath of Hydrocal, wet down the various water ways and surfaces and let the plaster find its own level. I let it run right out of stream outlet and put a pot on the floor. The end result was relatively smooth and level surfaces that should take resin well.

I then went to the train store and got the ground cover that ran out. I then saw a nice HO W-S random stone tunnel portal that would be just the right size to be at the stream outlet on the fascia. It was $11. I still wasn't sure about my sculpting a clay portal that would be the made into a silicone mold and a plaster cast, and, being a big mold, would cost probably $25 worth of silicone mold material AND I was only going to make one of them. So I bought the portal. 

It looks much better than what I was trying to create and it's more the right size. 

While the plaster was still curing I did more ground cover to the right of the gulch. 

I opened up the fascia gap to better accommodate the filler piece that I was going to use. I needed to have enough material on both sides without interference so I could glue backing pieces to hold the new piece in. I traced the outline of the portal onto this piece and traced the gap size. I then did a trial fit of the unpainted portal. When it looked right, I painted the portal and aged it with alcohol wash.

I needed to paint the tunnel, and came up with a simple solution; a foam paint applicator with a dowel extension handle. 

So I then painted all the new surfaces, including inside the tunnel. I redid rocks on the stream bed since some were now buried in the new hydrocal surface. I redid the ground cover next to the pond as well.

The water will now flow down the bed and into the gulch as it should.

I used a small brush and painted the dark "Wet" raw umber. I darkened the area under the "falls", and attempted to blend the apparent different depth levels in the "water".

I have to fasten the portal to the tunnel's mouth and I have to tie the tunnel outlet to the lower fascia piece. I want this all tight and sealed so the resin goes straight out without running out other places. When that's all firm, I'll paint the remaining bare area in the front. I'm also holding off any further ground cover until the resin's in place and fully cured so any grassy stuff won't mess anything up. Once the portal's on I'll do the resin. I'll also redo any bad ballast areas. And one more thing; I'm going to add some tall grasses around some of the water ways before adding the resin. Almost done.

Hi Myles, the rift stole your pictures.

I'm not sure what you're referring to. The pictures are showing up when I just opened the site.

That is so interesting.  I can't see them right now, but you can.

No joy here, either.