Layout Progress...Never too late!!! "Steel Mill Painted and Weathered" 6/25/24

Nice job Dave,.

i love the color.

alan graziano

Well done!

Peter

Mark, Alan, and Peter thanks for the compliments. Much more details to be added but I am pretty happy with the direction the scene is going.

Dave

Dave, everyone a head of me has pretty much summed it up , but I do want to put my 2 cents in. GREAT JOB!

Thanks Mike! I'm working on more foliage for the area and a trim here or there on the hillside (rear). Once that is done I will concentrate on making the area a little more "dirty".

I'm getting closer to ballasting and "coaling" the tracks but will save that to I get the area just about where it looks finished. I am having to lay across those tracks more often that I want to do when I have the tracks rocked up. 

Oh yeah, I need to wire it up as well.

Dave

Hey Everyone,

I have started to plant some "greenery" on the layout. Mostly vines, but some trees as well. Here is a pic update on some of that work as well as what I added around the coal tipple. You probably can't tell from the pics but I need to also weather the retaining walls in front of the steel mill backdrop. They are still a little to "clean".

Dave

Looks great Dave. Keep us posted!

Thanks GG1MAN...will do!

Just caught up on your build progress Dave. Everything looks really sharp. The blue on the coal tipple really pops against the background.

Bob

Thanks Bob,

I plan to weather it but do like the color and how it blends with the area. Like my thread says Never too late. Thanks for joining in for my adventure.

Dave

Dave where did you get the back drop with the blast furnaces? Your layout looks great. Nick

Things sure are looking good Dave, the grass and vines nice and green help with bringing everything to life! Nice work Dave!

Thanks Mike I'm really trying to make regular progress. Someday's it's not a lot and I just run a few trains, other times I spend the entire day working. 

Nick, thanks so much! The backdrop is from Larc Products.

LUVINDEMTRAINS, your layout is coming along great. I too like the color of the coal tipple. Keep posting pics of your progress............Paul

Thanks Paul!

Here is a start to my town scene ala "Dave Minarik". I wanted to capture a scene of a small Northern town where part of the town is on a hillside. This was a regular site in my youth and a great way to bring "home" to my layout. 

First you see where I traced out the main section of the town. I then built up 4"(two sections of pink foam stacked) and then cut to form. Next, I lined the roads and sidewalks that will run through the area. The final pictures shows some cut-ins for buildings. 

The next step will be to cut in the roads and trim the edges to depict rock sides. On the left of the road that crosses the railroad tracks I am considering another piece of foam and a bridge that connects the two sections.

As always suggestions and comments are welcome.

Dave

Fave, the town is looking good so far!  It will compliment the other nice work you have done!

Much appreciated Mark!

Dave,

I enjoy tracking your progress - Good Work!

Thank you for sharing.

Alex

Alex thanks a million or billion...whatever you prefer, lol.

Hey Guys and Gals,

It's been a while since I posted but here we go. This post is an update of the town scene on the layout. Most of the buildings are in place and the road system has been completed. I have begun installing sidewalks and some greenery and "pinkery" has begun to grow. 

Future work in this area will include building up the areas outside of the platform. I will need to put some buildings up on the other side of the main street. I will be installing a backdrop of a town scene that will give the town some more depth and I need to continue working on the small industrial area on the other side of the truss bridge in front of town. 

Of course more details in the town itself will continue. The buildings need wired up and some detail work needs to be done on a few of them. There are a couple of spaces I need to add a building or two and I think the town may need a parking lot. The roads need lined and weathered. I still need to install more sidewalks, plant more foliage and trees, and add other elements present in a town. Eventually human life will find its way in the small bustling area. 

Lastly, I have decided to put an access hole under the platform. The platform will not be secured to the bench work and my frequent trips atop Midtown will not be an option as more scenery gets completed.

All comments and suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,

Dave

looking GREAT Dave !!!

Thanks Brian!

Quite the town Dave! Keep up the great work, and please keep posting so we can fallow along!

I got you Mike and thanks!

Dave, I like the town not being on a flat plane but the streets go up to different levels.  Nothing is flat around here that is for sure.

Mark Boyce posted:

Dave, I like the town not being on a flat plane but the streets go up to different levels.  Nothing is flat around here that is for sure.

Mark,

Yes, I know. I used to travel to Weirton, WV regularly and I take my inspiration from there. Most of the homes and businesses are on a hill. I know this is a regular view in much of the Ohio Valley area. My great aunt's home was on a hillside and the steps that led to the house were so steep I always thought I would fall going up and down them. 

Yes, Indeed!  Our older daughter and her husband own a house that you walk down steps from street level to the first floor, there is a walkout basement below that, with a crawl space below that.  We owned a house like that along a country road at one time, and our first house had 20 steps down to the front porch, then that many again down to below the garage in the basement.  We are at the tip top of a hill overlooking the town 300 feet below, so we don't have those problems, but sometimes it seems like a bobsled run down to town in the wintertime.  

Mark Boyce posted:

Yes, Indeed!  Our older daughter and her husband own a house that you walk down steps from street level to the first floor, there is a walkout basement below that, with a crawl space below that.  We owned a house like that along a country road at one time, and our first house had 20 steps down to the front porch, then that many again down to below the garage in the basement.  We are at the tip top of a hill overlooking the town 300 feet below, so we don't have those problems, but sometimes it seems like a bobsled run down to town in the wintertime.  

YES!!!

paperboys posted:

what tool, instrument,? did you use to make this?

Hi Paperboys,

Unfortunately whatever pic you copied didn't show up. I'm not quite sure what you're asking about.

Looks great!  Very nice work.

Hi Paperboys,

I apologize for the late response.  

Anywho, I simply used a combination of steak knife and dry wall knife, and actually a metal paint can opener. 

I used the steak knife and dry wall to do the various carving of the foam, usually starting with dry wall knife. Then I take the paint can opener and randomly notch out sections of the foam. 

I plan to do a video using this technique, even though there are many on Youtube.

I hope this helps!

Dave

Rich883 posted:

Looks great!  Very nice work.

Thanks Rich!

Dave, The video would be great!!

Good Evening Guys and Gals,

Took a break from the town scene which helps me with taking that scene to the next level as I observe and critique it for a few days. 

Did some more work on the farm scene. I had to create terrain to cover the bottom of the backdrop where there is a slight space between it and the bench work, placed the farm house and barn and started the gravel road. The next step is to do more with blending ground cover, especially around the barn,  a small pond close the the house, trees, a cornfield and other vegetation, and of course what is a farm without farm animals. I also need to weather the barn and paint over the signage on the rooftop (sorry Menard's)! As always when I add those features I will post the results, but this is where I am as of this evening. 

Good Evening and I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Dave

          looking GREAT Dave

Nice work Dave, as I said in the other thread I really like the backdrops and how the blend with your farm area! Keep up the great work!

Brian and Mike thank you so very much for your compliments. I'm going to try and post more progress this week but for today it's yard work, lol.

Dave

Superb!!!

Well done!

Peter