Sunday Scenic Showcase February 4, 2024

Amazing work Alan. Lately I've been working on my module layout in the Aroostook Valley area. I am very satisfied with the background pics and potato houses.

Nice work guys!  I got back to work on my house model, getting the patio to look like I wanted.
With the patio location fixed, I’ll start placing the brick pillars that support the back porch, which will lay out something like this:

Trying la new method of making bridge columns on the cheap.  I have leftover suspended ceiling tiles from my basement renovation.  The idea of making rock formations out of them inspired me to try to make cut stone out of ceiling tiles.

the tiles are 1/2” thick, so I ripped them into 1/2”x1/2” strips and cut them in lengths to wrap a piece of 2x4 lumber. I staggered them on the corners to create an overlap  and glued them together with wood glue.

After they dried, I sanded the four sides flat by pushing them over sandpaper glued to a piece of plywood.

Next, I created some angled jigs out of scraps to guide a flexible blade utility knife along the existing seams and crosscuts to create the staggered stones that are 1/2”x1”.  Using a triangular shaped piece of wood, I pressed down into the seams.  It creates the tapered shadow of the stones.  Any natural voids or mistakes can be hidden with plaster, joint compound or grout compound.

Next step is a base coat of grey spray paint, followed with layers of washes and dry brushing to hopefully make them more realistic.

the dado in the 2x4 is to allow power feeds to be installed to the elevated bridge.

Great talent shown this week and great techniques!

I like to jump around so I've moved over to the interior for the Fish Pier building.  From some old historical documents I've found online, I have added offices, locker room, lunch room, machine room and storage areas on the second floor.  Looking for examples of 1950s commercial ice making equipment to put in the machine room but no luck so far.  All selectively compressed into the small footprint of the Ameritowne building.  I note it will be very tough to see these details through the windows.

Nice work this week guys, jstraw, clever use of the ceiling tiles looking forward to your completed  work.

Basement and garage reno begins this week……..paint cans and supplies are packed away……….new floors, new bookcases inside…….the garage will have better lighting, better storage, and an epoxy floor.

However, layout work will continue. Accessory wiring. I will at least think about building lights…..and possibly start the ballasting.

I figure to get back into the garage in 10-12 weeks.

Peter

My grandson’s 10U hockey games began early this morning in Charleston so forgive me my posts are late again…

All I have accomplished this week on my switch towers is spray painting the exterior walls and then application of color to the mortar joints on the ground floor brick walls.
I began working on a Mechanical building laser cut kit. Not shown.  Will share photos later. Its purpose is to hopefully cover a turnout track mechanism.

I have learned things again today from your posts guys. Thanks for sharing.

Experiment continues.  After carving the stone blocks, I painted random stones with burnt umber and yellow ocher diluted to a heavy wash.

Next was dry brushing with a medium brown and light cream.

After dry brushing, came a wash of significantly diluted red clay and yellow ocher.

I didn’t care much for how deep I carved the stones.  Lesson learned.  I decided a coat of Sheetrock mud tinted with black paint and yellow ocher would help the mistake.

while improved, I will need to redo my washes before final determination.  Overall the concept works, I will modify the process next time.