20x8 Train Layout Build - 24 Feb 21 Update: New Switch Tower, and things are looking Up!

frizzinbee posted:

Mark, Bill, Sean - Thanks for the compliments!  

Sean - Glad you could use some of the ideas!    Heat gunning the foam is probably my favorite creative solution, too.   I've used that one several times already & think it's saved me a ton of work.

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As this thread celebrates its first birthday, I've finally got the harbor rocks (and the ones around the gray bridge) fully painted... and can now move on to improving the water & detailing out the waterfalls. From there it'll be vegetation, then structures and boats.

I removed the big dock and added a beach area to harbor less "busy":

...and here the "beach" has been painted:

I also blended the existing surface with the rock walls by the gray bridge & added highlights:

Did some work blending the dinosaur fossil into the rest of the rocks as well:

touched-up around the piers:

...and an overhead view of the harbor, as it currently stands:

I have a dinosaur fossil in my rock cliff also but I may have covered it. 

Dustin, I must have phrased my question vaguely.  i was asking about the upward pointing gold(?) accents on the sides of the curved Art Deco bridge supports.  It looks a little like peel and stick auto moulding to me.  If that's not what it is how did you get the Art Deco look?

coach joe posted:

Dustin, I must have phrased my question vaguely.  i was asking about the upward pointing gold(?) accents on the sides of the curved Art Deco bridge supports.  It looks a little like peel and stick auto moulding to me.  If that's not what it is how did you get the Art Deco look?

Sorry about that, Joe, I completely misunderstood your question.  Those pieces are actually two different sizes of decorative wooden molding from Lowes.  I cut them to length, rounded the ends, and painted them the desired colors.  The gold ones are just spray painted, the cream ones were brush painted to match the rest of the bridge.  I painted them first, then affixed them to the bridge using wood glue & clamps.

Mike - Thanks!  I've been enjoying following the progress on your layout as well!  

Carl  - Thanks, the rocks and the water do seem to be getting easier and coming out better with each iteration.  I haven't decided what to do with the fossil yet...  I am considering going with a team of paleontologists studiously studying the bones, with a live dinosaur sneaking up behind them.  That has a "Far Side"-esque appeal to me, but may be too whimsical, though, so I'm still cogitating on that.  For now, I have a steam shovel that will be working that area & will be (eventually) fashioning some debris so the bones look more freshly exposed.

Dave - Cool!  I would be interested in how you did your fossil, and staged the area, should it not already be buried for future generations to discover.

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Quick update, while I'm replying:  I now have the water painted in the harbor.  It was a wet-blending adventure involving ~7 brushes and ~7 shades of blue & white.  Here's how it came out:

In the pics above, of course, the paint is still wet.  It loses a little something when the paint is dry and less reflective... so I'm going to try coating it in a layer of gloss clear latex to maintain that sheen long term.  I'm also doing a little reading on how to make waterfalls using clear caulk & will try that soon, but will prob do the ground over first.

The water is very blue... but I wanted a more Caribbean/tropical look for this area, so I'm satisfied with it.  Most of the trees around this area will be palm trees, after all

The downside of all this, of course, is that this water looks so much better than the water under the gray bridge... so I may have to re-do that water as well to bring it back up to par.

Dustin, The rocks look great!  Since you were trying for the Caribbean blue look, I think you did very well!  I like the scene a lot!

Dustin, water looks great, makes me want to go for a swim in some nice warm water where the sun shines all day! Great Job!

Thanks guys! 

I started working on the waterfalls last night, after the kids and I painted a few extra rocks to facilitate blending in the caulk.  Waterfalls need another layer, at least, but are coming along well:

Dustin, you and the crew have thought of everything!  A waterfall to enjoy, rocks to climb on, a dock, a beach!  Looks great!

Dustin, I am with Mark, the waterfall looks wonderful! You have thought of everything for that area! Just wondering is the waterfall with silicone ? and did you watch a video on it? Looks Great!

Looks nice, the dock with the fishing nets hanging is great. Nice detail.  Nick T.

Mike, Mark, Nick - Thanks!

Nick - I can’t take credit for the dock...  I bought that one already assembled (including the net) & I just cut it down to a lower/more scale size.

Mike - Yes, the waterfall is clear silicone caulk.   What I’ve used so far on the waterfalls is as actually just leftover from re-finishing the bathroom . I read a short article on making waterfalls, wherein they recommended a somewhat dark backing surface, applying caulk in layers, and blending the caulk into rocks to hide where it meshes with the rest of the “water”.   I’ve also seen thin puffs of cotton used to simulate mist, and will like likely do that at the base of the falls as well once the caulking is all done.

Frizzinbee the waterfront is coming along nicely.

Dustin, thanks for taking the time to answer my question!

It really looks great to me!

Great looking scene ,Art Deco look, fantastic!!

Rich B

The kids reached a major milestone on their train table over the weekend - they now have their track installed and a train running!  First pic below is them working on detailing some rock work, while the second is from their inaugural run:

In parallel to the kids' work, I pretty much finished the harbor area (minus hooking-up the buildings and the little details).   All the "big" work is done in the below pics.

Here is the lower falls, draining into a river.  The river is wet blended blue paint, covered with a coat of gloss clear.   The rocks are painted foam, the falls clear caulk (blended at the top & bottom through the rocks) and the "mist" at the base of the falls is used dryer sheet, pulled thin & wispy.  The white "chop" downstream from the base of the falls is dry-brushed white paint.  My favorite part of this is how the clear gloss paint made the water more reflective & realistic:

Here, the Griswolds exit a tunnel, taking in the majesty of a summer morn at the base of the falls.  ..The palm trees are cheapo ones from ebay which I've painted and modified to look a little better.  They are from our previous layout in CA, so are "freebies" for this one that I've had in a box:

Here's a cabin on the other side of the lower falls:

Looking over the top of the falls, here's the beach, dock, houseboat, and the mill.  The beach is a little green, so I may end-up touching that up:

...and here's the smaller upper falls, leading to the water wheel on the mill:

Dustin, The kids are doing a great job!

All the scenes around the water and falls are really great!  You did mighty fine work!  I never heard anyone use a used dryer sheet for scenic purposes, but I can see how it would work great for the mist.

Mark Boyce posted:

Dustin, The kids are doing a great job!

All the scenes around the water and falls are really great!  You did mighty fine work!  I never heard anyone use a used dryer sheet for scenic purposes, but I can see how it would work great for the mist.

Thanks, Mark.   I can’t take credit for the dryer sheet...  that was my daughter’s idea, which she came up with after pulling cotton balls apart didn’t work

Excellent idea of your daughter's! Our artist daughter, who is now a married woman, pondered how to make use of dryer lint when she was in high school or college.  She decided it wouldn't work for felting, but has pealed multi-colored portions off the screen carefully for future use.  Now you know why their house is totally packed with stuff and some of it is still in my to-be train room! 

The next addition to the layout is two modified MTH buildings w/novelty signs.   I neglected to take "before" pictures or "in between" pictures, but ddi get some good shots of the finished products.

The first one is a lemonade shop that I converted into a donut shop, complete with the giant donut overhead (think Randy's Donuts).  The donut was formerly a dog's squeeky toy.  I've actually done one of these before for the club layout in CA (there's a whole thread on the original).   I used a slightly different approach on this one, and well with a different color scheme, but the result is very similar.  As per usual, all lights are now 12V LED:

I went with vinyl letters instead of waterslide decals this time.  Way, way, easier:

The second of these buildings is a record shop, made from an MTH corner store.  The novelty sign on this one is an actual 45 record.  I made the store interior on this one a bit more detailed but made fewer overall modifications to the building itself.  Of note, this one does have the gooseneck light over the side door and the roof spotlight on the record/sign.

Yes, the sign looks a little to oversized here, but will look fine in amongst the large buildings I have planned:

...finally, here's a sneak peek at one of the next buildings in work - this one is another MTH structure that I'm more heavily modifying.  I've been paused on this one for a while I consider how best to do the upper floor interiors, since this building will be visible from front and back.  The first floor interior is nearly complete, but hasn't been assembled and installed yet:

Well trained husband lol.  Love it

Dustin, looks Great! It sure is going to be fun to get to that stage after laying track! But when you think about it its all fun! You do amazing work and I always love to read your updates! Thank you!

mike g. posted:

Dustin, looks Great! It sure is going to be fun to get to that stage after laying track! But when you think about it its all fun! You do amazing work and I always love to read your updates! Thank you!

Thanks, Mike!   It's funny...  whenever I'm working on something I'm always looking more forward to the next stage, or the next project.  I'm going to do some 28-42 inch "skyscrapers" next, and really can't wait to start on those.  Just need to wrap-up this hobby shop building first, as well as some rooftop water tanks.  

I haven't seen updates on your layout progress lately.  How is it going?   Any new progress to share?

So I have a couple little projects in work...  but as the weather warms up (and its time to start on real 1:1 projects around the house), I'm spending more time on stuff outside of the basement

I did finally finish a set of three rooftop water tanks I'd been working on, though!  Here are the "Three Amigos":

On the far left, we have an HO Plasticville water tower that's been modified to have a wooden base and a feed pipe.  In the center, it's an HO Atlas water tower, similarly modified with wooden base, feed pipe, and a 1:48 ladder.  The last one is half a Morton salt container, covered in printed paper, with an HO plasticville roof.  It also has a similar wooden base, pipe, and a 1:48 ladder.

Here's a close-up of the base.  I made each of them out of square dowels:

Here's the wood pattern I printed out for use on the "former table salt container" water tower:

...and here's a close-up of each completed rooftop water tower.

I'm experimenting with where to put them... but here's couple shots of them on top of buildings for scale.  If I were to do any more, I'd probably make the stands a bit shorter:

everything looks great Dustin. Just caught up on your thread. Looks like the kids are having a ball.

Bob

Fantastic work.....and, what a great memory for you and the children!

Peter

Quick update on work around the layout...  Lately, I've been focusing on building-out some kitbashed skyscrapers so I can get the downtown section done (and therefore wire the buildings, install streets, etc.).  There are separate threads on those projects so I won't get into them here.

In parallel, though, I'm also working on finishing a hobby shop for the layout... complete with its own mini operating layout. 

This is the building.  It's an MTH 4-story store that I'm upgrading with paint, mortar, and some inter finishes:

The first floor hobby shop looks like this, and will be visible through the front windows.   That "layout" on the left is from a Lionel key chain.   I bought it already modified with the long axle (and dome removed), and plan to hook it up to a slow turning 12V motor mounted under the layout that will drive the train in circles.

All that's really left on this building is to do some partial interior work in the upper three floors and finish installing the LED lighting.  More to follow...

The building looks great Dustin.  My father-in-law found the Lionel keychain online a number of years ago and have it to me for Christmas.  Yours will be a great layout in the window!!

Dustin,

Work of art, really a well done layout and I enjoy following the progress

Dustin, things sure are coming together! What great work your doing and I had never seen the Lionel Key chain before! It is going to look amazing from the view outs side from the sidewalk! Great work!

mike g. posted:

Dustin, things sure are coming together! What great work your doing and I had never seen the Lionel Key chain before! It is going to look amazing from the view outs side from the sidewalk! Great work!

Mike, Mark, PSU1980,

Thanks again guys, for the compliments!   I think this building will look really cool when it's all said & done too... definitely one of my more complex ideas so we'll see how the mechanism comes together.

-Dustin

frizzinbee posted:

mike g. posted:

Dustin, things sure are coming together! What great work your doing and I had never seen the Lionel Key chain before! It is going to look amazing from the view outs side from the sidewalk! Great work!

Mike, Mark, PSU1980,

Thanks again guys, for the compliments!   I think this building will look really cool when it's all said & done too... definitely one of my more complex ideas so we'll see how the mechanism comes together.

-Dustin

I cant wait to see what you come up with! I know its going to look amazing!

Hi Dustin.

Great job with the building and hobby shop interior. Can't wait to see the finished product. We really miss you at AGHR.

AGHRMatt posted:

Hi Dustin.

Great job with the building and hobby shop interior. Can't wait to see the finished product. We really miss you at AGHR.

Thanks Matt!   I really you guys as well.   Trains aren't quite as fun without the club and the visitors

The hobby shop building is now complete and lit - all that remains is to hook-up the motor to the mini train layout!   I'll post pics of the motor mounting when I am able to get that done.   In the mean time, I thought the interior came out pretty neat!

I had the kids help me decorate each "room" that is lit.   In the upper three floors, I illuminated and decorated two quadrants each (some on the front of the building, some on the rear).   My youngest loves cats - let me know if you catch on to a theme in the decorating

Here's the building front and some views in the front windows:

Cat on the window sill:

Cat on the dresser (and TV on SportsCenter):

Cat spilling and drinking milk:

Dude on the couch (with a framed picture of a cat on the wall):

Old lady sitting (who, curiously and of all people, does NOT have a cat):

Bathroom:

More to come!

Nice to see that Joe finally bought the train business! He paid for it before he bought it. 

Great work on the building and a great result!

So, you want a model railroad

Dustin, wonderful work! I like the cat and the sports news on tv. Sorry that's about it as the cats go as I am a dog lover! LOL Everything else looks great! You sure know how to put the details in everything you do! I really have to start working on that! LOL

Frizzinbee,

Would that be a young Elvis Presley walking around in Darryl's Record store? 

"Buy a round of track for the boys! It's on me! "

Great work Dustin

Bob

McDoaker's Trains is excellent, Dustin!  A well trained husband!!!  I love it!!

Reminds me of a book we had when I was growing up; Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions, and billions, and trillions of cats!!!  Meow!!

So, long time no update!   I have the McDoakes' Train Shop ready to hook up on the layout...  but I need to get my buildings finished so I can finalize placement!   Every time I add or swap a building stuff gets shuffled around...  and its hindering my ability to do roads and finishing scenery.

I've been working on several "tall" buildings simultaneously.  Most are not complete - missing exterior details and interior details/lighting - but you get a sense for how they are starting to fit together below.  These "family pictures" are missing two of the taller buildings (one is on order and the other is on my workbench):

I'll show the individual buildings in more detail as I finish them.  More to come!