Trick or Treat Layout - build thread (4'x7')

Looks awesome so far

Zombies, lots of Zombies

Spooky!

Thanks guys.  

sadly I only have a few zombies. Two actually came in tonight crawling out of their graves! And another mummy.

I shaped the dead corners tonight.  For a first go around, I'm fairly pleased.  It will be rock sides with some grassy areas with brush.  The only problem is I'm having a hard time NOT seeing a butt on the one corner.  Lol

 Tomorrow night I'm planning on digging out the cemetery area with a wire wheel on a grinder. Pink snow, here I come!!

Question for you all. When it's time to do the turf and path way, which should I apply first?

Looks great, better hurry Halloween is around the corner.  

For the turf and pathway I would put the base down first (dirt) then any turf or grass and shrubs. 

Keep posting updates it's looking great. Nick T

The butt(e) is ok. It's the scenic Trick of the Trick or Treat layout. Do you have any kind of small audio player to have some sound loops under the layout?

My friend actually built a layout around his entire front porch and utilized dump cars to give candy. He hollowed out a few pumpkins for use as tunnels and stuff. You ought to try that.

Looks nice. great idea

Moonman posted:

The butt(e) is ok. It's the scenic Trick of the Trick or Treat layout. Do you have any kind of small audio player to have some sound loops under the layout?

haha, butte!  I like it.      I actually have a gaggle of speakers and audio equipment (another expensive hobby...lol) that I could get something going like that.  Good call!  Any suggestions on loops?

RaritanRiverRailroadFan4 posted:

My friend actually built a layout around his entire front porch and utilized dump cars to give candy. He hollowed out a few pumpkins for use as tunnels and stuff. You ought to try that.

Wow, that sounds really cool!  That might have to be next years plan, though. 

Thanks guys!

I performed a quick search and had bogus results mislabeled to direct one to junk. Give me a day or two to work on something. Would you want CD format or mp3? I have Halloween background haunted house stuff and some nice steamer whistles recorded live in valleys that have a haunting sound.

Oh my gosh that would be so cool!!  MP3 would be great! Thank you so much!

Tonights progress....setting the graveyard down into the foam. Or as I like to say...a toilet seat for the butt. Lol. Yup 12y/o sense of humor. 

This is after the wire wheel on the grinder:

And after a lot more more sanding and trimming...the fence is going to be a bit catywhompus...but that sorta fits an old cemetery look. 

Next up....we'll...maybe some texture with a propane torch (not sure yet, but I need to do something about the remaining super flat areas), then paint and first layer of turf!!

scolba posted:

Next up....we'll...maybe some texture with a propane torch (not sure yet, but I need to do something about the remaining super flat areas), then paint and first layer of turf!!

You've made outstanding progress. Very creative use of a wire wheel! Before you "blow it", I would strongly suggest doing a test run with a scrap before I'd put a torch to that piece of foam. That stuff is highly flammable. Whatever you do, take it outside and keep a fire extinguisher handy.

Thanks, Gilly! Excellent advice, too! 

Progress update! After a couple days away, I needed to get back to it. Unfortunately this is all I have time for today, and also ran out of turf!! Doh! But still, progress is progress.

So first I wanted to get the torch work out of the way. It was fun, and added a bit of dimension that I was hoping for.  Mainly the big ares outside the track, but I did it across the center too, if only slightly  pretty much only left the track area alone  

Next I cut out the spot for the lake of candy. Initially I though just a drop in would be fine, but I decided to go ahead and sink it inoto the board so it was closer to flush.  A sabre saw and rotary cutter made quick work of it!

After that came the part I'm most nervous about! Paint and turf!! Eep. It went on pretty well but I used way more turf than I though I would.  I used a whole bottle on just over half. But here are the results.

Not too bad really.  The butt looks less buttish now.  Lol. Hopefully going to get more turn this afternoon, and MAYBE some more work tonight.

so, question.  With this still in progress, should I not plan on hitting it with the glue/ISO/water mix until it's all down? Or do I need to do that sooner? 

Great looking layout so far !  I like your idea on the candy lake .

Please post more photos as you go !  

Are you going to make a Christmas layout as well ?  

thanks!  Yeah I plan on doing a Christmas layout, too.  Not quite sure how that one is going to go, yet, though.  The lady wants it around the tree, which is all fine, but I also want to do scenery.  So we are trying to figure out what is going to be cat safe before settling in on a final plan. 

Turfs up! No wait. Turfs done!  So is the gravel trail.  I think once this dries (overnight) I'll put the track down. After that I'll do the coarse turf and additional colors I have to add some more dimension, then I'll clean up some of the missed spots and the transition points around the track and path. 

Getting closer to the trees, tombstones, fence and figures!

(Too windy to work outside, don't judge me on my messy garage!!! Lol)

Another update! Did some aging of the tombstones and fence tonight, too. Man, this is gonna take some practice. First did some gray to dirty it up, then some dark green to mold/mildew it.

Need to get a little red to add some rust. Maybe I'll add that to the list for tomorrow, too.

The turf brought out the terrain sculpting with the torch. A little less aggressive with the heat would look good to my eye. It looks good now! Thanks for technique.

Don't get too exacting with the coloring. It will look good when it's installed.

Look at the Rustoleum colors for the rust red. I can't remember the product number, but there is one that looks real nice that is used by a number of folks on the forum for the rust color.

I agree 100% Carl. While I'm not disappointed with how it turned out for the first time, a little less will definitely go a long way!! Maybe it will look less like a WWII battlefield then.  

I was out playing disc golf the other day and noticed in the park that we play, the ground seems to slope away from all the tree bases...well, deciduous ones anyhow. Then I started noticing that in yards and on hiking trails too.  So I'm thinking I will try to plant mine in the high spots in an attempt to make it look a little more natural. But at the end of the day, I don't think the trick or treaters will notice. Lol

Thanks for the tip on the rustoleum! I'll seek it out!

Ok, I found it - Krylon or Rustoleum Earth Brown Camo  - it's flat and guys use it for rail rust color.

Ah nice, thanks!  Moonman coming through again on the resources!   

That looks a lot more red than one would guess based on the name. 

Looks great so far.  I've thought about doing a Halloween layout out on my front porch for years, but I always think that no one would really stop to enjoy it.  We all know how kids work.  It's a race to get as much candy as possible.  They will not linger to watch the layout.  But I may end up trying it anyway one year for my own enjoyment.  Looking forward to seeing your completed layout.

Thanks dude!  We worried about getting people here, too.  But we put out some orange and purple lights on the bushes and some Glowing pumpkins along the driveway to prime people ahead of time so that they know this will be a stop.  And like you said, this is for me too.  I used to hate Halloween, but this is getting me in the spirit....pun intended.    Plus, I play bass at 2 different churches here, and we are doing both of their "Trunk or Treats", so it will definitely get some exposure.  Thankfully this will fit perfectly into the bed of my truck!  

Not much progress lately....been crazy busy!  But I did get a remote control RGB LED flood light wired up (no pics) and the soundtrack done this evening, with the assistance of Moonman!  Not much to look at it unless you are a big sound nerd like I am, but something to see none the less.  Its a Halloween/scary sounds based soundtrack with a couple select samples of train noises and ghost whistles thrown in.    Thanks a million for the source Moony! (Carl!)

They do have new mixes that dry fast, but traditional Rustoleum often takes a very long time to dry, like overnight at least. Cool temps maybe two days. The Kylon almost always has a much better dry time.

Looks great!

Outstanding creativity, I always enjoy a good theme layout! What type of engine will you be running on this layout?

Adriatic posted:

They do have new mixes that dry fast, but traditional Rustoleum often takes a very long time to dry, like overnight at least. Cool temps maybe two days. The Kylon almost always has a much better dry time.

Looks great!

I agree on the Krylon over Rustoleum dry time.  I was in a Lowes and their Rusto selection did not have the camo brown. They did have a flat primer in a rust red color.

Perhaps Home Depot has the Krylon.

Scolba: I hope the "Trunk or Treat" is a success. Good group to assist.

StillPlaysWithTrains1469 posted:

Outstanding creativity, I always enjoy a good theme layout! What type of engine will you be running on this layout?

Thanks! The engine is a Lionel 4-6-4 Hudson, Erie road. Heh, appropriate. Eeerrie....oooOOOOoohhhh.  

Will you have the layout finished in time for next weekend ?

Can you show us more new photos. 

Thanks 

And time for another update! Some decent progress but a ways to go. This is cleaning up of the transition points, track down, tombstones and fence in, and a bit of underbrush. Still to go: more underbrush, bushes and other coarse turf colors. Then trees of course. I'd like to get it all done tomorrow but that might be asking a bit too much.

Glue is still wet on some spots, hence the dark patches. 

Sohow do how do you guys like to handle tree armatures and putting them in the foam? I had some trouble getting this one to stick in. The pin at the bottom of the armatures seem a little too stubby. Any trick to that?

WRGMILW posted:

Will you have the layout finished in time for next weekend ?

Can you show us more new photos. 

Thanks 

Took me a long time to post that last update for some reason, so you beat me by a few min!  

I think I'm in good shape to finish up pending the tree stub issue. I have a busy week coming up so tomorrow is gonna be important!

Nice work.  Inspirational.  Gets me excited for Halloween.  Thanks.

You might be able to use a wood dowel, one end drilled for the pin, cemented, to get length, even send a screw in from the bottom to the dowel too.

A buzzard and/or bats for the tree would be cool. The buzzards are made I think. Ive seen them in white pot metal at imported good/ trade center/bazaar /flea marketish places on a cactus. Maybe a bit closer to 1:55+. Though. (often enough there might be one there too, lol. An upside down bird with the beak shaved off might pass for a bat...?

Chop an arm off any old normal figure and stick it in a hole over a grave, reaching, digging.

Here, kitty kitty kitty!

Thanks for sharing, this is a great idea and thread for it.  Personally, I struggle with layout design.  I can make old stuff run like new, wire anything but track plans and scenery are my down fall.  Fortunately, even though I am not very creative, I can imitate :-).  I like to use foam for more temporary layouts, it's lightweight (for storing away) and provides sound reduction. I've built several temporary layouts based on foam but never even thought of using a torch to add depth.  I am going to have to break out some scraps to see how it works.

IMHO, this should be featured in print.

Thanks again for sharing.  I can't wait to see the finished result!

Tony

Thanks for the tips guys!! And for the compliments, I appreciate it a lot! 

Adriatic posted:

You might be able to use a wood dowel, one end drilled for the pin, cemented, to get length, even send a screw in from the bottom to the dowel too.

A buzzard and/or bats for the tree would be cool. The buzzards are made I think. Ive seen them in white pot metal at imported good/ trade center/bazaar /flea marketish places on a cactus. Maybe a bit closer to 1:55+. Though. (often enough there might be one there too, lol. An upside down bird with the beak shaved off might pass for a bat...?

Chop an arm off any old normal figure and stick it in a hole over a grave, reaching, digging.

Here, kitty kitty kitty!

I ended up getting the foam and some foam safe loctite glue to work. Some of the trees had stick down a bit further in, but since this isn't a permanent layout it will be ok. When I talk the lady into letting me do a permanent layout in the basement I'll remember that tip! 

I like the buzzard and bat idea. I think those details will be on next years plan.  

Tony_V posted:

Thanks for sharing, this is a great idea and thread for it.  Personally, I struggle with layout design.  I can make old stuff run like new, wire anything but track plans and scenery are my down fall.  Fortunately, even though I am not very creative, I can imitate :-).  I like to use foam for more temporary layouts, it's lightweight (for storing away) and provides sound reduction. I've built several temporary layouts based on foam but never even thought of using a torch to add depth.  I am going to have to break out some scraps to see how it works.

IMHO, this should be featured in print.

Thanks again for sharing.  I can't wait to see the finished result!

Tony

As a programmer by day I can relate to immatation! Lol, that's all programming is. Copy/paste code. Haha.  And thanks, I appreciate the kind words!

Well.....I think it's done.  Interestingly, the contouring seemed to blend in a bit when all the trees and texture were in.  Added the trees, underbrush, bushes, and leaf litter.  It's amazing how fast 40 trees get used up, even on something this small. 

Messing with the alcohol/water mix and glue mix was a fun experiment. I think I finally mastered it.....by the last bush.  Lol

I toyed with the idea of the adding fake cobweb to the trees or fence, but I think I'll leave it as is. 

Ill need to build a frame support for it next, and am just now realizing I need to paint the perimeter of the foam, still. So not quite done yet.    So, these wet spots will eventually evaporate, right?? Lol, it's making me nervous that some haven't disappeared yet.

A few pics of the evenings progress:

Nice job on the scenery.   Perhaps you can do something more with the track?  Paint it or cover with ground covering up to the top of the roadbed?

It does sort of stand out, doesn't it? I sure wish I was in a position to replace it with gargraves and do ballast. Unfortunately this track will likely have to be reused for Christmas, so I don't want to do something permanent with it. But in terms of ground cover, do you think just coarse turf built up would be ok to make the seem disappear? I have a lot of burnt color (yellowish), and some bush and underbrush left. I was just worried about overdoing it. I really didn't want to do that.