Building the Pinnacle Creek Mining & Timber Co. RR


Jury Duty: tough trial found the defendant guilty. I say tough because all 12 of use were upset with the police handling of the crime. None of us had a happy experience.
NEXT UP: After plucking your stalk of branches drill those holes and glue in the branches. I use Aleen's tacky glue or WScenics glue. In the above photo you see
woodland Scenics products. In the bottom bottle you see some Earth Blend shake on scenery. Same stuff sprinkle all over the layout. The top bottle hole 4mm static grass. For our tree branches to look more real and appealing This is all you need. You take your branch and cover your tree with the cheapest can of hair spray available. Any big store carries some brand of super duper extra hold, up to 405 times the hold of the other brands. This probably will cost less the $2. Spray on the tops of your branches, it is okay to do the bottoms if you want darker trees. I like some contrast I my trees for this layout. Put the spray can down and shake the lower bottle all over the tops of the branches. Spray again to fix the Earth Blend on your branches. Quickly put the spray can down and shake the static grass on all the branch tops. Spray again to 'fix' the static grass. No electricity in this operation. You should come out with this:
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WATER, WATER, EVERYWHERE and not a drop to drink. Common phrase during the six years I sailed around the world.

Water on a layout is a good item to use. Not real water of course. Instead I use another Woodland Scenics product shown in the photo below. I use because it has never failed me. Never discolored with time. The product, Realistic Water, is just like it says, realistic. Simply pour the water where you want it and a day or two later you're in business. Realistic Water can be re-poured to build more depth, it will not show "layers." There are many products out there that are as good, but none easier to use that I know of. Mixing stuff like epoxy is the first step to issues in MY book.

Issues with all these water products including Realistic Water is that if you have NOT sealed your water course or pond with something like clear silicone you are asking for trouble.. You should put it on the places where "water' can leak. This includes plaster cloth that you've seen me put on this layout. Just finger on the silicone and let dry a couple of days. The bottle shown in the photo is the second bottle I purchased, yes, I forgot to use silicone. (old man). I put the realistic water in my stream and pond, took a nap for an hour, got up, and my realistic water even made it to the floor. Lucky this is water soluble, so I wiped it all up with paper towels, many paper towels. My mistake cost another $25 for a new bottle!
Foam layouts where you have chiseled, or cut out your water course are fine with these products. You would put a layer of plaster cloth down over the water course or pond. Put down correctly adhering to the bottom will do just fine. The product will leak through the sides of your pond above your silicone if you over pour. More on stopping the flood later.
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I've said the these water products will leak through the smallest hole. In a foam layout your safe, but an old fashion type of layout can be an issue. Using clear silicone is well worth the effort. In small layouts like this one it is only natural that a stream comes and goes quicker than large layouts, but the coming section and the going sections have to be address. In the photos below you see the duct tape method. On my curving layout you would think this is enough. The realistic water that found the floor came from both my duct tape ends. These products are tricky to get a good seal. I have found that actually building a dam across the stream and using silicone is the only way to keep these water products off the floor. I did not use a dam just the tape. Wrong!
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Back to this photo. (see below) I'm a gamer, and I like fun stuff like contests and quizzes. I'm surprised that some of the old hands didn't see my question about story telling on a small layout as a challenge with this $350 loco as a contest, and the loco the prize. Sadly no one guessed how this loco could be used on this little layout. Time is up. Answer in the next post.
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So this is a narrow gauge layout?
The thought did cross my mind when you posted The picture, but then being old I lost my train of thought and didn't ask.
Dang it, I could have been a contender !
T.C.
 
T.C. said:
So this is a narrow gauge layout?
The thought did cross my mind when you posted The picture, but then being old I lost my train of thought and didn't ask.
Dang it, I could have been a contender !
T.C.
Click to expand...
TC, Forgive me for not saying that this is On30. I've done all scales, z,n,ho, and On30. As I got older and less able to use my fingers I went to On30.
 
I'm Bushed. Next up a first cousin to 'laying.' The more layers the more realistic you layout will look real; at least to an acceptable level. The last layer we put on the ground, other than trees, is bushes. Woodland Scenics, and other companies have made great strides to help with our layouts. Regardless of scale you can find something that fits. Most of these items can even be torn apart to make smaller Z scale type plants. We are treated good by these companies. One product, from MicroMark, is called Super Trees. I can't say enough about this product other than if you don't have a box full you need to get it. Super Trees can be trees depending on your scale, or can be bushes or trees. Here a couple of photos showing super trees. They pull apart or can be clumped together for any purpose you want.
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We are nearing the end of this layout thread, but before we finish we have to take a look at the red shack. It is a resin casting from Rusty Rails. It is available in HO and On30. I'm not sure about N, check them out. Also, what about the barn red color? This photo will explain a lot.
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