Toolbelt
Well-Known Member
Maybe she could produce backdrops and you could combine hobbies?
A Beginner's Journey Pt 2
- Thread starter Jacob Z
- Start date
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- beginner layout build
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My new layout is 36" which is very comfortable to work on. My last layout was 48" which is super easy to work under and an interesting level for viewing.
Dave LASM
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A lot of patches in my ballast didn't adhere (not enough cement?) so I had to patch up the gaps. This time I was careful about thoroughly saturating them. I'm still frustrated that in the process the ballast loses its nice shape, but I will have to get over that. I will tell myself it looks more rural this way.
I also primed the supports for the tunnel that might be visible to somebody peering inside, in preparation for painting later. Yes, I am a sloppy painter. I quickly realized that it would have been a lot easier to do this before gluing them down. Lesson learned.
Anyway, I'm excited that my package is finally arriving today. It's been in the care of the USPS for 21 days (I think that the $10 for shipping was actually $2 for postage and $8 for storage...). It contains the ramps I need before I can lay out any more track, which has been holding me up. In the meantime I discovered that my local train shop has almost everything I ordered on their shelves, hidden away in a remote corner in the back.
The other thing I could do today is some scenery in that bottom left corner. It's isolated from everything else, so I could put some little standalone scene there. Maybe sheep or cows and a fence to keep them off the tracks.
I also primed the supports for the tunnel that might be visible to somebody peering inside, in preparation for painting later. Yes, I am a sloppy painter. I quickly realized that it would have been a lot easier to do this before gluing them down. Lesson learned.
Anyway, I'm excited that my package is finally arriving today. It's been in the care of the USPS for 21 days (I think that the $10 for shipping was actually $2 for postage and $8 for storage...). It contains the ramps I need before I can lay out any more track, which has been holding me up. In the meantime I discovered that my local train shop has almost everything I ordered on their shelves, hidden away in a remote corner in the back.
The other thing I could do today is some scenery in that bottom left corner. It's isolated from everything else, so I could put some little standalone scene there. Maybe sheep or cows and a fence to keep them off the tracks.
Attachments
While I'm waiting for my ballast to dry, I took my first shot at weathering, and I have to say I'm pretty happy. This was very simple stuff: I just wanted to put a layer of sooty grime on a couple of items, so that they look like they spend a lot of time around steam locos rather than having just come out of a box. Here's the before and after pictures of my bridge piers and an old transfer caboose I picked up (which is dirtier than it shows in this picture, but you can at least see that it took off the "Hi, I'm plastic!" shine.) Those shiny metal wheels are also getting swapped out.
I was really nervous about picking up an airbrush, but it turns out that even a klutz like me can do simple things like this straight out of the box.
I was really nervous about picking up an airbrush, but it turns out that even a klutz like me can do simple things like this straight out of the box.
Welp, I waited three weeks for the stuff I needed before I could lay more track, and when the shipment arrived, the one thing I needed was missing from the order. So I'm trying something else while I wait...
In the meantime, I decided I could work on one small corner that is independent of the next stage of track-laying. It's a small meadow with some cows and trees, and a rusted barbed wire fence to keep them off the tracks. There's a quarrystone wall at the back of the meadow, and a gate at each end of the fence. I tried to add some realistic details, such as the grass outside the fence where the cows can't eat it being much longer, and having lots of variation in the grass color and length. For the keen-eyed, there are even some cowpats in the field.
In the meantime, I decided I could work on one small corner that is independent of the next stage of track-laying. It's a small meadow with some cows and trees, and a rusted barbed wire fence to keep them off the tracks. There's a quarrystone wall at the back of the meadow, and a gate at each end of the fence. I tried to add some realistic details, such as the grass outside the fence where the cows can't eat it being much longer, and having lots of variation in the grass color and length. For the keen-eyed, there are even some cowpats in the field.
In case it's not obvious, I am not doing things in the conventional recommended order. Maybe that works for people who plan really thoroughly and know where everything is going to go, and have infinitely more patience than I do to see something complete. But I need to feel like I am having progress by completing something. Also, I quickly discovered that my paper plans needed to be adjusted on the fly, mainly because of my lack of experience and failing to completely account for clearances and tolerances etc. In other words, nothing fits exactly the way it did on the layout plan, and my plan did not leave enough wiggle room to account for that.
I have also realized that it is easier to lay down "substrate" such as plaster sheets first, then put roadbed over the top of them, rather than trying to match those scenic "foundation" elements right up to the edge. So my order of operations in each section is:
- substructure (foam, balled-up newspaper)
- plaster sheets
- wash/paint plaster sheets with undercoat (earth or grass as appropriate
- foam track underlay
- ballast
- power drops
That way, I find it much easier to not have any awkward gaps or seams between the roadbed and the rest of the scene.
I have also realized that it is easier to lay down "substrate" such as plaster sheets first, then put roadbed over the top of them, rather than trying to match those scenic "foundation" elements right up to the edge. So my order of operations in each section is:
- substructure (foam, balled-up newspaper)
- plaster sheets
- wash/paint plaster sheets with undercoat (earth or grass as appropriate
- foam track underlay
- ballast
- power drops
That way, I find it much easier to not have any awkward gaps or seams between the roadbed and the rest of the scene.
KB02
Well-Known Member
I'm still waiting on the stone walls I need before gluing down my inclines (I need to make sure the clearances work) so in the meantime I built the Faller freight depot. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, it was about the right level of difficulty for me as a beginner, and the colors are very muted and a bit weathered right out of the box. I would like to add some rust to the metal roof, if I can figure out how to do that without it looking like I splodged orange and brown paint around, which is what my experiments so far look like.
The kit came with a whole bunch of tiny crates and barrels with impressive detail for such a small and minor element, so I am painting those. (You can see a few in the middle unpainted). I figured that the easiest method was to paint them still on the sprue, then when dry cut them free and touch up the remaining end or side. Surprisingly, the best color I've gotten on the wooden elements is from the brown in Hobby Lobby's cheapest "box of 18 colors" which dries to look like a dark wood. I did most of the oil drums in black, and a couple in Vallejo Dark Rust (top left) which turned out pretty good and made me wish I'd dome more of the drums in that color!
Also I'm tempted to find the most fluorescent green or yellow paint I can find and have one of the oil drums sitting in a little pool of it like it's leaking something radioactive...
Attach files
The kit came with a whole bunch of tiny crates and barrels with impressive detail for such a small and minor element, so I am painting those. (You can see a few in the middle unpainted). I figured that the easiest method was to paint them still on the sprue, then when dry cut them free and touch up the remaining end or side. Surprisingly, the best color I've gotten on the wooden elements is from the brown in Hobby Lobby's cheapest "box of 18 colors" which dries to look like a dark wood. I did most of the oil drums in black, and a couple in Vallejo Dark Rust (top left) which turned out pretty good and made me wish I'd dome more of the drums in that color!
Also I'm tempted to find the most fluorescent green or yellow paint I can find and have one of the oil drums sitting in a little pool of it like it's leaking something radioactive...
Attach files
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I've started thinking about the height of my benchwork. Right now it's resting on a couple of trestles from my workshop that eventually I'm going to want back. I think I'd like to put it on wheels, and I'm thinking something like these retractable casters. The idea is that most of the time the layout will sit over the top of the workbench in my train room, but when I need the workbench I can move it to the opposite side of the room. It can live on that side permanently, because it would block a built-in closet I need to access quite often.
I also want the layout to rest on the base without being fixed to it. The reason for that is that if I ever need to move it out of the room it is in, it will need to come apart to go through the doorway...
Net of all that is that I am thinking of a height of around 42". That seems like a good viewing height standing up, and will also leave plenty of clearance above the workbench so that I don't need to clear everything off when the layout is in position.
If I'm missing anything, let me know!
I also want the layout to rest on the base without being fixed to it. The reason for that is that if I ever need to move it out of the room it is in, it will need to come apart to go through the doorway...
Net of all that is that I am thinking of a height of around 42". That seems like a good viewing height standing up, and will also leave plenty of clearance above the workbench so that I don't need to clear everything off when the layout is in position.
If I'm missing anything, let me know!
Vallejo makes paint that may work. https://www.dickblick.com/products/...oWTmxjAtkrwfEh0LPEr9d7EgXs1UsHgH3P4WT6ujDSeKe
logandsawman
Northern Pacific history enthusiast
42" is a reasonable height. I had wheels on a small layout and it was too slippery. Was difficult to keep still. I ended up removing the wheels and sliding it to move, with the wood legs resting directly on the floor.
My new layout is 36" which is very comfortable to work on. My last layout was 48" which is super easy to work under and an interesting level for viewing.
Dave LASM
I'm hoping the retractable wheels will give me the best of both worlds: stable when they are up, easy to move when they are down
Kentuckyjed
Active Member
I like the idea of the retractable wheels I just wonder what the weight limit might be on those and or the tension of the bolts/screws that are in the 2x4 legs.
This is what I ordered, mainly because it was the smallest, cheapest retractables I could find*. It claims to support 600lbs, which I think should be adequate...
You make a good point about the tension. The legs I've made are Ls from a 1x2 and a 1x3 rather than solid. They are going to be attached to the frame with carriage bolts. I might put bracers across the side legs to counter any twisting.
You make a good point about the tension. The legs I've made are Ls from a 1x2 and a 1x3 rather than solid. They are going to be attached to the frame with carriage bolts. I might put bracers across the side legs to counter any twisting.
I'm quite pleased with this. I need to cut a 3/4"x3/4" notch in a longish piece of foam, and it needed to be a lot more square and straight than I could manage by hand. (My previous attempts at foam cutting are hilarious bad, especially compared to the beautiful examples on the box.) So I rigged up a jig with a fence, kind of analogous to a table saw or router, with the hot foam knife clamped horizontally. By sliding the foam along the fence I was able to cut a 3/4" line one way, flipped it around by 90 degrees and cut the other way, and the waste fell out.
By the way, I'm sure this was obvious to those of you are mechanically inclined, but for somebody as mechanically declined as me, this was an Aha! moment.
By the way, I'm sure this was obvious to those of you are mechanically inclined, but for somebody as mechanically declined as me, this was an Aha! moment.
I'm quite pleased with how this turns out. It's the Titchy Trains wood water tower kit, and when I saw the small parts and discovered some mods would be required because of wear on their mold, I had a lot of trepidation. This is only my 2nd kit since I was a teenager some 35 years ago. Anyway, it turned out well, and while it requires care and patience it was not beyond the capabilities of this beginner.
Lesson learned: read all the instructions before starting. If an instruction doesn't seem to make sense, read it three more times until it does.
For the colors, I used Woodland Scenics Slate on the roof and Concrete on the base. The tower color is Vallejo Wood (71.077). The brown timbers are Hobby Lobby's cheapest basic brown from a $5 set of 18 colors, which dries to a remarkably realistic-looking wood finish with a lot of natural-looking variation with no skill nor technique on my part.
Lesson learned: they mean it when they say to thin your acrylics. I spent more time cleaning my airbrush than painting with it today.
Lesson learned: read all the instructions before starting. If an instruction doesn't seem to make sense, read it three more times until it does.
For the colors, I used Woodland Scenics Slate on the roof and Concrete on the base. The tower color is Vallejo Wood (71.077). The brown timbers are Hobby Lobby's cheapest basic brown from a $5 set of 18 colors, which dries to a remarkably realistic-looking wood finish with a lot of natural-looking variation with no skill nor technique on my part.
Lesson learned: they mean it when they say to thin your acrylics. I spent more time cleaning my airbrush than painting with it today.
I've had success taking the "shine" off with the very lightest black overspray from my airbrush, so I might well do that. I've only used washes so far on rocks, so I will have to try that on something "sacrificial" soon.Looks great!
Now hit it with a black wash and tone it down....if you want to.
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