The LF&NW Layout Thread
- Thread starter jwb
- Start date
One area that's been bugging me is a bare spot between St John's Episcopal Church and the Zenith Public Library. I always meant it to be a parking lot but never did anything to fix it up:
I shimmed it level with the sidewalk with my new miracle scenery product, corrugated cardboard:
I use a lot of Busch worn asphalt sheet https://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/189-7416 and cut some to size here:
I shimmed it level with the sidewalk with my new miracle scenery product, corrugated cardboard:
I use a lot of Busch worn asphalt sheet https://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/189-7416 and cut some to size here:
Hmm. I keep meaning to put a little bit of grass on the lawn on either side of the sidewalk. Will have to give some thought to the wrought iron, too. (I gave up on a sign saying "St John's Episcopal Church The Rev Windy Balderdash, Rector". Too small to read.
I do intend to start work upgrading another church, though.
I do intend to start work upgrading another church, though.
I mentioned just above that I have another church to work on. Here it is, in the half-done scenery around it:
As opposed to St John's Episcopal, in a higher-toned part of town, this is St Lawrence of Brindisi Catholic Church, in a less high-toned part of town. It's surrounded by a Northeastern Earl Smallshaw tenement kit, as well as an Alkem C&O standard cabin in the foreground. Above it is a snowy area, which will be snowy above a certain elevation.
My first task will be to level up St Lawrence, as well as to reattach some parts that have fallen off. This is a Kibri Romanesque church kit, heavily kitbashed. I will need to begin fleshing out the hillside scenery around it, too.
As opposed to St John's Episcopal, in a higher-toned part of town, this is St Lawrence of Brindisi Catholic Church, in a less high-toned part of town. It's surrounded by a Northeastern Earl Smallshaw tenement kit, as well as an Alkem C&O standard cabin in the foreground. Above it is a snowy area, which will be snowy above a certain elevation.
My first task will be to level up St Lawrence, as well as to reattach some parts that have fallen off. This is a Kibri Romanesque church kit, heavily kitbashed. I will need to begin fleshing out the hillside scenery around it, too.
logandsawman
Well-Known Member
Your parking lot with the flowers along the buildings turned out really nice. Is that new church going to fit in the spot you have it?
I've finished the preliminary assembly of the white foam lift-out scenery area at East Portal:
I used a red marker to mark out the boundaries where I will need to sand the foam to fit the terrain. You can also see what I mostly use to shape it, called Dragon Skin. http://www.foamez.com/dragon-skin-p-176.html I mentioned on another thread that it was plastic cheese grater basically, but it turns out it's steel. It can be shaped and used like sandpaper. I also mentioned on another thread a new show on cable called Museum Men, where a company builds museum exhibits mainly from huge blocks of white foam. This interests me a lot, because many mag articles and forum threads put down white foam in favor of pink or blue foam. A big objection is that it's highly flammable, which I guess is true if you light a match to it, but as other people have pointed out, a lot of stuff on a model layout is flammable -- wood structures, paper and cardboard scenery, paint, and so forth. White foam is just one more possibility among many. It's reassuring that a museum would use a huge amount of it, in light of what must be insurance requirements. Anyhow, it's free where I got it! Starting at about 0:48 here, you can see them shaping some of the big foam block. http://www.history.com/shows/museum...ubmarine?m=5189719baf036&s=All&f=1&free=false
I've ordered an ISLE Laboratories cast rock sheet https://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/473-803 that I'll be cutting up and using in the next phase here. The ISLE stuff is very light, which fits my requirements for a lift-out section -- don't want to use plaster rock here!
I used a red marker to mark out the boundaries where I will need to sand the foam to fit the terrain. You can also see what I mostly use to shape it, called Dragon Skin. http://www.foamez.com/dragon-skin-p-176.html I mentioned on another thread that it was plastic cheese grater basically, but it turns out it's steel. It can be shaped and used like sandpaper. I also mentioned on another thread a new show on cable called Museum Men, where a company builds museum exhibits mainly from huge blocks of white foam. This interests me a lot, because many mag articles and forum threads put down white foam in favor of pink or blue foam. A big objection is that it's highly flammable, which I guess is true if you light a match to it, but as other people have pointed out, a lot of stuff on a model layout is flammable -- wood structures, paper and cardboard scenery, paint, and so forth. White foam is just one more possibility among many. It's reassuring that a museum would use a huge amount of it, in light of what must be insurance requirements. Anyhow, it's free where I got it! Starting at about 0:48 here, you can see them shaping some of the big foam block. http://www.history.com/shows/museum...ubmarine?m=5189719baf036&s=All&f=1&free=false
I've ordered an ISLE Laboratories cast rock sheet https://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/473-803 that I'll be cutting up and using in the next phase here. The ISLE stuff is very light, which fits my requirements for a lift-out section -- don't want to use plaster rock here!
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logandsawman
Well-Known Member
In defense of the white foam, you can't really knock it if it's free. It is also easier to tear into; I always have the vacuum cleaner going when I am messing with it.
Thanks for posting your progress. lasm
Thanks for posting your progress. lasm
On the other side of the room, I'm working on a Fos Scale Del Giorno Fish kit. Here's the Fos photo:
I decided I had a good place for it. The original name for this spot on the layout was going to be Fish House, after a PRR branch near Camden, NJ (actually one lead to the Delair Bridge). I finally gave it a different name, but with the Fos kit, I decided to go back to Fish House. Here is the empty spot:
Before I ordered the kit, I cut a piece of cardboard to the dimensions shown on the Fos web site to be sure it would fit:
Great! Ordered the kit! Started the basic pier, shimmed up on a piece of foam:
Basic assembly and painting of components:
Starting to add corrugated siding:
Corrugated siding done:
Windows and roofing added:
I'm over the hump, not much left to do. I want to add lighting, this is a dark area of the layout.
I decided I had a good place for it. The original name for this spot on the layout was going to be Fish House, after a PRR branch near Camden, NJ (actually one lead to the Delair Bridge). I finally gave it a different name, but with the Fos kit, I decided to go back to Fish House. Here is the empty spot:
Before I ordered the kit, I cut a piece of cardboard to the dimensions shown on the Fos web site to be sure it would fit:
Great! Ordered the kit! Started the basic pier, shimmed up on a piece of foam:
Basic assembly and painting of components:
Starting to add corrugated siding:
Corrugated siding done:
Windows and roofing added:
I'm over the hump, not much left to do. I want to add lighting, this is a dark area of the layout.
Cjcrescent
Master Mechanic
Is there an end that fits over that opening? If not, I'd make one or paint the inside black. Otherwise that lighter colored wood will stick out.
Yannis, many thanks. Need to brush up on my Greek, but it's the Socrates kind! Here are some other views of this area, taken before I started the fish house:
The white buildings are another Fos kit, the Department of Docks. This is all a detail and scenery intensive area, and I'm working on it very slowly.
The white buildings are another Fos kit, the Department of Docks. This is all a detail and scenery intensive area, and I'm working on it very slowly.
