The wife's HO Atlas layout...


Thanks guys, as always - your thoughts are appreciated.

Dry brushing the bricks after doing the mortar is a good idea and one I will have to try out. Of course, I will have to take a look at how to dry brush first, even though it does seem self explanatory.

Last night, I spent about an hour just looking at the structure of the walls and how much detail there was. Yeah, I have a very boring life!

What I did notice, especially when looking at the physical building and photo's together, was the depth and subsequent width of the area needed to mortised. That is a fairly wide, deep area. Take a look at the pictures in post 490 and I think you will see what I mean.

What I think might be happening is the Mortar Wash is covering an area larger than the size of the bricks. If I am right, then it isn't so much that I am doing some thing wrong, or at least that wrong, than the mortar lines being a little too wide and when being filled with the wash, that size overly emphasizes the mortar color.

Does that make sense? Is that possible do you think? If it is, then it wont matter what I do, I wont get the desired effect.

Okay, so moving on. I did a little more to the area at the top left of the layout (above the town).

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This shot shows the formation of the road in its infancy. I think it will work well when done:

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I'm still FAR from happy with it but I think I 'MAYBE" getting it improved a little. I really need to see it with color on it to see how it will fit in with the existing and now older part of the mountain. My biggest dislike is that the area above the tracks seems to be disproportionate to the rest. It just doesn't seem to fit the way it should, like it's big brother on the right side of the layout fits. Do you know or see what I mean?
 
What I have in mind...

Okay guys,

Here is what I have in mind, and did have in mind when I decided to put the road in:

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You have to imagine this with the area behind and around the houses tree covered and landscaped.
 
I think you need a higher, wider backdrop i.e. more mountain behind that to make that area look more like the foothills of that/those mountain/s. Doesn't have to be the Matterhorn, just broader.
 
Toot'n,

You might be right! I have been looking at it and knew there was something wrong, now I see it. I need to extend the mountain area along the left and right to the ends, or almost the ends of the current mountain. Basically, out toward the road bridge and down toward the rock face on the right.

Those additions will have to be removable though so I can get into the tunnel if needed. Not a problem.

Thanks mate, sometimes we cant see the forest for the tree's - this is one of those times for me.
 
Its always messy when modeling to the point you like it, its called being an artist with a blurred vision.:)
Those buildings look great are they woodland scenic?
 
Lynn,

Thanks but think my vision was a little more than just blurred when I did this mountain area. Last night though, I made 'some improvements' and will post the pictures when I upload them.

Woodlands Scenic buildings ... I'm flattered beyond words. All three of them are old plastic unknown brand kits, someone started to build but never finished at some time, my wife and I found in a Junk Shop in Gettysburg (PA) nearly 2 years ago.

I think we paid something like $3 or $5 for them. I have been slowly refurbishing them, well two of the three anyway. The third is supposed to be a Haunted House that I haven't, and probably wont, touch other than cleaning of the plaster dust and crud.
 
Progress at last!

Last night I worked on the mountain area of the layout. Cut down a heap of trees so I could see the forest and have ended up with this, so far.

My first aim was to complete the road bridge and locate that so I build the extension to the tunnel. Both the bridge and the tunnel extension will be removable to allow access to the tunnel:

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I then started work on the excavations for the buildings and getting them located:

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Still have some work do on the excavating and putting in landfill, but that wont take too long. Once that is done I will do the removable tunnel extension for the opposite end.
 
Hi Tony,

I love those houses as they would fit perfectly on my layout.
Any lights in them? if not, are you going to put some?

I need to spend a few hours searching for such houses.

I'm also working on my hills (just started) and I've got 25 feet to do, so a bit every day mixed with a bit of tracks, a bit of structures, just about a bit of everything keeps me insane.

Take care
 
Hawke,

Sounds like your approach to building your layout is the same as mine, a bit here, a bit there; although I don't do it to stay insane - I stay insane through more "normal" methods :)

The houses are ones that had been partially built and in a second hand/junk store. They were floating around in a box of stuff, have bits and pieces missing and or broken on them. I've had them for about 2 years and did nothing with them until recently. As you can probably tell, I am trying to refurbish them, a little bit.

I am not sure about the Haunted House (the one with the windows etc boarded up) but the other two are still available. I think I may have even seen the Green One as a Built Up, but not sure. If it wasn't that particular model, it was darn close.

All of my buildings have lights in them. Some, like the three you see above, only have the good old Model Power Self Adhesive type lights but they will be changed out for SMD LED's. All of my other structures have LED's for lighting with one or two LED's per building depending on the size of the building. The City Hall Building will probably end up with 4 LED's in it, all being independently operable.

At the end of the day, I will have 22 lit buildings on the layout as well as some Track Side Structures that will have lighting and 12 street Lights to go in.

My lighting wiring is going to be a nightmare, but will be well worth it in the end I think. All lights will be able to be turned on and off individually, building to building and (in some cases) room to room within a building. The the street lights will be connected to one switch obviously, and come on together.

With 22 buildings, each with at least 2 LEDs per building and each LED on its own switch, I'll let you figure out what the wiring is going to look like. I get a headache just thinking about it :)
 
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wombat457 said:
I then started work on the excavations for the buildings and getting them located:





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Click to expand...

The house on the left is an old Revell "Farm House" that was available from the 60's up through the 80's by Revell, Heljan, IHC, and other brand names. The house in the middle is an Atlas structure that was once available as a built up model and as a kit. The kit is probably still available. The "haunted house" is a Model Power structure that was available as both a kit or a built up. Model Power is gone, but these may still be on some hobby shop shelves.
 
Jim,

Thanks, I thought the middle house was an Atlas kit but didn't want to say anything in case I was wrong - which would not have surprised me in the least. Don't mind being wrong, just don't like embarrassing myself :)

Since the above picture was taken, I have all but completed the excavations for the "Revell" house so it sit almost level. I will need to build the front up by about 1/2", but hey - it'll work. I have also put in the "slab" (appropriate terminology) for the Haunted House and started to blend that in with the terrain. Should have something a little more final by this evening.
 
Tony for that lift out if you were to use a 3/16 bolt with washers and nut you could thread it up from the bottom and have the bolt end extended to grab hold for lift out and simply put some scenery in front of it to hide. Your not going to leave it flat top are ?
 
The layout seems to be coming along well. I like it. I like the mountain area in the back. I've been looking for some old houses like that as well. I really like the look of the bridge. Keep up the great work!
 
Lynnb said:
Tony for that lift out if you were to use a 3/16 bolt with washers and nut you could thread it up from the bottom and have the bolt end extended to grab hold for lift out and simply put some scenery in front of it to hide. Your not going to leave it flat top are ?
Click to expand...

Lynn, not leaving it flat. It is in fact one of the dilemmas I have at the moment - how to do the plastering/terrain on the lift out section and have it blend in with the surrounding permanent terrain, without it end up sticking to the permanent terrain.

My intention is to build the lift out section up (angled) to look as though it is attached to the existing mountain just beneath where the foam hasn't as yet been plastered. It was suggested to use aluminium foil to cover the permanent terrain and plaster over that and down onto the lift out section. Theoretically, that should create the appearance of it all being one piece.

Resqnu said:
The layout seems to be coming along well. I like it. I like the mountain area in the back. I've been looking for some old houses like that as well. I really like the look of the bridge. Keep up the great work!
Click to expand...

Thanks, you have no idea how much work has been done just on the area you can see in the first picture in post 505. Considering how much has been done. and how long it has taken - about the only thing that can now been seen (different to that picture) is leveled area for the house that ill sit there.

The road bridge didn't turn out too badly either, just wish I had have made it another 1/2" or 3/4" wider. What I am thinking of doing is putting a layer of plaster over the road section to make it look as though it was a timber bridge that had been asphalted (black topped). Still toying with that idea though.
 
So here is the "insert/lift out" sitting on its own:

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As you can see from the various angles and over hangs, doing that without getting the plaster on the existing terrain was what was causing me the head ache. The Tin Foil was a great and successful remedy that allowed me to plaster 'over' the existing terrain that will create an almost invisible seam.

Here it is with the second layer of Plaster on it:

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I am probably going to need to apply at least 2 more layers of plaster to get the slopes etc I need.
 
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gator do 65 said:
Tony,
Thats a funny looking roof for that building!:cool:
Click to expand...

Ahh yeah, well there is a factual story to this style of building.

You see back in Oz, there is a place called Cooper Pedy - an Opal Mining town, where it gets so hot that a lot of people build their homes underground by simply digging holes, basically. That is true too by the way. These homes (when inside them), are no different to any normal home other than the temp in them that remains constant, regardless of the above ground temp.

So ... this building is designed on that way of living :)
 
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