Trying out a micro layout (or close to one).

[GuilfordRailman]

Decided I’d work on the tree trunks some more this evening. I had originally spray painted them a light brown color but I didn’t like the look of them. So….I went ahead and tried a technique I’ve never tried before on trees. After the initial layer of spray paint had dried, I used a slightly diluted mixture of gray, brown, and tan acrylic paint to create a variation in color for the trunks. After that dried, I applied two coats of an IPA and black India Ink mixture to create a textured and aged look to the trunks. I think they came out looking decent!

They are still drying slightly but afterwards I’ll go ahead and apply a coat of matte clear coat to finalize the process and hopefully get rid of any shiny parts of them.

I’ve also gone ahead and completed a portion of the Osborn models guard rail kit. I’m gonna give it some rusty weathering but after that I’ll add it to the layout

 

[GuilfordRailman]

Quick little update! I’m currently working on the trees. I forgot how finicky the Woodland Scenics trees can be with adhering the clumps of foliage to the armatures. I decided I’d work on one side of them, let them dry, then flip them over and do the other side. These ones are mainly complete, I just need to give them some finishing touches.

These ones are only halfway done so far.

I’ve also applied the rusty weathering to the guard rail and have it temporarily installed on the layout. Need to glue it in place still.

 

[santafewillie]

What I have found helpful when making trees like yours, is to use Elmer's Glue All white instead of School Glue. School Glue is more dilute and takes longer to get it's initial set.

 

[GuilfordRailman]

What I have found helpful when making trees like yours, is to use Elmer's Glue All white instead of School Glue. School Glue is more dilute and takes longer to get it's initial set.

Good to know! I originally used some matte mod podge but that didn’t work out so now I’m using the Elmers glue.

 

[OleSmokey]

I had good luck with woodlands scenic Hob-e-tac. That is what i used on all the trees.

 

[JeffH]

I used a spray adhesive, and just dusted the tips of the limbs.

 

[GuilfordRailman]

I had good luck with woodlands scenic Hob-e-tac. That is what i used on all the trees.

I’ve heard of Hob-e-tac before but never tried it. I’ll have to give it a try next time

 

[GuilfordRailman]

I used a spray adhesive, and just dusted the tips of the limbs.

I’m planning on dusting the trees with fine turf and sealing everything together with a spray adhesive afterwards. Hopefully it’ll keep it all together nicely!

 

[JeffH]

My trees do shed some of the clump foliage, but not so much that it's really noticable.

But once a week or so I go around with tweezers and pick up any clumps that may have shed.

Sounds like your method may work better than mine. I made about 400 trees, so I was in a production mode to pump out as many as I could as quickly as I could.

 

[GuilfordRailman]

My trees do shed some of the clump foliage, but not so much that it's really noticable.

But once a week or so I go around with tweezers and pick up any clumps that may have shed.

Sounds like your method may work better than mine. I made about 400 trees, so I was in a production mode to pump out as many as I could as quickly as I could.

I only need about 20 trees so it’s a little easier to take my time haha.

 

[GuilfordRailman]

With all the work I’ve been doing on the layout, I haven’t run trains much…or I should say train. With only the Alco S2, I realized having more variety would be better so I ordered a new locomotive! It caught my eye on Ebay and I couldn’t say no. I bought a Bangor & Aroostook dcc/loksound GP38. Here’s a screenshot from online:

 

[GuilfordRailman]

Still working on the trees, they need a quick dusting of fine turf and a layer of matte clear coat. I did however utilize some of the fine leaf foliage branches that came with the tree kit as smaller trees on the layout. I’ll probably add a few more but for now this is what I’ve done.

 

[JeffH]

Nice!

I'm a fan of the Woodland Scenic packages of "fine leaf foliage." Lots of "shake" for flocking trees and shrubs... There are usually several tree size pieces, and then a BUNCH of smaller "sapling" and "briar patch" pieces.

 

[GuilfordRailman]

Received my new locomotive today! Check out these videos below:

 

[GuilfordRailman]

I’ve taken some time today to go through a small collection of detail parts I had from my previous layout. Need to start planning where they can go…so much to do! I definitely think I’ll use the tarped loads for the bulkhead flat car.

I also had forgotten that I painted a couple figures from Miniprints.com. These definitely took some good hand-eye coordination haha. I have a few more figures left over but those are on the back burner for the time being.

Lastly, I’ve gone ahead and “dusted” the trees with some fine turf and sealed it all in. Once they’re completely dry, I’ll finally be able to add them to the layout.

 

[GuilfordRailman]

Received my WS chainlink fences the other day. Little disappointed…there are some obvious manufacturing defects on the painting. Not too worried though cause I’m sure I can find a way to cover up the defects. I ordered the WS privacy fence too. I thought a wooden fence would look good around the service station.

I’ve also gone ahead and placed the trees where I’d like them to go. Both the fence sections and trees aren’t glued down yet so that’ll be the next step.

 

[GuilfordRailman]

Haven’t had much time this past week to do some more work on the layout but I’ve begun prepping the Osborn Models utility pole kit which I’ll hopefully have time to work on this week.

I’ve also continued work on some of the smaller details. I weathered and adhered some 3D printed cinder blocks and tires that I had from my previous layout.

I’ve also glued together the pallets I had into small stacks and placed them at various locations.

 

[Christiaη]

So diesels can run on the road? Never seen that. Nice layout.

 

[GuilfordRailman]

So diesels can run on the road? Never seen that. Nice layout.

Uhhh yeah?…you didn’t know that haha. There was a hold up on the main so the engineer took a short cut.

 

[GuilfordRailman]

Had a few minutes this evening to get started on the utility poles and transformers. I’ll be using a silver metallic spray paint for the transformers and most likely just a few coats of a IPA/India ink blend for the poles.