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

[Smudge617]

I’m not planning on adding any lighting to my structures. Thought about it during the design phase of my layout but decided against it.

I assume your putting in crossing and street lights tho'?

 

[GuilfordRailman]

I assume your putting in crossing and street lights tho'?

No street lights planned at the moment but I would like to have operational crossing bucks. Unfortunately, the ones I want from NJ International aren’t available.

 

[Smudge617]

No street lights planned at the moment but I would like to have operational crossing bucks. Unfortunately, the ones I want from NJ International aren’t available.

Have you thought about maybe scratch building them?

 

[GuilfordRailman]

Have you thought about maybe scratch building them?

I was planning on scratch building some nonfunctional ones for now. Still need to come up with an electrical design for functional cross bucks.

 

[GuilfordRailman]

I decided to attempt some weathering on the retaining walls. I utilized a few different colors of weathering powders to create the effects. I will probably add a few more details here and there over the next day or two and then I’ll seal it with some matte clear coat.

On a different note…I accidentally peeled up some of the road coating and markings on Main St after having left some painting tape on too long for touching up the cross walk, so….I had to call the town and have them pave the road with a fresh coat.

 

[GuilfordRailman]

I’ve been working on the storefronts for the Merchant’s Row III kit some more the last few days. I painted, weathered, and adhered door ways to the main wall section as well as the cornice. I then went ahead and glued the window material and decals to the storefronts to finalize the look.

I also managed to begin gluing the main structure component’s together and will most likely finish that step tomorrow. After that, all that’s needed is some smaller detail parts and any necessary touchups.

 

[GuilfordRailman]

Just about wrapped up on the Merchant’s Row III kit. I glued the roof down today and once that’s dry, I’ll glue down the chimneys. The only things left to prime/paint are the back staircase and downspouts. I’ll also be ordering the Walther’s Rooftop Details kit to add some details to this structure and the others as well.

One thing that is new to me is working with plastic cement. I made a few models here and there when I was real young but it’s been a while since using this stuff. I had forgotten how “dangerous” it could be and ended up accidentally spreading some onto the corner of the structure which ate away at the weathering/paint.

While unfortunate, I think I can mask the damage with some DIY vines using Woodland Scenics Polyfiber painted brown and covered with Noch Dark Green Leaves. I found this technique on Youtube.

 

[GuilfordRailman]

I’ve moved on to my Merchant’s Row II kit. It has been painted and weathered and I’ve spent the last hour gluing in the window pieces. I still need to paint/weather the storefront doors which I’m hoping to get to this weekend.

I’ve also finally painted and weathered the smoke stacks for the mattress factory. I painted them black and followed that up with some rusty brown weathering powder and matte clear coat.

Lastly, I took some time to redo the crosswalks and street markings on the section of repaved road in the city block portion of the layout. I still need to create the parallel parking lines but before I do, I want to make sure they are of accurate size. The last ones I did seemed to be a bit too large.

 

[GuilfordRailman]

So…while working on my Merchant’s Row II kit, I accidentally got some plastic cement on the window panes for the corner of the building. Before I could remove it all, a lot of it dried and left some ugly marks. I had to get creative so I decided to make the clear panes into frosted window panes. I did this by sanding off the glue using a medium grit sand block and creating the frosted look with a fine sanding block.

I still haven’t glued the window in as I need to paint this section, but I’m hoping to be able to do that tomorrow after work.