The College Kid Layout Building Saga - End?
- Thread starter catnippertom
- Start date
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or Ayres Rock on a model railway before. Or is it just me.
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catnippertom
That Oregon Guy
Update:
Got a little bit more done on the layout. I have been checking out this spackle from the dollar tree and I figured what the heck I'm going to try to use it on the mountain. I figure it's similar to sculpt a mold or plaster. I did my best with my hands applying the plaster. After some sanding, it should look pretty good. I Did a lot of carving that made a huge difference in how it looks but at the moment none of it can be seen. Should be fine though. Also seen is I added a bit more of the grass to one side of the layout. I am thinking about doing a pond or something on one side just to mix up the terrain. It looks quite flat. I might also use some scraps of the mountain for rocks and spread those around too. I have a few more smaller hills to make as well so the weight when storing is distributed evenly. Still excited to see how this looks in the morning. Hopefully, this works.
Got a little bit more done on the layout. I have been checking out this spackle from the dollar tree and I figured what the heck I'm going to try to use it on the mountain. I figure it's similar to sculpt a mold or plaster. I did my best with my hands applying the plaster. After some sanding, it should look pretty good. I Did a lot of carving that made a huge difference in how it looks but at the moment none of it can be seen. Should be fine though. Also seen is I added a bit more of the grass to one side of the layout. I am thinking about doing a pond or something on one side just to mix up the terrain. It looks quite flat. I might also use some scraps of the mountain for rocks and spread those around too. I have a few more smaller hills to make as well so the weight when storing is distributed evenly. Still excited to see how this looks in the morning. Hopefully, this works.
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catnippertom
That Oregon Guy
Update:
Progress is still being made! I have decided to cut out a spot for a small pond next to the station so I have started work on that. I think I am going to try out the saran wrap technique to make the water. I am first painting a base layer to peak through the wrap. I have also thought about trying the hot glue technique but that one is more of a challenge to me and I don't know if I want to try that out. As you can see the mountain is coming along nicely. I still have some cracks to fill between the blocks but the major peak is going well. I have glued down a few other hills around the board as well to evenly distribute the weight when the two layouts are stacked. Those I am going to carve in the near future. I do want to finish up the one board before I really get going on the other but we are getting closer.
Progress is still being made! I have decided to cut out a spot for a small pond next to the station so I have started work on that. I think I am going to try out the saran wrap technique to make the water. I am first painting a base layer to peak through the wrap. I have also thought about trying the hot glue technique but that one is more of a challenge to me and I don't know if I want to try that out. As you can see the mountain is coming along nicely. I still have some cracks to fill between the blocks but the major peak is going well. I have glued down a few other hills around the board as well to evenly distribute the weight when the two layouts are stacked. Those I am going to carve in the near future. I do want to finish up the one board before I really get going on the other but we are getting closer.
catnippertom
That Oregon Guy
Update:
I have been slowly making progress but sadly I am going to have to leave the layout soon since I am going home from college. I have been working on both sides but the mountain half a bit more. I have been spackling down and smoothing out the hills in many coats. Since there is warping on the boards I tried to fill in cracks that occurred when the boards are laid flat which was a main focus of mine and it took a while. It is still not perfect but I want to make more progress so I am going to move on to painting. On the other side, I have placed more Brillo pad grass down and finished up the pond/lake area. Where the white space currently resides is where the Kato XS controller is going to sit. I just have to figure out how to hide the wires and the huge cord bundle. I am thinking a small shed but I don't have any ideas of how to make it make sense. The pond/lake is painted on the baseboard with saran wrap under the sand/dirt made out of leftover cork I had. I think I am going to leave it unpainted. It looks alright and better in some different lighting but it is good enough for my work.
Here is the start of painting! I had to leave before I could finish the small peak but it is coming along. A lot of the spackle was not holding that well and breaking off so I used a paint and glue combo to make sure it doesn't go anywhere. I am going to do another coat and then I will start doing some fancy gradients since I have so many different grays a that I have bought over time. I do have some other things to include still so I might not have this layout done by the time I have to leave which is sad but I will have something to work on when I get back.
I have been slowly making progress but sadly I am going to have to leave the layout soon since I am going home from college. I have been working on both sides but the mountain half a bit more. I have been spackling down and smoothing out the hills in many coats. Since there is warping on the boards I tried to fill in cracks that occurred when the boards are laid flat which was a main focus of mine and it took a while. It is still not perfect but I want to make more progress so I am going to move on to painting. On the other side, I have placed more Brillo pad grass down and finished up the pond/lake area. Where the white space currently resides is where the Kato XS controller is going to sit. I just have to figure out how to hide the wires and the huge cord bundle. I am thinking a small shed but I don't have any ideas of how to make it make sense. The pond/lake is painted on the baseboard with saran wrap under the sand/dirt made out of leftover cork I had. I think I am going to leave it unpainted. It looks alright and better in some different lighting but it is good enough for my work.
Here is the start of painting! I had to leave before I could finish the small peak but it is coming along. A lot of the spackle was not holding that well and breaking off so I used a paint and glue combo to make sure it doesn't go anywhere. I am going to do another coat and then I will start doing some fancy gradients since I have so many different grays a that I have bought over time. I do have some other things to include still so I might not have this layout done by the time I have to leave which is sad but I will have something to work on when I get back.
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Smudge617
Well-Known Member
Coming along very nicely, no need to rush, some of us have taken month's to do what you've achieved over a few weeks, you should be proud of yourself.
catnippertom
That Oregon Guy
Update:
Last night I worked on creating a gradient for the hills/mountains. I thought the end result turned out pretty good. I should be laying grass on this side of the layout today.
Last night I worked on creating a gradient for the hills/mountains. I thought the end result turned out pretty good. I should be laying grass on this side of the layout today.
migalyto
Well-Known Member
I didn't realize you were a college student (or maybe missed it along the way). Assuming you're going home for the summer?
This would be a great opportunity to practice your scratch building techniques. Go to the Dollar Store, and buy some glue, poster board, and some foam core board. Super cheap, and practice making some small simple buildings. It will keep you in the hobby till you can return to your layout. Even the recycle bin will offer things you can work with. Tin cans can be storage tanks, there is also plenty of cardboard, cereal boxes ect... to practice painting, weathering techniques. Won't take up much room and will let you learn things for when you get more space, and a bigger layout.
This would be a great opportunity to practice your scratch building techniques. Go to the Dollar Store, and buy some glue, poster board, and some foam core board. Super cheap, and practice making some small simple buildings. It will keep you in the hobby till you can return to your layout. Even the recycle bin will offer things you can work with. Tin cans can be storage tanks, there is also plenty of cardboard, cereal boxes ect... to practice painting, weathering techniques. Won't take up much room and will let you learn things for when you get more space, and a bigger layout.
Guilford Railman
Well-Known Member
Awesome!
.
Smudge617
Well-Known Member
I'm looking at the second photo, and thinking I've never seen anyone model a
or Ayres Rock on a model railway before. Or is it just me.
catnippertom
That Oregon Guy
Update:
This is a long one! I have been working very hard the last few days on getting it to a point where I am happy to leave it. First I kept running to the Dollar Tree for new supplies. Lots of Brillo pads and random scenic accents. The employees there are starting to give me odd looks because of all of the Brillo pads lol. Anyway, I decided to pick up some of the cheap Matchbox cars that they had on the shelves. I know that they are out of scale but they are close enough for me. I also found these awesome fake flowers that I chopped up and made into little wildflower bushes. I also cut up some of the Brillo pad scraps and a whole pad for some scenic tuft. I also had one of my rail jointers break so I made a trip to the train store for some new ones. They didn't have any so I bought a cheap loco and then went out to get a solder. I taught myself how to solder last night and voila, rail jointers were repaired. I did have a welding class in high school so it was kinda like riding a bike. The night before that, I had created a small structure to hide the wires that go to the power pack. It looks good enough to me. This morning and last night I added some tuft around the base of the mountains/hills and got some flowers in there as well. I sprayed some diluted white glue on top of the tuft so it all stuck together. The cars on the road and in the parking lot are glued down and I need to figure out places for the ones that are off-road. I'm also thinking about doing some detailing to the lake area, a dock, flowers, etc. I will post some running footage soon but this might be the final major update! Thanks for all the support everyone.
This is a long one! I have been working very hard the last few days on getting it to a point where I am happy to leave it. First I kept running to the Dollar Tree for new supplies. Lots of Brillo pads and random scenic accents. The employees there are starting to give me odd looks because of all of the Brillo pads lol. Anyway, I decided to pick up some of the cheap Matchbox cars that they had on the shelves. I know that they are out of scale but they are close enough for me. I also found these awesome fake flowers that I chopped up and made into little wildflower bushes. I also cut up some of the Brillo pad scraps and a whole pad for some scenic tuft. I also had one of my rail jointers break so I made a trip to the train store for some new ones. They didn't have any so I bought a cheap loco and then went out to get a solder. I taught myself how to solder last night and voila, rail jointers were repaired. I did have a welding class in high school so it was kinda like riding a bike. The night before that, I had created a small structure to hide the wires that go to the power pack. It looks good enough to me. This morning and last night I added some tuft around the base of the mountains/hills and got some flowers in there as well. I sprayed some diluted white glue on top of the tuft so it all stuck together. The cars on the road and in the parking lot are glued down and I need to figure out places for the ones that are off-road. I'm also thinking about doing some detailing to the lake area, a dock, flowers, etc. I will post some running footage soon but this might be the final major update! Thanks for all the support everyone.
Attachments
catnippertom
That Oregon Guy
Here is a video of the layout with the Daylight running on it.
Smudge617
Well-Known Member
You could maybe around the lake add some park benches, maybe a small ice cream stand and some figures, but that is excellent work, well done.
catnippertom
That Oregon Guy
For now, I just plan to try to make this better. I could make another module for this that expands the straight runs or something else like that but I don't know if I will. All this layout was for was to create a space where I can run the trains I come to collect while in college. I can't really start on another project since I am super limited on space. Should be fun to tweak and run trains on this though! Also, I have made a couple of Dollar Trees run out of Brillo pads so my pursuits span a few stores...We must live close to one another because my local Dollar Tree is out of Brillo Pads. Just kidding. I love it! Great job!
What are your future plans? Will you eventually start another build?
PMW
Well-Known Member
Sounds good to me. I think that sounds like a great plan. I'll be followingFor now, I just plan to try to make this better. I could make another module for this that expands the straight runs or something else like that but I don't know if I will. All this layout was for was to create a space where I can run the trains I come to collect while in college. I can't really start on another project since I am super limited on space. Should be fun to tweak and run trains on this though! Also, I have made a couple of Dollar Trees run out of Brillo pads so my pursuits span a few stores...
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