Good things come in narrow packages

Good things come in narrow packages - Printable Version

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Re: Good things come in narrow packages - fast car - 03-10-2014

Steve,

Excellent modeling.

Larry

Re: Good things come in narrow packages - Painkiller - 03-11-2014

Now that is one incredible scene, details, Buildings Everything. So perfect!!! Allways had a soft spot for those small but busy transfer yard scenes.

Re: Good things come in narrow packages - Steve - 03-16-2014

Thank you everyone for the kind comments! Thumbsup

I think that this scene is finally looking like I had hoped....still more to do however Wink

Steamtrains Wrote:WoW...!! Love those scenes..!!!

How/where did you get that cobblestone..?? Fantastic..!!

Gus, I carved it out of plaster (a long time ago Goldth

)

mountaingoatgreg Wrote:The paper and weeds really are looking good.

The wood debris is neat, but I have noticed that unless they are actively unloading most places do not leave a bunch of dunnage in the walking path. Slips Trips & Falls have always been a big issues regardless of era. I have seen where they usually have a place to pile up the materials to keep it out of the way. I have seen where they is just a designated area, other times they have a frame or small structure to stack the wood in.

Either way it really looks great!!

Greg, there is no doubt that you are right. However, given that this layout is only 12" (30.5 cm) deep, I have chosen to often compromise on realism to satisfy my desire to do things that I will have fun doing and wish to try. Truth be told, I would probably be doing it that way no matter how big the layout was.....just not as often Wink

. Please do not misunderstand me, I fully agree with you and welcome your (or anyone's) observations. It is good information to know and consider moving forward. Thumbsup

Progress:

I tried a couple of new products for ground-cover (namely weeds). You can see the results here:
http://bigbluetrains.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=7489

I was thinking that it might be a nice detail to have a train schedule board at the freight house. Naturally I Googled for a pic of one, and found an old Canadian Pacific board. I photo-shopped it to change the name and cities, and them shrunk it down to various sizes and picked the most suitable:
[Image: yS6Jlf.jpg]

No one will notice it, and you really can't read it, but it looks like it "belongs" there.
[Image: eQdSYu.jpg]

Another small project done Big Grin

. I have to take any progress, no matter how small, as a huge victory right now! Goldth

Very little time for modeling, but I will keep pressing forward Icon_lol

Re: Good things come in narrow packages - Steamtrains - 03-16-2014

I just noticed the shingles on the station house...What are they made of..?? I used very fine emery sand paper, but I had to glue them down flat...They look OK, but yours look so much better... Thumbsup

Re: Good things come in narrow packages - Steve - 03-16-2014

Her you go Gus.......this could use a bump anyway Thumbsup

Steve Wrote:.......Here it is:

Kurt's shingle method....
(As sent to me and printed here with his approval)

"I made a jig from .060" styrene. The cuts have to be wide enough to allow your knife to get in without getting stuck. The adhesive tape is needed to fix the strips of sanding paper.

I cut 10 mm strips of sanding paper and fixed one strip to the jig. I found out that it is possible to cut two strips at a time, so I put a second strip under the one that I had fixed with the adhesive tape.

Cutting goes a bit slow in the beginning, but with a little practice you can cut a lot of shingles in no time.

When I glued the strips on, I only applied glue to the part of the strips where they were not cut."

That is how Kurt did his, and the method I copied.

Being the lazy slob that I am, I modified the jig to speed up the process a little. I added styrene stops to both sides of the jig (one, a stop for the sand paper, and the other, a stop for the knife blade). These firmed up the jig and allowed me to cut 4 strips at a time.......told you I was lazy!

I hope that answers any questions about the shingle making process
By the way, Kurt and I plan to sell these for only $19.95
And don't forget.....I still have some "omni-directional pressure clamps" on sale for only $9.95 a pair!

Re: Good things come in narrow packages - mountaingoatgreg - 03-16-2014

Steve,

I really like the train schedule board for the outside of the station, it really is nice. I often scour ebay and bing images for old advertising and signs to use for my buildings. I use the same trick of printing out a variety of sizes and using the one that looks the best really works out great.

Keep up the great work!!

Re: Good things come in narrow packages - Steve - 03-23-2014

Thank you Greg......I have been using photos here and there on small things when it is appropriate (a couple of doors & signs)

Well, I finally got some crates for the freight house. I also made some "cardboard" boxes and put them on a couple of pallets:

[Image: tTsZpk.jpg]

Looks like we also have a couple of guys hiding from the boss:
[Image: 2ji7OK.jpg]

I am going to make some more boxes while I'm at it, and then probably will be starting the next structure.

Re: Good things come in narrow packages - Sumpter250 - 03-24-2014

I guess I've waited long enough.... Icon_twisted

No one has made any comment about your,
"omni-directional pressure clamps" Icon_lol

The cardboard boxes turned out beautifully ! Thumbsup

[[ Brown postal wrapping paper makes some good ( plain/unlettered ) cardboard boxes ]]

Re: Good things come in narrow packages - Steve - 03-24-2014

Sumpter250 Wrote:I guess I've waited long enough.... No one has made any comment about your,
"omni-directional pressure clamps"

Surprisingly Pete, The rubber ban..........I mean, "omni-directional pressure clamps" have not been a huge seller. Go figure Misngth

Re: Good things come in narrow packages - doctorwayne - 03-24-2014

Steve Wrote:Surprisingly Pete, The rubber ban..........I mean, "omni-directional pressure clamps" have not been a huge seller. Go figure

That's probably because the tool dealers are out of stock:

[Image: 2013PHOTOS-DUFFCHALLENGE2018.jpg]

[Image: 2013PHOTOS-DUFFCHALLENGE2021.jpg]

[Image: 2013PHOTOS-DUFFCHALLENGE2022.jpg]

The additional details make a great-looking scene even better, Steve. Thumbsup

Now, if you can only get those lazy SOLPB's back to work. Misngth

Wayne

Re: Good things come in narrow packages - Steve - 03-25-2014

Wayne, apparently you have cornered the omni-directional pressure clamp market!!!! I had no idea that you were such a savvy businessman 8-) Goldth

doctorwayne Wrote:The additional details make a great-looking scene even better, Steve.

Wayne

Thank you sir! I am always hesitant about putting figures around because I am never really completely happy with the results. They enhance other layouts that I have seen, but when I do it, it seems "fake" looking to me. Maybe I need to do a better job on the painting, or re-painting in this case. Most got some paint, and all got a light ink wash.................probably just need practice Wink

Re: Good things come in narrow packages - doctorwayne - 03-25-2014

Steve Wrote:......I am always hesitant about putting figures around because I am never really completely happy with the results. They enhance other layouts that I have seen, but when I do it, it seems "fake" looking to me......

I have the same thoughts about most of my "peopled" scenes. In most cases, you have to have figures doing the tasks you wish to portray, unless you're able to modify existing ones well enough to look believable. Preiser makes figures suitable for almost any scene we could dream-up, but we'd need to also be able to dream-up lots of money in order to afford them all. Misngth

The other thing is scenes that remain static for too long: I've been on layout tours where the modelling is impressive and there are plenty of interesting vignettes with suitable figures. However, the scenes almost never change, year after year. They are, of course, interesting to first-time visitors, but I find it difficult to believe that the owners don't get sick of the same scene, day after day. The real killer is figures (and often much more) with a thick coat of dust. Eek

I do like to pose figures for photos, but seldom affix them in place unless they can't stand on their own two feet. Even then, I use Woodland Scenics Accent Cement, which allows the figures to be easily relocated, with the stickiness still viable for quite some time.
Of course, I have some passengers on station platforms who have seemingly been waiting for a train for what must be years - scaled-down to HO, it may even be centuries. Icon_lol

The layout room is usually pretty clean, but at least I do dust them when required. (Perhaps I need to run more passenger trains, or at least modify the coaches so that their doors open - almost all of them have seats, but no riders.)

Wayne

Re: Good things come in narrow packages - Steamtrains - 03-26-2014

Thanks for the info on the shingles...I'll bookmark them in case I need a couple of structures down the road...

N'other question...How big are those boxes you made..?? They really add "credibility" to the scene. I fear they are beyond the "smallness" my thumby fingers can handle... Nope

Keep those pics comin'...

Re: Good things come in narrow packages - Steve - 03-26-2014

doctorwayne Wrote:.....The other thing is scenes that remain static for too long: I've been on layout tours where the modelling is impressive and there are plenty of interesting vignettes with suitable figures. However, the scenes almost never change, year after year. They are, of course, interesting to first-time visitors, but I find it difficult to believe that the owners don't get sick of the same scene, day after day. The real killer is figures (and often much more) with a thick coat of dust.

I do like to pose figures for photos, but seldom affix them in place unless they can't stand on their own two feet. Even then, I use Woodland Scenics Accent Cement, which allows the figures to be easily relocated, with the stickiness still viable for quite some time.

Wayne

Very true

I haven't affixed any of the figures. I know that I will get tired of them where they are and will want to move or re-move them entirely.

Gus, the boxes are just a little under all of these measurements....but very close:
[Image: Y9eww3.jpg]

You can do it big guy!!!!!!! Wink

Re: Good things come in narrow packages - Steamtrains - 03-27-2014

Thanks for the info... Thumbsup

And your ill-founded confidence in my abilities... 357