Name that Layout

[COMBAT]

Very nice work so far - I especially like that dam - any more shots of it? Is it Cast out of something or is it styrene?

- Dan

That dam is a scratch built object made out of pieces of wood and it even has the seams in the dam to look like they poured it in sections. The dam will have water spilling over it someday... and a road and scenic out look too. We are even going to put lights on it for night lighting. The funny part is just behind this is the only door in and out of the train room. That whole dam and scenery around it moves and swings open to allow access in and out of the room. I may have more pictures of it coming soon. I have to go through all the pictures I have and I am working on uploading them.
Thanks for the comments!

[COMBAT]

Here you can see my scratch built retaining walls and custom street signs. I made nearly all of my street signs and they even have metal looking back to them. I also made custom Lic. Plates.

I want to THANK my picture host! Its a gaming site I belong to. I hope you dont mind me thanking the friend thats helping me bring you all these pictures at no cost to this forum.


Now the pictures! Sorry for the load times. Thought you'd like to see the detail!





























































Comments Welcome!

[Trucklover]

more beautiful pictures Daniel, i really like the signs as i mentioned before

And that BNSF loco is

One thing tho, when i loaded this page, it took almost 5 mins to load all the pics, they were all very slow loaders lol, and the first ones on the first page seemed to just pop up right away....

[COMBAT]

Here is a SMALL example of signs I can make. I also can make a sign say anything you want.









I can make ANY SIGN YOU CAN DREAM UP!

[COMBAT]

more beautiful pictures Daniel, i really like the signs as i mentioned before

And that BNSF loco is

One thing tho, when i loaded this page, it took almost 5 mins to load all the pics, they were all very slow loaders lol, and the first ones on the first page seemed to just pop up right away....

Yeah the issue is they have a limit on the pages here. I have corrected it for future pics. Sorry. Let me know if the future ones update quicker. I also am still uploading to his server so that could be why its loading slow right now.

[Trucklover]

Here is a SMALL example of signs I can make. I also can make a sign say anything you want.









I can make ANY SIGN YOU CAN DREAM UP!

okay, now how in the heck are you doing that? what program are you using? Im going to need countless road signs for my M&ET mods.....

[COMBAT]

The building is a Bar Mills Kit. I modified the kit with some custom signs and painted it a color that was completely different then what they have shown in their model. I am happy with it tried to make it look like an old building that has been some what maintained. Sorry the pictures didnt stay in order. I am sure you can figure it out!

The trucks are by Boley.
The people are from Preiser.
The dirt is real.
The wood retaining wall is custom built.
All of the road signs are custom made.
The engine is an Athearn.
The vehicle are from Matchbox.

Feel free to ask questions. I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I did making it.

[COMBAT]

Here is a SMALL example of signs I can make. I also can make a sign say anything you want.









I can make ANY SIGN YOU CAN DREAM UP!

okay, now how in the heck are you doing that? what program are you using? Im going to need countless road signs for my M&ET mods.....

LOL... I dont know if I can just explain it.., You do need computer knowledge a few programs and such. Maybe I can help you out and vise versus...

[COMBAT]

The town had a funeral today. It turned out that the man that died was shot by his buddy. They were out hunting and drinking, two things that do not mix. As you can see the guy that shot him is still drinking.... the dead guys dog is at a loss and the whole thing is being over looked by the dead guy and his escort to the after life. The worst part is he doesnt have any other friends and his ma ma is the only other person there.

Well have a look and feel free to leave our friendless dead guy a note of sorrow.

Here we see what happens when you mix alcohol and hunting. Turns out Steef pictured here:
had gone hunting with his friend Bud. You have to pronounce Bud's name like the frogs from the Budweiser commercials.
Turns out Steef got shot by Bud accidently of course while hunting wabbit with Steefs dog Einstein. Yeah they are from the hills as I am sure you guessed. So since the accident Bud is now Einsteins owner. Steef has a new friend named Grim, pictured with Steef above, and we also see Steefs mother at the funeral. Her name is Mabel. Sadly no one else came to Steefs funeral since he didnt have any other friends or family. All the pictures were courtesy of the local paper who has been following the story since the Sheriff wasnt sure if Bud, his second cousin, had shot Steef accidently or not.










Restless Undertakers was kind enough to donate their services for the funeral since Steef had no life insurance to cover his expenses.








Here is Einstein at his masters grave wondering where he has gone.



Here we see Bud enjoying his beer and drowning his sorrow about his friend.



















The graveyard was setup by my wife, she placed all the headstones, planted the grass and placed the trees we built together. She also placed the flowers and the dirt road the cars drive on. I think she did a damn good job!



Next update I will show you the new project that is tearing up Container Street. They are buidling a new High Rise building and with all the construction going on it is going to cause havoc. There is a tower crane, road closures and traffic cones every where. Not to mention new pipes being installed supplies coming in for the new building and even a Police Officer directing traffic, WHAT A MESS!

[Trucklover]

LOL... I dont know if I can just explain it.., You do need computer knowledge a few programs and such. Maybe I can help you out and vise versus...

hmmmm i see so....? LOL

BTW, some more great shots, love the whole sequence of the construction scene and put up the new power poles :mrgreen:

[COMBAT]

This is the Container Street construction project for a high rise building that is under way.

Notice the tower crane? Enjoy

















View of the pipe laying from the tower cranes cab.






Here is a rebar load that is prefabricated being delivered to the construction site. Notice the Police Officer directing traffic. The whole intersection is being redone due to the new building.




Backed up traffic due to the construction.




Some overview images.

[COMBAT]

I did some more modeling today and started my set up on my long thought out commercial corner. I bought both of these kits for this specific place on the layout. These buildings have some apartments on the upper floors and two businesses on the ground floor, but it wasn’t always that way.

These buildings have been around since the beginning of the town, long before the shipping container facility was built and the railroad moved in. The buildings were in a key location for this once sleepy fishing village. They were close enough to the waters and docks to sell bait and other supplies yet far enough to still attract people to stay the night in the upper floors as both buildings use to be competing Hotels.

Now a days, the buildings are a small IGA Market and a Picorellis Ice Cream parlor that pride themselves on keeping the past and its traditions alive. The upper floors of the buildings have been converted from small hotel rooms to large updated lofts. Both businesses help maintain these old and historic buildings while the City continues to grow and at one point even threatened the buildings existence.

When expansion of the BNSF Railway Container Facility was proposed 4 years ago the buildings were on the chopping block for this larger and more sophisticated terminal. BNSF needed to do something to keep the facility open. It wasn’t able to keep up on the demand and the City could not afford to lose this business to its community since it makes up the majority of jobs for the City . The taxes the port provides also allows the City to pay for its Fire, Police and highway improvements. BNSF first proposed that the terminal facility take over this area for more container storage and to allow more train movement. The city agreed and plans were made.

After the City and BNSF put the notice out that the buildings were going to be destroyed for growth and jobs for the City people immediately protested the destruction of these landmark buildings. They are two of only 5 original buildings left in the city from its original days of its prior fishing roots. The people said find another way to grow the terminal yet save our history. BNSF and the City went back to the drawing board and found a way. It would cost a lot more money to do but it was possible. The reason this idea wasn’t used before was just that. They would have to move a mountain and expand the facility out into the bay.

BNSF struck a deal with the City. BNSF would pay for all of the facilities expansions if the city would pay for its roadways to accommodate the new facility. This would save the historic buildings and would off set the cost for BNSF of the new plans. The City took out a loan to pay for the road ways, BNSF started construction and the rest is history.

The following pictures show my modeling progress towards the above story. You can see the area cleared out and the area being prepared for the buildings placement. The elevated area is a piece of card board that has been cut and the drive ways tapered to allow a ramp effect. I then used dry wall compound to cover the cardboard and start to shape the curbs.









I then placed a first coat or "road color" paint on the entire area. This allows a protective coat to keep future glues and other paints from damaging or distorting the foundation of the scene I am going for.









I like to sand down the area for its final look after this coat of paint dries. It allows me to see the areas that need more attention easy because the darker color really shows the flaws. While this dries I went and worked on a small area behind a bridge. I added some plants, a tree and worked on a rail crossing.







After I completed that area I went back to the building site. I sanded the area and made some adjustments. I also repainted the area for its final coat of paint, "road color".









Building placement and testing for fit. Some of the details for the surrounding area of the building site is on the roofs. Just ignore it for now.





Sorry the building is elevated here because of its wiring sticking out of the back. It will be fixed later. If you look close you can see some of the hand painted vegetables in the windows on display for sale. My wife does all my painting!













Now the final coat after sanding and shaping the curbs better. I will have to wait till the paint drys to make sure its final but I felt pretty good about the setup. The curbs, drives and side walk will be painted gray later to represent the concrete.







Thanks for looking.

[COMBAT]

more beautiful pictures Daniel, i really like the signs as i mentioned before

And that BNSF loco is

One thing tho, when i loaded this page, it took almost 5 mins to load all the pics, they were all very slow loaders lol, and the first ones on the first page seemed to just pop up right away....

Thanks, I fixed the picture issue, I think! Let me know if there is anymore issues!

[Trucklover]

WOW!! I really like the last set of pictures and the step-by-step on doing the driveways and curbs, thats neat and its looking great!!

BTW, the pics did load faster, still just takes a little while because of the shear amount of pictures that are on this page LOL

[Sarge]

:hey: WOW!! I never saw your pics on the "other site"

This is some awesome work, now I will have to go back over it all and reread it several times. Lots of good info and ideas here thanks