Great Model Railroads......the abridged edition !!!

biL, Tetters, thanks for the kind comments.

Greg, I'm also looking forward to the scenery. Will make a trip to the LHS today to see if they have static grass for the GrassBlaster.

S250... abridged... nice!

Kevin, the water technique is extremely easy. EasySand 20 in several thin coats, some sanding to get it flat and smooth, several layers of paint, and then three layers of water-based gloss polyurethane. For this bayou, I took the color from the other bridge and added a touch of green and a touch of black to make it slightly darker. I also sponge sanded the final coat of paint as an experiment, this left some color variations, darker in the middle and lighter against the banks, I think it turned out okay.

Gary S Wrote:EasySand 20 in several thin coats, some sanding to get it flat and smooth, several layers of paint, and then three layers of water-based gloss polyurethane. For this bayou, I took the color from the other bridge and added a touch of green and a touch of black to make it slightly darker. I also sponge sanded the final coat of paint as an experiment, this left some color variations, darker in the middle and lighter against the banks, I think it turned out okay.

You think it turned out okay? .......You really think it turned out okay?.... You must be joking, right? It turned out fantastic. Even though it is only half finished, the scene is starting to look frighteningly realistic (it is frightening how high you are raising the bar )

Thanks Kurt! I'm slowly getting into the scenery stuff. Tonight, I added the ballast on the approaches to the bridge, along with some dirt, trying to more closely match the ballast and terrain spilling down the slopes of the real bridge. The bridge deck is still seperate so it is removable for ease of working underneath. At some point, will glue the bridge down and ballast the last bit of track at the connections. Here is a photo of what I did tonight. The glue is till somewhat wet.

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cnw1961 Wrote:You think it turned out okay? .......You really think it turned out okay?.... You must be joking, right? It turned out fantastic. Even though it is only half finished, the scene is starting to look frighteningly realistic (it is fightening how high you are raising the bar )

" (it is fightening how high you are raising the bar ) "

But, the "scare factor" is reduced by the explanation that accompanies each incremental raising.....simply put, He's showed us how its done, each step of the way.
And yes, Gary it is "frighteningly realistic".

Gary S Wrote:David, what WS stuff are you talking about?

Gary: It's called Subterrain Foam Putty -- my small canister cost over $12, years ago.
I use it to fix things like dents in the foam and the corners that the cat chewed away.

Sumpter250 Wrote:But, the "scare factor" is reduced by the explanation that accompanies each incremental raising.....simply put, He's showed us how its done, each step of the way.
And yes, Gary it is "frighteningly realistic".

Thank you Sir! I really do appreciate all the kind words and encouragement from everyone - certainly gives me the confidence to carry on and try new stuff. I also hope that I am not "wearing out my welcome" by posting so many progress photos.

David, I've just been using the EasySand 20 for all that. Dries quick abd sands easy!

Was exhausted when I got home, so took a nap, then headed out to the train room. Played around with the scenery around the bridge a bit.

Photo of the real thing:

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And some unglued foam and such around the bents. The effect is fine, and I could live with it, but the bushes really don't match or give the "feel" of the real thing. Much more tall grass and less bushes on the real one. I'll keep experiemnting. Only problem is, the Heki grass like Kurt and Steve use is 3 weeks out on delivery. For the vines on the piles, I used some green scouring pad "scothc brite" stuff, torn into stringy pieces. It is a bit too green, may soak it in some paint to get a better color, and then putting on a few orange flowers as with the proto would be a nice touch.

But like I said, I just may drop the entire "like the prototype" thing and just do it with the materials I have been playing around with.

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Oh... will definitely put the tires and boards and debris into the scene. On the other side of the bridge, there is a big cooking pot laying in the ballast!

Gary - tremendous progress!

Chew on this idea - that rather than going after the specific trees and bushes, placed exactly as they are in the photo (though I think you are certainly capable of that!) go after the feel of the place. But more importantly, and I'm going to sound like a broken record if you've labored through any of my planning comments, consider how the scenery tells a story.

This bridge just like the other from the contest shows signs of major flooding or high water events. The muddy water already tells someone who may know about waterways, that there's runoff or sediment in the water from a recent rain or loose earth upstream somewhere. Why not add a few more touches to the scene that will make that very clear to anyone giving it a cursory glance, that plenty of water has run through here recently but is now gone and left the telltale signs of its mad rush downstream.

The railroad after the rain...add some cicada sound effects (do you have those in Texas?) and a heat lamp over the scene, maybe even some grass clippings underfoot for smell...now I'm just getting too imaginative!

Galen

Galen, I always appreciate your thoughtful comments. The issue may simply be the color of the materials. I agree on your perception that the overall feel needs to be "wet". The bushes curently under the model bridge are an olive drab color, which makes me think more of a dry climate rather than a wet one. I need to put in more light green flora in the area, trying to match the colors of the proto weeds and bushes. And as you mention, it isn't necessary to match the proto flora weed for weed, but just get the overall feel.

Color and texture, not individual placement of weeds and bushes... that's the ticket!

And yeah, we do have cicadas around here, but not as many as I remember when I was a kid. But that goes for fireflies too. I wonder if that is just a nostalgia thing, or if the critters have really declined in numbers. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter.

Good start, and I think it looks fine how it is. But, if you want to try and improve things - the first thing I notice is the color not right. The scouring pad is a little too blue-green, and the foam seems a bit too yellow and not "spring green" enough. You may also want to browse the plastic flower aisles at the local craft store for something you can use for bushes and other greenery. I also agree with Galen in that perhaps it could be best to not emulate the scenery exactly, and instead try and add details that make it a complete unfied "scene". The junk is definitely important and will serve to distract the attention from the fact that the "leaves" are really tiny balls of foam

By the way, cicadas usually come in multiyear cycles - 17 years is common. They will be really bad at the peak of the cycle, and hardly notice any during the trough. The remaining 16 years they are larvae in the ground. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magicicada">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magicicada</a><!-- m -->

Oops, sorry I didn't answer your comments, Kevin. :oops: I agree on your assessment of the colors. I think a little craft paint drybrushed on may be the ticket to modify the colors somewhat. I'm still experimenting with the static grass and also some reeds to see what I can do.

Got back to work on this bridge. I had been a bit intimidated by the handrails, wondering how to make them look right, and wondering if I had the skill to accomplish it. Went to the LHS the other day and bought some tiny plastic angle iron and some music wire. Drilled and cut the angle iron for the uprights, threaded the music wire through them, then glued them on.

Drilling the holes:

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Some of the uprights:

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Threading the rails:

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Glueing the rails to the bridge:

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And the finished product:

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and the real thing:

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