Well I thought it’s about time I post some pics of my layout seeing as alot of u guys have been a great help
then came the benchwork
plan printed 1:1 in xtrack
WS risers glued down
yes you can see I had to tweak the plan a bit as can be expected
testing the radius and lining up track for turnouts
time to do some cookie cutting …its not alot shamus but it is cookie cutting LOL
[can roughly see where bridges will go over gorge
[img]http://im
well after a very tedious week of playing in the yrd it’s finally done and well as u can see …onward. 
:006: Just have to add the supports for the cookie cut inclines and finish a couple spurs and I’m ready to start with the roadbed. Now I have some thoughts for laying the cork roadbed …those thoughts are to displace one stretch of track at a time put down the roadbed and place the track back on the roadbed but if anyone has some ideas of there own that they think may work better well I’m all ears. :006:
time to lay cork roadbed I simply moved the to one side and followed the lines
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d735b3127cce9460593db6bd00000016108AZNmTds5Y
well I got inclines supported rather ruff looking but it will al be sceneried in anyway
I painted cork roadbed as you can see and started tacking yrd back in place for the paint I just got some brown and cut it with water 50/50 to thin it down
I just about got all of the double main down took a bit longer than I anticipated.
I used same bond fast white glue for fastening track and roadbed down to the styro WS risers . Couple more flex on the main and I can move onto the spurs.
finally got around to making cutout for mounth of the gorge
[img]http://im1.s
You can see the engine house my son assembled that area of the layout is going to be a loading / unloading area for transports we have yet to assemble the over head crane gantry.
Well time for another post tsarted filling in the gorge looks rough but you get the idea
heres my sons first try
Then we started filling in
I know this one looks rough. I just threw a couple pieces aginst the rail banks to give an idea where we’re goin with it
When all the banks are in we’ll start shaping and maybe attach some rock molds
Well here’s a little something we’re toying with just to get a bit of elevation he he he
I threw on 11 of my heaviest cars just to test out my theory some cars loaded with wood screws even . Had a bit of a time with just the one loco but had no problem at all with the help of second loco added on LOL
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5cf26b3127cce951d25a481e100000016108AZNmT
I’m installing the risers for the new incline but I got no pics right yet .But I did got a start on the mine structure
First thing is the headframe framing
You can see how close the color will match to kit
Here I did a sample of 3 levels of india ink/alcohol IL=india low DL = dye low I used the dye low
And so I move on to the head frame house
Ok here’s an upda
here’s some more progress report with the mine being built
This shot is the timber placed in the fixture plates
this is what the bin supports do … hold up the bin of course and a pic of one of the supports still in the fixture I gotta make 8 in total
here’s a shot with the cross supports installed now I have to pop them out of the fixture s flip them over and attach cross supports to other side
This gives you an idea of how it will look once batt material is attached to the walls each wall will have this.
Head frame place in head frame house
holder onner tool LOL
Still have to add one more tipple support in the middle
tipple house temp fit
thought I’d try my hand at some scenery. Used 1x4 first stilts then cardboard interlaced with a styrene wall on 2 corners
Yep thats who it is all right my sons Cat in the Hat
This is after first coat of plaster of paris I dipped bug screen into the p o p first
This is after second coat done this mornin
Thought I’d better put this one in 2 seeing as this area is on hold untill I do some scenery and seeing as it is scenery at least roughed in.As you probably already noticed I tend to bounce from one area of modeling to another which I prefer doing because as I work on an area and look over at another area I get new ideas.I’m trying different techiniques as well it took me quite a while of trial and error and practice to get the mine base painted to where I was happy and could then move on to something differenet. Plus this way I’m not rushing to get it done after all its going to take a very long time …
[img]http://im1.shutter
Got a second coat on the third mountain I think on this mountain I’m going to try building up the plaster and carving some strata with a knife or flat screw driver. Today when I gave the first coat a spray of water before putting the layer of plaster I thought I’d try spraying warm/hot water rather than the usual cold water to see how fast the plaster would thicken and it went hard really fast so that should come in handy where I have to layer up the steep front side. :)I don’t don’t understand why I here so much about plaster being so messy … it’s not messy if you keep it in control I just use a big paint bruo spread additional layers and cleanup is super easy .
Got a start on the third tunnel mountain with a plaster covering . This time I wanted to try using the brown industrial paper towels dipped in plaster bowl and applying … what a mess . I ended up just using my big paint bruo apply some plaster to foam board constuction then laying out the paper towels then using the bru***o spread the plaster on in. I think next time I’ll stick to the screen as it is more durable than paper towels although because the paper towels tore quite a bit it gave a better ending result not so smooth.
Obviously I didn’t do the plaster work with the mine base in place . I fitted the base back in after plaster had hardened and found I’ll have to trim the base a bit on the one side.
Anyone have some suggestions as to how to fini***his hill some one with a good imagination ???.
You can see where the road will go up starting on the lower left side there will also be a road coming off top of mine base joining onto that road
I plan on having a couple mining structures on the hill all scratch built of course .First pic is the hill without the mine base in place.
[img]htt
Obviously this was a kinda fast track to where I’m at …
Well it was a very busy Christmas and the rock building was very slow. I think I have about 75 lbs of plaster on the mills/rocks. Her’s a few shots of my progress as you can see I’m aiming for rocky scenery once I’m comfortable that there’s enough rocks jutting here and there I’ll start with some painting and foilage.
And this pretty well brings you fine group of modelers upto speed as to where I’m at
here’s some kinda half done pics of the mountains with ground foilage started
I took these with the fla***urned off so I’m not sure if they look ok
You can also see where I gave the mine base a once over
WOW !!!
amazing progress there and everything is looking great . keep the photos coming !
Very nice!! It looks great. Keep the pictures coming.
Hey wickman, First off your layout is turning out fantastic. The way explain you what you are doing helps (me anyway) to realize what you are getting accomplished. All those pictures can be a lot of work to just get posted here. Very Nicely Done. I just wanted to let you know that all your work is appreciated.
ennout
Wickman…that is wonderful reporting. I bet you’ve spent as much time taking photo’s as working on the layout! hehehe…to our benefit. I always think of taking pictures of my progress when I’m nearing the end of the days/evenings work…I get so involved in the process I just simply forget everything else. Of course that’s why I do it, to get away and relax, to escape the real world for a while…
Keep the posts coming, I really in joy seeing layout unfold and evolve.
All the Best,
Trevor
The pics were actually compiled over a matter of months then I put them in this thread I sure would like to see others progresses then I can get some ideas LOL
Lynn[:)]
WOW!
I feel like I just built this thing!
Great progress!
Keep it coming!
Lynn, looking good here. I built my first layout over the past 3 years and just recently demoed it and started a new one.
I learned lots of things on that first layout. One important one is (and I can’t tell from your photos) to mask the tracks from the plaster splatter because cleaning them is a total nightmare. It takes more time and a load of patience to mask because it’s not a fun job and it is tedius, but the results are satisfying.
I also learned alot about geology. On my new layout, my mountains will be significantly higher so they don’t look too toylike. The good news is that you can always go back and “pile on” some more stuff to raise the height of the mountains. I am far from an expert on what is considered geologically correct, but there are plenty of fabulous modelers on the forum that seem to be willing to constructively critique scenery.
Keep the photos coming!
have you got a site where pics of old layout is I’d love to see it
Lynn
Lynn, I don’t have a site, but I’d be happy to send you a bunch of photos if you’d like to see my first layout. Just go ahead and send me a PM with an email address. Thanks.
Lynn, Your layout is looking great and the how-to’s along the way really add to the photos. Thanks again for sharing and always looking forward to more. [tup]
guys and gals, i’m new to model railroading, and i need help, please send me every tip you guys can possibly think of. thank you very much.
Sincerley,
Peter J. Vizzini (Mississippi)
P.S. thanks again