More progress on the subscenery:
I’m forming much of the shape of the canyons using the carboard stips. There is a skeleton of pieces of wood to assist in the canyon shape. I’ve sprayed on a coat of Rustoleum camouflage brown on some of the track.
I’m working on the river area next. It’s drywall mud for the base and next the boundaries are going in, the plaster cloth and then plaster. Acrylic’s will color the river bed following that.
Beautiful work. The sedimentary rock layers you are forming look great. Almost sculpture as is. Lol, too bad it will get covered with drywall mud!
Rio Grande:
Looks amazing! The scene on the curve looks exactly like what I want to do on my layout. Great inspiration!
Did you make all those strips yourself or buy them pre-cut?
Thanks
Dave
About time! I was getting tired of looking at all that plywood.[(-D] [swg]
You must practice some form of far East martial arts to have the patience to cut all those cardboard strips. Can’t wait to see the next steps being completed.
Lookin good.[tup]
Thanks for sending the photos of your detailed work! Wasn’t it fun putting in all those strips? I thought drilling and putting in track spikes every 5th tie on a 6’ section of track was tiring.
The cardboard strips are just cut from cardboard boxes with a box cutting knife. It just takes a few minutes to cut a small pile of them and do a portion. I hot glue them together.
Brent,
Ninja art of cardboard strip scenery - also Happy wife - happy life. [;)] So I do spend a lot of time with my wife and it has been hard to find time to move things along which I’ve been anxious to do. Yes, time to move out of plywood pacific for the first time in my life, late as it is.
The cardboard strips can be cut pretty quickly with a nice sharp box cutter on the floor. Just take some scrap to but underneath and slice away taking care with the sharp blade. I tend to get hot glue on me now and then and it’s kinda hot, but not nearly as bad as dripping P-tex on you when filling in the rock gouges on the bottom of snow ski’s. Thats much worse! [:'(]
I don’t plan on using drywall mud but plaster cloth and some plaster or structolite to coat it. I’ve always wanted to try to create landforms with cardboard strips rather than just a big hill and then create forms on it by slapping rock castings on or building up a thick layer of sculptamolds and a lot of carving. Some of those methods might be better for midwest or eastern hills and cuts but I’m tryting to get more of a western Colorado or eastern Utah canyon look roughly. Sandstone cliffs. I’m a geologist by education (B.S & M.S.) so I want to capture the massive standstone wall look with tallus slopes etc.
I do like the control I have with cardboard strips in following contours as I add them one at a time - kind of like raster scanning scenery but doing it in the Y plane moving from left to right or visa versa, rather than the X plane, movin
WOW! Seems a shame to cover it up.
I took photo’s to preserve it in it’s “contour”-like form. You know the old saying, if you like it, take a photo - it lasts longer. [oX)]
Jim,
That’s looking very much like the West Slope. You’ve captured the essence of the terrain well.
I’ve viewed this thread several times and still have been unable to find the correct word (pernickty, fussy, fanatical
Even more impressive is that storage shelf holding all of the boxes for your motive power and rolling stock. [Y]
And, yes, the layout is progressing very nicely. Great job! [bow]
Rich
I have something similar for all mine. I told the wife that if I croak every car has a matching box, just match the car# to the one on the box.
Judging by the look I got, I think she hopes she dies first. [(-D]
Well, thats why I designed in 11 tracks underneath - I need on-the-rails places to put them! My wife was sitting looking at the shelves and commented, do you have enough trains. I’ve showed her them many times even before we were married. I just looked at her like duh! Never enough! But I do sell off trains to because it helps me fund trains I buy that are more in focus with my goals and helps keep it from getting that much bigger.
I didn’t really want to run much until the tracks had scenery or some form of barrier in case something came off the tracks too.
I normally reject attempts to invent new words, but I like “subscenery”.
And, btw, this subscenery looks very well done. I’ve always been much more casual with my cardboard strips, but now that the bar has been set I’m going to have to step up.
I’m not really sure what to call it [:P] It sort of seems like a simlar thing as you put under the track as a substrate or foundation - subroadbed, so what is the foundation or substrate for scenery. It might be a new word? Where is that model RR lexicon?!
I know many do the foundation in a more of a general way and then form the shapes on top of that, which is one of many ways. It just seemed like, why not?
Jim,
From an ‘‘Old schooler’’ plaster and wire screen user…that is great.
Truly shows Your amount of patience and that in itself, is a life time of learning…some people never learn. [swg]
Take Care! [:D]
Frank
Finished most of the rest of the cardboard strips between the river bank and the track, and the other side of the river, as well as the area inside the last turn into the yard. Have some photo’s but need to get them onto Photobucket.
Thanks Frank. So far I haven’t been really interested in the foam thing, although being a late bloomer, maybe some day I’ll try it.
I’ve noticed a couple people have mentioned patience, but isn’t building a layout an excercise in patience? [oX)] Never the less, it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time but haven’t had a space until the last couple years. Cheers!
River bank is filled in and the end corner as well:
Last week since the cardboard strips are mostly done I shifted to plaster cloth. Just got started on it but didn’t have any photo’s until today:
