ok so this is the 3rd installement in my ongoing serie of update on my On30 layout. previous 2 showed respectively how i put up the benchwork and how i painted the backdrop… lots of stuff to cover this installement though, backdrop finishing, laying track, addind a skirt, building a control panel, scratchbuilding a 1st strcture for the layout. so without further ado, lets dive in
1- finishing backdrop
unfortunately i didnt do a blow by blow on my finishing of the backdrop. ill let the picture speak for themselves. Basicly, i used the same 3 color method, the further stuff is lighter while the closer stuff is darker
then i sued little dabs and quick upward stroke to make individuals trees in the distance and a wide brush to dab on different shade of green and tan to represent vegetation
the effect i find is quite satisfactory considering im not an artist by any means. notice i also didnt paint anything on the backdrop that would easily be recognizable. theres no road or house or birds. I find that doing so not only pushes my drawing talent ( of which there is little) and also fools the ye as it makes it difficult to judge distance without having a point the reference. the brain there assume perspective and sitance based on color pattern… at least that what i hope…
2- laying track.
before laying any track, i had to clean up all my peco turnout as they had been used and still had remnant of ballast on them. I found that using warm or hot water combined with a toothbrush and toothpaste was the quickest way to go about and left the turnout not only minty fresh but also extrmely clean and easy to get the ballast out.
careful consideration must be taken when one cuts ties off though from a perfectly sound turnout. i used a silver sharpie to clearly mark which ties are to be snip
I’ll let Ranchero correct me as far as his intentions, but (former art major here) two things happen with distance - one is the darkening you mentioned, but there also is a graying of colors as you get further away (the further hills in a lot of backgrounds). If it’s sunset, the darkening is more evident in further distant hills. But if it’s during the day, the graying (and often lightening to the eye) is more noticeable. Check the photos on a background website like (think I have their name right) Backdrop Warehouse or others to see this in practical applications.
Yep. Your right. I did some looking around and the darker colors are usually up front. (my bad!)
I guess it’s that greying or bluing I was thinking about.[D)]
Here’s a cheap trick tip for skirting for those who don’t have a cooperative significant other to do justice to the skirting by sewing edges on it. Use landscape cloth. It’s always black AFAIK, but cuts easily and doesn’t need a hemmed edge. I learned this trick in MR a few years back. I attach clothes pins with hot glue to the backside of the layout fascia. Works great, just don’t bang your (bald in my case) skull against them when working underneath![#oops]
thanks for all the nice compliemnet, I was also working off the theory that stuff in the distance is lighter in shade because of haze… but i guess this whole effect was better explained earlier
The track is believe it or not Atlas c 100. no frills about it. 90% of the track used is flextrack with a few pieces of snap track mostly for curves as i wanted to keep a constant radius thru the entire curve. the method i used was explained in a previous post. im basivly snipping the tie off of every other tie. i leave the web connection underneatn intact and file it away nicely that way the piece. I like the look of it, its half the price of Peco and a quarter of the price of handlaid track. its also proven quality and if something ever break or need replacing , its easy enough to find replacement. Code 100 also looks more appropriate in 0n30
WOW! I bet that took some time taking all those ties out![:O] Looks like it was worth it.[;)] I bet you can get away with some pretty tight radius track work.
doing a turnout is about 25-30 minute from snipping off ties to being ready to spike, flextrack takes about 15-20 minute per 3’ section. once u got the hang ogf it it goes by quickly, the longest part is cleaning up where u snipped the ties off but if u work carefully u can minimize that. having a few large file on hand helps a lot
while i want to keep an 18" overall rulling radius, one could possibly go as low as 6 to 12" the wheelbase for the critter is pretty small and some car ( like the v dump and log buggies) can go thru some really tight turn. sniping the rail does help also in bending the rail far below the 18" most of us keep as a bare minimum. My 2-6-0 negociate these curves slowly but not looking too ackward doing soim sure 15" would be pushing it a bit though
Is landscape cloth available at Home Depot? I really like that idea.
My layout is a at a similar point as this one. Track laying was completed last night. Wiring starts tonight. The backdrop is the next big project after getting a few trains to run. - Nevin
