Here’s the progress I’ve made on my N-scale coal mine. I have another weekend or so to go.
looks good chip!
What’s the mossy footpath looking thing that apparently goes nowhere for?
[bow][bow]…very nice…
It’s supposed to be ivy covered and its a trestle to the mine. You’ll know why it goes to nowhere next week. Same Batchannel.
i think for the ivy look you’d do better to have it coming up/hanging off the supports (and possibly hanging off the sides of the actual path) rather than on top of the path – the path is actually taken by the workers, so having plants on top of it doesn’t seem to make much sense. Assuming something could actually survive being walked on all the time, I would think management would cut it back if it got as thick as it appears in the pictures.
I partially remember an article in an older MRR as to how to get a good ivy look… I think it involved a toothpick to draw really thin lines of white glue (full strength), and then sprinkle on fine WS scenic foam. Maybe a small dot here or there for leaves (made with a slightly coarser ground foam). But, I don’t remember what year/issue it appeared in (or if it actually appeared at all…I could be making this up on the spot)
Very nicely done. I like the trees. What did you use for the armatures?
Lee
Nice modeling…Cox 47
They are very small pieces of sedium.
I rather think the bigger picture is that I was unable to convey that this mine tipple has been abandoned for decades and so management doesn’t care about what is growing on the rotted out trestle.
I like it. The only thing I notice is the density of tree canopy. I’ve found that thinning out some of the seed pods from the sedum helps reduce the broccoli floret look. It helps you see through the trees a little better. That, and I would also be careful with getting the ground foam on the tree trunks. I’m guessing you were looking for a mossy look. I just think that if you have ground foam on everything, it tends to start looking furry. I bet it was fun for you to do some scenery instead of laying track and planning all of the time.
You are right about the trees in both respects. The trees need to be touched up, they were old rejects from an HO layout, but I won’t do that until I drop them into the layout and they are done being touched. The “mossy” look will be completely covered in more dense woods, although I could argue that around here, all the trees along the wooded edge are covered in poison ivy and wid grapes. But mostly, it’s just not going to be seen.
Edit: And you are right. It did feel really good to do some modeling for a change.
Nice work, Chip.
I caught the, “Abandoned, but not yet collapsed,” feeling early on - but then, I’ve ‘minefanned’ abandoned workings in several locations.
To keep a mossy tree from looking furry, just remember that the moss will only grow on the north side of the trunk and branches. The south side will be bare.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
well, I retract my comment(s) seeing as the place is abandoned…
No need to retract. If you couldn’t tell it was abandoned, then I need to be more convincing.
Okay Chuck,
Now that you bring it up and since you have a handle on Easternerisms, at least in 1964, I’ll present you with a prototyper’s koan.
If you are modeling a East-West railroad with a loop of track, which side of the tree is North?
ROFL!!![(-D]
I’d pick a side and stick to it… if there’s a town on one side that is recognisable, then use the prototype direction, otherwise, whatever looks best! Anyway, isn’t this a diarama?
Yes sort of. It goes in an office layout I’m building into my bookshelf. I wanted to complete the “scenes” first so the actual layout is not “under construction” for a long time. I’ll build the bridge scene next. Then I’ll build the track-work and get it working. And then I’ll build the shelving unit and drop it all in.
The ultimate railfan layout. No industries–no turnouts (except staging)
Chip, I offer my congratulations. My first impression was mixed, but as I read more, and then looked at the images full-sized, it clicked. And boy did you nail the abandoned-and-watch-where-you-step look.
[:P]
-Crandell
Thanks, I wanted to build a layout that is timeless but I also wanted something besides landscape and track. I figure nothing is more timeless that a mine that has been abandoned. It may have been abandoned for 10 years or 50. That means I can run steam and modernized Geeps. Just not double headed together.
I don’t know about being more convincing (not too good in that arena), but things that made me initially think it was just a weatherbeaten (yet still profitable) mining operation were the car sitting on the one track, and the general well-being of the overall strutcure and path. By the overall structure, I mean the supports and walls more than the roof. While the roof looks great for an abandoned structure, I’m just not getting the same feeling off the rest of it…
perhaps making some of the support structure look like it’s crumbling, and removing some boards to simulate them rotting out will help?