Hi all,
I’ve been working on a 1x2 HO scale module this week. I will be presenting it at a youth fair in my area in hope of winning a blue ribbon and $12. This was my very first attempt at scenery and I was wondering what everybody thinks. Below are a few pics of the construction and finished product. Please post any comments or constructive criticism. (Sorry about the pic size, I’m not sure how to make them smaller)
A few things I’ve learned: make sure everything is dry before touching anything, diluted white glue works great for securing ground foam, and ballasting is a HUGE pain in the neck!
Thanks to everyone who has helped me get this far.
That looks great, especially for a first attempt. The are only a couple things i would do. I would suggest is using a couple more colors of ground foam for your grass. The only place I see grass that is all one color of bright green is on a golf course, but then again today was the first rain here in 5 months so maybe that really is what grass looks like in your area. Also unless that place is mowed diligently a few weeds here and there would be nice, especially along the river.
A little bit of weathering on that bridge would do a lot for the realism of the scene. Remember that real railroad bridges are seldom made of black plastic.
As far as the ballast being a pain are you using something to break the surface tension of your diluted glue? I either use wet water (water with a few drops of dish soap) or 70% alcohol. If you spray either of these things on the ballast first your diluted glue will flow right in between the ballast. It makes work a lot faster and it keeps glue from running and taking ballast with it.
Overall that looks very nice, good luck in the contest.
I agree that there needs to be different colors of ground foam to make it look more natural, but at the time I bought the supplies I was short on cash (what’s new) and could only get a bottle of fine turf and a bottle of static flock grass. I didn’t like the color of the static grass at all so I just stuck with the one color. I would weather the bridge but I can’t find my chalks, and it has to be turned in tomorrow morning.[:(!] I’ll add a few weeds and small sticks, thanks for the suggestions.
I said ballasting was a pain because it always ends up where you don’t want it like in the riverbed, on top of the ties, and in trees. I was using white glue and a 50-50 mixture of white glue and water, with a few drops of laundry detergent. I’ll have to try alcohol next time, it seems like great idea. Thanks for the complements.
i really like your diorama a lot, great first attempt, much better than my first (or forty first) attempts. A few clumps of darker foam for weeds and bushes, here and there and along the riverbanks would break up the single color grass and make the creek look more alive. All in all a really great little scene, be sure and let us know how you do in your contest!
Looking great so far JPM, there is definately a lot of scenic oportunities in a small area, water, track, road, trees, grass and ground cover… looks very similar to my first experience with scenery… great job and good luck with the contest…
Karl.
(edit) for ballast I always use a 80(water) and 20 (white glue) mix with washing up liquid, the 50/50 I find too thick, the same with spraying, usually 90/10 for a fine mist from a garden sprayer, nothing has ever fallen off (and my layout was hinged to be stoered vertically), with scenery, variation is the key to realism, both in colour and texture. look around the house for “supplies”
Looks very Good to me! Dang…I’ve not even tried any of that stuff yet and I’ve been nessing with my trains since before you were born! LOL! Good Job! Chris
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There are things I’ve done and thought to myself, well done. Then when I take a picture and look at that, things look different. It’s like they say, the camera does not lie. Study your pictures and determine what you would do different next time. As you’ve already said, the ballast gets everywhere.
And ukguy’s about looking around the house is well put. You will be amazed with time what you see that can be used as scenicking materials (e.g. crushed leaves, bits of bark fallen off oak trees etc.)
I agree 100% but I just got through selling all my HO stuff except for that one bridge and a piece of flex track. I added a few weeds and bushes as well as a small shack I found in my closet. Now it looks a lot more natural
Thanks for all the kind words, I’ll be sure to post how I did at the fair. I should do fairly well because it will be the only train related display there, and the judges like diversity.
I have one question concerning Woodland Scenics realistic water. How long does it usually take to dry? I poured it less than the recommended 1/8" deep but it isn’t even tacky yet and it’s been about 24 hours. When will it loose the milky color and become clear?
It really depends on thickness and relative humidity. It should be at least set up in 24 hours. Thick pours can take a lot longer and distort too. With 1/8" pours, mine usually dried in 20-30 hours. Occasionally it took a 3-4 DAYS. After one pour during very high humidity I was looking a a milky stream for nearly two weeks but it did clear up. Hopefully yours will be OK by exhibition time.
