[Doug]

Moving on from the topic on British tunnel portals and my Blog which has been rambling on over the past few years about baseboards and electrics... I'm now doing some serious scenery work.

I found some old portals that I had stashed away and although made by Faller and perhaps destined for a continental scene, they will work fine in my mixed British and continental layout.

So the portal was set up and a tunnel was made with a section of brick card and some more cardboard to give it some depth and it was fixed in place under the the mountain which is taking shape too.

As the tunnel was going to be fixed in place, the track had to be ballasted so I pulled out a little ballast and finished the tunnel entrance section. This is granite chip ballast and I think that my dilution on PVA was a bit weak. It doesn't seem to set. Perhaps in the cool garage it needs more time, but if it is still loose in a few days, I may have to add some more glue.

You can see below that my trains pass through the portal without a problem with a nice fit.

Next step: some plastering

 

[5696Arethusa]

Nice looking tunnel there Doug.
I followed Richards advice when I laid the ballast on Broughton and Marwood, worked really well for me.
I look forward to seeing you progress.

Andii

 

[Doug]

QUOTE (5696Arethusa @ 16 Oct 2008, 11:19) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>...
I followed Richards advice when I laid the ballast on Broughton and Marwood...

What was that then?

I mix PVA and water 50/50 with the famous drop of detergent and spray it on or drop it in delicate places with a pipette.

 

[Doug]

I've put some plaster over the wire. Plaster bandages are quite expensive so I used some paper towels dipped in plaster of paris too. The plaster bandage dries very fast and I think the paper towels will dry out completely tomorrow as they hold quite a bit of water that doesn't mix with plaster. Overall it is fine. I'll stick on some rock outcrops and then paint it over the next few days.

We'll soon see if Neil's Basic Scenery article is as good as it looks

 

[Richard Johnson]

QUOTE (Doug @ 16 Oct 2008, 23:01) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I've put some plaster over the wire. Plaster bandages are quite expensive so I used some paper towels dipped in plaster of paris too. The plaster bandage dries very fast and I think the paper towels will dry out completely tomorrow as they hold quite a bit of water that doesn't mix with plaster. Overall it is fine. I'll stick on some rock outcrops and then paint it over the next few days.

We'll soon see if Neil's Basic Scenery article is as good as it looks

***Doug

if you put a splash of vinegar in the water when you wet the paper towells (a couple of tablespoons to a small bucket of water, a desertspoon to a mixing bowl appx...) they should dry / go off more slowly.

experiment a wee bit - vinegars vary in acidity a bit.

Plasterers in the old days used to drop in a splash of sour milk as the acid retarded setting - the vinegar does he same.

Richard

 

[Brian Considine]

QUOTE (Doug @ 16 Oct 2008, 10:51) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I found some old portals that I had stashed away and although made by Faller and perhaps destined for a continental scene, they will work fine in my mixed British and continental layout.

It looks fine to me Doug (was it originally intended for single track ? - just looking at the smut marks in the centre !)

 

[ben1]

Looks wonderful Doug!
May I ask about the track plan?

 

[Doug]

QUOTE (Brian Considine @ 16 Oct 2008, 18:21) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>It looks fine to me Doug (was it originally intended for single track ? - just looking at the smut marks in the centre !)

I'd used it on an old layout, hence the way it's built - which is not perfect for this hill, but I can't un-glue it as the plastic cement was the type that melted the plastic. It comes as a kit and you can add walls or those head pieces as required. I'll repaint it when I paint the rocks on the mountain.

QUOTE (ben100 @ 16 Oct 2008, 18:30) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Looks wonderful Doug!
May I ask about the track plan?

The plan is a simplified version of the drawing in my blog (the curves on the track are smoother than on the plan).

Compared to the plan in my blog, this is what's actually complete and planned for the next few weeks of Autumn work. I've decided on simple return loops with no points on the mainline or return loops except for the on-ramp point and the off-ramp point. This keeps the mainline easy to use. I may add station passing loops later.

 

[Basil]

Looks great. The layout looks very user friendly and the two return loops will make for a trouble free run (hopefully).

Silly question maybe, but what happens if there is a derailment in the tunnell (inspection hatch etc ??)

Inspiring stuff

 

[Doug]

QUOTE (Basil @ 16 Oct 2008, 22:20) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Looks great. The layout looks very user friendly and the two return loops will make for a trouble free run (hopefully).

Silly question maybe, but what happens if there is a derailment in the tunnell (inspection hatch etc ??)

Inspiring stuff

Yes, on the plan blocks 5 and 6 (top row) is a sort of cupboard area that has a flip-up door as there are a few important things going on there: the up-ramp and down-ramp points, the one return-loop and the access to the back of this tunnel. Also, I'll have access to the inside of the mine. I don't expect derailments in the tunnel as it is on a dead-straight section of mainline... but you know about sod's law ;-)

BTW, I've updated the track plan above to what I'm working on now. Slightly less complex than the one I had originally planned, but it takes a few years of running on baseboards to realise that simple is better.

 

[neil_s_wood]

QUOTE (Doug @ 17 Oct 2008, 02:01) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've put some plaster over the wire. Plaster bandages are quite expensive so I used some paper towels dipped in plaster of paris too. The plaster bandage dries very fast and I think the paper towels will dry out completely tomorrow as they hold quite a bit of water that doesn't mix with plaster. Overall it is fine. I'll stick on some rock outcrops and then paint it over the next few days.

We'll soon see if Neil's Basic Scenery article is as good as it looks

I use old clothes ripped into strips to dip in plaster. I wouldn't have thought paper towels would have been strong enough to support plaster but it's worked so they must have.

Look forward to seeing it develop.

 

[Doug]

My outcrops are going on. These are old Woodland scenic moulds that I've had for some time. They look the same as Neil's ones

 

[ebaykal]

Doug Hi,

Sure is going well. Haven't got to the plaster stage yet. I've noticed the situ of your rails. Why not cover them up with plastic sheets to avoid cleaning up the plaster later on.

 

[Doug]

QUOTE (ebaykal @ 17 Oct 2008, 10:39) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Doug Hi,

Sure is going well. Haven't got to the plaster stage yet. I've noticed the situ of your rails. Why not cover them up with plastic sheets to avoid cleaning up the plaster later on.

I covered them when I had wet plaster. Then the tape came up as I'm using the surface to work on. Now it's just dust and bits that vacuums up. What a mess

I'll be plastering around the rails this afternoon.

 

[ben1]

Looking good!

 

[neil_s_wood]

QUOTE (Doug @ 17 Oct 2008, 19:18) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>My outcrops are going on. These are old Woodland scenic moulds that I've had for some time. They look the same as Neil's ones

Yes at least one of them is the exact same.

It is very messy. I tend to keep one of those small car vacuum's handy.

It's good to see your layout coming together.

 

[john woodall]

Hi Doug,

Are you letting the rocks dry in the moulds and then gluing them on or are you casting them in place.

I found that the best results were to cast them in place so that the follow the natural (!) flow of the land rather than being fairly flat. My one criticism of the woodland scenics moulds were their size (actually lack of it) and found that scrunched up tin foil is also a good mould, but beware, you need to pull the tin foil off just before the plaster sets as it can get suck in the grooves! The best bit is no two rock faces are the same.

I also found that wetting the existing plaster and "painting" some PVA on it greatly assisted in sticking the rocks to the ground.

Cheers

John

 

[upnick]

QUOTE (john woodall @ 18 Oct 2008, 01:18) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi Doug,

Are you letting the rocks dry in the moulds and then gluing them on or are you casting them in place.

I found that the best results were to cast them in place so that the follow the natural (!) flow of the land rather than being fairly flat. My one criticism of the woodland scenics moulds were their size (actually lack of it) and found that scrunched up tin foil is also a good mould, but beware, you need to pull the tin foil off just before the plaster sets as it can get suck in the grooves! The best bit is no two rock faces are the same.

I also found that wetting the existing plaster and "painting" some PVA on it greatly assisted in sticking the rocks to the ground.

Cheers

John

Great advice John,

Casting in place is better if possible, apllication of pva though should be kept to not seen when finished which require a pigment or paint finish as the pigment/paint will not take to the plaster .......
The woodland scenic pigments work great on plaster and are cheap enough to use

Found a good vid on how to cast in place

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crqx6--5zqI...feature=related

and finishing in acyrlic colours

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6O5mM01S9Q...feature=related

 

[pedromorgan]

looking really good doug. may i add a small tip that its a good idea to add some cheap water bast paint into the mix. it helps with the durability of the plaster, adds an element of impact resistance.
i have never done it using the towels but on a previous layout i worked on we used the cardboard strips method with a plaster/paint mix over the top. it worked very well and i cant see any reason why it wouldnt work with the plaster bandages.

p.s. i am very jealous if your track plan! if only i had the space....

Peter

 

[SRman]

I have always used cheap powder paints (water colour) mixed into any plaster mixture. Brown for soil/earth areas, black or grey for roads. I still paint over the top of this but if there are any bare areas or chips occur later the effect is far less obvious.