Veja Megstra - RhB Nm layout

[PaulRhB]

The trees look fine, there’s quite a variety around the line. I’ve been using up the standard ‘loo brush’ style but as on my HOm Harz I really need to mix in more variety by adding the looser foliage and long trunk types too. 

[Gordonwis]

I've got a fair number of pics around Berguen and other places in winter. Here's a few from Landquart - Davos early 2011:

 

[Gordonwis]

[MrTea]

Quick update on the God tunnel end of the layout:

 

 

Now that the fascia has dried, the next job was a layer of Smooth-It to cover the rough bits of the plaster bandage. 
 

Once that dried I mixed up some gloopy ‘snow’ to cover the surface using white powder paint and PVA glue. 
 

 

While that was drying I took the chance to paint the rail sides and the sleepers around the Unijoiners - that makes quite a difference to the look of the track especially at the joints. 

 

Then I took the plunge and added some white to the track and ballast on the tunnel approach.

 

This is the bit I’m not really sure about yet. Has anyone got any advice on how best to model the transition between ballast and snow? I can’t quite work out how to make it look like the snow has drifted at the edge of the tracks or where it’s previously been ploughed. At the moment it still looks like the ballast is sitting on top of the snow or that it’s been painted white. 
 

The other issue I’ve got to resolve is that the ballast shoulder is noticeably darker than the Unitrack roadbed. I think a wash of frame dirt acrylic will help but it’s a bit two-tone for my liking at the moment!

Edited March 8 by MrTea
Replaced images

[Gordonwis]

5 hours ago, MrTea said:

Quick update on the God tunnel end of the layout:

 

 

Now that the fascia has dried, the next job was a layer of Smooth-It to cover the rough bits of the plaster bandage. 
 

Once that dried I mixed up some gloopy ‘snow’ to cover the surface using white powder paint and PVA glue. 
 

 

While that was drying I took the chance to paint the rail sides and the sleepers around the Unijoiners - that makes quite a difference to the look of the track especially at the joints. 
 

 

Then I took the plunge and added some white to the track and ballast on the tunnel approach.

This is the bit I’m not really sure about yet. Has anyone got any advice on how best to model the transition between ballast and snow? I can’t quite work out how to make it look like the snow has drifted at the edge of the tracks or where it’s previously been ploughed. At the moment it still looks like the ballast is sitting on top of the snow or that it’s been painted white. 
 

The other issue I’ve got to resolve is that the ballast shoulder is noticeably darker than the Unitrack roadbed. I think a wash of frame dirt acrylic will help but it’s a bit two-tone for my liking at the moment!

 

 

In my experience if it has just snowed heavily the snow will cover all the ballast completely as in my pictures posted recently. The thickness of your 'snow' around the tunnel approach suggests this would be the case. If you snow was thinner on the hills, the ballast would become more visible because the snow adjacent to the rails would have started to dissipate

[Gordonwis]

Klosters February  2020

 

 

[MrTea]

On 08/04/2021 at 21:38, MrTea said:

Quick try out of the bridge on the layout:

 

 

 

 

Sometimes when progress feels slow on a layout it’s good to look back and see the difference you’ve made. The photos above are from the start of April when this side of the layout was mostly card formers either side of the track bed. 
 

 

 

Looking at the same location tonight made me realise how much has changed even though I really didn’t get much modelling done over the summer months. 

 

 

 

I like the way the track climbs through the landscape on this side of the layout. There’s something aesthetically pleasing about the way the track curves and follows the shape of the hillside. 
 

 

 

The arch bridge is now bedded in a bit more and the road will hopefully blend into the backscene fairly seamlessly. Once the Smooth-It layer is complete on this board I think I’ll have a stab at painting the rest of the backscene although this section will be more like the Veja Megstra side with rising mountains and forest in the distance. 
 

This section will also have a few trees in the foreground to the right of the bridge which should hide the trains briefly on their climb and break up the vista a bit. 
 

There are also a couple of signals to go in, including one of the rather interesting square distant signals. But because they’re fairly fragile I’ll need to wait until the base layer of scenery is complete before I think about installing them. 

Edited March 8 by MrTea
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[MrTea]

Finished off the Smooth-It on the bridge board last night and made a start on painting the backscene.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The trees on this section came out a bit more abstract but I think that's fine. Looking back at how I did the other side, it was done over 2 or 3 sessions, with the colour built up in layers starting from the distant hills.

 

There's annoying line behind the bridge which I'll have to try and disguise.

 

For the first time I'm starting to think I might actually finish this layout - that'll be a first for me if it happens!

Edited March 8 by MrTea
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[MrTea]

Before I had to put the boards away I managed to get a bit of time to photograph some trains on the layout today.

 

New arrival GE 4/4 iii #650 crosses the bridge.

 

 

GE 4/4 ii #631 heads down the gradient towards God tunnel and Bergun.

 

 

Close up of #631 from near the lineside approaching the bridge near Crestas.

 

 

A southbound service heading up the line.

Edited March 8 by MrTea
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[Gook the Goblin]

Wow Mr Tea, looking really good already especially with your backscene. Keep it up, I am looking forward to seeing the finished layout.

[Mike Beard]

I do so enjoy watching this grow. I'm thinking perhaps I should do something similar with my Japanese Enoshima Railway layout?

[eastwestdivide]

Somehow that little bridge looks very untidy and therefore very un-Swiss! The real one too I mean - no reflection on the great modelling going on here.

[Gordonwis]

42 minutes ago, eastwestdivide said:

Somehow that little bridge looks very untidy and therefore very un-Swiss! The real one too I mean - no reflection on the great modelling going on here.

 

not untidy is a bit of a myth about Switzerland. If you look closely there are lots of untidy things in Switzerland. One of the most obvious is many campsites - the Swiss love their permanent shack extensions to (very un) mobile homes. The camp site at Bergun (in the valley below the GOD tunnel) is a case in point

[Gordonwis]

Berguen Feb 2011

Edited October 9, 2021 by Gordonwis

[Gordonwis]

A couple more

Edited October 9, 2021 by Gordonwis

[Mike Beard]

Nice piccys Gordon. Thanks for sharing them.

 

[MrTea]

Thanks for sharing your photos Gordon. 
 

Made a bit more progress on the Bergun side of the layout last night. The area around Plaz tunnel hadn’t had much done to it for a couple of months so I decided to pull that and the middle board out of storage to work on them. 
 

 

We had some more of the thick corrugated card left over from a recent delivery so I intercepted it before it could go in the recycling. As with the other tunnels I wanted a removable section so I could get at the trains in case of derailments. 
 

 

 

 

Another necessary but not very glamorous job was painting the sleepers represented on the unijoiners. You can see the difference it makes to the overall look in the two photos above. 
 

I’ve also added a card fascia to the front of the tunnel to tidy everything up. A couple more evenings work should see this area formed up and with a first layer of plaster ‘snow’ on the surface. 
 

 

 

Finally I added a layer of white paint in the area in the valley in front of the bridge and cut down some Kato catenary poles to represent the OHLE on this section of the line. 

 

Edited March 8 by MrTea
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[MrTea]

Bit more progress on the layout last night:

 

 

I reckon I’ll miss the ‘cardboard engineering’ when this board is complete!

 

The top of the tunnel will be a removable section similar to what I’ve done on the others on the line. If you compare the image to the post from a couple of weeks ago you can see what a difference adding a fascia makes even when it’s not painted yet. 

Edited March 8 by MrTea
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[MrTea]

I think we’ll call this a successful afternoon of modelling. The land above Plaz tunnel is now complete:

 

 

The adjacent board with the arched bridge has had a coat of white poster paint:

 

 

And last but not least I managed to get a layer of plaster cloth on the tunnel board:

 

 

Hopefully I’ll get a spare evening in the week to add a layer of filler to this end board. 
 

I think the next job is to try and get the track painted before I look at building up the layers of snow either side of the line. Although I might get sidetracked with more backscene painting as that’s quite an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours. 
 

Thanks for all the positive comments. 

Edited March 8 by MrTea
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[MrTea]

Tunnel top fillered, it looks so much better already:

 

 

And, although it took a couple of hours, I even managed to get the rail sides painted:

 

 

This was using a Lifecolor acrylic. It was a slightly tedious, but at the same time therapeutic task. You can do about 6 or 7 sleepers-worth with one brush load of paint. And it needs to be reasonably well lit otherwise it’s easy to miss bits. 
 

To tone the ballast down I’ve gone for a roof dirt (dark grey) wash. Will see how that turns out in the morning. 
 

I need to go back and rewatch Fabio’s cab ride video and then figure out how best to bring up the level of the snow around the tracks. 

Edited March 8 by MrTea
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[MrTea]

Couple of shots from the running session held over the weekend. 
 

A peek through the forest. 
 

Bernina Express, southbound at Veja Megstra. 
 

Double Gourmino. 
 

I also managed to capture some clips of trains running on the Bergun side of the layout and they’re in the process of being edited together. 
 

My friend popped over with his son and it’s the first time they’ve seen the layout in the flesh. I think they were impressed! We also discovered a few interesting things about the rolling stock that I didn’t know: 

1. You can run the trains at full speed and they stay on the track!
2. The Kato Ge4/4 III can haul 14 coaches around the circuit and up the gradients no problem. 
3. It's possible to balance n scale cars on the roofs of the Glacier Express coaches and use them as auto carriers

It was a timely reminder of the fun you can have when you just ‘have a play’. 

Edited March 8 by MrTea
Replaced images

[Nutbrook]

Great pictures, thanks for posting, I like pictures I do. That last one gives a really good impression of the depth you have created, with the background looking miles away. 

[MrTea]

As promised here's the video update from the running session:
 

 

I tried to capture a variety of trains running in the landscape. You'll notice some of the most recent Kato releases feature including the Unesco Ge4/4 III and the baggage wagon.

 

It does make me realise how far the layout has come since I started it nearly 2 years ago. But there's still quite a lot to do on the Bergun side before I could consider it complete.

[cornish trains jez]

Hi,

 

Just been catching up on your last few posts. Layout is really coming along nicely and I’m looking forward to seeing how you build up the layers of snow on the Bergun side.

 

Keep up the good work!

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

 

[PaulRhB]

12 hours ago, MrTea said:

It does make me realise how far the layout has come since I started it nearly 2 years ago. But there's still quite a lot to do on the Bergun side before I could consider it complete.

It looks right though even in the bare landforms with the curves though, it looks RhB