Stockrington - Mojo ignited. Thanks, Heljan!

[great northern]

3 minutes ago, jukebox said:

Sunday night in Perth, as COVID-19 starts to bite Down Under.

 

The buttercream/plaster I used to fill the cracking appears to have behaved itself as it cured; I did add PVA to it, but no colour - there didn't seem to be a point, knowing it would be skinned:

 

 

 

I went ahead and skinned it... using the last of my third bag of Hydrocal midway.  I'd bought another bag mid-week, so had to stop and decant it into 5L buckets.  That's 90Kg of the stuff I've hauled upstairs now.

 

 

 

It went on smoothly as planned (pun intended!).  Trowelled into place 3-5mm thick, and then brush finished down the contours, which will be hidden by the ground cover anyway...

 

 

I'll have to wait till Tuesday to see if that cracks.  But it should be okay - though of course after I'd finished, I did wonder if I should have given the buttercream a week to totally dry in case it starts to open up....

 

Live dangerously, eh?

 

 

The extra skin isn't a bad thing - it gives the scenery a bit of extra thickness and rigidity.  It was good to be able to lie on the hill and work the spatula around the deep inside of the cutting.  One day in the future, when I have shuffled off this mortal coil, my children and grandchildren will swear and curse as they try and break this lot up to get it out the room and back downstairs I'm sure.

 

The slag heap is an interesting idea...  but this side of the layout has a much more sylvan palette, so it would have needed to be on the opposite side near the MPD.  There will be plenty of grot around there, I'm sure...

 

Perhaps it is the camera Scott, but the embankment on the right does look to come very close to the running line.

 

Cheers

 

Scott

 

[Rowsley17D]

A line of dark cess material will help to "move" it back.

[jukebox]

9 hours ago, great northern said:

Perhaps it is the camera Scott, but the embankment on the right does look to come very close to the running line.

 

9 hours ago, Rowsley17D said:

A line of dark cess material will help to "move" it back.

 

Hi Gilbert - the camera does do a lot of funny things;  leaning over the top of the hill, there's a spot on the right hand curve at the top near the junction where I'm a touch worried the toe of the cutting is a bit close to the running line (which is what you may be seeing) - but then I look down the track with a "driver's eye" and it seems to be okay.  I'll run a train past to check clearances shortly for my piece of mind.

 

As Jonathan says, adding a lines of cinders/cess material will give the eye a physical break between track and hillside, and any of those areas where the cutting toe is a bit too generous toward the ballast will be camouflaged (I hope); in person, the fresh side actually seems to have slightly more flat "toe" at the base, so not quite symmetrical with the finished side, which bothered me for about 3 seconds, until I realised it's not something I can change, and in the bigger picture, won't be very noticeable (except now I've told you all about it....)

 

***  

 

It's 6:30am here in Perth as I post this - and I just went up and had a peek under the "covers".  All looks good with no sign of cracking.  Will be 33C here later today.  If it makes it through to tonight intact, I should be safe.

 

Cheers

 

Scott

 

[runs as required]

I'm all for an optimistic 'angle of repose' in a model cutting when using plaster 

Best of Luck once the Plague hits.

dh

 

[jukebox]

The covers were removed, and the surveyors moved in, with coloured chalk to mark the fence lines and features...

 

 

Cheers

 

Scott

[jukebox]

So, to the challenge at hand....  model a golf green convincingly.

 

Well despite my best efforts to screed the plaster level, I knew that it would not be flat enough, so my cunning plan is to use a sheet of plasticard, and texture the green off-layout.

 

I took a rubbing of the area with a brown paper bag, and cut a disc of thin card to suit:

 

 

Knowing that the area was going to need a patchwork of colour, I took a rather bright green paint and used it as a base, but also a guide to how I thought the mowed surface might look.  I then applied some masking tape to get hard demarcation:

 

 

After painting one set of stripes in a deep green, I added more tape at right angles, to develop the chequerboard a green might have, and painted some olive stripes:

 

 

And hated it.

 

My original theory was that a green is mowed and rolled so tight, it has no texture when viewed from a distance, so paint would be the best thing to reproduced this at 1:76 scale.

 

Instead it looked like paint.  Even unfinished, I can see it's too neat, and too flat.

 

Okay, then that meant Plan B.  Which in the back of my mind, I preferred to begin with.  Use Woodland Scenics "Fine Turf" in differing blends to make the chequerboard.

 

Oh, and increase the size of the squares, cos that width I used with the paint looks wrong...

 

I took two shades of green, and blended some to make a third shade - all similar, but hopeful discretely visible as different when I'm done..

 

So I decided to test that using some card:

 

 

Now the flaw here is that card is more absorbent than plastic.  When it dried, I was left with only 50% coverage:

 

 

So I have re-applied the glue, and spread a second layer of flock.

 

 

It's drying now..

 

Let's see how that looks in a few hours.

 

Cheers

 

Scott

 

 

Edited March 25, 2020 by jukebox

[Rowsley17D]

If your second attempt doesn't work what about putting the flock on the surface after its been painted green-brown? Then green/brown paint would would through rather than white plastic.

[BernardTPM]

Britians used to do mowed lawn in their floral garden range. May not be easy to get now though. Did find this on ebay. It was like a velvety flock of some sort.

[jukebox]

Cracked it. 

 

Took the test sheet and brushed away the turf... to be greeted with this:

 

 

Lovely, lovely, lovely.

 

It's one of those times where scaling down 1/76 exactly doesn't work - the eye needs to see some texture to believe it's looking at grass.  And the very small grains of the "fine turf" work just right (for me, anyway!).  I did have a perverse thought that if this didn't work I could try painting over the top of it, leaving a coloured textured surface.  Someone else can try that!

 

As Jonathan correctly observed, I'll repaint the plasticard a solid olive, just to provide an under-colour for safety, but am now comfortable if I have to flock in two passes.

 

The one thing I will do differently to the sample sheet is make all three tones from a blend of colours.  The photo doesn't really show it well, but the squares that used blended shades have a more realistic feel than those using the native Woodland Scenics tones - I guess because in real life, grass isn't a single shade either.

 

37C here in Perth today (where it's 8:30am on Thursday), so I'd imagine I will have this done by the time many of you wake up today. 

 

Cheers

 

Scott

 

 

 

 

[saxokid]

7 minutes ago, jukebox said:

Cracked it. 

 

Took the test sheet and brushed away the turf... to be greeted with this:

 

 

Lovely, lovely, lovely.

 

It's one of those times where scaling down 1/76 exactly doesn't work - the eye needs to see some texture to believe it's looking at grass.  And the very small grains of the "fine turf" work just right (for me, anyway!).  I did have a perverse thought that if this didn't work I could try painting over the top of it, leaving a coloured textured surface.  Someone else can try that!

 

As Jonathan correctly observed, I'll repaint the plasticard a solid olive, just to provide an under-colour for safety, but am now comfortable if I have to flock in two passes.

 

The one thing I will do differently to the sample sheet is make all three tones from a blend of colours.  The photo doesn't really show it well, but the squares that used blended shades have a more realistic feel than those using the native Woodland Scenics tones - I guess because in real life, grass isn't a single shade either.

 

37C here in Perth today (where it's 8:30am on Thursday), so I'd imagine I will have this done by the time many of you wake up today. 

 

Cheers

 

Scott

 

 

 

 

Some very nice work here Scott.

 

 

cheers neil

[jukebox]

Nope, didn't get there with the first attempt.

 

This was the palette I used:

 

 

I painted the base - no need to get too fancy, just wanted to cover the grid, in case it showed through...  

 

And cut myself a stencil, with a reminder which squares needed dark, which ones medium, which ones light green:

 

 

When I tapped away the excess this afternoon, it was obvious the medium was too close to the dark, spoiling the effect.  Cover was a little thin in places, too...

 

 

Never mind - that first layer seemed to be a really good surface to glue when I did the test strip, so I just reapplied a neat layer of PVA.  Perversely, I couldn't see the 1st layer shades under the glue, so didn't even try to align the layers.

 

Here is what it looks like with the light and medium flock down:

 

 

After that, I can put the mask away and just spoon the dark into the remaining diamonds:

 

 

And now there's nothing to do but wait till morning.

 

Cheers

 

Scott

[gordon s]

Hi Scott, I can only admire what you have done so far, but it's difficult from your pics to see just how big the squares are you have cut out. Green generally are hand cut and a typical mower would be around 2' wide, so that's just 8mm. I'm sure you have the talent, but it may just be the width of the stripes and how tight a green is mown that will prove the real challenge. I'm not sure what the answer is but will certainly follow your experiments. 

 

Here's a typical mower video that may give you some ideas..

 

 

[jukebox]

Hi Gordon

 

Thanks for the observation: It's an interesting conundrum... I had narrower strips to start with, but they looked wrong to me (having never played golf in my life other than at school sports in High School 35 years ago...).

 

To be honest, I used this image as initial inspiration:

 

 

Given the flag would be circa 6ft, I'd assumed those strips were around 4-5ft wide...

 

I started with 20mm strips, but went to 30mm in my latest incarnation, as 20mm didn't look right to my uneducated eye; At 1:76, the smaller chequerboards look toylike.

 

I've also noticed another variation where the cutting is not chequerboard, but bands:

 

 

Again, just one of the funny thing where it doesn't quite look "right" to my eye.

 

Of course the biggest caveat is: what did these look like 1930-1960?  Before large commercial mowers were used?  I have absolutely no idea, and there's not a lot of photo reference material of golf courses back then...  My mind would be swayed immediately, if I saw something definitive.

 

Because I'm manufacturing this off-layout, I have a lot more flexibility - If I get really keen I can make up a second (third?) green, and try them in place.  

 

Once I do have once I can live with, my plan will be to glue it down nice and flat, then flock the edge with a slightly larger grain material to hide the join.

 

Regards

 

Scott

[FoxUnpopuli]

Earliest movie I can think of with golfists is 'Goldfinger'. 

[jukebox]

Perhaps a plain cut is better?

 

 

St Andrews in colour briefly...

 

https://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-1030473629-1950s-europe-st-andrews-golf-course-fife

 

And a decade before.... with some pretty agricultural looking greens compared to today!:

 

 

 

and as far back as 1929!  This clip could very well justify your 8mmx8mm cut, Gordon:

 

 

Edited March 26, 2020 by jukebox
more examples added

[gordon s]

I think that’s where I was heading. The length of cut on a green is fractions of an inch, so almost impossible in 00. Hard to replicate, so probably a simple finish would be the way to go.

Edited March 26, 2020 by gordon s

[jukebox]

Awwwwwwwwwwwww.

 

Shook off the excess flock this morning...

 

This has worked out so well, it'd be a crying shame not to use it:

 

 

The photo doesn't do it justice, really.  It looks great.

 

Let me see what a plain one looks like.

 

Of course you know whatever one I choose for the layout, I'll wish I had used the other...

 

Cheers

 

Scott

[Toftwood]

8 hours ago, jukebox said:

Awwwwwwwwwwwww.

 

Shook off the excess flock this morning...

 

This has worked out so well, it'd be a crying shame not to use it:

 

 

The photo doesn't do it justice, really.  It looks great.

 

Let me see what a plain one looks like.

 

Of course you know whatever one I choose for the layout, I'll wish I had used the other...

 

Cheers

 

Scott

That looks pretty good to me Scott. Well done for persevering. Keep up the great work.

 

Regards

 

Pete

[jukebox]

Context sometimes helps determine if something looks right.

 

I've got a plain disc drying now - it needed two coats of flock - so will brush that off and have a look at it on Sunday.

 

Till then, here's the first green, in place, with some figures for scale.

 

You can just pretend those picks are putters for now...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

Scott

[great northern]

15 minutes ago, jukebox said:

Context sometimes helps determine if something looks right.

 

I've got a plain disc drying now - it needed two coats of flock - so will brush that off and have a look at it on Sunday.

 

Till then, here's the first green, in place, with some figures for scale.

 

You can just pretend those picks are putters for now...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

Scott

That looks good to me for 1950s Scott. Old film coverage shows greens to have much more growth than we have today. Are we to have bunkers? I think there would be a big one behind the green, given its proximity to the railway.

[jukebox]

23 minutes ago, great northern said:

That looks good to me for 1950s Scott. Old film coverage shows greens to have much more growth than we have today. Are we to have bunkers? I think there would be a big one behind the green, given its proximity to the railway.

 

 

A very good question, Gilbert.  I was waiting for you and Gordon to give me some real work input on that, too!

 

There's not a lot of room off the back behind the green - the land does drop away quickly...

 

I'd certainly contemplated one each side near the front:

 

 

There may be room for the suggestion of one at the rear, but if it's not large enough, it might look contrived:

 

 

My fallback was to have a very overgrown border fence--hedge there...

 

Once I get the green sorted, I'll have a play with the space. 

 

Bunkers *should* be easy to produce - cut a hole in plaster, and push the plug down; line it with sand; et voilà! Bunker.

 

Cheers

 

Scott

[great northern]

13 minutes ago, jukebox said:

 

 

A very good question, Gilbert.  I was waiting for you and Gordon to give me some real work input on that, too!

 

There's not a lot of room off the back behind the green - the land does drop away quickly...

 

I'd certainly contemplated one each side near the front:

 

 

There may be room for the suggestion of one at the rear, but if it's not large enough, it might look contrived:

 

 

My fallback was to have a very overgrown border fence--hedge there...

 

Once I get the green sorted, I'll have a play with the space. 

 

Bunkers *should* be easy to produce - cut a hole in plaster, and push the plug down; line it with sand; et voilà! Bunker.

 

Cheers

 

Scott

Some course designers incorporate very steep slopes behind greens Scott, and will put in a long thin bunker to stop some balls at least from running all the way down. It' s quite hard to work out what measures would be taken to stop balls flying onto the railway, if any. Now it would be very tightly enforced, but 60 years ago, I rather doubt it.

[gordon s]

I agree with Gilbert, there would be a bunker across the back of the green to catch overly hit balls. I know this is a pain at this late stage, but is there any possibility of moving the green forward?

 

It’s also hard to tell from the pics, but is the green circular? Now you have perfected the technique, you may want to consider changing the shape slightly. It’s probable the green would be longer than wider and would slope gently from back to front.

 

If that’s a pain, don’t worry About it. It’s certainly making me want to get my clubs out.

Shame you can’t see the back of the green, but this is the sort of thing I meant.

 

Edit: Having now checked the video, I'd forgotten the next tee was behind the green and not a drop into the sea. I played it in 2005, so it was a while ago....Worth watching the video on the hole as It may well give you some ideas. It's very similar terrain.

 

https://www.nswgolfclub.com.au/guests/golf/coursetour/hole05.mhtml

Edited March 27, 2020 by gordon s

[pirouets]

Hmm, i'm seeing this hole slightly differently. I've slightly thinned it and it comes to rest in a long fringe of grass. Skin it a bit more and there is longer knee length grass that grabs your club and finally if you really mess up, the kind of bush you need to beat to death with a sand wedge to find your ball. The bushes themselves form a nice barrier alongside the course and the railway. (obviously i could be completely wrong)

 

Though Gordon, I have to say that hole is spectacular and am some what jealous.

 

 

[FoxUnpopuli]

I would have said some tall trees behind the green with respect to the tee direction - to both punish the big hitters and potect anything on the other side!

 

Green looks great.