RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted March 18, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 18, 2012 Since joining the Thamesiders club there have been subtle hints that I should build a couple of 4 foot modules. As there is a plan for the current oval arrangement to become a figure eight it was suggested that I do something to represent my interest in the Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad. All the steam era modules would be on one side and the more modern modules on the other. Anyway just as I had at least obtained the alignment dowels an opportunity arose to obtain AndrewC's club modules that were going to form the Millarville corner group. Millarville The trackwork is remaining the same. The big warehouse will go to another club member's module and be replaced with something of the same size but from an earlier part of the 20th century. The station will be a general store building and more high ground with trees will have to be provided. The main group of buildings (placed where Andrew had the grain elevators) will be similar to the group of buildings at Muddy Creek Forks. As I wanted something typical but fictitious I thought about naming it as a stop on the Peach Bottom branch. Shortliner Jack suggested Muddy Bottom as a name so that is certainly the working title! The modules have been tested twice at club meetings and although a few wires became disconnected (probably contraction due to -15C storage over winter!) all is fine now. The modules are now erected in my garage and I hope to make some progress on scenery before the next club meeting. Tony Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbonnetuk Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Tony Hoping to make it to my first meet of the year (shame!!!) in April so any chance of seeing your progress first hand? I'd have suggested Soggy Bottom in homage to the band (The Soggy Bottom Boys) in the Coen Bros flick 'O Brother Where Art Thou' Cheers Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Muddy Bottom came from a certain canine creature featured in Tonys avatar, who likes to go swimming at any opportunity! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted March 18, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 18, 2012 Tony Hoping to make it to my first meet of the year (shame!!!) in April so any chance of seeing your progress first hand? I'd have suggested Soggy Bottom in homage to the band (The Soggy Bottom Boys) in the Coen Bros flick 'O Brother Where Art Thou' Hi Dan I do have the soundtrack CD and have been known to have the occasional Bluegrass tune on in the car! I should be in Frating for the next couple of club events! I've got to take my son back to Leicester on one of the weekends in April but that will probably be on a Sunday anyway. For the last couple of meetings the modules have been where Mike M's multimodal yard normally goes, but they are eventually intended for the steam/early diesel side. I applied some green paint to the pink foam yesterday as an undercoat before adding any more scenic stuff. I hope before the April meeting to have completed things like grass and roads and have the railroad buildings started . Prototype photos show a lot of trees! I can't model the Ma&Pa trackwork prototypically as it wouldn't meet the club module rules. I intend to make up for that with accurate representation of the signalling. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 My friend Barry Mitterhoff (the mandolinist) was going to be in the movie "O Brother" - was invited to the New York premiere and took the whole family. You can guess what happened - his daughter's kept saying when are you going to appear then they had cut out his scene at the last moment... He's been working with John Paul Jones (who actually played Mandolin on any Led Zeppelin tracks where it appears, quite a few) and you can see him on YouTube with Hot Tuna.... Tony, does any paint work on "pink foam"? Or did you use something like "Sculptamold" (sic) first? Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted March 20, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 20, 2012 Experiments with paint on pink foam are best carried out on test pieces (the voice of experience!). Vinyl matt (is that what is called latex paint in the US is fine. I have found that acrylic spray "plastic primer" seems OK if the aerosol is kept well away from the surface. Covering any pink foam with filler material has been been one of the things that has been concerning me. On layouts I've built before I've slapped on a layer of plaster, paint (powder paint as used by little children) and some PVA glue. I do need on the modules to consider how well any ground cover will survive storage at the club if I ever leave the modules there. Andrew's application of static grass survived the effects of winter storage. Just in case, for the blocks of foam I'm adding as hills I'm gluing them with an exterior grade solvent free grab adhesive. I don't use the "scenic nails" to hold the foam, I use barbecue wooden skewers shoved in at an angle, seems to work! Tony Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewC Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Tony, there is a layer of sculptamold under most of the static grass, this was painted with a selection of stuff. The hill on the last curved board just had Woodland scenics earthtone pigment applied. Other areas had some very cheap B&Q emulsion in a rather fetching shade of baby squits brown. The sculptamold seems to stick well to the foam. Any filler between pieces of foam were filled with Woodland Scenics foam filler paste. Its supposed to be flexible. The darker earth cover is real sifted soil. (sifted to medium or very fine and sterilised in the microwave for several minutes) works well but I always found it a bit too dark for the rather light clay soils of Southern Alberta. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Interesting. In the dark ages I used to mix that Childrens Powder Paint directly into dry plaster before the water was added so I had a dark brown colour throughout the plaster in case I missed any whilst flocking or it somehow got chipped. When you use the long static grass on, say, an embankment does the grass still stay vertical with a slight bend at the top or does it want to be perpendicular to the slope? Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewC Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Pete, it depends on a number of factors as to how the grass sticks and how its applied. On Tony's modules I used the longest stuff I could get. (6mm) As long as you hold the applicator directly above the surface the grass will stay vertical. If you try applying from an angle the grass tops will be attracted towards the applicator at the same angle. On another module of mine with a very steep slope I had to angle the boards during application in order to keep the grass from falling flat onto the side of the hill. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted March 23, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 23, 2012 Having been playing with the flocking device today I can confirm Andrew's observations about grass on slopes. I think I've got the hang of using it with the mesh applicator but need a bit more practice with the nozzle tool. The sloped area I've been trying out the Gras-Master on will be hidden by trees so any odd bits shouldn't be that obvious. I've put a double track and a single track grade crossing in. Any correctly set Kadee couplers shouldn';t have any problems! There are similar crossings on other club modules. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Flocking Heck! We need photos, Tony...... Somewhere there is a thread with a link to a US layout where the guy uses that 3M Spray Glue and rolls the long "grass" into "cigars" and pushes it into the glue by hand - complete with video. Of course I cannae find it..... Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted March 24, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 24, 2012 Well at the moment the grass looks as if it is in a stiff breeze but it is "experimental". I did look at trees at the Ally Palace today but either they were no better than I could buy locally or for the quantity I need of nice ones would require loadsamoney! The Sculptamold that Andrew applied certainly didn't degrade during the winter storage so I might get some for filling and covering the pink now painted sage green foam (probably a polite description). I will try and take some photos, though Canon may be unhappy. I can defeat even their idiot proof technology! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted April 11, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 11, 2012 I still haven't taken any photographs but some progress has taken place, mainly construction of buildings. I'll take my camera on Saturday and take a few photos of the modules when they are attached to the rest of the club layout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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