Will Vale Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Hi all, After a bit of posting towards the end of the old RMWeb, I've been busy with work and haven't managed to get my head around the new RMWeb. But now that I've got some time I thought I'd post my new layout. I've been musing for ages about building a layout around an Indiana Jones theme, and I finally got around to it. Once started, it all went together very quickly - helped greatly by the looming deadline of Railex 2009 here in Wellington. The whole thing has taken three weeks' work to get to this stage, and while it's pretty close to done there are a few jobs remaining. It survived the first exhibition well though. It's a small layout - A3 size - which is mainly what enabled me to complete it on time. While the theme is fantasy, the loco is based on a prototype captured by the Australian forces at Tobruk.? It's my first scratchbuild (on a Kato 4W tram chassis) and I'm pretty happy with it although more weight would have been good and I think there's an intermittent (heat based?) bind in the mechanism somewhere. There are a couple of small pictures at the AWM: http://cas.awm.gov.a...otograph/020393 http://cas.awm.gov.a...otograph/020394 It appears to be 2-foot gauge but I've built it as O9, so about 18" gauge. Does anyone know what it is? There's also a construction diary for the layout on a more specific forum - I don't know if it's OK to link to that here? - plus some info on my site: http://www.secondint...pleasure/tanis/ The construction is lightweight with a foamcard board inspired by Chris Nevard, covered in Styrofoam and MDF for the fascia. It weighs next to nothing! Cheers, Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 That's really nicely done, Will - you've captured the Indiana Jones look extremely well. I know it's only A3, but I reckon there would be scope for a substantially larger scene on this theme - ideal for someone who liked NG as well as military modelling. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clemf Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Looks really good, how did you make the rocks? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
invercloy Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Very nice! I like the rocks too, the weathering is bang on to make it believable as well. What is the dig for or have you not decided that? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ramblin Rich Posted November 4, 2009 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 4, 2009 Nice idea - an old favourite film Could you perhaps have a figure in a leather jacket & hat digging on top of the hill? Anyone going for the expanded scene would have to include that weird flying wing aeroplane! Indy - why does the floor move? Snakes - why did it have to be snakes? Hmmm - Asps - very poisonous you go first.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted November 4, 2009 Author Share Posted November 4, 2009 Thanks for the kind comments I know it's only A3, but I reckon there would be scope for a substantially larger scene on this theme I agree - I have some other kits on the pile which I'd like to see in there, particularly a Krupp Protze (boxer) truck and a Fiesler Storch for the landing strip. My thought is to extend the siding on the left through a small wadi, past an oasis to the main camp with the start of the landing strip. Probably in the form of two more A3 chunks - that should be manageable. how did you make the rocks? The basic landforms are styrofoam - there's a 50mm layer below the track, 50mm above, then about 15mm filler to get to the tunnel roof and another block of 50mm for the big cliff face. I carved the rock shapes with a snap-blade knife fully extended (careful - it sounds obvious but the blade can snap!) plus various stuck on offcuts, and did a little sanding as well. I also aggressed upon the rocks with a heat gun to round the edges but I think that wasn't particularly important. I then mixed up a surfacing coat of gesso, artists acrylic (yellow ochre/raw umber) and fine sand and painted this on. Gesso holds texture well - I used brushstrokes to make the slightly dodgy horizontal strata. Then the rocks were painted with acrylics and the groundcover added. It took a couple of tries since my initial shading wash was too dark. The groundcover was also difficult - it started off too grey but eventually I found some rock and soil from a slip down the road which was exactly the right colour. What is the dig for or have you not decided that? I haven't decided. I didn't want to make up a big story full of details I guess, more try and capture a sense of place and time. That said, one of the wagon loads is a block of stone with runes of some kind on it, but it was the work of literally five minutes and is set to be replaced. Maybe a nice golden box would be good? Could you perhaps have a figure in a leather jacket & hat digging on top of the hill? I really wanted to sort out an Indy figure but I ran out of time. I have some nice resin hobos in 1:48 by Swash Design and I think they could be cut about to make a decent Dr. Jones, but they weren't cheap and I'm taking this particularly step quite slowly. Sallah would be great to have as well, and I managed to find some close-to-scale toy camels at Railex which will make an appearance at some point. Cheers, Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mike Bellamy Posted November 4, 2009 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 4, 2009 I really wanted to sort out an Indy figure but I ran out of time. I have some nice resin hobos in 1:48 by Swash Design and I think they could be cut about to make a decent Dr. Jones, but they weren't cheap and I'm taking this particularly step quite slowly. Sallah would be great to have as well, and I managed to find some close-to-scale toy camels at Railex which will make an appearance at some point. EDM Models import the Mountain Blue range of white metal 1:48 figures from Australia and there are a couple there with picks and shovels who look like they could work on your layout. Near the bottom of this page http://www.ngtrains.com/Pages/Moutain_Blue/figures.htm Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted November 5, 2009 Author Share Posted November 5, 2009 Some of those look like candidates - and they also offer useful femme fatales They're a little bit less realistically proportioned than the Tamiya figs though, which is fine for Sallah but might be out of place for Indy. On the other hand he is a pulp hero... Thanks! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mike Bellamy Posted November 6, 2009 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 6, 2009 Some of those look like candidates - and they also offer useful femme fatales Paul tells me that the 'ladies' are among the best sellers but I don't recall ever selling any off the stand at a show. Perhaps the people who like that sort of thing prefer to deal with mail order If you do want to order anything, be aware that Paul has been quite poorly with flu and other complications and so there may be a delay in posting things Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastworld Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 That's quite an unusual setting, rarely modelled, and done very well here. Are you using large wattage spot lamps to reproduce the heat and glare? Stu Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted December 17, 2009 Author Share Posted December 17, 2009 Sorry for the long absence - a mixture of work and hobby fatigue - and thanks for the comments. The lighting in the gallery pictures is natural sunlight, and at Railex I had a single halogen light to give some key shadows plus natural light from the windows, which looked really good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 My local Poundstretcher had some Indiana Jones action figures. No idea of the scale though, I'm afraid. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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