Spring time for the tree

With sping time here the tree stars to look a bit greener.
Extra branches, truck painted and foilage added.

And a close up of the tree trunk

I had several attempts at getting the colour on the tree right.
Initially I’d based it upon burnt umber but that was way too dark even mixing in white. 
It just ended up a muddy yucky colour.
So after a trip to Spotlight I picked up Jo Sonjas paint called Provincial Beige. 
Also to get a bit of variation in the colours of the leaves I painted a couple of bits with the el cheap'o Heriatge Green spray paint before applying it to the tree.



I'm very happy with the results. :)

 

Trees

Standing about 35cm tall this tree scales out to just a little over 27 feet in G-Scale(1:24) quite a modest tree but when compared to other scales ... wow. Especially when I look at some of the N-Scale trees that I have used as shrubs on this layout (just out of camera view) in fact I had to use 3 N-Scale trees twisted together to make a realistic looking shrub which only stands about 18-24 inches high.

This tree was make using the tried and true method of twisting wire and then coating them with "No More Gaps" however to get the size of base I needed to achieve the look I wanted I had to start with a piece of Balsa wood (5 one inch square pieces actually) and then continued building and shaping from there.

Still have to paint it and add foliage once this completely dry but I'm happy with the results so far.

New Life for an Old Layout

I had started a layout sometime ago (original post http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=7405) but I wasn't able to achieve the desired building design that I wanted so the project had been shelved for a while.
After attending the Toowoomba show back in the beginning of June I was re inspired by the model railway scene and wanted to get back into some modelling but TAFE commitments really was preventing that from happening. So now with this semesters 2 exams (Anatomy & Physiology) over with I had a few days up my sleeve to express my creative self again. 

Rather than start a new layout from scratch or build another diorama I decided to breathe some new life into the G-9 layout that started so long ago. 

I even have a place to display the new layout, at the nursing home that I work they will be doing a display for the upcoming carnival of flowers (September). So now I have a deadline to work to and limited space to put it in.  The circular G-9 layout seemed like the perfect option.

Here is the over all view of the layout, the centre still needs work done. The track plan is a folded figure 8. It's just 77cm diameter and spins on a centre post, which is how the power is supplied to the layout it is also supported by 3 small wheels about 120 degrees apart. Future plans will have a motor underneath the layout spinning the board at about 1 rmp.


Some more photos...

adding some weeds ...	and details of the bridge and rusty push bike.

If anyone wants to follow the progress of this layout I'll be posting dialy / 2nd daily updates on the Gn15 Forum but I will try to keep this blog updated to (just not as often)
Here the link anyway http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=8581

more on corrugated iron

I can not claim the corrugated iron as my own the original idea it came from another forum
(http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8490&whichpage=4)

The article suggested ...

• Downloading the flat textures from the Mayang Site (http://www.mayang.com/textures/index.htm)

• Printing them on some card stock

• Then cut them into 8 foot scale strips and crimping them with a fiskars crimper.

The textures I used are... "Rusty_Metal", "Metal" and "Metal Water Spots " see the small samples below.



So while I think that this method looks great in G Scale (1:24) you might get away with in O (1:48) but for HO or N you have No HOpe. (unless you could find a micro crimper ?)

Hoped this answered any questions.

corrugated iron

Corrugated iron anyone?



Started on Buildings and needed to make some O Scale (1:24) corrugated iron.
Should I Say I'm very happy with the trial results so far.

More on the Baseboard

I've now undercoated the backboard white and will try to paint the sky in tomorrow also I modified the back area of the baseboard. I removed the failed attempt of a 3 track, transfer table (red area) and added some new supports and plywood into the newly created hole (yellow area). Then I installed two Peco Set Track point (yellow arrows). I've still got to attach the other end of the passing loop track and pin it all down. But I just couldn't resist running a Loco and around for a while on the track that worked.