The Suburbs - part 3

I made some progress on the suburban scene.  Two houses, one the Atlas 'Kim's Classic' house, the other a Walthers kit.  They were quick kits to put together compared to some of the other larger industrial buildings.  I was really impressed by the Atlas kit - the parts fit together well, the tabs and walls supported each other without having to hold anything in place.  I haven't decided yet where everything is going to be placed, I'm just building these and we'll see how they fit.  I painted the doors, windows, and roofs, but I didn't paint the siding - I figured it's 2020, odds are it would be vinyl siding and would be a little shiny/slick looking.  I think what will really make these look good in the end is the details around them - trees, flowers and shrubs, sidewalks, fences, etc.  

I'm working on ballasting the passing sidings right now, and then ground cover around the steel mill area.  I don't enjoy ballasting.  I have yet to do it well, it feels like even with an eye dropper and a spray bottle, the scenic cement beads up easily with the ballast and messes up the shape.  I'll be glad when I'm done.

Another steel mill building

 I've mostly completed another building for the steel mill complex.  From afar, to the untrained eye, steel mills look like an amazingly complex jumble of similarly-colored buildings.  As you learn more about the process you start to identify which ones are which.  So far I have a blast furnace, a rolling mill, and some coke ovens in the background.  I had a space in there that needed something, and I wasn't too picky about what function it served.  It just needed to look the part.  Walthers offers a blower house, which blows superheated air into the blast furnaces to feed the processes there.  Based on the layout of things, it was going to be tough to fit that in there.  Steel mills also can have power houses.  I found the Walthers Metro Power and Light kit was a good fit in terms of style.  I needed to narrow it by 1.5 inches to get it to fit the space.  I painted it the same flat gray as the other buildings.  Details aren't a big concern with this building - it's in back, it just needs to fill a space and look the part.

The kit comes with a large smokestack and another outer building that connects to that.  I haven't built those yet, I may not need them.  If it's a blower house, then I need to find some styrene tubes to connect to the blast furnace.  The challenge is going to be, in the absence of being able to get these in person, to find the right sized ones online.

Lessons learned:

1. Squadron brand putty - after a few years, it's nearly impossible to get out of the tube.  I used some in the corners where I had to narrow the building.  It doesn't look neat but it's better than seeing a gap, and the paint sorta covers it.
2. It's easy to cut things straight when you're working with a corrugated surface, since there's already half a groove to work with.

Next up: finishing some things, starting others.  I need guard rails for the highway, as well as more Jersey barriers; I need to figure out ballasting the passing tracks and sidings and how to cover the steel mill area; I need to paint the rails near the grain milling complex; figure out a photo backdrop for the river scene; as well as the a fore-mentioned piping from the new building to the blast furnace.

 

Interstate highway overpass - part 2

I'm not done with the highway overpass yet - but most of it is.  Since the last post I built the bridge itself, cut and painted the roadway out of thin styrene, built some of the Jersey barriers, and painted and attached the signs.

I used some thick pieces of styrene for the bridge deck.  I didn't attach it to the piers because it's near the edge and I wanted it to be able to get knocked off rather than broken off.  For the roadway - those Woodland Scenics striping pens just don't want to work after a while.  I was able to get a substitute at an art store nearby however, some Sharpie brand paint markers that work the same (and were cheaper).  The Jersey barriers are made by Rix Products. I have to buy another pack of them to finish off the scene (and possibly use on the underpass).  The highway signs were 3-D printed by Shapeways.  I created some signs in Microsoft Paint and printed them out.  They don't have a very deep end to anchor them into the ground, so I managed to find a plastic coffee stirrer (which was a lot harder to find than I imagined - they've gone the way of plastic straws), attach some of that to the end, drill a hole, fit it in there, fingers crossed it'll stay in place.

I'm pretty pleased with how this came out so far.  The bridge acts as a nice scenic divider for the layout, and the signs give it a little sharp realism.  I still need my 4-year-old nephew to give this a look and see if it works.

Still left to go: besides more Jersey barriers, I'm still waiting for Walthers to get the guardrails in stock.  And eventually to put some ground cover on the embankments.  I might also stick a piece of hardboard on the end so nothing rolls off the road down into the middle of the layout underneath.  I need some other little touches too - like a speed limit sign, maybe a mile-marker, maybe some tire streaks on the pavement.  Maybe lights someday.

Lessons learned:

1. Thin styrene was easier to work with than plaster, to make a road.  But you would still need to build it up to a certain level in some places.
2. Spend some time to make things close to the right size, but at some point you have to selectively compress.  This thing was wide enough already, and that's only with 2 lanes each way (most would be 3 each way).  Plus I didn't really include shoulders.  

Interstate highway overpass - part 1

With all this time on my hands these days, there's plenty of opportunity to get going on some projects on the layout.  Next up is the interstate highway bridges and embankment.  I thought this would make a good scenic break in the layout.  When you're in a present day urban setting, one of the main points of interaction you have with trains is when they go over/under a roadway.

I started with the Rix Products 150' modern highway bridge kit.  The piers feature adjustable height, which helps a lot when trying different arrangements.  Figuring this out required the answer to the question, "how high is a highway bridge supposed to be?"  I looked up info from Union Pacific's design standards, which when converted to HO scale dimensions meant that there should be 3.2" clearance.  This was confirmed by a bridge engineer I know.  When I tried this, I decided I wanted a little more clearance, so I'm planning it for 4" over the rails.  That height should easily clear any train, as well as not look too out of scale.

For the embankment by steel mill, I used white styrofoam pieces with some of those Woodland Scenics risers.  The white styrofoam was easy to cut but really messy to work with.  For the embankments along the river shore, I used cardboard strips covered with plaster cloth.  I still had to use Sculptamold plaster to even out the surface.  For this I tried using that pink insulation foam.  They pieces are 1 inch thick.  I tried some 3M spray adhesive I had from the backdrops and it didn't melt the foam.  I glued the pieces together and then cut the embankment.  The tricky part was the corner pieces in back - since it's at an angle, I had to cut and fit these separately.  I still need to add a small layer of white sytrofoam underneath to get the height right.  Four one-inch pieces together doesn't include the height of the rails and roadbed.  When it' set, I plan to use some plaster cloth for the sides and then some Smooth-It for the pavement on top.  So far I don't know if I like this method of building terrain any better, but for now it was something different to try.

I wasn't sure whether to build another foam embankment (a very small one) on the other side.  It was going to be an odd space, and was going to make the scene a bit like a tunnel.  For now, I'm going to use the second set of piers and just pretend that the bridge had to go further.  The danger is that someone might catch this and knock it off - so my plan is to leave the bridge unattached (just sitting on) the piers.  That way it can be knocked off without breaking the whole thing.  We'll see how it works.

Next up: fitting the foam underlayer; building the bridge itself (I'm going to use a piece of styrene, because the pieces that Rix includes are too thin for two lanes).

Milling about - part 2

I'm finished with the grain milling building, at least for now.  I added the Walthers particulate blower to the front.  I really like how this adds some detail to what's otherwise kind of a plain building.  Which makes me think, I could add some details in the future.  Perhaps some signage, like a large "ADM" logo or something.  Some loading bay doors at the bottom. And a fall-protection system along there for the workers to walk the tops of the cars without fear of falling off.  I need to figure a good way to place it on the table, whether that's glue or on some kind of pins, because the large part isn't connected yet to the rest.  While there were frustrating times where I wanted to crush this structure underfoot and just buy a kit, in the end I like how everything turned out.

Lessons learned:

1. Save all your old kit parts, because you never know when you may be able to use them someday.  I had a few long L-shaped pieces lying around that I was able to cut up and use as supports.  That allowed the building to be a lot more stable.
2. Plastic warps and bends in ways you don't want it to as it's dried.  So be prepared for that.
3. As well as you think you've measured and cut the pieces, they won't always fit perfectly.  So some well-placed trim pieces can hide those junctions.

Next: Laying the track along there. From there...I'm not sure.  The interstate overpass?  The TBD building in the space in front of the grain mill complex (a specialty steel company maybe)?  Something further for the steel mills?  Start building some houses for the suburbs?

Milling about

I have a Walthers grain elevator that I built a long, long time ago, and for a Great Lakes port it makes sense to have one.  I would like to make it larger - whether I'll be able to find the add-on silos, or have to build my own, is a subject for another day.  Having finished ballasting the main lines, and being sick of ballasting for now, I decided to work on the elevator/mill complex.  Here in Buffalo we once had one of the largest concentrations of grain elevators and grain processing facilities in the world.  There are still a couple active down by the waterfront.  I used inspiration from a couple examples - first, the ADM elevator and mill complex in Buffalo on Ganson Street; second, the malting complex in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.  What I saw in a general sense is a mix of old brick buildings with newer corrugated steel buildings.  All somewhat large and imposing, but plain with some assorted pipes going around.  (I'm not too picky about how accurate it's done - just that you get the general sense of what it is).

I thought this might be a good chance to try scratchbuilding something.  Walthers makes a Red Wing Milling building, and one for a narrow backdrop space, but I wanted something more modern-looking.  It's going to fit next to the grain elevator, along the backdrop, down the way from the steel mill.  I drew up some plans and searched for parts.  Here's where it got more complicated. 

Lessons learned (many):

1. The good thing is, Design Preservations/Woodland Scenics still makes those modular brick building pieces. So I was able to buy some sections and put together a good 5-story-ish brick building section of the mill.  I had to cut some pieces, and use some styrene pieces to secure the corners, but not a big deal.
2. Remember that quaint time when you could go to a local hobby store, check out options, talk to someone knowledgeable, and get exactly what you needed?  And not have to jump through hoops when you needed something more?  Yeah, those days are gone.  Even with a ruler, it's tough to estimate exactly how some things are going to look until you get them.  The Evergreen 4526 corrugated siding was what I needed.  The 9215 plain white sheets were way too thin.  I used some for the backing that would just face the wall, but it's way too thin for the roofs.  So I had to order something thicker. 
3. Securing the corners and edges - I used some .04 square rods.  They fit great for the corners of the brick sections, but are kinda too small for the corners of the larger part.  I looked into getting some L-shaped pieces, but so far I've made do.
4. I'm just working with Testors non-toxic glue in a little tube.  I've thought about going to the Plastruct solvent that fuses things together, but it has been good to be able to take things apart that didn't work well.
5. Styrene is stupidly expensive.  Like how does this one 6x12" corrugated sheet cost $5. It's plain plastic.  I thought this would be cheaper than buying a kit.  When all is said and done, getting a kit and modifying it would probably be cheaper and easier.  But I am learning things as part of doing this.  It gives me a sense of the economies of scale for the Walthers kits...but still, these are plain pieces of plastic, I can't believe how much they cost and how a project adds up.
6. The photo shows the brick building and the tall corrugated building.  I still need to build the lower part along the front with the loading doors, which will be 3" tall and a little longer than the brick section.  It will ideally look like a complex that was added to over the years.

Up next - the lower section; a base to secure it and the roofs, because the tall section seems flimsy on its own; then painting it.  I've made a lot of progress relatively quickly because it's March 2020 and we're all stuck at home.  I've also considered getting in on the styrene racket.

Grade crossing

I completed the grade crossing - well, the road part.  The crossing gates will come someday at another time.  I prepared the road the same way as before and finished with that dull-coat spray. Which still comes out a bit glossy, but it was successfully tested by my 3-year-old nephew with some Matchbox cars. The finish didn't scratch off, and both the cars and the trains successfully navigated the crossing.  I'm happy with how this turned out.

I'm working on finishing up ballasting the main lines, which at this point consists of the approaches to the shipping channel bridges.  I received the materials in the mail for the next project, building a milling building to go with the grain elevator.  Or, at least what I think I'll need.  I'm not naive enough to think that I'll end up needing something else to build it.

The suburbs: part 2

I've made a lot of progress on the roads for the suburban scene.  I poured and sanded the plaster, filled in the potholes and gaps, and painted them with Woodland Scenics asphalt colored paint.  I had to run various cars across there to make sure there's enough clearance for the couplers.  The problem was mainly the old Roundhouse boxcars, the Kadee couplers drag low (a problem that I already had with those on some of the switches).  To build up the crossing area to the height of the rails, I first used some old cork roadbed, then some spackle.  I let that dry, then did the top with the road plaster.  I stained and glued down some wooden rail guards (balsa wood) for a realistic look and to keep the plaster separate from the rails.  I like how this came out, though the plaster seems to have lightened it a bit.  But it allowed me to have a nice incline up to the rail height and a crossing even across (better than how this came out in the brewery loading area).

Someday I would love to get some (very expensive) working crossing gates for this scene.  But that's for another day.

Lessons learned:

1. I used a heaver sandpaper this time, so it didn't take so long to sand.  Plus I did some of it with a metal file.  Even then, it's really hard to get it completely flat.  Once you start painting, you'll see some of the little indentations.
2. I want to keep detailing along the tracks and the wooden rail guards because even after doing this carefully, you still see the outline of the white plaster underneath. 
3. I'm still not a huge fan of working with plaster.  I keep feeling like I'm handling it wrong, like there's some tricks to this that I'm not getting.

Next up: Drawing the road markings and then sealing the roads with a dullcoat finish.  Then working on more ballasting - and figuring out exactly what blend to do the passing tracks and the industrial sidings.