Here we go! Gotta start somewhere.

TrainNut

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Sep 15, 2004
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Foam blocks are in, glue's drying. Next step is to roughly shape the foam with a soldering iron and then fill in some of the larger holes, gaps, and cracks with wall joint comound. Once the wjc dries, I will start carving in the finer details with an Xacto blade.
For now...

DCP_6655_low_res.jpg
 

steamhead

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Apr 16, 2005
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Hey..!! I think you got something there...Looks great..!! I tried something similar a while back but didn't like the results...From looking at your pics, I think my problem was the "rocks" were a little too small, and not enough of them. I'll try this method in the next round of scenery making....
 

TrainNut

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Sep 15, 2004
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I hope I did not skip too many steps for anybody. From the last pic to here, I formed a lot of the blocks with the soldering iron, then carved in the finer details with an Xacto and for the final step, I filled in all the holes and larger cracks with wall joint compound. Paints next.

DCP_6665_low_res.jpg
 

TrainNut

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Sep 15, 2004
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For this picture, the wall joint compound has now dried and I went back and repainted the old part as well as the new part with a heavy coat of stone gray. I worked it down into all of the cracks and crevices so they would appear dark and pop out. The second coat of paint is concrete and I more or less brushed it across the higher surfaces to create highlights. I'm tempted to leave it alone at this point but I think I am still going to apply a little yellow ochre as well as a light spraying of burnt umber followed by some tricklings of red oxide.

DCP_6666_cropped.jpg
 

jesso

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Jul 21, 2006
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Very nice job. It appears that you have found a great way to make rock walls. I like how well the new part merged with the old. The scene looks good as it is, however I think it will be even better with the colors you talked about.

I wish that I had a source for pink or blue foam here. All I have been able to find is white. What do you think would happen if I tried to do what you have with white foam? (other than make yet another huge mess)
 

rogerw

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Jun 16, 2006
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TrainNut that did turn out really nice. Jesso if you cant get the pink or blue foam I have seen some really good results using ceiling tiles for stone walls.
 

TrainNut

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What do you think would happen if I tried to do what you have with white foam?
If you look, there is a chunk of white foam thrown in there with the rest. There is also a piece of white foam in the section to the left as well. I noticed no difference between the two using this method for this purpose.
You want some blue foam? I'll go down to Home Depot, buy you enough sheets to cut them into 2' squares to stack up and make a 2' cube. Lessee, that would be 6 sheets of 2'x8'x1". How much you think it would cost to ship that? If your interested, I'll look into it.
 

jesso

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I just got an email from a friend that saw my post on here and said that I just need to know the right people to get it here. You have to know people that work in construction and since he does, he can get it for me. Thanks though Trainnut, :thumb: anytime you want to come on over and work on my layout you are welcome to. Just ask Woodone, it is just a short 9-10 hour drive from Phoenix.sign1
 

TrainNut

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Sep 15, 2004
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As I said, I dabbed on a bunch more colors. A little bit of red oxide, some yellow ochre, and then I thought the whole scene had too much yellow and the rocks were too dark in general. I took concrete and mixed it 50 50 with white and caught a lot of the highlights. Then of course, I added some real rocks and dirt on some of the ledges as well as bushes and grass. There are very few parts of my layout that I feel are complete. This is now one of them... minus the foreground of course. I have not decided what to put there just yet.

DCP_6673_low_res.jpg


DCP_6674_low_res.jpg
 

jesso

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Wow!Wow!Wow!Wow!Wow!Wow!Wow!Wow!Wow!Wow!
jawdropjawdropjawdropjawdropjawdropjawdropjawdrop
That turned out great! All the different colors on the rocks, plus the greenery just make that area look incredible. I think we will be seeing lots of roster shots from that location.
 

TrainNut

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Sep 15, 2004
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F3's they are. Christmas presents from my wife.
Thank you all for your comments. Really though, it's just foam that I hacked into and slathered paint onto. Anybody here could easily do it with a little practice. On the flipside, I am so pleased with the results however, that now I look at the rest of my layout and am considering demolishing certain areas to redo with this new technique. What'd somebody say about a model train layout that never gets finished?.......
 

steamhead

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Ohhhh....That wife of yours is a keeper....

That's a problem we all face...We learn as we go along, and look at our previous efforts & wonder if we should go back & redo them. I intend to go forward with what's left to do...and then go back & revisit what may need "updating"....