1. the very first picture is of the wiring I have done...I just isolated all of the rails and connected each one the way I wanted it to be connected, and in some places I just had to run 2 or 3 connections, which will be no problem hiding when I get to that part...
2. next picture is the east end of the river before it turns and heads out of the layout...I just used plaster cloth over the old foam, which made the boulders stand out nicely and then a little wal mart spray bottle and some extra plaster...
3. after that is the riverbed and wall on the other side of the stone arch bridge...
4. I have the tunnel portal snuggled into a small crevice now where it should be and the steel bridge is in place, though I would like to find a gray one or a new orange one...I actually think the orange gives a little bit of character to it...
5. the fifth picture is actually the picture of the mountain I had covered in wood glue at the top...what do you guys think? My fiance did that, and I am proud of her for learning to do all this with me and doing a really good job
6. the sixth picture is kind of a whole view of the riverbed...the tough part was where all the steel arch bridge are...they are so dang hard to attach and mold in to look good...I just have them sitting in right now before I really start working on them...and by the way if you haven't noticed, I managed to save the big stone arch bridge that I was worried about. I really like that part.
7. the first picture on the new post is where I am working right now...I ran out of plaster cloth half way through it, but thats the basic shape. I need to put some supports inside again. Some of them fell out when I was building it around the tunnel. The tape I finally cut out because it keeps falling down and stopping the trains.
8. Ahhh here is the stone arch..it was a pain to mold in, but I love the look of it. I need to get some more of the smooth plaster to work on it with and a little bit more plaster cloth, but for the most part it is almost done.
9. and this is the aerial view of the whole river bed...how does it look guys? it has taken a lot of work but has come a long LONG way...
10. This is in the train yard with a few my big engines. The big one next to the Northern is my new J-Class...I actually talked a guy into giving me that for $12 at a train show...I cleaned it up a bit and she runs like a charm.
11. the tan part is the new plaster I have been shaping the mountain side there with...I hate this stuff and first chance I get I will be going over the face with some of the smooth plaster so I can get a better rock look...its good at building up and filling large areas, but not for the finer parts...I have 2/3rds of this part finished...I still have to put the slope on the top of it all, but I have used a lot working with track ballast too...since it is rough, I find it works pretty darn good as ballast and it shapes into the track really well. I also have another part to go up on the larger part of the mountain, but I was trying something and ran out of plaster cloth, so I had to smooth it out to keep my windows in place for track access...I used the plaster to hold it in place instead of glue for now to see if it works...
12. This is the tunnel portal against the mountain. I thought about trying to add a wall on the other side of it but there isn't enough room, so I left it like it is. I think it is working fairly well so far though...
one thing I am looking for is something I can use for water...I want to be able to mix it with a bit of olive/brown paint to simulate muddy-ish water, and I am looking for a few neat looking little N-Scale boats to put in the water....just little fishing boats and a speedboat or 2...I am making a few buoys around the bridge...I have never done a large area of water like this before...it needs to be about an inch to an inch and a half thick...and when it dries not be tacky like some things because there is still a lot of dusty things to be done...I want to finish a section at a time, and the river is the largest section and I have almost finished it...