Zedob's Layout Party

interurban

Active Member
Hi Zedob,
This is shaping up very nicely, These Stone bridges and walls that you make realy do look like the real thing .
Again I will say you are talented mate.
 

zedob

Member
Layout Party II



Thanks for the compliments everyone. This project is really getting addictive. I’m beginning to like this Layout party thing, a lot. This project would’ve taken me half a year to get this far with out some pressure. This is a great motivator.



Next installment



I needed to put a lining of sorts inside of my river tunnel arch. I had an extra brick mold from a previous mold-making mission that was available for a project just like this one, so I was in pretty good shape, so far. I really didn’t take any measurements because I knew that I would have to rely on whatever cylindrical item I could find that would be close, would have to be good enough. So, after about ten minutes of searching and a handful of hopeful candidates I finally decided to go with the tube of silicon caulk.



This actually killed two birds with one stone because I was planning on using silicon for water effects and would have to have searched for it later on. As long as I don’t misplace it, I’m all right.



I knew that it was going to be a pain to bend the mold, wrap a piece of styrene over the open side of the mold and then tape it, I did it, but it wasn’t easy. Curving a mold is one thing, bending it 180 degrees and forming it into a horseshoe, well that’s another story. Semi stiff silicon rubber, small diameter plastic surfaces and greasy styrene (Vaseline from previous molding job) don’t stay still. Even if I had two extra hands, I don’t think it could have been any easier. All I could think about was a greased pig. I will have to do something different next time.



Looking at the pic below you’ll notice the cutout in the mold adjacent to the styrene. This is the sprue hole to pour the plaster. The mold was originally designed for flat-back service, not for bending around caulk tubes, so when I cut out the sprue hole I compromised the mold’s integrity and ended up with the mold kinking at the tube side. Come to think of it I should have turned the mold 90 degrees and poured as if filling a U from one leg. The stresses on that spot would be more natural and conducive to keeping the molding form correct. Next time.
 

Attachments

  • brickliner_mold_2.jpg
    brickliner_mold_2.jpg
    7.6 KB · Views: 106

zedob

Member
I mixed and poured the mold and let it sit for about an hour. I started to de-mold the casting when I suddenly realized that I was playing with a bear trap. I was able to keep it from flying everywhere, but the casting ended up getting broken. However, I had originally figured that I could walk my way around the fact that I wasn’t going to pour a perfect diameter tunnel to match the wall arch and could cut the cast tunnel down the middle to fudge it, so I wasn’t disappointed.



Luck I guess. I found out that I would have ended up having to cut the tunnel after all.
 

Attachments

  • broken_casting.jpg
    broken_casting.jpg
    7.4 KB · Views: 101

zedob

Member
This is a pic that tells the truth about the distortion caused by wrapping the brick mold around the tube.

 

Attachments

  • thinned_casting.jpg
    thinned_casting.jpg
    11.2 KB · Views: 102

zedob

Member
I ended up breaking the casting even more, by accident, but it wasn’t anything super glue wouldn’t fix. It’s not perfect, but it’s impossible to see from the fascia, anyways.
 

Attachments

  • liner_bottom.jpg
    liner_bottom.jpg
    13.1 KB · Views: 97

zedob

Member
I added a strip of scribed siding to the backside of the tunnel to help reinforce it and to help seal out stray light. The hidden track will ride right on top of this.
 

Attachments

  • liner_reinforcer.jpg
    liner_reinforcer.jpg
    11.5 KB · Views: 104

zedob

Member
This is what it looks like after I stained it. I still have more staining and weathering to do and will end up darkening the farthest end of the tunnel to help give the illusion of depth. If I were to do it again, I’d build the tunnel walls at a slight taper creating a forced perspective thus giving the building more depth, but seeing my options relied on a tube of caulk and luck, I had to stay with the simple plan.
 

Attachments

  • stained.jpg
    stained.jpg
    16.6 KB · Views: 99

zedob

Member
Zedob’s Layout Party III



I really didn’t want to try and make the first warped concrete tail water casting work by hacking on it, so I decided to make a new form and pour a new casting. Since I was starting from scratch I decided to do it right this time around. This time I spent the time to add draft to parts of the mold to make it easier top remove the casting without cracking it, particularly on the core that was to create the rectangular tail water discharge. I also beefed up the form to prevent anymore warping during the pour.



I had added some vertical scribes in the original mold to simulate separate boards, but they didn’t come out that well, so I really laid into it this time by spending a lot more time on it. I also added nail holes and knotholes. The nail holes were added with a fine pointed burr and the knotholes were burned in with a red-hot sewing needle.
 

Attachments

  • tailwater_casting_form_1.jpg
    tailwater_casting_form_1.jpg
    13.2 KB · Views: 105
  • form_surface_texture.jpg
    form_surface_texture.jpg
    15.1 KB · Views: 102

zedob

Member
This is the final result after initial staining. I used WS concrete for the base color and some stone gray for the water stained area at the bottom. The pic shows it as being a lot grayer than what it looks like in real life. I set my camera up a few F-stops to reduce the light in order to make the details of the grain, nail holes and knotholes to stand out better. They are a little on the exaggerated size, but they look perfect at about 16 inches, which will be the regular viewing distance.
 

Attachments

  • closeup.jpg
    closeup.jpg
    18.3 KB · Views: 103

zedob

Member
This is a shot of a mill turbine house in Hazardville, CT. It’s mirror image of my scene, but inspirational non the less. Notice the tail water discharge hole. This particular mill has a nice assortment of building materials and techniques used in its construction, which would really make a fine interesting model in the future, but not this time around.
 

Attachments

  • tailwater_hazardvillect.jpg
    tailwater_hazardvillect.jpg
    14.1 KB · Views: 99

zedob

Member
And now, the overall view.



I wanted to give the impression that the mill and the railroad stone work was built at different times, so I gave each their own paint job. I painted the mill foundation by mixing a glob of ‘crimson” watercolor paint from the tube with some WS burnt umber and stone gray, which really did a good job of making it look like a red sandstone.



The RR abutments will be stained and painted a lot more to represent granite blocks and will end up being grimed up a lot more in the end.
 

Attachments

  • overall.jpg
    overall.jpg
    28 KB · Views: 103

ezdays

Out AZ way
You're right, this is addictive, not only to do, but to watch. Great stuff, it makes my project pale in comparison. :thumb: :thumb:
 

Gary S.

Senior Member
That is fantastic modeling. Seeing all this makes me want to change the location of what I had planned on modeling. I was going to do Southeast Texas, flat as a pancake, fields, trees and ditches. But that seems so boring now!
 

Ray Marinaccio

Active Member
Your scene is coming together nicely.
After seeing how you do your casting I am concidering ripping out some of my concrete bridge abutments and replacing them with stone abutments.
 

eightyeightfan1

Now I'm AMP'd
I like it.
Very typical of New England.
I wouldn't of worried about the crack in the arch. Gave it a little aging. To bad you couldn't see it.
 

zedob

Member
ezdays said:
You're right, this is addictive, not only to do, but to watch. Great stuff, it makes my project pale in comparison. :thumb: :thumb:

I don't know about being pale in comparison. You had a superfund size cleanup and disposal to deal with!:D

I did get to do some more today, but not really enough for posting. just some more staining and experimenting.


Gary S., I can relate to flat scenery. I have found so many really neat railroad things to model ever since I moved to New England. I don't leave home without my camera because I never know when some railroad related item will pop up out of no-where while I'm driving around. Quite alot of obscure fallen flags around here.:thumb:

Ray, I have to admit that I perfer the stone abutments. There are so many of them around here and not one of them is identical to another. :)

WB, thanks, I'm hoping to get more up by the end of the weekend.:rolleyes:

EEF, After modeling Colorado ng for quite a few years the New Engalnd atmosphere bit me. I'm glad the scene is beginning to convey that feeling.:thumb:


I hope I didn't miss anyone. Until next time...:wave:
 
Top