Railroad model

[Tercel__jon]

How did you model the terrain? is it styrofoam under the newspaper?

Cathode, if you ever take any pictures of it, please post them up. Im curious how its set up. I also might be heading up there in june? I think for some garden tractor plow days. Depending on how it breaks down, and if It can fit in the wagon, I might be interested.

[arbskynxnex]

How did you model the terrain? is it styrofoam under the newspaper?

No, we cut a fascia with the general shape I wanted and hot glued cardboard strips to that and the track platform. Its important to weave an interlaced lattice to give it strength. If you have large flat areas you should put some supports there otherwise you get sag. We put paper mache over the lattice which makes it really strong and then plaster over that.



The last model I did we used a foam board base to accurately map the contours from the survey work we did. It was a lot more work to do, but gives a lot better accuracy of the terrain. The one I'm working on now required enough fudging to accommodate the space limitations that I decided not to do the foam and save the time.

[solarlord]

ARBS- for super strength and lightness- you can laminate with paper and pva glue- semi glossy magazines are the best-rip 12in by 2in strips and coat both surfaces with pva (not too thick) then peice by piece make up the layers -criss cross and up and down -about 5 or 6 layers the more laminates you do the stronger it is-make sure the paper is well soaked in pva (maybe dilute some for this)- for greater detail you can use pottery clay ,mould it into whatever form you require ,cover in vaseline (petrol gelly) then laminate over this with smaller peices of paper -when its dry you can pull out the clay- then amalgamate into the diaorama using the basic lamination process- when its dry a coat of water based varnish will make it tough- you can then add any finish you like-DEC -- it will even take the track

[arbskynxnex]

That sounds like a pretty interesting technique. How does it work on large areas? The way I read it it sounds really good for smaller terrain objects.

[solarlord]

ARBS- you need some mesh like mosquito or curtain net under the larger areas you can fix this using the the hot glue gun,do one paper layer first and let it dry this will give a crust to work on-i find the best tool is a 1 inch brush that they use in schools ,failing that a regular varnish brush stiff bristle type- fingers are pretty good too- when you have layer on you can work/brush thick pva on it to to smooth out the wrinkles and give it more strength when dry- experiment with the techinquie you will find when you have the hang of it you can tackle any thing-always DO ONE layer first and let it dry over night-after that you can put as many as needed to give it strength- and like the old fibreglass canoes you can repair or modify any time-DEC

[Tercel__jon]

Ah I see. My layouts never got past the several ovals of track on a flat board cause I didnt know how to do terrain. I like that paper mache idea. seams to work well.

[arbskynxnex]

I like it too. It is easy and cheap, the only thing I have to buy for the paper mache is the glue and the wood for the fascia; the rest I scavenge out of the recycle bins.

Solar - I think we're using variations on a similar method, though you use enough paper where you can skip the plaster. I looked up PVA glue and it appears to be an ingredient in the Elmer's glue I use to fix the newspaper to the model.

[solarlord]

its fine if you can thin it with water, to different strengths- i get pva from diy stores its used for stabilizing flacky paint and sealing plaster walls-when it drys its like an flexible shell ,the more you use the stronger the effect- you can styrofoamblocks under the structure for support-i cut it with a hot knife (heated on a mini camping gas stove)- cardbord seems to sag with the effects of water but if you coat with varnish first this cancels this out- i always use water based varnish and glue this cuts down drying times and smell- i find lots of good things in diy markets that v good for modelling -i used to teach craft in schools for many years before
i got into wind turbines and solar-just upscaled everything- allways found papier mache a ball ache and heavy going- the best approach is play and have fun-dec

[arbskynxnex]

Yup, fun is important. When I did the paper mache I found 50/50 glue/water to work well. Too much glue and it didn't absorb into the paper and too much water and the glue wouldn't hold the paper down. It is a PITA putting down small 1.5" squares over the whole model, but luckily I had free labor that really enjoyed paper mache so they were totally into it. I learned to wear gloves after the first model, the skin on my fingers almost sloughed off from being in the water glue mix for a week.

I'll have to dig up some of pictures of the last model I did, with the terrain built according to survey data we collected on site. It's foam board spaced with thin strips of wood to scale it to the proper elevation and it looks totally hinky, but it worked great as a topographically accurate base.

[arbskynxnex]

We actually have a presentable model now! 6 of us spent 3 full days at the college working to get it done for the fundraising gala that was on saturday. Most of us only had 8 hours of sleep of less in total for those 3 days, and all of that sleep was on the concrete floor of the classroom next door. It got a little crazy at points and it didn't help that 3 of us were sick with some nasty crap either. My temp was down to 95F and there was some real concern from the crew whether I was going to live through the experience according to them. Dayquil and my girlfriend's common sense and persistence in kicking me out of the lab and going home to rest are probably the only reason's I didn't keel over and die mid-project. There is still alot of work to do until the model is finished, but the big high profile event is done and we can take our time now.

Day 2 1130 at night. Me sick and loopy


Not sick, but loopy

[takza]

Good to see those old growth trees. Are those redwoods?

[ARCHINSTL]

Yes, you all look sleepy.
Interesting touches on the trees - people gathering around the one that split prematurely, trying to figure out why, I guess? And the one that split upon landing - does that happen with big trees like that?
That trestle sort has me puzzled, as the train looks like it runs on the actual side of the hill - is that a replica of an actual pier?
Looks great!
Tom M.

[arbskynxnex]

There was a wye on the campus. It was so they could turn the locomotive around without a turntable, and the trestle is part of the wye. The way the real RR ran the leg of the wye towards the back was the dead end so the trestle would have been part of the main line and the hillside was part of the wye. It doesn't have the track down on it yet so it looks a bit wonky.

Yeah it does. In the old days they would lay down smaller trees to fall the big valuable trees on so they wouldn't split on hitting the ground. Mostly we did it so it would fit the hillside too.

*edit* No those aren't redwoods. They are supposed to be douglas firs. The scale sizes of these model trees are 4feet diameter and between 150 (21inches) to 250 feet tall (34 inches, about the size of the largest tree in the model), all based on actual measurements of similar diameter doug fir trees. A scale redwood tree would be about 5 inches in diameter near the base and (at 300ft) 41 inches tall.

[takza]

Your diorama is good evidence of the destructiveness of men. Bet you couldn't find too many examples of old growth like that in the NW. I was camped in a planted "grove" of doug fir once...the ranger said the trees were 70-80 yrs old....and they weren't that big.

I was also camped in a grove of redwoods once and was scared sheetless that one would fall on me....they were big old growth. Don't send any of them there timber beasties after me....

Still got the tree lovers vs the timber beasts thing going on up there?

[dlb]

Still got the tree lovers vs the timber beasts thing going on up there?

here on vancouver island, the logging industry has declined in a huge way since i was a kid, which pleases me no end since i love forests and hate subdivisions. logging still goes on of course but it's a fraction of what it was in the 80's, and there are some key protected areas with more land being granted special status due to the work of many non-profit organizations.