Hamamachi Station

[Kiha66]

Amazing work Grant, I'll definitely have to try this in the future!

[Grant_T]

This week I've been working on the plastering. I'm about halfway through as it is a fair bit of work. This is a bit rough at the moment, but the next round of plaster will clean things up a bit. But you get the idea. There are seawalls and also a rocky shoreline. This will really come to life when I paint it, trust me. 🙂

 

[Kiha66]

I'm excited to see how you tackle the seawalls.  That's an element I've been wanting to try but haven't figured out how to pull off on my own modules yet.

[Grant_T]

Where is that path going? 🤔

 

[Grant_T]

Okay, getting near the end of the plaster phase. I probably just need to clean just a few things up (including the stairs) and then I'll surface the non rock areas with a technique that I'll explain. And then paint. 

 

[Kiha66]

Wow, love the little stairs on the seawall!  Are they carved directly into the plaster?

[Grant_T]

1 minute ago, Kiha66 said:

Wow, love the little stairs on the seawall!  Are they carved directly into the plaster?

 

Yeah, they are carved into the plaster. I'm going to tidy them up a little, but these stars will be worn by the sea and foot traffic so they don't have to be perfect.

[Lawrence]

Looks stunning Grant 👍

[Grant_T]

I set some plaster in some of the Woodland Scenic rock molds, broke these up into a variety of sizes and then shock them around in a bowls to knock off the edges and make them slightly smooth to suit their location. These were then plastered in.

 

[Kiha66]

Looks good, really capturing the feeling of the Japanese coastline. 

[Grant_T]

I need to plaster the surface up to the tracks so off comes the masking. Nice!

 

 

But it also becomes clear that the platform is totally out of scale in terms of height. (I did not factor in the layers of plaster that would be needed to level it.) So.....

 

One of the best lessons I've learned in modeling is that is it almost never to late to go back and fix problems,  and it is almost always worth it to do so. The new plastered platform is currently drying and it looks a lot better. There probably won't be any progress on this for a few weeks because I will be travelling in the American Southwest. (And maybe doing some research for a new HO modular layout.)

Edited March 6, 2019 by Grant_T

[Grant_T]

I've been travelling and there have been some horrible events in my home town, but I'm back with some progress. I'm probably not the only person to use this technique to surface the landscape, but it is my solution to blending in rocks and roads etc to give the layout a uniform look. First I glue down a layer of sand and then this is left to dry and a thinned wash of plaster is painted all over. This can give the impression of dirt and rock surfaces, it is easy to paint, and it is far more durable than actual dirt, which I see some other people using. It is quite hard to give a good impression of what is going on at this stage because it is all white, but adding some colour is getting very close, and things should make more sense then. 

 

Note also the rebuilt platform at am ore realistic height. This still needs some shaping, smoothing and detailing

 

[Martijn Meerts]

It's crazy what's happened in Christchurch really, and other parts of the world...

 

Hadn't heard of the whole using sand and then painting plaster over the sand technique. Looks like it gets some good results though.

 

I also know why Sculptamold is hard to find here now, it's all being shipped to New Zealand 🙂

 

[cteno4]

My sincerest condolences to your community grant, know how that must put a pall over everything. such a sad, senseless waste of life.

 

Nice. I had good results trying thinned craft paint over very fine sand to get a toned down grain look of just the sand. even really fine sand was like pea gravel in size at n scale and it looked a bit too rough and the paint did the trick. looking at things even from 6" ls like 75' away so you never see the texture really.

 

at least the sculptamold is lightweight to ship down there! 😜 

 

jeff

[Grant_T]

1 hour ago, cteno4 said:

 

Nice. I had good results trying thinned craft paint over very fine sand to get a toned down grain look of just the sand. even really fine sand was like pea gravel in size at n scale and it looked a bit too rough and the paint did the trick. looking at things even from 6" ls like 75' away so you never see the texture really.

 

jeff

 

Hi Jeff, yeah at this scale sand or even roads should be near smooth. The sandy beach front in this will be left as it is now.

[cteno4]

It’s one of those mind’s eye things. Even looking at a model beach from a scale 100’+ our mind wants to see sand texture as most all our visual memories are of sand up close (not 100’ away) where we see the texture. So some over sized texture needs to be there to satisfy our mind’s expectations. It’s like curbs they just look way too shallow at 1mm or less on the layout viewed from more than a foot away. Main thing is not to have the beach goers walking on softball sized grains of sand I guess!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Grant_T]

And it works. 

 

 

 

[Grant_T]

First coat of paint over the whole thing.

 

[maihama eki]

Outstanding rock work!  I want to walk up those steps to the top of the hill and shoot photos of passing trains.

[cteno4]

Wonderful grant! Spectacular rockwork! Kudos!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Lawrence]

My sympathies to you and your countryfolk after the appalling recent events out there, in time the city will heal and life will go on and, hopefully, the powers that be out there will make your country a safer place to be for all.

 

As for your layout, wow do you have an eye for a landscape and colouring, it's like a modern day masterpiece.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

This is certainly looking the part, what a difference a bit of colour makes...

 

I see from earlier comments that the length is 2,200mm (just over 7ft). Is that the total length? It seems bigger.

[marknewton]

Looks superb, Grant.

 

I'll add my condolences to you and your fellow Kiwis after the awful events in ChCh. I have many contacts there through the tramway, so it's not just a news story for me but something personal.

 

Wishing you and yours all the best,

 

Mark.

[Grant_T]

Thanks for the kind comments everyone (especially about the events in Christchurch). I've spent a few more hours on the layout this weekend. Pictures to come soon.

[Grant_T]

On 3/29/2019 at 11:39 PM, Claude_Dreyfus said:

I see from earlier comments that the length is 2,200mm (just over 7ft). Is that the total length? It seems bigger.

 

I just measured it again, definitely 2200. 😀 I think it shows what n scale allows you to do in a small space. After I finish with this I'm probably going to build some Southwest USA Freemo modules in HO; 2200mm doesn't get you much running in that scale.