Tunnel portals before or after plaster?

[David]

Any opinion on whether tunnel portals should be attached before plaster cloth is applied to the surrounding layout or after?

[KenS]

Well, I've never built a tunnel, but I'd say "before".  You want the portal to be "in" the landscape, not stuck against it, and having the cloth come down on the top and against the sides seems like the best way to accomplish that.

[Hezekiah Strawbody]

Before - as Ken S says, they have to blend in with the scenery and not look like thay have been added 'after'.

[inobu]

Before - as everyone stated. You want to be able to replicate the after effects of nature. The greenery or over growth of shrubbery overlays certain areas of the portal. 

 

Inobu

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Pretty unanimous here, however you may have some exceptions.

 

Not wanting to be too anal here, but in my experience it does depend on what you are trying to create. In many cases, I would always recommend adding the portal before the plastering, for the reasons given before. It also means that you have a flat surface on which to attach the portal, before adding the uneveness of the plaster. On our layout, the tunnel portals (actually cut in half drain pipes!) beneath the motorway were added before any of the plastering was started to blend them in.

 

There are tunnels where the portal sits proud of the landscape, especially in some US and Japanese mountain-traversing lines. Here the tunnel portal looks like an after-thought...in some cases they are replacements for tunnels damaged by landslips etc. For this type of tunnel, it may be easier to complete the rock-face before adding the portal.

[Lawrence]

Pretty unanimous here, however you may have some exceptions.

 

There are tunnels where the portal sits proud of the landscape, especially in some US and Japanese mountain-traversing lines. Here the tunnel portal looks like an after-thought...in some cases they are replacements for tunnels damaged by landslips etc. For this type of tunnel, it may be easier to complete the rock-face before adding the portal.

 

I pretty much agree with this to be honest.  I think much would depend on the height of the hill that the tunnel goes thru, and often times the tunnel mouth was built proud of the hill face, then filled in behind with soil \ rubble.

 

Do a google on tunnel mouths and click on images, you will find a wealth of inspiration and as it is your layout, do it your way

[Bernard]

I agree with Claude, it depends on the situation and how you like to work. I've done it both ways and I still can't decide which way I like best but I've come up with a compromise.

Here are 3 photos. The first 2 go together. The 1st photo shows the entrance without the portal attached and the 2nd shows it attached after the cloth has been put down. The 3rd show the portal attached during the plaster cloth is applied. When the portal is attached it can blend in better with the terrain but you might have to repaint or stain the portal again.

What I do now is put the portal in place but don't glue it in. Apply the plaster cloth with the portal in position, then I remove the portal, do touch up work to the portal, then glue it into position.

[scott]

Speaking as someone who didn't even start making the tunnel portals until after the plastering was done, I'd say "before." 

 

The main reason that I haven't gotten my portals installed yet is that I can never get enough time to construct the surfaces to fill the gaps between my hillsides and where the portals need to go. D'oh.