12 - More Practice

I'm still working on the practice scenery kit. With it being so close to Christmas I'm having a hard time finding the time to work on the practice kit or the layout. The last time we saw the practice kit it looked like this.

I have to apologize dear reader, I've failed to document some steps. More than a few I'm afraid. I let the plaster cloth dry for a few days and then painted assembled and installed the culvert in the lower left section. Then the rock castings were installed and painted. Once the paint dried I "fly specked" the rock faces with a little Woodland Scenic "fine soil". I let that dry and then installed the track roadbed and then the track. After the glue dried I ballasted the track and gave the whole thing a coat of WS "Earth Undercoat".

That leads us to the next couple of pictures. Once the paint had dried then I started "planting" ground cover. This is just the first dusting. After this layer dries then there are 3 or 4 more shades that I'll salt 'n pepper on.

The above photo shows the culvert and the rocks. The lower left where the culvert is has had one dusting of WS "blended green turf" applied.

Now I have the the culvert and rocks masked so I could break out the "scenic sprayer" and give the rest of the diorama a dusting of blended turf. After the scenic cement, which is really just watered down white glue applied with a sprayer, dries then I can continue adding some more turf colors, some under brush and a couple trees.

As for the big layout. I haven't been able to get too much done. I did get plaster cloth laid on the portion of the risers that will be inside the tunnels. After that set up I got the track reassembled and the plaster sanded and evened out. Now it's time to lay roadbed and track that will be inside the tunnels and then actually build the tunnels. It will be after Christmas before that gets done though.

Last weekend I got my first boxcar kit. A 40 foot Burlington Northern boxcar. I even upgraded the trucks and couplers...the ones that come with the kits are garbage, i.e. plastic. Even after buying the extra couplers and trucks the cost of the kit is about 50% less they buying the ready to roll one. It only took my about 15 mins to put it together. I think if I can find a kit version of a car I want I'll go that route...way cheaper!!!!

11 - The Risers Have Arisen

Finally, after another trip to the store for more glue sticks, got the all the risers installed. The foam pieces were actually pretty easy to deal with. They were very flexible and curved easily. Also, the reference points printed on the base really made it easy.

Once the risers were all in place then it was time to get the track back out and run the train. We ran the train in both directions to find all the "hitches". What we were looking for was high/low spots that aren't noticable to the naked eye. It's a sure thing that the train will find them everytime and sure enough it did! This was a tedious taks of sanding, shimming and shaving...Oh my! There are still a few little spots that aren't perfect, but I think that once the track bed is install and the track is glued down it will fine. Right now it's hard to get it perfect because the track isn't attached to anything so when the train goes around a corner it pulls the track a little and so the alignment gets off.

The trains....they do run though!!!