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Comments
I use my fingers to pat down the dirt as best I can to get it to even it out - aka make a flat surface. I then apply the 50/50 glue-water mixture. The issue is when I come back after it has dried, some spots are a little higher than others...and because its now dried, its quite hard making it difficult to even those spots out.
I'd be interested to hear others feedback on how do deal with this issue...
It fix this, do you:
A - Use a razor blade to try and knock down those spots?
B - Do you use rubbing alcohol to wet those areas and attempt to rework them?
C - Do you sprinkle more dirt in those areas to get them to look more even?
D - None of the above..
Thanks for your input!
Alan
1 - Stained the Wood Railroad Ties I got from Fast Tracks with chalk and alcohol.
2 - Glued down the ties using a glue called Weldbond
3 - I then sprinkled down dirt around the ties and sealed the dirt down with a 50/50 mix of glue and water. I think this time, I used Woodland Scenics Glue cause I couldn't find the bottle of Elmers glue to make my own mix.
4- Let this then dry overnight. Once dry, the dirt becomes hard from the glue mixture helps holds the ties in place.
5 - I got my weathered rail from Micro Engineering
6 - I ran a small bead of Piobond glue down the back of each rail. I got the glue from Fast Tracks..they include plastic tips that allows you to squeeze the glue in a small stream straight from the tube and onto the rail. Don't try squezzing out the glue into a pile and then using a tooth pick to apply it...it because stringy if you do this.
7 - After the glue is applied to the 2 rails, I set them in place. You now have about 30 seconds to line them up correctly. To do this, set a track gauge at the front of the rail. Then take a second track gauge and set it down right behind the first one. You now want to slide that second track gauge down the rail while holding the first one in place. This will line everything up for you.
8 - I will apply spikes tomorrow after the glue has dried to help keep the rails in place.
The next step is one of the neatest parts for me when building the diorama...the creation of the terrain. The next three pictures show what it looks like during that process...its quite messy so make sure you have a shop vac nearby. My favorite tool is that Yellow grader you see in some of the pictures. It can be bought at Home Depot for a buck or two. As we all know, land is rarely flat...I use that tool to sculpt the land. I wanted a reason to use some retaining walls. Up to the right, I cut a notch in the base towards the tracks to justify the installation of a Timber made retaining wall. In the middle, I'm going to use a stone casting wall I got from New England Brownstone that will protect the area of land that comes out over the cliff on two sides. The land needed to be expanded out over the cliff to allow for the overhead crane and a side rail that will hold extra rail car wheels. The third side will be left open and slope down where a waste area will be created which will hold old rusted out barrels, tanks and other items. The far left handside will be a rock cliff. I'll be using molds from Bragdon for this part along with his new material called Geodesic in place of plaster. According to Joel over there, he says its faster to make, its much lighter than plaster, its less messy and most importantly it shows much greater detail.
It wouldn't be a Sierrawest Build without Deer Creek. This next shot shows where the creek bed is going to creep into this scene. As of right now, it will be a dry creek bed. Once I install it on my layout, I'll fill it in with water.
Here's just another shot of some low areas I created at the front and side of the Machine Shop.
That's all for now...
Here are the issue I have with plaster:
- Messy to create the castings - lots of powder and water everywhere. Also takes time for the castings to dry.
- The castings themselves weren't that detailed since plaster is quite thick.
- I usually need a lot of the product which can get kind of expensive.
- It is not flexible to work with which meant I was constantly hitting my completed castings with a hammer in attempt to break them into smaller pieces to hopefully get them to fit...and even then I had to fill in the gaps with Scultamold.
- Since I had to use a combination of Plaster and Scuptamold, they have different densities which means they would absorb colors differently.
- The finished product was quite heavy.
Here is what I found with Joel's Product:
- The prep work when using his product was actually a little more involved than I expected. You first have to hit the Molds with Mold Release and it needs to dry completely. This can take an hour or two. The next step is you need to spray the Mold with white paint and let that dry as well. I let them dry overnight. These two steps I just listed need to be done everytime you create a new casting. The next step is to take equal Parts of A and B of this Resin Casting you get and mix them together. He gives you some 1 oz pouring cups to help you with this process. You rub it into the mold and wait about 5 minutes. The resin castings liquid is actually quite messy and can get all over if youre not careful when pouring. The final step is to mix equal Parts A and B of this Form product he qives you. The neat part about this product is it expands up to 40 times its weight which means just a little mixture goes a long way. You do need to wait about 15 minutes until this reaction has created your new casting. Here is a picture of what 3 total ozs of this mixture turned into inside my mold.
Up to this point I would say its about a coin flip, both plaster and the Geodesic product are messy to work with and both take some time to get a completed casting. The one advantage the Geodesic product has in the creation process is it took a lot less of the product to create a casting.
Now that the Geodesic casting has been created, it has the consistency of leather and is extremely flexible for about 1/2 hour. After that, its going to get quite stiff. With that said, if you need more time to work with the product, you just need to run it under a heat gun or hair dryer for a few minutes to loosen it back up. According to Joel, you can loosen up his castings up years later if you need to just by applying heat. During the installation process is where this product is far superior to plaster. You can bend it, twist it, tear it with your hands or cut it with scissors to get the exact shape you need it in. Its also quite easy to install with the use of a hot glue gun. Because the product is extremely light, just a little glue it required to get the casting to hold the shape you want. Here is a completed picture after I cut up the one casting I created...
After its installed, the next step is to coat the already white castings with a product that Joel provides you called Gesso. This Gesso allows the castings to hold color. The only draw back is you need to let the Gesso dry over night before applying colors to it.
Once its dry, you then brush on a black powder called Tempera which creates a great looking shadowing affect, At this point, you will also notice all the intricate details in the casting that you wont find in a plaster casting. You then immediately take a sponge and clean the surface with water leaving behind the black shadowing in all of the crevices.
The final step is to apply various shades of Greys, Browns and Yellow acrylic paints. You apply them in a wash format which means a little bit of paint mixed with a lot of water. After applying numerous color washes, you let them dry and apply again the next day. The technique he uses is one of building layers of colors. According to Joel, this process will give the rocks a reflective property that's found in the real world...
Here is where I stand after the installation of my already painted Stone Wall Castings I got from New England Brownstone as well as only one coat of washes on the stone work. As you can see, the stone work still appears quite white...but I'm sure will look much more impressive after 5-6 layers have been applied. I can also tell you my diorama is much lighter than if I would have used plaster. My final conclusion after using the Geodesic product is that I will never go back to plaster again...
I did not invent this process but followed Joel's step by step instructions. His process can be found in more detail on the Bragdon website...
In addition to applying 5-6 more coats of washes to the rock castings, the next step is to use Scuptamold to blend the rocks and walls into the diorama.
That's all for now...
Karl.A
You have got to roll up some corrugated metal and line the drain in the wall.
Karl.A
Karl.A
Love the look of that dry stacked retaining wall and the dirt that spilled over.
Backwoods , Branchline, away from the main, run down and gritty.
Karl A