1/80th scale photo plank

ianvolvo46 wrote:

Glad to hear you're inspired, Ian.

If I wasn't besotted by the JNR I could be tempted by either RENFE or the SNCF. French steam locos have always appealed to me, and the more I see of Spanish engines the more I like them. In John Snell's magnificent book "Mixed Gauges" there's a moody photo of an ex-Central of Aragon Garratt that is worth the price of the book on its own. But the entire chapter on Iberian railways is equally good.

Just as well I'm committed to the JNR, then!

Cheers,

Mark.

 

Thanks, Kimbo.

Earlier this evening I put a coat of Mod Podge on the creek. It dries fairly quickly, so once it got tacky I stippled it with a sponge to give it the appearance of waves or ripples. Once it's fully cured tomorrow I'm going to put the first coat of gloss varnish on. In the meantime, this is what the Mod Podge looks like.

Cheers,

Mark.

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While I was waiting for the Mod Podge to dry, I planted a few trees along the back edge of the plank. I'm still undecided about having trees there at all so they're not glued in place, just stuck into the foam landscape. If I decide against having them they can easily come out again.

Cheers,

Mark.

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G'day Ian,

That would probably make for a better composition, but then I wouldn't get the effect I'm trying to achieve, which is representing the appearance of what is known in Japan as "satoyama". That's the boundary or border between foothills and flatlands.

Railway lines in Japan often run along that boundary, and that's the look I'm trying for. The attached photo shows an example of this. But having said that I'm still undecided if I want the look of a miniature satoyama, or go for something more agricultural.

BTW, the photo shows a train on one of the more interesting railways in Japan, The Kinki Nippon Railway, or "Kintetsu", used to operate four electrified commuter lines of 2'6"/762mm gauge in Mie Prefecture. One was converted to standard gauge, but the other three still run on the narrow gauge.

Ownership of the Hokusei line shown in the this photo was transferred to the Sangi Railway in 2003, and in 2015 the Utsube and Hachioji lines were transferred to the ownership of the local authority and were renamed the Yokkaichi Asunarou Railway.

In the meantime I put the first coat of gloss varnish on the creek surface earlier tonight. I panicked a bit at first as the varnish seemed to go cloudy as I applied it, and I was worried that it was reacting with the Mod Podge underneath. But the varnish dried clear, so tomorrow I'll apply another coat.

The varnish I'm using is made by Chroma, and sold under their "Jo Sonja's" brand. It's a water based polyurethane varnish that's beautiful stuff to use. It flows freely of the brush, dries quickly and even smells okay. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a good quality, easy to use gloss finish.

Cheers,

Mark.

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Kimbo wrote:

Yes, I have started work on the back scene. It's 3mm MDF and its L-shaped. When it's progresses a bit further I'll post a photo.

Meanwhile, I've been putting more costs of gloss varnish on the creek.

Cheers,

Mark.

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G'day Chris,

The effect I'm after for the creek is slow moving, almost stationary water, like what I see when I take my train across the junction of Wolli Creek and Cooks River, between Wolli and Tempe. I did try a bit of dry brushing at first, but it just didn't look convincing to me so I painted over it. I think stippling the varnish will be enough to get the effect I want.

Last night I cut and bent some checkrails for the bridge and test fitted them. The Micro Engineering bridge track has moulded spike heads to locate the checkrails, so attaching them will be simple.

Cheers,

Mark.

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Once I was happy with the appearance of the checkrails I painted and weathered them.

Mark.

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Sorry, wrong photo, should be this one!

Once the bridge is permanently attached to,the abutments I'll do the final weathering and blending.

Mark.

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I still have to add the walkway and the sleeper spacers to the bridge.

While I was waiting for the paint and glue on the bridge to dry I did a bit of weathering on the various 3-wheeler trucks that will be parked near the bridge. The two Mazdas are from the Ra80 series made by Time, and the Daihatsu is from Tomix. The Daihatsu is pre-weathered, but I added some dirt of my own to tone it down a bit. It also has very glossy rubber tyres that need to be weathered to kill the shine.

All of these trucks are weathered with Tamiya powders and sticks, which I think are great products. One thing I've noticed though. A weathered model that looks effective to my eyes in artificial light doesn't photograph very well. The trucks look much better seen in person.

The lurid orange truck is in the livery of Nippon Express, and hasn't yet been toned down or weathered.

Cheers,

Mark.

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A better view of the three-wheelers:

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