Sunshine, Palm Trees and a Food Industry...

Thank you kindly !

Cheers, Gary.

 

Thank you Gormo.

Cheers, Gary.

 

A selection of photographs of the operations currently happening this afternoon on the Down Town Spur...

Cheers, Gary.

 

Couple of new stickers arrived in the post this week. One came locally, from Brisbane from, 'The Border District' and the other all the way from Florida, 'Ybor City & Atlantic Railway'.
I haven't decided if these will adorn the layout or if I have a special mount for them, as I am slowly amassing them from modellers from here and far.

Cheers, Gary.

 

Rather than purchase 3D printed HO scale pallets, I thought I'd scratch build them instead
I have chosen to use Evergreen styrene for this. For the planks across the top of the pallet, I use two dimensions of styrene strip, #101 (0.25mm x 0.75mm) for the inner planks and #102 (0.25 x 1.0mm) for the outer planks the heavier frame sections are #132 (0.75mm x 1.0mm).



Using a previously purchased pallet, I used this to draw parallel lines onto paper.
I then taped down the planks.

I cut the #132 strip to 14mm long pieces and these were tacked down. Three framing pieces are used per pallet with 5.5mm centres.
The size will be equivalent to the standard US 40" x 48" pallet.



So far I have pieces together 8 X pallets, although I will need 20 times that amount ! I won't have to build 160 of them as the top row will be detailed, the end stacks will be detailed, but in between will be compromised, only constructing a facade of pallets !

More as it happens...

Cheers, Gary.

 

Here is my latest layout update...., enjoy !



Cheers, Gary.

 

What a blast the Second Section Podcast was today. Both Andy and Mike are great hosts and they just let you run with it ! Not only that, it was their longest running show and they would like to see me come back for a part 2 !

If you missed it, you can catch it here on youtube ! I will say due to the change in programming times, the Saturday night/Sunday morning show worked really well and they had their highest viewership !



Cheers, Gary.

 

Thanks Chris.

I will say that I had a ball and it was great to see who was watching via the chat. Both Andy and Mike asked me if I would like to be back to share my other layouts. On Saturday, I gave them a brief view of my other builds. There were some nice comments made throughout the show and plenty of questions coming in. I can tell you it is hard trying to keep up with the questions as well as presenting !

By the end, the show closed with 87 people still tuned in, which I thought was good. All up, they had 417 guests watching. Andy told me that is the most they have had. I put that down to the scheduled timing of the show, which suited us here in Oz and those that live in the US, as they could sleep in on Sunday morning !
Lets hope they move it to the weekends !

Cheers, Gary.

 

In my last video (YouTube), I mentioned the area behind the long chain link fence between the grade crossing and the Salco building. Well, this area has changed somewhat !

I was looking at changing it to a construction company yard, but I decided to do something different, but it still fits within the Miami scene.

So I started with this...

I then measured the length of the area behind the fence and it is 31.5". There is 2.5" I can't use due to shape of fence. I measured up the area and translated this to a piece of foam core.

This allowed me to measure and mark out the existing scenery that needs removing

I pulled the fence out then proceeded to remove the scenery.

The foam core was painted a concrete colour and glued into place using Gorilla glue. This was weighted down with a few brick pavers.

Once this had set, the surface had extra textures added and the gap between the existing scenery and foam core was filled in with sand/grout mix. Static grass was applied and the fence reinstated.

A long stack of pallets were then created and painted/weathered and glued just inside the fence. Three shipping containers (1 x 20', 2 x 40') were weathered up and also added to the scene .

Close up of pallets and containers.

The area now looks like it is being used commercially, which is a good thing considering the cost of real estate in Miami ! There is an area now between this yard and the Salco building. I'm thinking of leaving this slightly overgrown and unkempt, maybe some old foundations or something just to make it appealing to the eye.

Cheers, Gary.

 

Thanks mate. It didn't take too long to change this scene, I just had to find the time to do it !

Cheers, Gary.

 

So, I wonder what these two blokes are looking at ? It's a long way to the floor...

Hmmm, I'm guessing they are looking at the freshly painted valance.... All black now !

Around the layout...

Now to get out of the house as it stinks if oil based enamel !

Cheers, Gary

 

I have another spot on the layout where it has become an area of 'what to do with this space'. The area is at the narrow end of the layout on the left hand side, next door to the Salco building. I will call this area 1. There are two areas each side of the track and one is a smaller triangular section, next to Salco and the other is aa slightly longer and deeper triangualr shaped area opposite (area 2).

So looking on line, I found these two images.

The top image of the former industrial area with a raised and leveled concrete area will be modelled in area 1. Shown in the second pic above is rail that has been removed, although the sleepers/ties are still in place, I will also model a small platform (with out shelter) in area 2

I have cut up some 3mm foam core and built the raised concrete carcass for area 1.

The rail above shows where the sleepers/ties will eventually be laid.

I have cut up some 1.5mm thick balsa wood to represent the old ties, as shown below.

These were lined up and taped down (reversed tape underneath), marked and with the use of a pin, I have holed the sleepers/ties to replicate spike holes. These will be coloured with a grey/black wash before adding to the layout.

More to come...

Cheers, Gary.

 

I decided to try a Facebook members method of using ink and alcohol to stain the sleepers/ties and all I can say is that this is a great method and the balsa looks great !

I mixed up some Liquitex ink and isopropyl alcohol in a container and added the sleepers and other off cuts in batches.

This was allowed to dry on some paper clothe...

The results are amazing !

Once these were dry enough to handle, a 30mm wide strip of ground scenery was removed and replaced with a thin layer of PVA. I then took a steel rule to use as a straight edge to align the sleepers/ties, spacing them apart accordingly. I did intentionally add a few that were crooked.

Whilst the PVA was still wet, I added some sand/grout/ballast in between the sleepers/ties. This was lightly brushed in and off the top of the sleepers/ties. Additional weeds and grass clumps were added along with some paper trash.

This morning I took these two pics of the scene and you can clearly see that the PVA is not totally dry yet.

This little stretch of detail has transformed this edge of the layout.

Now, I'm onto the opposite side today. Pics to follow.

Cheers, Gary.

 

In the photo above (previous post), you can see the foundation carcass for the concrete platform. Last night, I gave the carcass a thin layer of Golden Fiber Paste. This was put on reasonably smooth, although some areas were left rough-ish...

I allowed the paste go off over night before giving it a light sand with some P120 wet & dry paper...

The result was to keep some of the rough texture but at the same time, smooth the surface. The result was a concrete cancer like effect with depressions in the surface...

I had a little of the ink stain left over from staining the sleepers/ties seen in the previous post. This was thinned down a tad more and applied to the whole foundation. Yes, it does look very dark, but there is a reason for this.

The wet ink/isopropyl alcohol surface dried off pretty quick, especially when you leave it in the window, baking it like a hot house !

Next up was some varied applications of grey and white paint. This paint was thinned down with a little isopropyl, which aided the drying process. I started with the grey seen in the photo below, then gradually lightened it up with various applications of white.

The last few applications of white were more or less dry brushed on to high light the top surfaces, leaving everything below greyish/black.

Two close up pics of the surface showing the weathered surface...

Next up is to cut a few expansion gaps into the top surface using the back of the scalpel, then a wash of black/brown to high light.

More to follow....

Cheers, Gary.

 

Well, adding the expansion gaps and some dark black/brown wash took less than 20 minutes !

I used the scalpel and rule to first mark the expansion gaps, then used a razor saw to open them up, creating a wider and deeper join between the concrete slab

Now to add a few weeds to the expansion gaps ! Working on this as a separate item is far easier than doing it in place on the layout.

Cheers, Gary.

 

Okay, 45 minutes later I have the weeds and additional weathering in !

The finished and ready to be placed platform...

Close up of the concrete effects of the side wall...

Weeds grow from the expansion gaps. The sand and earth weathering powders really add to the surface.

Now to fix it to the layout !

Cheers, Gary.