Thanks for looking in guys.

yes, absolutely, SBG Northern meet coming soon.

next up...
-paint and detail/weather the road bridge...it's just sitting on a piece of foam for now - I'll have to come up with a better looking support
-pave the road and grade crossing and blend it into the bridge
-install the line poles...somewhere

then, I'll turn my attention to the other module around the corner...I'm contemplating a mine scene, or...

spin 180 degrees and re-work my Swiss-themed plywood central Nscale layout across the room.

Thanks guys...did a little more last night. Maybe I went a little overboard with the foreground trees and undergrowth, but I had the idea that it would be cool to make the viewer work a little to see what's behind them...sort of compounding the whole benefit of the shadowbox concept - to control the viewing angles and make it seem bigger than it really is because you can keep finding things.

Lots of contortions will be required for today's track cleaning...I'm not frugal with the glue application after years of watching ground cover move around - especially on a modular layout that might someday be moved. I also picked up some pre-strung Woodland Scenics line poles that I'm excited to install (for further maintenance challenges  ).

Fantastic work Mark!

A little more scenery progress...the fun stuff can go pretty fast

Quote from: deemery on August 25, 2026, 09:55:50 AMCuse, I drove that road down the Amalfi Coast.  Cliffs on one side, cliffs down to the ocean on the other, a twisty 2 lane road with huge Italian tourbusses coming at you the other way at full speed.  White Knuckle, for sure!  Good luck with the Italiano.  I hope you get to spend time with relatives, you always get a different sense of a place when you see it with a native.

Oh, and have some gelato for me.  In Sicily, the pistachio gelato should be particularly good.  (Pistachio and dark chocolate are my 'reference flavors' for evaluating gelateria.)

dave

I'll definitely handle that gelato request for you. I think I'll be okay driving...can't be worse than Ireland. Dumped right out into midtown Dublin, wrong side of the road, etc   I remember examining the rental (American style) and noting the scratches all over the mirrors. The agent said they were all like that and I quickly found out about VERY narrow winding roads with huge trucks coming in the other direction...scraping the tall hedges along the road got to be a common sound   Good times

Morning all,

I've got a breakfast date in a bit, then an afternoon of trains...I did a lot of goopy ground cover the other day and it should be dry enough to proceed. Clean the tracks, test it a few times and then I'll proceed to install some of the upper level scenery and pre-cut track that would make the lower tracks difficult to get to...should be a pretty dramatic day, scenery-wise...assuming all goes well with Step 1 (I've become an advocate for more soaking with glue is better over the years, so the clean up can also be a bit sketchy).

Tomorrow, MRI to see if I have a suspected torn bicep...it looks weird and was massively bruised a couple of weeks ago, but I've not lost any strength or felt any pain (I can still do daily pullups)...but something is up for sure. Best to know...then I'll be fully focused on the NNGC next week. Upon my return, it'll be all about working on my Italian as we've got a TWENTY day trip to Calabria, Sicily, Malta, and the Amalfi Coast...including the little town my grandparents came from and the nearby Mancuso Winery (Mancuso is my surname)...very exciting with a little anxious mixed in. This isn't like going to Rome or Venice, just little villages, twisty mountain roads and hopefully no vendettas between families Papa didn't tell me about . 

Nice work Ron...that's impressive stuff

John

Morning All,

Jaime, I guess we're about the same age because those Fieros seemed the same as a Ferrari to me around that time. I'm up early to get up and out on my bike before the insane Florida summer heat hits...I'm eager to get back, have some pancakes with the grands, hustle them out and get to work on my trains.

I mixed up 4 batches of Ground Goop last night, so there are minimal hurdles to progress today. Lou Sassi's recipe included multiple ingredients but I have gradually, over the decades, just boiled it down to earth-colored paint and Sculptamold, mixed to an oatmeal consistency. It's surprisingly neat to work with, serves as a mistake eraser and a nice bonding base for ground cover. I immediately apply multiple materials while it's wet and then soak it with 50/50 Elmer's & water to seal the deal...I'm pumped up because it's one of the steps that REALLY shows progress. I love the stuff because you can make a bunch of it, store it in tupperware containers and it will remain usable for months (in my surprised experience). If it's a little dried out, you can just stir in a bit of water and bring it back to life.

Looks like the sun's up...I'm out. Have a good day!

thanks guys...actually getting more work done today...nothing photogenic but soon

Chris, it's a commercial backdrop from TrainJunkies.com. The guy was great to work with and can blend and adjust stock images to your specifications...on a previous layout, way back in this thread, I had similar backdrops that were made by a friend in the car/bus/boat wrapping business. He had all of the equipment and skills to throw it together right in front of me. It was originally inspired by pictures I took when I visited the Alaskan narrow gauge RR in Skagway...the skies and views were surreal and I came home totally inspired to try to capture the feeling. It was a little nerve-wracking because (just like modeling NE Fall colors) it can only be awesome or terrible . We ended up finding pictures on the web (rather than my own) as he was better able to manipulate, blend, darken/lighten, etc. It was a great experience...he gave me lower res proofs to bring home and scribble on to help plan the final scenery contours before final high-res prints were done. This time around, my buddy was retired and all of his equipment sold...the nerve.

I looked all over for similar images and was very happy with TrainJunkies...I have another one for the last module and I probably should get it off the floor and mounted before a dog or grandkid gets into mischief.

Thanks for checking in guys...

Bob, I've got the NNGC in two weeks, let me know if you want me to be on the lookout for anything. Either way, I'll reach out when I get back...hopefully, that will give me time to get a bit more done too.

The last picture above is the "other" side module, which is isolated from the main area (better view of the whole attached). I'm still undecided what to do there, but I'm absolutely ignoring it for now...I DO have the backdrop in hand and should probably mount it just to get it off the floor before a dog or grandkid messes with it  ...I expect that I'll be leaning for something more rural and 'backwoodsy' than the way the front two modules have leaned...maybe just a steep hill behind the sole building and then just a ton of trees and maybe a good sized rockface.

Little more progress...I've just roughed in an upper deck of HOn30 track - just for scenic complexity & to display some of my awesome but unreliable HOn30 rolling stock. I've also roughed in some foreground landform on the far right. I'm using an old N scale Rix highway bridge to help visualize the idea, so I've ordered the HO size version. I'm also waiting for an additional stone retaining wall to place under the brewery building on the far right before I can finish and secure that area. I guess the next thing I should do is pull out all of the loose foreground stuff and ballast any more track that will be tough to reach later and then really begin to do the upper deck scenery work - meaning "ground goop" and cover, vines all over the bad wall joints, permanent tree positioning, road paving and HOn30 tracklaying (starting on the bridge).

Really nice work (as always), Mark

John

Morning all, 

back from our little anniversary getaway to Tampa. We enjoyed some great meals, saw the Banksy exhibit, and strolled Ybor City...now, I find myself with huge blisters on my feet (from bad shoes) and, suddenly, what looks like a torn bicep/shoulder tie-in(?)...I woke up and found a painless but massive bruising on my right bicep - that's generally indicative of a significant tear under there somewhere. My HMO says I have to go to the family doc, who will undoubtedly send me to the ortho and/or imaging in between...Bummer of a nuisance, but could be a lot worse of course. ...should make for a productive model train weekend as I can't do all of the fitness stuff I'd normally tie myself up with...NNGC in a few weeks and then we've got a 20-day Malta/Italy trip in October, so any surgical thoughts will, hopefully, be held off as I'm not feeling any pain or even limitations yet...I did a pull up just to see, but I won't be pushing my luck.

Hope you're all healthy & productive today...go on ahead, I'll catch up in a bit