Anyone Thought About Modeling A Mine.....This Guy Did

[GPdemayo]

Many years ago I had a brief thought about modeling the underground portion of a mine after purchasing a Campbell kit. It would be neat to come up with a way to show the hoist shaft and tunnels at different levels with all the shoring and details.....short of a dynamite blast to move some rock.

The idea surfaced a few years ago in chats with Capt. Mike when he was thinking about expanding his traveling layout with a permanent section that would feature the Deer Creek Mine by Stoney Creek.

I just came across the video below about building a diorama of exactly what Mike and I had been discussing. I thought y'all might find it as interesting as I did.

Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b25H-5BeWvY

[PRR Modeler]

WOW.

[jimmillho]

WOW.

Double WOW.

Jim

[bparrish]

Greg...

Yes I have thought of this.  Below are photos of a mine cross-section I built in 1992 and later moved it into my newer railroad here in Downtown Idaho.

It is a one piece plaster casting that was made face down in a 24 x 16 wood frame mold.  I crinkled up tin foil and then spread it back out to get the raggedy face of the dug out mine work.  The passage ways were made of packing foam cut into about 1 inch square sticks that were also wraped in crinkled tin foil and laid out.  The tubes  back into the out of sight were also pieces of foam and tin foil.  Back lighting is taken from my lighting bus wires.   

The casting was painted with a mix of rail brown and other earth colors dabbed on later.  The white color that has come through since is a bleeding of the calcium from the plaster.  I have no idea how it did it but it took a year and a lot of head scratching.


The track is code 70 rail that was formed and glued to random ties.  The people are mostly from Woodland Scenic.     The lights in the hat are optical fiber that come from central light source behind the casting and drilled into the various hats..  Do NOT use super glue on optical fiber.  It stops the light progression.  I know as I had to do this step twice.

The casting weighs about 40 pounds and is about 2 inches thick plus the various back tubes.

[bparrish]

Two additional photos..

First is an additional close up.


After that is a last photo..... It shows a guy in a suit with a brief case.  I have no idea who among my "friends" put this here but it is certainly a lawyer........  Where most of them belong.

If there are any lawyers on the forum.............. Oh well  ! ! ! !

When people come to visit and notice the mine..... I ask this question.
If you throw a piano down a mine shaft....... what musical note will you hear when it hits the bottom?
A flat minor

See ya
Bob

[Janbouli]

Awesome , and so is yours Bob

[GPdemayo]

Terrific mine Bob.....thanks for sharing the photos. 

[Jim Donovan]

Bob great job. The helmet lights is a really neat touch. Looks even better than Luke's with the surface modeling. That must have been a project to do.

I have been following Luke Towan and his Boulder Creek Railroad YouTube's since I first started. He does a lot of cutting edge scenery modeling. If you liked this one check out his ultimate river and ultimate waterfall YouTube videos. Most of my scenery ideas come from him. Only problem I have is I learn a lot better reading then watching so I have taken to making notes as I watch and re-winding often. By the way he is an captain for regional airline in Australia.

Jim D

[NEMMRRC]

I discovered Luke Towan's YouTube channel a few months ago. He is very talented and his videos are very well made.


I've seen several of the underground mine scenes at some of the national train shows. They are quite effective. It helps add to the scene and they fill in space that would otherwise be a bank piece of facia.


John Allen built an underground parking lot (car park for you fellows outside North America) and he employed mirrors to extend the scene deep into the layout.


Jaime

[Bruce Oberleitner]

Bob's mine shaft is one of the highlights in his layout room.  It's one of the first things you see as you come up the stairs.  I think it looks even better in the Boise layout than were it was installed in the Kuna layout.

Luke Towen does a great job on all his videos.  Today he released a very cool video featuring a lighthouse and waterfront area that is quite amazing.  His mine video is very cool too and there is a lot to learn as he came up with some pretty slick method's to do his mineshaft.

[vinceg]

Bob - that scene is incredible. All the 3D components hang together so well. Great job.