The Atlantic and Southern Build Thread Continued, Part 2

[ACL1504]

Great work Tom. I can't wait to see it in person.

Curt,

Thank you. You will soon.

Tom

[ACL1504]

I think I'd run the Zephyr thru there to make sure the cars clear the bridge.


Jeff

Jeff,

The Walthers heavyweights, Budd cars and Zephyr dome cars all clear the bridge.

Tom

[donatode]

SORCERY!! It just has to be. Only sorcery could make that scenery......

[ACL1504]

SORCERY!! It just has to be. Only sorcery could make that scenery......

Donato,

Thank you for the kind compliment.

I'll take the magic, send more of that blue flame. I need all the help I can conjure up.


Tom

[ACL1504]

The other day I was waiting for scenery to dry so I added more track to the stub. This track comes off the main line and starts the Tahope Division.

The radius is 32".



I previously painted the new road as you probably saw in previous photos. When it was dry I found that I had some sand stuck in the dried paint.

I used very fine wet/dry sand paper and smoothed the road. I'll repaint it later.



To be continued later this afternoon.

[ACL1504]

Many many years ago I wanted to try and make the super trees more realistic. I heard where some modelers had some success using silicone to thicken the stems/trunks.

I gave it a try and after a few hours I was fairly pleased with the results. Not pleased enough to use all of them on the old layout. I did use two as foreground trees.

Working with the silicone was difficult in that it wanted to stick to everything, mainly my fingers and everything else. I kept a bowl of water handy and had to constantly drip my fingers in the water to get the silicone smoothed out.

To make this story short I only made six trees. As I mentioned, I only used two.

Here are some photos of the ones I made. Not to bad but not to good either.





More in a few.

[ACL1504]

That last tree looks like it has some kind of dragon claw foot.








More in a few.

[ACL1504]

More in a few.

[ACL1504]

Diet Pepsi break time folks.

[tct855]

Tom,
          Wow! I like those trees, those are really I eye catching. Thanks for sharing brother.  Thanx Thom...

[ACL1504]

Tom,
          Wow! I like those trees, those are really I eye catching. Thanks for sharing brother.  Thanx Thom...

Thom,

Thank you but wait until you see the new trees I'm going to post in a few more minutes. My trees are nothing compared to the ones coming up my friend.

Tom

[ACL1504]

I mentioned yesterday I learned a new way to improve scenery. It actually is improving the SE super trees.

My Babe and I visited with Bill and Kris Cutler yesterday. You will know them as Mr. and Mrs. PennsyJ1. You can view their wonderful layout here.

http://modelersforum.com/layout-tours/the-pennsy-six-miles-west-of-altoona-and-more/


Kris was showing me some trees she made using what she referred to as mastic. My understanding is that mastic, caulk and/or silicone sealant are pretty much the same with different chemical compounds.

I'm just making a statement so I'm NOT asking some plastic pocket holder person to give me the differences. This is a model railroad forum and not a chemistry class.

More in a few.

[tct855]

ACL 1504,
              I remember those model makin' fools from the wayback machine.  They're good his wife is awesome at scenery.  Can't wait to see what you learned T.  Thanx Thom...

[ACL1504]

Kris has taken making super trees more super to a new level in my humble opinion.

She takes the mastic and uses a small piece of scale lumber to add/apply the material to the bottom of the super tree trunk. She lets it dry and then paints it a trunk color of her choice.

She recommends adding a little at a time as adding to much at one time greatly lengthens the drying time.

Kris was very gracious and humble about the quality of her work. I'm telling you these are the BEST super tress I've ever seen period. These are perfect foreground trees.

I was the recipient of several of these trees. I can't wait and try my hand at making some of my own. I'll be sharing the process, success or failure here on this thread at a much later time.

I'll be showing where I place the ones she gave me later as well.

The next twelve pictures are her new super trees and mastic trunks. The first picture is the over all tree followed by a close up of the trunk.

Let me know what you think.

Tom

[ACL1504]

More in a few.