Cypress Creek Railroad

[darrylhuffman]

A very nice collection of structures.  All displayed in a realistic setting.

[SteveCuster]

Thanks for all the positive feedback, everyone!

Just when I started to get some momentum, I ended up getting pretty sick for the last 2 weeks. I managed to add a few small things and pour the first coat of water to the dock area.


I thought these walls were boring and needed something to add some texture.


I ended up adding some slime using AK interactive enamels. I used a mix of light and dark slime. It came out just how I wanted it, and it was incredibly easy. I haven't done much with thinner based paints since I got away from Floquil but this changed my perspective. I ended up ordering a bunch more of the washes.


I built a few little boats from some wood kits made by Seaport Model Works. They are a little tedious, but they came out decent. They are glued in place but suspended up using small blocks to keep them above the water.


Another of the same type of boat.


This boat is from the same company but a different style. I only built one of these, but I think 3 or 4 came in each bag.


First Envirotex pour is down. I need to do one more pour to get the water to the height I want. I tinted this with a bunch of different blues, a few dark grays, and a couple drops of green. Reaper Miniatures Solid Blue, AK 3rd gen Anthracite and Grey Black with a few drops of Reaper Meadow Green.

That's all for this update, I'll give the epoxy a few days to cure then I'll do another coat. My FSM Pile Driver will go on top of the water, and I'll add some ripples once all the epoxy is set.

Thanks for following along,
Steve

[PRR Modeler]

Great looking progress Steve.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Looks really good, Steve.

The colour works well.

Cheers, Mark.

[Zephyrus52246]

Nice waterfront scene.  Good job on the water color.

Jeff

[Jim Donovan]

Love it, I'm going to have to try that AK tint I like the look.

Jim

[cuse]

Wow...nothing like adding a large water area to bring a layout to life....that's a big area to pour at one time. Congrats. 

Nice work on the slime too...that really adds to the scene.

[Janbouli]

That looks so nice , waterfront scenes are a delight.

[ReadingBob]

Wow!  Beautiful scene coming together there.  Top notch modeling on the structures and boats.  Terrific work on the scenery.  Thanks for sharing.

[Jerry]

Wonderful looking scene Steve.  That green really made a difference!  And the water very realistic looking.

Do have any trouble with the envirotex creeping up the pilings?

Jerry

[SteveCuster]

Thanks everyone!

Jerry, it does creep a bit on the pilings and everything else, but the next pour won't be very thick so hopefully it will flow right up to the creep line and make most of it disappear. Once I add some waves to the surface, any creep that happened will make sense when the water feels more "in motion".

Envirotex pours are one of the most nerve-wracking parts of a layout, mainly because they are difficult to fix if it doesn't work out. This is the biggest one I've ever done and it's right up front so that added to the stress a bit. I plan on doing the next pour this weekend, the epoxy is still tacky, so I need to wait.

In the meantime, I started working on some small buildings and a mess of castings so I should have an update on some other areas soon.

Thanks for following along,
Steve

[Jerry]

Thanks Steve.  I was wondering because of have two piers, docks that I need to do water around.

Seeing I've never done water before I assume the Envirotex goes under the pilings when you pour it?

Jerry

[SteveCuster]

Jerry,

Envirotex takes forever to set up, so even though it's pretty thick it finds its way around everything. I had some pretty large, uncovered areas under the dock when I went to bed but by the morning the stuff leveled out and found its way around all the pilings. Unfortunately, this also means it will find any small holes you miss when sealing the base. I poured a river on the layout, and I must've missed a little void or hole. About 2-3 hours after I poured, I noticed a quarter sized drop on the floor. I followed the drip path under the layout and duct taped any possible drip path from below. It worked but I lost a little bit of the Envirotex and got a bunch of it in my hair.

My advice is to pour it when you can periodically check on it every 30 minutes or so and don't touch it to see if it's ready. Save the pouring container and touch that instead. When you think it's set, check it with a piece of wood to see if it's tacky, not your finger. It's much easier to hide a little mark from wood on the surface than it is to hide a fingerprint.

-Steve

[deemery]

Steve, great advice on the Liquitex pour.

dave

[SteveCuster]

I added a few small things to the layout, and I started work on some other little pieces to add.


This little shed is the newest addition to the layout. It's originally part of the SierraWest Logging Camp Essentials. I received this kit partially built from Carl Laskey, but I don't have room for the whole of the SW kit so I'm going to build the buildings and spread them around the layout where I can. The interior details aren't all from the kit, some of from pieces I had already painted in my box.


This is the left side of the shed with a roof on it. The roof is done with black tissue paper sprayed Krylon red automotive primer.


Backside




Here is the shed placed in its home. I tried several different small structures here, but this is the only one that seemed to work. I have a mess of detail to add around it. You can also see the little water run-off I added in the layout foreground. This is just envirotex left over from the harbor pour.


These 2 brick buildings are directly to the left of the gray truck repair in the previous photo. I need to detail all around them, starting with the alleyway in between them.


After carefully contouring myself to get all the details in the alley, I realized I hadn't glued down the one building yet. This made the detailing much easier. Everything here is wet of course.

I've done more than these photos show, I just haven't taken pictures yet. I'll update again tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks for following along.

-Steve