Cypress Creek Railroad

[SteveCuster]

Thanks everyone. I apologize for my slow updates I was busy with a few structure builds and not really working on the layout.

Thanks for the positive feedback Lynn.

I made some more progress on the layout this week. I got some color on the larger mountain and I started to finish out the corner area with the RDA kit.




I still have 100s of trees to build. Maybe this weekend.


I messed around with this building configuration a bit and settled on this for the corner area.


I added the Campbells bridge and started the scenery around it. The stone wall will be a small waterfall.


The billboard is Bar Mills and the water tower is Tichy.





I'm not sure how much detail I will add to this area. It's set pretty far back and I plan on having many buildings in front of it.






Thanks for checking in. I plan on installing my Master Creations Minerva Casket in the area directly in front of this corner.

-Steve

[Lynnb]

I'm really impressed with the direction you're going. What did you use for color on the rock faces? I've tried many diffierent techniques and have always found the woodland scenic s were always the best consistent results. I take it you removed a base between the bench work to be able to get to the back?

[Janbouli]

The rock faces look great , as do your structures, if slow means quality like this , then by all means play slow.

[jerryrbeach]

Steve,

The scenery is definitely a wonderful compliment to your highly detailed structures.  I'm looking forward to the addition of trees and additional structures. 

[SteveCuster]

Thanks everyone.

Lynn, the rock castings are hydrocal using molds from Sterling models and Bragdon. I colored them using cheap craft paints heavily water down. I just put a glob of a couple different paints on a paper  plate and dip my brush into the and into a cup of water. If the paint is too dark I spray the casting with more water. I dry brush all the rocks with white or gray when I'm done.

I will have an access hatch in the center of the town but I haven't worked out the camouflage of it yet. I'm going to try to make something clever.

-Steve

[postalkarl]

Hi Steve:

Beautifully done. Keep up the good modeling.

Karl

[PRR Modeler]

Really nice rock work and buildings.

[fsmcollector67]

Beautiful work as always Steve....

Loren...

[deemery]

You should consider replacing those fluorescent tubes with LED equivalent.  LED lights run cooler, it's easier to control color temperature for photography, and most importantly, they don't emit UV light that bleaches out your scenery and structure colors.  You can get some tubes that are just drop-ins, but if you're willing to open the fixture and remove the ballasts (directly wiring the tube sockets), the replacement tubes are cheaper.


dave

[GPdemayo]

Looking good Steve.....

[vinceg]

You should consider replacing those fluorescent tubes with LED equivalent.  LED lights run cooler, it's easier to control color temperature for photography, and most importantly, they don't emit UV light that bleaches out your scenery and structure colors.  You can get some tubes that are just drop-ins, but if you're willing to open the fixture and remove the ballasts (directly wiring the tube sockets), the replacement tubes are cheaper.


dave

I'll second that. I just finished converting about 40 of those fluorescent shop lights to direct-wire LED. I gotta admit that pulling apart 20-year old five dollar Menards shop lights was no fun at first but you eventually get the hang of it. Replacement tubes are 15 watt, 2100 lumens, 5000K color temp, 50,000 hour life, and $8.25 each. Basement is now much brighter and quieter. And hopefully no more tube replacement for a long time -- maybe never.

[Lynnb]

Thanks everyone.

Lynn, the rock castings are hydrocal using molds from Sterling models and Bragdon. I colored them using cheap craft paints heavily water down. I just put a glob of a couple different paints on a paper  plate and dip my brush into the and into a cup of water. If the paint is too dark I spray the casting with more water. I dry brush all the rocks with white or gray when I'm done.

I will have an access hatch in the center of the town but I haven't worked out the camouflage of it yet. I'm going to try to make something clever.

-Steve

Thanks Steve

[SteveCuster]

Thanks everyone.

Dave, I'll probably replace them all with LED worklights in the near future. In the past few years the price has dropped significantly. When I purchased these lights only 3-4 years ago the LED equivalent was about $120.00 now they sell 8 packs for $299. I'll definitely be swapping them over before I complete so much of the layout that my access will be difficult.

I made some more progress in the same area over the last week or so.


This is Master Creations Minerva Casket Co. I built a while back. I always thought the design of the kit was interesting but I was having a hard time finding a good configuration for it on the layout. I almost scrapped it and put something else in it's place.


I haven't glued it down yet or blended the scenery into it.




Over the weekend I put together another RDA kit for the background area. This kit will be buried behind many structures and hardly visible so I didn't spend much time on it. I replaced the cast styrene roof with some diamond shingles over cardstock. This is my first time doing this type of roof so it was a bit of an experiment. I cut the shingles using pinking shears. This is a technique George Sellios taught me 20+ years ago but I've never used it until now. You can see these types of roofs all over the F&SM.


This is the area where this building will sit I think.



Thanks for checking in.

Next step will be the area in front of the casket company. I'm going to be adding a bridge, small river/stream and a waterfall. I haven't done any waterfalls before so it should be fun. Stay tuned.

-Steve

[Lynnb]

Steve That's amazing you built that structure over the weekend , I envy you and anyone else that gets a chance to learn techniques from George Sellios. I have soooo much to learn. Your layout is really coming together nicely.

[Janbouli]

Steve looking great , love the sagging roof on the RDA kit , and what a shame it would have been if you had scrapped the casket building , it looks fantastic.