Great Lakes Lighthouse Diorama

Started by Jim Donovan, November 15, 2019, 11:26:43 PM

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Oldguy

This is going to be utterly amazing when done.
Bob Dye
Livin large on a pond

postalkarl

hey Jim:

Well done so far. I'm following along.

Karl

Jim Donovan

Hi Bob and Karl;

Thanks for the great comments and for following along. This project has pretty much taken on a life of its own. I started it over two months ago basically to see what I could do with the textured paper I had bought from Greece and to find a home for the small kits I had made. The platform used for the scene is a copy of one given to me at a clinic during the 2018 Albany Expo. It is not truly square , was a little beat up from travel but a great memory. The corrugated fence I will use on the scene came from a clinic at that show as well. I took all the parts left over from the clinics and made the first diorama while there. Here is what I came up with then.

Holland & Odessa Railroad

Jim Donovan

Well back to the project at hand. With the lighthouse made I turned my attention to the electrical needs for the scene. The operating light for the lighthouse is from Nengineering. It has a circuit as part of it that pulses the light to mimic the intensity of a flashing lighthouse strobe. The food stand will have two grain size LED warm lights with prewiring. Finally there will be a streetlight. The lighthouse needs between 9-18 volts. The other three lights use about 3 volts each. To make sure all was powered up fully I decided on using 18 volts to be provided by two 9 volt batteries run in series. To ensure I could get to the electric board and remove parts as needed I decided to make a base unit which the foam diorama will attach too.

To make the base I used my new table saw to cut a sheet of micro-plywood the needed dimensions (copied from the base with a pencil.


Holland & Odessa Railroad

Jim Donovan

#34
I wanted the base to tie to the rest of the scene so I made the walls out of 1/4 x 1/4 basswood. I cut the lengths so one layer sat on and overlapped the layer underneath. Using Hunterline Gray alcohol stain I dunked all of the cut sides for a few minutes. When dry, I glued the first layer to the base using Elmer's and then reversing the pattern I glued the second layer to the first. Holes were drilled in the four corners of the base and 2 inch cut bamboo stick glued at each point.  Finally I drilled a hole out located at the back left hand side. A toggle switch will go there. I did not take pictures as I should have but these should give you the idea.



Holland & Odessa Railroad

Jim Donovan

I then made a holding area for the two batteries. They should stay in place as there is little area around them to enable them to shift. I hooked up two battery caps so the batteries can be replaced as needed. The power side wiring from one battery went to a buss bar, the ground went to the positive side of the other battery. battery line on the buss was connected to a toggle switch. The black wire from the lighthouse circuit was connected on the bus to draw from the power line of battery through the switch. Continuing on the circular circuit the red line of the lighthouse circuit board goes to a second perpendicular buss. This bus will be used to connect the lights into the circuit. Coming back from this bus a black line runs to the first buss and connects to the positive side of a current limiter. The black line from the second battery connects to the other side of the current limiter and completes the circuit. The busses and lighthouse board were super glued to the base floor. Sounds like more than it was, here is the result.



Next up scenery.
Holland & Odessa Railroad

Jim Donovan

My first thoughts on the design of the scene was to have the lower section paved for most of it with dirt (sand) behind the food stand and along the right side. The upper section would be rugged dirt covered in grasses and some granite type rock showing through. First I masked off the areas were the structures would be (turned out some ended up in different positions but that is another story). I brushed down Mod Podge and water glue on the upper section. Using a tea strainer I dusted the top with Woodland Scenics Fine Turf. I know, you can get dirt from the back yard and I often do but here I wanted a very fine dirt and the turf works great. Using a disposable eye dropper, I took 'wet water' (water with detergent added) and gently wetted the entire area. Then I filled the dropper again with the mod podge solution and covered the entire top section. I left it to dry overnight.



For the bottom I decided to try the Rust-oleum Texture Spray Paint I have seen others using on their building to create a stucco effect. With the upper section masked off as well as areas on bottom where the food stand and staircase will be I sprayed the paint on the lower section.





I like the look, it makes for a pretty realistic beat up road. I airbrushed the bottom using light gray and working my way up to darker shades of gray as well as patches of brown. When I put the structures in place it looked good, just not the scene I wanted. So I did a do-over, but here how it looked before I went in a different direction.




Holland & Odessa Railroad

Jim Donovan

As a scene on a northern great lake it I wanted to paint a rugged, rural type setting. To that end I added gravel (fine ballast), brown turf and airbrushed both to make the colors more like the region. I used the following to accomplish this.



I again masked off where the buildings are located and removed the textured paint from the area to be changed. I had previously airbrushed a section of laser cut sidewalk so as to look like a used but cared for walkway. I had bought the sidewalk as part of a kit from KC's Workshop. Using Tacky glue I placed the sidewalk across the front of the diorama.  For the parking area I applied modge podge thinly using my finger then, with a small strainer, I gently spread fine ballast over the modge podge. Using a disposable eye dropper I soaked the gravel with 'wet' water to help with applying spray adhesive, which I did next. I let the everything set overnight.  The next day I airbrushed the gravel and the fine turf previously applied so they had more of the colors for that region. Also, I wanted the parking area to look used and stained from use. When dry I put the structures in place to see the result.



More in a few.
Holland & Odessa Railroad

GPdemayo

Looking good Jim.....great progress.  8)
Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

ACL1504

Jim,

Great diorama and very nice scene.

Tom ;D
"If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed."
Thomas Jefferson

Tom Langford
telsr1@aol.com

Jim Donovan

Thanks Greg and Tom. I am still hoping for the Boss and me to visit again, just time keeps flying by faster. Tom hope your MIL is doing better.
Holland & Odessa Railroad

postalkarl

Hey Jim:

Looks great love your little diorama.

Karl

Jim Donovan

Thanks Karl, it has been a great teaching project. Next up Static Grass. I have a small applicator bought from WWS which is designed for small area, like what I am doing. It works great with 2 mill to 6 mill grass. Due to the small hopper size it can not handle anything larger, but for what I am doing it is perfect.





I took the structures back off and placed the scene in a cardboard tray to keep the grass from flying everywhere when applied. Also, it allows me to tap it all back into a tray after each application and reuse what did not stick.
Holland & Odessa Railroad

Jim Donovan

Working one spot at a time I used a disposable eye dropper to apply a 50/50 solution of Elmer's glue and water. I used to use Modge Podge but continue to find Elmer's works best for most applications. It and Hobby Lobby's Extreme Glue (super glue) have become my glue of choice. With the area coated I used the applicator to apply 2 mill 'spring color' static grass. I am not sure the brand, it came in a small packet with the applicator and I decided to use it up. After applying I took the scene out of cardboard tray, tapped the grass off into the tray and poured the unused grass back into a small container holding the unused grass. Next, using a sheet of paper to protect areas I did not want sprayed I applied a light coat of Spray Adhesive made for static grass and sold by WWS. This adhesive is a glue mixture designed to allow you to add to the grass already applied and not wait for the first glue to dry. I switched the hopper to a 4 mill 'summer blend' and  applied it to most but not all of the same area. This produced a nice mixture to uneven grass. With one area done I repeated the process for the next area. Took a little while but I liked the results.



Holland & Odessa Railroad

Jim Donovan

After the glue dried I used an airbrush to color the grass to match the time of year (late summer) and location (Upper Michigan on Great Lake). I also dusted the tips of some of the grass to make it look like dandelions and other flowers.


Holland & Odessa Railroad

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