O scale Mexican waterfront diorama

[robert goslin]

Thanks Larry.  Yes I often do things the unconventional way.... and seem to get away with it. 

Thanks Rick, Tom, Jeff, Philip and John.  Glad you're all enjoying the build.

Only one week to go till I need to display the layout & extension.
So just painting a few figures at the moment, & hopefully get a couple of palm trees made over the weekend.
And need to give the water a few coats of gloss clear.

[Mr. Critter]

That tree is absolute genius.  Now I want to build a tropical-themed diorama.

[robert goslin]

Thanks Critter.  The trees are not hard to make, but are time consuming, so if needing a lot, either be prepared to spend a lot of time, or you can buy commercially available ones.
Foliage is not as dense and would need some work to look good.

A mate of mine, built a Sri Lankan based On18 layout, and just used the commercial ones to good effect.

[robert goslin]

Although the layout is small at 4'6" x 2'  it still has over 60 figures on it.
So I just use cheap figures bought in bulk lots, and as many are duplicated, I just paint the clothing in different colours and often do some surgery to change the poses or add bulk to them.
I'm certainly no figure painter, but I still think they look good.

So I've been busy painting figures the last couple of days for the diorama extension.
9 new figures for the scene.
There are already 4 on the boats.







The sleeping figures are the most work to do. I start with a sitting figure. Cut off the shoes and re-angle the pants then glue the shoes back on.  The body gets cut in half and reattached at a sharper angle and the back section refilled with putty, and the top of the head is cut off at a sharp angle before the sombrero is attached.


Siesta time






Most of the male figures even have moustaches.




And I also made some wooden creates, and painted a couple of drums for on the wharf.

[Rick]

Rob, you're working some of the guys too hard, they're exhausted and sleeping. 
Figures look good.

[friscomike]

Rob, the figures add a lot to the fine layout.  Nice work on the sombreros and painting.  Have fun, mike

[Jerry]

Wonderful!  Those figures are really well done.

Display!  This should knock their socks off!!

Jerry

[robert goslin]

Thanks Rick.  They "claim they started early", so need a siesta.

Thanks Mike.  I'm really happy with my sombrero method, as i can't find any Mexican figures that aren't 1800's banditos.

Thanks Jerry.  Should be a good exhibition. The biggest one of the year with over 30 layouts on display apparently.  And other hobbies too.

[robert goslin]

We made the last two palm trees over the weekend.  With Lisa doing most of the work making the fronds, I was able to get them made. These are a different species to the palm at the front of the diorama.

For the trunks, I used dried branches from a local pine tree, that have the natural rings on them, and a natural curve in the trunk, & colour suitable for palms.  I just coat them in a clear mat.


Each tree has at least 32 fronds






Here you can see the diorama attached to layout for a seamless scene








This shot was taken through the rock portal on the front of the layout.  The back of the building is not visible otherwise except from the back of the layout.

[Rick]

Trees look perfect.

[Larry C]

Rob the layout looks amazing; who says you can't have a great looking layout is a small space.
Tell Lisa she did a great job on those palm trees. Enjoy the show and I bet your layout will be
a big hit as well.

[friscomike]

Howdy Rob,

Excellent work on the palm trees.  They look great. Those fronds required a lot of snips.  Congrats on outsourcing that work.

Have fun,
mike

[robert goslin]

Thanks Rick, Larry & Mike.
Nothing more to report until after the show this coming weekend.
Just removed all the loose or delicate stuff from the layout.
So will give the track & wheels a good clean before the exhibition to make sure everything is running fine.

And Murphy's law:- The automatic control module for the crane decided to pack it in this week. I've ordered a new one, but it won't arrive in time.
So I fitted a DPDT switch today.  Works perfect, but is not automated so I will have to keep an eye on it when I'm operating the crane, to be able to stop it, and reverse it.

Will take plenty of pics at the show.

[Philip]

Nice scenes!