South River Modelworks 370 - Tucker and Cook Cotton Yarn Mil

[S&S RR]

I know how much time it takes to write and take good photos, and I certainly appreciate it!


dave

It's my pleasure sharing the build on the forum. I too benefit from my own notes.


Jaime

Jaime


You make a great point, I'm finding myself looking back at my layout build thread to remember how I did things - it really helps with paint colors. Any comments about age and forgetfulness are better left unsaid .

[NEMMRRC]

Howdy.

Here is how I got started on the river.

The pilot model has a dramatic drop off behind the main building into the river. In typical South River fashion there are some cool waterfalls/cascades. I want to try that.

To rough in some cascades in my river I cut into the foam base and roughed in some terraces in the river's landform. Once I come back with some sort of plaster to form the river bed I'll blend it all in with the river banks.



Here is a perspective as though standing across the river from the complex.



And here is a view of the front of the diorama.



Coming up - preparing the base for buildings and more scenery.

Jaime
www.myyehudaexperience.com

[Janbouli]

Looking forward to a lesson in making a river 

[Jerry]

Looking forward to see how you do the river.

Jerry

[NEMMRRC]

Howdy.

Thanks for following along.

The instructions do a great job of guiding the modeler in building the diorama. Even though I am following the instructions I am not following them in the same order presented in the manual. Scenery is not a linear process for me. I tend to wander and waver with it. I am making an effort to stick to the instructions as much as possible though.

Before roughing in the landforms the instructions suggest making a set of risers for the buildings. To do this one takes 1/8" stripwood to mark the perimeter of all the structures. This is done to give the landscape a chance to slope away from the buildings to allow for drainage as it is done in real life. The instructions give the modeler the option to omit this step but stress that the effect this provides is desirable.

So I took some 1/8" square stripwood and glued it to the perimeter of the structures. Before that though I marked the perimeter directly to the diorama base with a pen.



I am now committed to the diorama's layout.

Next one takes Sculptamold and lays out the finished grade. In the instructions the entire base is covered with Sculptamold. I did not do that. I am still working out some areas' elevations so I am not quite ready to finish the entire grade for my diorama.



Bob VanGelder does a great job of stressing that the grade must meet the structures so as to depict the structures in the ground and not on the ground. I am not sure I can describe the process in a manner that does it justice. I will summarize it for you though:
- apply the Sculptamold with a 1" putty knife
- with a wet brush work the Sculptamold up to each building's edge (or riser's edge in this case)

I own one of the Scotty Mason DVDs that features Bob VanGelder explaining this process. If you do not already own this DVD you should consider buying it. The one you want is volume III. Here is a current link to the Scotty Mason site for that DVD:
http://www.scottymason.com/#!shop/ctw8

I wish to point out one new scenery technique to me found in this section of the build. VanGelder directs the modeler to place the track directly into the wet Sculptamold. One paints the Sculptamold where the track goes a dark earth color and then sets the track into the Sculptamold. I deviated a bit and instead tinted my Sculptamold with acrylic paint while I was mixing it. I did not use enough paint and that area turned out way too light. I will have to fix that later.

Here is a view of how my structures look on top of their risers while the Sculptamold dries.





I have not glued down the structures as I am still debating adding some features to the diorama that will require the structures not be glued yet.

Coming up - the road and more scenery.

Jaime
www.myyehudaexperience.com

[oldbloodhound]

Good info on using risers for the base.  I hadn't though of that and it looks easy enough to do.
Sure looks good with your buildings.

[NEMMRRC]

Howdy.

Before I get to the road I wanted to point out the base for the sluice gate and a retaining wall that go behind the main building. Both of these are urethane castings that are primed with grey and then weathered with the black alcohol and earth colored chalks. This is how I located those:





Now on to the road.

Before I describe how I did my road I'll summarize how the instructions direct the modeler to do the road.
- use Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty for the road's surface
- smooth the road surface with a damp sponge while the putty is set but not dry (approximately 30 minutes after mixing the putty)
- let dry overnight
- once the putty is dry use a needle tool to scribe cracks on the surface
- paint and weather road after all other scenery is finished to avoid damaging the road's surface

I chose not to use the Durham's water putty. Instead, I chose to use CrackSHOT from DAP.



CrackSHOT goes on pretty easy and it can be smoothed without difficulty with a wet putty knife.

I learned a trick when building a Fine Scale Miniatures kit a while back. If you take a wet sponge brush and "paint" the road surface it leaves a pretty smooth finish.





The CrackSHOT container says it can be painted or sanded after 1 to 5 hours of applying it. That was not my experience. It took a day for my CrackSHOT to set enough to be sanded or painted.



Even though my CrackSHOT road did not crack (YEAH!!!), it did set with pits and dibets. I decided to apply a second thin coat to cover these imperfections.

After the second coat dried I used a plastic card to scrape the road surface even instead of sanding.



I have not decided yet if I will wait until later to paint my road.

Coming up - rockwork and more scenery.

Jaime
www.myyehudaexperience.com

[Mike Engler]

The King should move over.

[ReadingBob]

Another new (to me) technique/product (CrackSHOT) for making roads that I need to try!  Cool.    

I used Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty one time to make a road.  They ain't kidding about the Rock Hard part.     You better get it right before it dries completely. 

[NEMMRRC]

Another new (to me) technique/product (CrackSHOT) for making roads that I need to try!  Cool.    

I used Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty one time to make a road.  They ain't kidding about the Rock Hard part.     You better get it right before it dries completely.

I used Durham's once on the club layout when I lived in Tupelo some 20 years ago. It works fine but man do you need to get it right before it sets.

I like the CrackSHOT even if it takes a day to dry.

Jaime

[restocarp]

In regards to road making material, I have used a combination approach.  I start with the Durham's, making an attempt to get it as smooth as possible and then, after it cures, apply a thin layer of spackle to smooth out the surface.  The thin spackle drys pretty quickly, but I prefer the Durham's for the carving properties. 



I am really enjoying the build, Jamie.  I particularly like the diagonal orientation on your diorama. 

Matt

[NEMMRRC]

In regards to road making material, I have used a combination approach.  I start with the Durham's, making an attempt to get it as smooth as possible and then, after it cures, apply a thin layer of spackle to smooth out the surface.  The thin spackle drys pretty quickly, but I prefer the Durham's for the carving properties. 



I am really enjoying the build, Jamie.  I particularly like the diagonal orientation on your diorama. 

Matt

Thanks Matt.

I had not considered mixing mediums for road surfaces. That is a pretty clever trick.

One twist about the road in the instructions is that Bob VanGelder airbrushed the paint onto the road. I don't plan to do that though. I plan to use latex paint brushed on with a sponge brush. I don't plan to carve any potholes on my road. The CrackSHOT dried with a few small pits that give the road enough "character."

Jaime

[ranny9]

On our module for the EXPO in 2013, I used sanded grout applied thinly over cork roadbed. I liked the thought that it had sand in it and would add texture to the road surface. It depends on what "look" you want.

[NEMMRRC]

Howdy.

While the Scultpamold dried I made a fascia for my diorama, I went to Home Depot and bough the cheapest flat latex tan paint I could find (Dapper Tan from Glidden), I painted my diorama's base with the tan paint, my curiosity got the best of me and I painted the road with scenery black.







If you are not familiar with scenery black look up Dave Frary's scenery techniques on the web. Scenery black is 2 parts tan (the tan used on your diorama/layout for dirt) and one part flat black. Here is a short video by Dave Frary that explains some of this:

In the instructions manual Bob VanGelder references Dave Frary's books and work as good resource for building scenery.

Coming up - rockwork and more scenery.

Jaime
www.myyehudaexperience.com

[Jerry]

Well we have some progress here.  Nice work Jaime.

Looking forward to some dirt and stuff though.

Jerry