So the other half's off visiting this weekend which means I've got the entire time to myself! Given that I'm fed up of sitting in front of the computer waiting for the e-mail with the conditions of the new job to arrive, I've decided to see just how far I can get in 24 hrs of modelling time over Thu, Fri, Sat and Sun.
The rules of the game are:
1 nothing complicated (this is not going to be a Rae Bridge, Cliffhanger of Isle Ornsay (doubly so as I'm still a beginner))
2 use the basic techniques that I already know but I'm allowed one new thing (which'll be the pool & waterfall)
3 trips to the hobby/model shop are allocated not more than 0.5 hrs modelling time (which is no problem if I potter off to the hobby shop just over the border in Belgium, but will be a problem if I have to go to Aachen which is 45 mins drive + 15 mins walk one way, plus shopping time)
4 timetable: 4hrs Thu, 8 Fri, 8 Sat and 4 Sun (which is when the other half comes back)
5 if this comes off, it'll be given away to someone (if it does come off, more later)
The basic materials are:
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And so to it...
I was playing around a while ago with various ideas which would be neat (for a defined value of neat) but decided in this case to go with something really, really simple. Now, I knew I had a point with a nice handle on it and so I dragged that out of the box, broke the expanded polystyrene into lumps and organized it into this:
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Even I should be able to handle this!
I understand papiermache... I've tried other things but I don't understand them (think Dr. Sheldon Cooper and sarcasm and you'll get the idea). So I papiermacheed.. papiermach... smothered everything in paper and copious amounts of bookbinders glue and then painted it. Alas it came out looking more royal blue than emerald green but that can easily be rectified (cough).
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Second pass after having been to the hobby shop in Belgium to get some green paint! You'll notice that the area for the pool and stream have been hacked out (literally, using a blunt knife that came in a 3-for-a-gulden pack!)
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This time a bit more pool definition.
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Having sprinkled a load of flock stuff over the main area, I departed into a new area of tree building. On the OO layout it's sort of autumn and so the sea moss is used raw with some olive twigs inbetween to give it a bit of relief. Here I've branched out (groan) into adding stuff on top of the sea moss. Methinks I'll have to go and get some hairspray tomorrow (which should be interesting as I'm a 52 year old bald guy!)
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And now I think I have to let everything dry out...
Interesting, I've been toying with the same idea for a weekend, but then 12 hours each day with no shopping trips but to use everything that you've got. It is going to be interesting how much you get done, I will be following this thread this weekend. Good luck!
It's a great idea Sven.... getting on to do some modelling with no procrastinating and see what the result is at the end. It would certainly be the antidote to the many unfinished projects that I (and I'm sure others) have lying around!
Some extra trees sprouted overnight. I'd like to do many more trees but I don't have the material to hand and seeing as how it's chucking hailstones down around here at the moment, I'm not going out the door to buy anything!
You'll also notice I bottled out of doing anything with the stream to make it look like a stream! I settled for turning it into a reed/weed bed instead. Will still need a colour wash putting over the base at some point.
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Whilst I was out buying the green paint the other day, inspiration hit in the form of a packet of rubberised ground cover. Still not sure what to do about the pond. And sorry about the photo not showing up the details better, it's an old camera and the lighting conditions in the attic are variable at best.
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And here I am, taking months before any progress is made on my own 'demo' layout! ::) Any ideas of ballasting the track, and adding a few buildings? This is an ideal layout to run some Egger or Minitrains on, straight out of the box. Keep going, Rod!
Quote from: tedp on April 21, 2012, 16:15
Any ideas of ballasting the track, and adding a few buildings?
I got the track set up for ballasting before dinner and realised I'd missed the gaps for the electrical connections (d'oh!) So I'll have to have another go at that.
In the meantime, I've been slicing up pieces of cardboard for the chapel that should go on top of the hill. Apart from that, I'm not sure...
Hope your marathon is going fine!
Are the colours that bright or is that just on the photo?
Quote from: Sven on April 22, 2012, 09:38
Are the colours that bright or is that just on the photo?
The yellow is bright and needs a going over with a wash to darken it down. The rest is an artifact of the camera and the lighting conditions I'm afraid.
The track bed has been "ballasted". I take a holistic approach to ballasting and am of the opinion that on a rustic setup like this, the ballast should not be neat (which makes it easier for me :-)
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So, modelling will be curtailed today due to the other half coming back earlier than expected (this in turn being due to the fact that he got a lift partway down, thereby avoiding the chaos around Amsterdam CS due to the accident yesterday).
As such, this last lot of photos show where I've gotten to. Have I kept to the timetable? No. I was regularly distracted on Friday and didn't get anywhere near enough done. Saturday was similar but I got more done then. I've had two visits to the hobby shop as well.
However, the whole point of me going public with this (and being brave enough to, given the standard of modelling around here) was to force me to actually get something done. Whilst what I've got here is a bog-standard display unit and is in no way fine-scale (or even brute-scale, cough), it is for me a small achievement in that I've actually got something! (The OO layout has been going for years and is nowhere near complete.)
And so, to the last set of photos.
Chapel on hill (I do have a front for this, it's just not brickpapered yet) and the experimental diesel (thanks to a brilliant idea from Ted).
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From the side...
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The other side...
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Ground level view...
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Previous view with the background painted over...
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So that's that then. What do I do next? More trees! Many more trees - at the back and the lhs. Tidy up the paint job; apply various colour washes to tone it all down; do something with the pond; get the chapel properly set up as it's looking a bit ragged at the moment.
Would I do this again? Probably not in this form. I may take a week to do it and set up 4 hrs a day - assuming I'm daft enough to parade myself in front of this esteemed public again :-)
Glad to see someone else doing a challenge layout. It's amazing what you can get done in a small space in a short period of time, isn't it?
A friend and I did a challenge for 24 hours to get him a micro layout built to run his WW1 stock on. We used foam board for the baseboard and just bits and bobs from the local hobby shop or my collection of bits and bobs.
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm5.staticflickr.com%2F4026%2F4414416846_1a74af816e_z.jpg%3Fzz%3D1&hash=ff86c83bc71ba3fe8f01fdf2f3cf2aa32b257406) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/48135856@N05/4414416846/)
IMG_0708 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/48135856@N05/4414416846/) by andyhpr (http://www.flickr.com/people/48135856@N05/), on Flickr
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IMG_0710 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/48135856@N05/4413649561/) by andyhpr (http://www.flickr.com/people/48135856@N05/), on Flickr
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IMG_0717 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/48135856@N05/4414423722/) by andyhpr (http://www.flickr.com/people/48135856@N05/), on Flickr
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm3.staticflickr.com%2F2681%2F4413657045_9b7e6a9d2d_z.jpg%3Fzz%3D1&hash=5d27e4f49af2702408ac8de5d1176459642d563b) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/48135856@N05/4413657045/)
IMG_0723 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/48135856@N05/4413657045/) by andyhpr (http://www.flickr.com/people/48135856@N05/), on Flickr
It took us 13 hours to get to the point in the images above, but it's sat since then.
What do you do next? I'd suggest using it as much as you can, keep your enthusiasm up and gradually add more to it, more bushes, more trees, maybe a building or two...
For a WW1 era layout I wouldn't have many trees, certainly trees with branches and leaves :'(, as any artillery fire would have removed them leaving just stumps, of varying heights :-\. Also the end wall of the building would be scared by shell and small arms fire as the Allies would have built an observation post in the building which would allow them to observe the German trenches and beyond, so the Germans would have attacked the remaining wall. Much the same as the Allies would do to any building/wall behind the German trenches allowing the Germans to overlook the their own trench systems. >:(
Some confusion there I think, Isaac.
I never said Rod should make a ww1 layout, I merely posted photos of my friend's layout to show he's not alone in doing time based challenges to build a layout.
As for the other comments, it's not my layout and was built in 13 hours.
Back to Rod's layout.
Quote from: invercloy on April 22, 2012, 20:10
Glad to see someone else doing a challenge layout. It's amazing what you can get done in a small space in a short period of time, isn't it?
...
What do you do next? I'd suggest using it as much as you can, keep your enthusiasm up and gradually add more to it, more bushes, more trees, maybe a building or two...
Yeah... whilst it's not as far along as I'd've liked, it's not bad, for me.
The other half arrived back yesterday and I'd moved this downstairs to the spare room where it can be seen immediately the stairs are ascended. The conversation went something like this:
F: (sees layout): Uh-oh!
R: See... I made that this weekend.
F: . . .
Made? You
made that this weekend?
R: Yup.
F: Wow. You're obviously more creative when I'm not here than when I am.
<both look at layout, I explain some more stuff that should be done>
R: And if you've got a photo of your (deceased) sister, I can sort out the chapel, build some rolling stock and use that as decoration and give it to the brother-in-law as a sort of memorial layout(*).
F: And what about me?
R: Er, what?
F: Can't I have one?
Looks like I've got my work cut out!
(*) Remember back on day one I said it'd be given away if it all worked out?
Well done, interesting initiative. I timed the four windows I was making two days ago and it took me 3 hours, so i wouldn't get that far in a 24 hour challenge. I came to the conclusion that I rather take more time to make something that I like then to just have something finished. I think it's more a matter of daily dedication and not watching TV with the wife. That's probably why she says that you are not as creative with her around. She should be happy about that, actually!
So, after having found a new job and worked my way into it, been on holiday and generally run around, I've gotten this to a sort of finished state.
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The chapel is a G-scale Pola item found by the other half in the model shop in Aachen when I asked him to look for a model chapel. It looks good in real life (photo quality is not good but it's not the best camera in the world, sorry).
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The hut is a <cough>and<cough> years old kit, probably Airfix. I'm not sure if I made it or my father did. Anyway, it's been in the buildings box for many years and it just sort of looked right.
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This is to give an idea of scale. The truck is a Langley Models Festiniog 3-ton brass etch kit (first one I've ever made!)
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The "bridge" is made up of pieces of plastic girder that I purchased in the craft shop, just over the border here in Belgium. They were spayed with a fixative and then sprayed brown (acrylic) and then filed and glued. The camera shows up the imperfections but it's not supposed to be pristine anyway.
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The if-it's-brown-cube-shaped-and-has-cow-catchers-it-must-be-a-tram loco is built to a scale of 1:the-boyfriend-likes-it-so-it-must-be-right. It's only my second attempt at hacking something together (and it shows but I'm still learning) and it sits on top of a Minitrix tank loco. It still needs a bit of tidying up (in the same way that the Forth Rail bridge just needs a lick of paint) but...
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...I fitted it and later added some supports which means it doesn't quite fit properly any more. Needs a bit of filing.
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The lake's done the standard way by painting it and then layering it with varnish. The varnish bubbled so I lifted it and tried again. The next lot bubbled even more. (And it was all going so well in the early layers; no bubbles, no nothing.) I probably was a bit heavy handed whilst applying it. Ah well, my excuse is that there are a lot of fish in this lake and they blow lots of bubbles.
I was wondering about a ground level, wooden platform and a fishing rod and some figures but after talking to he-who-must-be-obeyed, we decided that this was minimal and that that's better seeing as how it symbolically represents his recently departed sister.
I still have some tidying up to do and it's not brilliantly made (I'm still learning the art of scratchbuilding - the OO layout has lots of kits and the rolling stock is all RTR - it looks a lot better), but I'm still a beginner at this and I need to practice a bit more. I'll get there eventually. In the meantime, I'd like to thank the forum for its indulgence and I now return you to your regularly scheduled level of modeling.
Hmmm.... wonder if I can make a copy of Nixnie...
;D it's looking more like a 6 month challenge, but if you had to find a new job and get used to it you are excused!
The pond looks like it's full of frogs not fish. Not too bad I'd say. And there are tantalising glimpses of a 00 layout behind...
Given that the idea was to get something knocked out in a short period of time, I've definitely skimped on time spent on some things. Ok, lots of things. I reckon it's come out at about 40 hrs total. Definitely not exhibition standard but that wasn't the point. I should be able to tidy it up and get it looking reasonable shortly. I may even have another go at the tram loco. I was disappointed at the way the pond ended up as it started off so well but it's the first time I've tried that as well. On the other hand, the trees came out better than I had expected. Swings and roundabouts.
As for the OO layout, that's up to about 7 years and counting now and it's probably about 40% finished. Long way to go...