Garden Railway Forum

Wonderful scenic effects from basic materials, brilliant! I tried cat-litter as ballast many years ago..... it's still wet!

GTB wrote: ↑Mon Dec 19, 2022 10:18 am The cutting made from pine bark looks good. How did you remove the resident wildlife in the bark? The pines around here are full of all sorts of creepy-crawlies.......

There are circuits around for making static grass applicators. I've seen one fearsome device in the past that was built around a car ignition coil. This one lists Australian sources for the bits.

https://www.bouldercreekrailroad.com/ar ... -version-2

gregh wrote: ↑Mon Dec 19, 2022 5:32 am Now I am still looking for non-clumping, no-odour cat litter so I can ballast the track.

The cheap clay based non-clumping cat litters are just calcined clay, with no other ingredients. Woolies or Coles own brand non-clumping clay litters should work for ballast and are a lot cheaper than buying oil absorbent from Repco. Since it's clay you could probably sieve out the larger bits to use as wagon loads from the clay pit.

Graeme

I found a UK source for the negative ion generator if anyone here fancies giving it a go. I know some forumites have indoor layouts as well as their outdoor railways.
https://www.railwayscenics.com/negative ... -2535.html.

Really surprising how cheap it is compared to the cost of an commercially produced applicator


Rik

That is impressive Greg.
The bark idea might be something I should investigate. I can get 10L of bark for $4.00 from the local landscape supply place down the road.
For outside maybe I could use Aqua deck decking oil as a sort of preservative (Hmm food for thought)

Graeme - I have seen videos using the neg ion generator potted component. But all my searches for 'negative ion generators' just come up with fully constructed units.

The neg ion generator in the Boulder Creek video, as being sold by Oatley Electronics - no such thing appears when I search the Oatley site. Maybe no longer sold.
Very few of the 'how to ' videos, incl the Boulder creek ones, actually show the finished product working.

Re kitty litter. I have tried Woolies and 2 IGA's with no success. Will keep looking. Then I have to colour it. How? Yes, if I can get it, the larger pieces will make good 'clay' loads.
I am even considering smashing up some of Pauline's unfinished, unfired work as I do with coal.
Or maybe pour some thin plaster onto gladwrap and then break it up.
I'll get there, someday! Plenty of time!

No problems with spiders etc in the bark, just webs. Maybe all our rain washed them away.

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Rik - thanks for the link to a negative ion generator in UK, Interesting in that there is only 1 HV lead. Where would the 'ground' be connected. Seems that maybe the 12V neg is the HV neg as well. Also the claim that it needs a 12V, 2A supply. If the output is 3.5kV, then the HV must put out 7 mA - pretty dangerous stuff.
I wonder what the spec "Output Voltage: DC-3.5KV-0.5KV" means

(BTW, the one I built output measures 1.5kVdc, and runs off 3V.)

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Andrew - yes I like the pic of the loco in the cutting. The effect I am looking for. Some of those clearances are too 'close' (2mm to the great wall of balsa in places). But all the locos I want to run, DO fit. Too bad about visiting locos!
One advantage of the pine bark is that if it fouls the train I can just snap bits of with my fingers or pliers.

Some SLOW progress on the Claymine Branch.


A steel girder bridge has crossed the future river. Made from styrene sheet. Piers are polystyrene covered in plaster.


The plan is for a lake and waterfall like this. Work is progressing using pine bark as the rocks for the waterfall gorge and along the river.

Pottsville station has appeared (styrofoam).
You can see the under-shelf LED lights I made.
And someday there will be the 'pottery works' under the shelf, behind the train.


A swamp has been created to test the idea of using a clear polyeurethane paint as water.

Clay tipper wagons. This one I tried using cat litter to represent the clay. Not Wholly successful. Waiting on some more 3D printed wheels to complete some more wagons.

Some lovely little scenic details there Greg. Looking forward to more as you progress.

Just caught up with your thread Greg. It's brilliant and some fantastic ideas with the turntable. Hope now to see more of what will be very interesting for many i'am sure. It is for me...

Lovely work on the scenery Greg.
Where did you get the quarry backdrop from?

Instead of kitty litter look at Perlite you can colour it by using artists acrylics from a $2 shop;
-just dilute the paint not to much
-put in the perlite
-mix it
-spread it out to dry
-then break it up.
https://www.bunnings.com.au/brunnings-5 ... lsrc=aw.ds

It is very light but not as light as polystyrene.
Andrew used it on his On3 layout in his shed and I used it on my old HO one as a rockslide.

Thanks for the update Greg, I'm glad you're making progress - which looks pretty rapid to me! I'm really enjoying this project, which is giving me ideas for the future. Actually, as I type this in my office at work I'm looking around and wondering what I could get away with...

Great progress being made there, Greg. That pine bark looks really realistic. Looking forward to seeing how the waterfall develops.

Rik

Andrew wrote: ↑Wed Feb 08, 2023 8:24 am Thanks for the update Greg, I'm glad you're making progress - which looks pretty rapid to me! I'm really enjoying this project, which is giving me ideas for the future. Actually, as I type this in my office at work I'm looking around and wondering what I could get away with...

All 3 of my mates who come around, have started thinking ... "there's some space at the back of my garage" and similar. Not sure anything will happen but maybe some converts ???

GAP wrote: ↑Wed Feb 08, 2023 8:05 am Lovely work on the scenery Greg.
Where did you get the quarry backdrop from?

Thanks for the ideas of using Pearlite.

The quarry backscene came from the internet. Stretched, mirrored, cut and pasted etc. Just a test at the moment. I have trouble getting the angles and ground level correct. This one is not too bad.

gregh wrote: ↑Thu Feb 09, 2023 8:29 am I have trouble getting the angles and ground level correct. This one is not too bad.

It's always a problem trying to use a real photo in this way, because whatever you do, you can never look in exactly the same way that the camera was pointing, and as soon as you move the perspective goes out the window. I've always ended up with doing a kind of impressionist rendition, that the eye ignores rather han being drawn to.

philipy wrote: ↑Thu Feb 09, 2023 8:41 am It's always a problem trying to use a real photo in this way, because whatever you do, you can never look in exactly the same way that the camera was pointing, and as soon as you move the perspective goes out the window. I've always ended up with doing a kind of impressionist rendition, that the eye ignores rather han being drawn to.

I agree, if only my painting skills were better. I did paint backscenes for my N scale layout 30 years ago, like this. But I have to also consider what I am wanting from a backscene. Mainly it's just for backgrounds instill pictures that I take, instead of a blank wall and studs etc. And the second reason is just to somehow take the eyes away from those ugly walls when you walk in. So someday I might try painting something.
I realise that I will never be able to takes videos in the confined space and not get 'non-train' stuff in the background, so will have to live with that. I may even try just hanging a permanent blue screen.

gregh wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 8:15 am

philipy wrote: ↑Thu Feb 09, 2023 8:41 am It's always a problem trying to use a real photo in this way, because whatever you do, you can never look in exactly the same way that the camera was pointing, and as soon as you move the perspective goes out the window. I've always ended up with doing a kind of impressionist rendition, that the eye ignores rather han being drawn to.

I agree, if only my painting skills were better. I did paint backscenes for my N scale layout 30 years ago, like this.
N2bridges(1) 1992.JPG

But I have to also consider what I am wanting from a backscene. Mainly it's just for backgrounds instill pictures that I take, instead of a blank wall and studs etc. And the second reason is just to somehow take the eyes away from those ugly walls when you walk in. So someday I might try painting something.
I realise that I will never be able to takes videos in the confined space and not get 'non-train' stuff in the background, so will have to live with that. I may even try just hanging a permanent blue screen.

Aldi and KMart sell "green screens" so maybe you can use it to edit some background into a video.

gregh wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 8:15 am
I agree, if only my painting skills were better. I did paint backscenes for my N scale layout 30 years ago, like this.
N2bridges(1) 1992.JPG

Your painting skills are far better than mine. This is what I produced for a 4mm backscene, but was still an improvement on bare hardboard.

philipy wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 10:41 am
“This is what I produced for a 4mm backscene, but was still an improvement on bare hardboard”

I suppose if you study your photograph, you might be able to work out where 3D ends and which is the backdrop — but I think it’s extraordinarily effective. The matching of colour and tone is completely convincing.

BertieB wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 12:26 pm

philipy wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 10:41 am
“This is what I produced for a 4mm backscene, but was still an improvement on bare hardboard”

I suppose if you study your photograph, you might be able to work out where 3D ends and which is the backdrop — but I think it’s extraordinarily effective. The matching of colour and tone is completely convincing.

I agree - and keeping it simple has reduced issues of perspective changing as your viewpoint does.

Simplicity's the key, I reckon - I think the rocky bits under the bridge work really well on your backscene Greg. If it were me I think I'd be tempted to go for something similar, given that your layout's going to be mountainous, basically some simple blocks of colour. Adding a touch of blue to whatever colour you're using can aid tonal perspective, making things appear further away - I think that's recreating the effect the atmosphere has on looking at distant things in real life. Experiment first though!

If you're going to do sky, pop your head out of the window first - skies often seem to start paler, almost white, at the horizon and then get more intense as you look upwards.

Good luck with it, have fun!

Andrew.

BertieB wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 12:26 pm

philipy wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 10:41 am
“This is what I produced for a 4mm backscene, but was still an improvement on bare hardboard”

I suppose if you study your photograph, you might be able to work out where 3D ends and which is the backdrop — but I think it’s extraordinarily effective. The matching of colour and tone is completely convincing.

Thanks. Not wishing to hijack Greg's thread, but the backscene join is just behind the buffer stop and then is the darkish line angling down to the left of it. The rest you can't see because the wagons obscure it

What a build to catch up on. Much better than the indoor layout I toyed with six years back, and at a fraction of the space used.

I know it's a ways down the line, so to speak, but what are your plans for trees? I found suitable branching twigs for a desk-top display ten years back, and glued some sort of Hornby tree foliage to them.