Johns Layout progress
Hi All, Well I have been working on Trees over the break. Hopefully they look ok The tree on the front left still needs greenery! My second attempt An overview of the corner of the layout John

Well here are some more pictures of the left hand side of the layout. It is about 5 meters long and varies from 80cm wide to 1.2 meters wide. Climbing up the 2% grade to Dittengen Dittengen Station at the top of the grade Looking up the grade From Mount Fridge looking down the side of the layout By Easter all the brown plaster will be covered in either grass or trees John

I appreciate your expanses of countryside, allowing you to show off your trains in beautiful surroundings. I look forward to further progress reports.

Hi Alan, One of the things that I wanted on this part of the layout was a low track to scenary ratio. From my original plan this part of the layout extends about 20cms further into the room. When I first laid the curve it was on a 4% grade but My locomotives had a hard time pulling the 20 wagon freight trains up it. :roll: I have sinced reduced it to 2% and it is much better. Here are some more pictures One of the things that annoyed me when I was buiding this part was looking through the tunnel and seeing the wide open space behind it What I wanted, was to be able to see a tunnel interior. As the tunnel is hidding a curve I cast three small sections, and this is what it looks like. I think it looks better. :lol: My camera isn't that flash but there are brick outlines on the interior and it is painted a darkish brick red inside for the first third then the rest of it is black. And here is the tunnel on the left hand side of the layout John

John, The last picture show me a fine backdrop to parade your train. I like it. Please, what is the loco and make up of that freight train ?

Well, since I ran out of ground cover and need to make some (dead leaves in the food processor!) I ran some trains and took some pictures. K.W.St.E. Dw (Kittle railcar) K.W.St.E T5 DRG Class 85 DRG Class 53.8 DRG Class 96 Back to work :cry: tomorrow, so will work on the layout at night and take some pictures at the weekend. John

Hi David, Its a K.W.St.E. K pulling some K.W.St.E. and Bavarian wagons made by Brawa, Trix and Marklin. Normally there would be another 12-15 on the train. John

Wow ! You've been busy with the camera while I was sleeping, with some fine results. One of the things that annoyed me when I was buiding this part was looking through the tunnel and seeing the wide open space behind it I think the tunnel looks especially good on the last picture where the train is emerging from the dark.

Hi David, My apologies, I missed your question. The train is made up of wagons from Brawa, Flieschmann and Marklin. As time goes on the wagons will all get weathered, but for me it is a time issue. At the moment I am quite motivated on the scenery of the layout! Well a new "face" :lol: arrived/appeared on the layout yesterday. The girls are most happy, but it is just not DRG! maybe it is time to stop building my layout and build them a Thomas layout :roll: I have started building some more trees. These are the two real trees that I use as raw material. It does help to have these in your garden :shock: , or at least a local source. The first is an ornamental bamboo plant that I use for tree trunks and branches. The second is a magnolia tree for the ground cover. A food processor is a handy piece of equipment for grinding up the leaves, but a mortar and pestle would probably do. One word of caution, for some reason SWMBO does not seem to like the food processor being used to chomp up the leaves so discretion is needed when doing it. Dead leaves that are dry are the best for grinding. It is important to cut the storks out of each leave before chomping. I sive it twice, once to get the fines, the second to get the 1mm bits and that leaves the rest about 2-3mm size. The fines are glued on the outside edge of the forest, about 1-2 cm, the 1-2 cm’s on the 1mm size and then the rest in the middle. Here are the next batch of trees going in. This is quite a substantial area, and I probably should have started from the back, but that would be too easy. I will green these trees today (maybe) and take some more pictures. The grass to the right of the plot at the back will also change into forest. One of things that I have also learned with this type of tree making is to plant the stalks first with out greenery and then green them. This way you get the right tree for the right place. My original method was to green the trees and then try and place them. Not an ideal way of doing things! Here are some shots of the layout along the back wall. The bottle brush trees will ultimately be replaced, there is a god crop of trees developing on the ornamental bamboo this year, and I will be able to harvest them in about two months. I am not convinced that the foam on the ground around the signal looks ok, so will probably rip it up and do it again. The class 38 is now about 25 years old and was the first locomotive I purchased when I had started work (I am getting old!). Not really up to today’s standards, but it still runs well. John

Progress has been a bit slow. I ran out of glue and the shop didn't have any but then luckily I found my spare container of it! So the forest continues to take shape. A little bit of grass, some leaves on the trees, some ground cover on the floor and things start to take shape. As per my earlier comment it is best to start planting trees at the back and work your way forward. I really want to get this part covered in trees in the next week or so. My class 56 is in the mail and should be here next Friday (hopefully) So instead of doing work on the layout, it will be time to run some trains again. Will be interesting to see what the layout is like with two sound locomotives on it. John

Well the forest continues to take shape. One edge of it is getting there. Still a lot of trees to go into it. SVT 137 departing Dittengen And where would a layout be without a Glaskasten. Looking from Dittengen towards the chapel. Note “Mt Fridge” in the background Not an every day shot, but this is the rock face that appears on the right of many pictures from the other side John

As promised,a few extra comments from me. I particularly like the grass because, although the basic colour is accurate, the shading varies. The trees are growing nicely too. I think the best picture to appreciate your skills is this one http://img411.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01474nj4.jpg It shows some weathered wagons, some fine detailing in the foreground scenery and the overall view is very attractive. The most regrettable picture is probably this one, http://img150.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01518pw5.jpg because the focus is on that unique feature of Märklin track. I'm not suggesting for a moment that you should replace the track. If it is ballasted with a dark colour then it is hardly noticeable and one's attention is held by the more interesting and colourful parts of the layout. Take Fritz Osterthun's Cochemer bahn ( http://www.osterthun.com ) as a good example of the how the track doesn't detract from the excellent modelling. Originally I thought that the sheep were the hallmark of an NZ modeller. As I mentioned in the topic about Preiser, for most of this year I have failed to see any sheep in Germany. My travels, however, were mainly concentrated in lower Saxony and the Rhine valley. Last weekend, in the Black Forest, the sheep seemed to be everywhere whilst all other livestock were confined to the stalls. So far, you haven't mentioned what inspired you layout. Is it based on a particular area or place ?

John, The scenery is great - how do you apply the various shades of grass?

Hi Paul, The effect of the grass is a result of good luck probably rather than a defined plan! I start off with a brown plaster base that is not too consistent in colour. I use one tea spoon of concrete dye and four cups of plaster. I use concrete dye because when I first started plaster casting I had some and didn’t want white castings. Note that it is a bit caustic so a plastic spoon and rubber gloves are useful. There are lots of methods of applying the grass, and I wanted something that was quick and easy. I use Ados F2 Spay Adhesive, which is as good as any. I thought about using white glue, but the amount of time it takes to dry etc put me off. Some people use non-scented hair spray, which is ok but will break down over time. F2 will not break down. In terms of price non-scented hairspray is about EUR4 bottle and the Ados F2 is about EUR8 per bottle, so it’s a bit more expensive, but hopefully it will last forever. I looked hard at how to apply the static grass and have seen people use blowing machines, electric applicators. I use the Noch puffer bottle. Its cheap, its easy and it does the job well. As a base coat I use Jordan no 752 static grass. I then randomly add other greens to the top of this. I think that one of the reasons that I get extra shading is also because I do not belong to the flat earth society. My hills are all rolling and pretty inconsistent in terms of gradients, which also helps. Later on today, I will take some pictures of putting some grass down since I can’t make any trees. In terms of the track, the centre studs are a problem. I am still not convinced that the Märklin K track is going to remain so have not ballasted it yet. I have been playing with Märklin C track to operate my signalling system. Call it a quirk but as the locomotive passes the signal, I want it to change to red. There are two options with this, either use reed switches and magnets, or use micro switches. I have successfully used the micro switches on the layout, and my local train club uses reed switches. The jury remains undecided at this stage. Once the decision is made, ballasting will commence! As for the layouts inspiration, I will write something in the next week or so. John

I gave some thought to the sheep comment. Clearly these are not NZ sheep because they still have their tails! And as an aside, I would like to point out that the colony to the west of NZ has more sheep than NZ does. That we have more rainfall is irrelevant! The forest continues to grow. Such a shame I ran out of foam for the trees! Here are a couple of shots of the chapel on the hill. Note that there are now three trees and not one. For some reason, trees look better in odd number unless there is over 10 or so. I actually built the chapel about 10 years ago. It was an extremely cheap and simple kit way back then. I think that some monks in the front will be in order. Do not ask how many are in the forest, I do not want to depress myself! Here is the grassing made easy tour. First of all it is a good idea to mask the bits you do not want to grass or have spray glue go on. I use a plastic funnel and a metal sieve that takes the clumps out of the grass material and it makes it easier to fill the bottle. I only fill the bottle about 1/3 full. This seems to give the best results. The cup of tea is optional! First step is to put a coat of glue down and let it dry. The spray glue takes about 20 minutes to dry. It is possible to use F2 out of a can but I have found it is easier to use the spray glue all the time Then it is time to start grassing. More glue, shake, puff and things start to change colour. Ultimately I am looking for about 98% coverage. This generally takes about two or three coats of grass and glue. Hopefully you end up with results that look like this. One thing to remember if you do use the F2 spray, is to turn the can upside down and clear the nozzle when you have finished, it really does stop it clogging. John