In-ko-pah RR: Dos Manos depot

[Sami]

Well done Ray !

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks!

I wanted to have stone stairs going up the slope to the shack. To do this, I made a form out of foam core board:






Then I used curved tweezers to place small stones in the form, added some 1/4" hardware cloth, and then poured in some thin mortar:








The mortar wasn't quite thin enough to get into all the spaces between the stones, but that's fixable:




I rubbed thin mortar into the gaps, brushed off the excess with a wet brush, and after it set I sanded off some of the residue and it turned out fine:




Here's how everything looks so far. The building itself is almost finished. I just have to add the lighting and a few other minor exterior details. I also have to finish the landscape around the building. And later I will build and detail the interior:

[Lawton Maner]

Ray as any Southerner knows, the shack isn't finished until the Coca Cola thermometer is mounted on the wall under the porch.

[Ray Dunakin]

Yep, that's one of the minor details yet to be added.

[artizen]

Another superb build!

[finescalerr]

Ditto.

Ray, you really ought to build a Super Dome over the layout to protect all your artistry from global warming.

Russ

[Bill Gill]

Ray, you really stepped up to the plate with this build, sandwiching it in neatly between the track and mountain. Looks fantastic!

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks! Here's a new pic...

A passenger train goes by Serenity's Sandwich Shack in the town of Grandt Cliff. High above is the Cliffside Mine:

[Allan G]

Love the way you did the stairs!!!! Everything looks awesome! Allan

[Ray Dunakin]

I just got started again on the depot, but don't have anything to show yet. In the meantime...

Here are a couple small projects I worked on recently. First was making a big batch of new ocotillos to expand the foliage on the layout. I start with florist's wire, which has a green plastic coating on it. I use a couple different thicknesses, either individually, or mixed, depending on the size of the plant I want to model:




The next step is painting them with gesso. That's the stuff they use to prime artist's canvases. While the gesso is wet, I sprinkle on some fine grain sand available from the craft store. This goes on mainly at the lower end, to thicken the branches near the base. Then they're hung on a wire to dry:






Next I paint them with a coat of grayish-brown latex house paint. While the paint is wet I sprinkle on some green plastic grit from Plastruct, catalog #GC-104. It is then hung up to dry again:




I've found that the green grit fades, so the next step is to dry-brush on a bit of green latex paint:




To finish it off, I cut off the hook used to hang them. Then I paint some of the tips with red latex paint to represent the flowers. Finally the whole thing is given a couple coats of Krylon UV-resistant matte clear. Here are a couple photos of the plants installed on the layout:






The other little project was a test piece. I wanted to see if I could use Sintra to make a stone wall that matches the pinkish rocks on part of my layout. (I'm not sure but I think they may be rhyolite.) Here is a photo of the rocks on the layout, followed by a photo of the test piece:






I think it still needs a little work but it's getting there.

[artizen]

The rock wall is excellent!

[Hydrostat]

Hi, Ray,

to me the stone wall coloring looks spot on, assuming there's some conjunctive weathering to come. But: The sandy texture looks a bit artificial at most stones, like something being added. Maybe you could use some very fine dust in addition to blend this to the complete stone? I don't know.

Volker

[lab-dad]

Very cool - all of it!

I agree with Volker.
What about mixing the texture in the paint?

-Marty

[detail_stymied]

"welcome to Grandt Cliff" - good one!

[Allan G]

Ray; looks great! I think the wall should have a bit more deep tone in the cement. More like the upper right area of the wall.  Allan