Ale-8-One Reefer

[EZnKY]

And here's the module sitting on a shelf...

[finescalerr]

I'm glad to see you back at work, Eric. -- Russ

[EZnKY]

So, to catch everyone up to where I am today...

I stained the cedar ties with various shades of Silver Wood, Black Wood, and Dead Wood.  Painted the raw plaster a dirt color, and then did preliminary ballast using sifted gravel from a nearby construction site.

[EZnKY]

The dirt we have here in central Kentucky is a reddish brown color.  After trying some different types of tile grout, I ended up using actual dirt for the color match.  The issue is it contains a lot of clay, so its hard to sift to the point of forming dust.

I did an initial application of dirt and flooded it with diluted white glue.

[EZnKY]

Once that was done, I added some dry dirt along the edge of the ballast to better blend the two and make it look like the ballast has sunk into the mud somewhat.  You'll also notice I had mixed in some rocks with the dirt.  Anyone who has ever tried to dig a hole in Kentucky will tell you there are rocks everywhere!

That was followed by a layer of ground up leaves, tiny roots from some weeds in my planter beds, and the occasional stick.

At this point I called the basic ground form "done" and started making plants, which I'm still doing.

[finescalerr]

It looks pretty darned good even without the foliage. -- Russ

[marc_reusser]

Coll idea. I look forward to seeing this progress.

BTW, Beautiful log car.

M

[Chuck Doan]

I like your comparison method for the soil color. Coming out nice!

[pwranta193]

Nice simple ground work... but with a lot of well executed craftsmanship involved.  And I am really digging your shelf solution with the pre-cut grooves... great prior planning.  Our poor wives - but, let's face it - while it might not be a Hummel statue collection, at least your stuff looks like actual art

Good to see you back - I know what you mean about this Summer... it has been a "biz development" kind of last few months for me as well.  Hobby design and execution Mojo temporarily shelved.  I can't remember what if you had said what your next project was lined out to be?

Waiting for the next bit...  

Paul

[EZnKY]

Thanks guys, it is good to be doing some of this instead of working all the time.
Paul - I have a very patient wife, and as long as she has some space for her world, mine can occupy a few of the shelves.  And I have too many unfinished projects to start a new one!

[Malachi Constant]

Elegant in its (well thought out) simplicity!  Looks good too.    -- Dallas

[michael mott]

Eric just read through the whole thread, clean accurate workmanship, I like the display track as well, and the grooves in the shelf are an elegant solution.

Michael

[Frederic Testard]

This floor is fantastic, in particular the lattice of small roots. Colors are great too. Beautiful!!

[EZnKY]

I appreciate the feedback from everyone!
I made a little progress during the past week.  I built a cheapy static grass applicator and laid down a turf base course over selected areas.  I started with a random application of full strength white glue, followed by short brown fibers to represent the dead growth at the base of the plants.

[EZnKY]

Then I added longer green fibers while the glue was still wet.  I used fibers from several different manufacturers, in several different shades of green.  Reloading the applicator by hand from different packages introduced more randomness in the color, and in height and texture.  I also cut some clumps of Woodland Scenics Field Grass and stuck them in the wet glue.  I had to hold the clumps loosely to allow fibers to stick when I moved from location to location stabbing the ground with the clumps, if that makes sense.

This last photo shows the turf after the glue dried.  I guess I'm fairly happy with it.  I'm going to trim some of the long fibers in places.  I think it will also help as I add more layers of weeds, leaf litter, plants, etc.  We'll see.  At this point I'm not sure whether I'm going to paint the plant materials or not.  It seems like the diorama guys tend paint their materials, while the model railroad folks do not.  Anyway, the experimentation goes on...