Kanjiyama - An N gauge Japanese Terminus Layout

[Sir Madog]

I can only add words of caution about the use of Styrofoam. Just yesterday, I was working on the scenery on my bridge module, using a hot wire cutter to cut the Styrofoam. Despite working in a well ventilated area and wearing a mask, it took only minutes to get a big headache. The fumes are really toxic!

[David]

This is what Woodland Scenics is selling. Their foam pieces (while I'm sure they'll still burn plenty) are non-toxic, so you can cut them with an electric wire without worrying about ventilation.

[rankodd]

This is what Woodland Scenics is selling. Their foam pieces (while I'm sure they'll still burn plenty) are non-toxic, so you can cut them with an electric wire without worrying about ventilation.

That's a very interesting point in their favour - thanks!

How did insulation foam get approved for home use if it's so toxic when I burns?

[KenS]

It's inside the wall, so you need a pretty strong fire to get to the styrene and burn it. By then you've got other problems to worry about.

I generally cut foam with a knife and hacksaw, then shape it with a rasp, rather than using a hot-wire cutter.  This avoids the ventilation problem, but you need to wear a breathing mask due to the dust (and have a good shop-vac to get all the dust off you before you track it into the rest of the house).

[Mudkip Orange]

How did insulation foam get approved for home use if it's so toxic when I burns?

'cuz it's still waaaaaaaay safer than asbestos?

[Claude_Dreyfus]

A little more work today with the form work...this time to the front of the layout.

I do seem to be obsessed with making a layout seem as hemmed in and compact as possible...Yamanouchi Oshika is starting to look that way, and now here. I am trying to create a scenic bottle-neck where the tracks meet at the end of the platforms, as well as an operational one. To be honest, I have started putting together a few sequences, and am confident that there is sufficient scope for some interesting exhibition running, as well as personal amusement...

To start with, and overall view...


The form work here is still in the early stages, and nothing has been stuck down as yet. Here we are looking towards the fiddle yard; the town will be on the right - although this will be graded, whilst the opposite side will have part of an orchard, with a couple of small buildings as well as some steeper rocky ground. This is to give the impression that the railway has been blasted through the landscape.




Next we have a couple of pictures giving some indication of the height of the landscape. The area behind the KiHa 48 may be just a little higher, but not by much - if at all. The edge of the town will be on this section. Immedately in front of the KiHa 53 will be the orchard area. Beyond that the landscape will climb quite steeply, partially hiding the trains from the viewers...something which I quite like from a scenic point of view.



The orchard, with associated buildings will be located roughly where the little yellow pick-up is in this view.



The view above will not be possible once the landscape over the fiddle yard is complete. It's a little too pink at the moment, however it won't be for a good few weeks yet before I can starting with the paint and flock powders!



Finally we pull back to see the start of the fiddle yard to the left. The gap on the far left is intentional, as it is useful for storing spare stock securely. The trees are just temporary in this location, however they are rather nice and will be used on this layout when the time comes...they are Graham Avis silver birch trees with a couple of pines thrown in.

[rpierce000]

Is it the picture or is the red train in the second picture in the last post leaning to the left?  If so, you will want to fiddle with the tracks to get it level before you go much farther. Messing with the track later is a PITA. Trust me.

[disturbman]

Might be the picture (or the photographer) because in that shot both trains are leaning to the left. And in the 5th picture the train is also leaning to the left, left that is the right of the 2nd picture.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

It's been a while since I have been able to catch up here...I've been on my holidays!

The photo is a little deceptive...although the unit appears to be leaning, all the track is completely level with extremely wide radius curves. Perhaps my limitations as a photographer!

As I have been away, there is nothing much to report in terms of progress except for a coupel of imminent arrivals. A selection of Kato buildings - wooden rural types from Gaugemaster, and a coupel of Tomytec structures from Hobby Search. There is also a KiHa E131 set winging its way over to me to bring us right up to date. 

[Bernard]

Claude - I really like your track work....nice and straight, it should be smooth running over the switches!

[keitaro]

I can only add words of caution about the use of Styrofoam. Just yesterday, I was working on the scenery on my bridge module, using a hot wire cutter to cut the Styrofoam. Despite working in a well ventilated area and wearing a mask, it took only minutes to get a big headache. The fumes are really toxic!

Haha i just last night accidentally spilt super glue on the wall of my mountain right where the tunnell portal is. (actually i was placing a spot of supa to hold some shrubbery on and it pored out.... musta been  bad batch as it never runs out like this one did)

it got down the crack of the tunnell portal. minutes later i discovered it got behind the plastic portal and the plaster and started eating my foam. Alarge amount so i have now filled this inside the mountain with more filler to give etra support behind the plaster layer...

Anyway in minutes the room (very unventilated) was tripping me out had to evacfor a while.




Back on topic.

Looks like you have some room cleaning to do to get that other board in the background up as well. haha.

Does look nice and smooth too. unlike mine which ended up a bit uneven at joints where i changed the track design after gluing it down...

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Work has been slowly progressing; mainly around the station area. A few coats of paint on the platforms have still not completely eradicated the section joins, however at least the plastic sheen has gone. Looking a little mean and moody in the afternoon sun is the station, along with partially ballasted track. I need to replace the island platform canopies once the various little details have been added...

[disturbman]

Nice to see you are still working on this. I was starting to wonder what was happening to this project. :)

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Still plugging away...a lack of computer has led to me being unable to upload photos for the last couple of months.

More progress today, including more or less completing the station - there are still a couple of bits to do regarding the platform canopies, such as adding transfers, seats and other paraphernalia. More work has also gone on the ballasting, with a little extra 'greenery' (actually more 'yellowery', as the layout is set in summer and most of the grass has dried out).

I have also made a start on the superstructure of the scenery behind the station. Originally this was to be entirely of foam construction, however it is a bugger to sculpt, and makes quite a mess, so the more fiddly areas will be foamboard construction, with the insulation foam being used for the chunkier sections. I have a number of buildings, however as a starter we can see a few Tomytec offerings in more or less their situations.

 



The Kato station building does benefit from a little attention from a paintbrush and some scatter...


The station area is a little more advanced from the previous picture...but not much!

[disturbman]

Oh the actual city is going to be a tad higher than the train station. Interesting. That's strange to see those barriers on the platform there like that when the ground boarding the platforms is several millimeters higher. I guess you are planing a smoother transition than the one presented here.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Oh the actual city is going to be a tad higher than the train station. Interesting. That's strange to see those barriers on the platform there like that when the ground boarding the platforms is several millimeters higher. I guess you are planing a smoother transition than the one presented here.

The fences along the back of the platform are there mainly for visual purposes. The landscape behind the platforms at this point will be pretty steep, however they mark a useful point of delineation between railway and non-railway land.

[Mudkip Orange]

Residential street on a hill. That's going to be AWESOME.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Work is still progressing slowly but surely here, with the addition of a couple more buildings for the town centre. So far I have painted roofs, as well as add some details to gardens. A Kato Toyota Crown saw a lick of paint, and is now fixed to the back yard of one of the buildings. Mainly this area will be commercial, with a few shops, restaurants and a building doubling up as a small Ryokan (the one immediately to the right of the station building, on ground level). I have also given some of the buildings a coat of 'matt-cote' to take away the glossy shine of some of the plastic.







I really have to tidy that shed!

[scott]

What's the two-story beige building next to the station?

[bill937ca]

What's the two-story beige building next to the station?

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10141268

[The_Ghan]

What's the two-story beige building next to the station?

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10141268

I used to live in a house just like that ... my family ran an apartment house ... the tenants shared a common bathroom and ate in the household dining room.

Cheers

The_Ghan

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Finally now winter is at an end, I have had the chance to check out the layout and make sure all is okay electrically. All seems to be fine, with a couple of sticky points attended to, and a thorough clean has taken place.

First things first, they layout now has a name...Kanjiyama. This is meant to be a small town somewhere in the JR Eastern region, up in the Japanese Alps. It is a junction station between a diesel operated branch line and the Kanjiyama line, a small third-sector branch heading off into the mountains.

The scenery has changed a little. Carving the foam would have been a real hassle, to the point where this has been dropped, and a more solid base of hardboard has been adopted. The foam will be used for filling in gaps. The hillside will slowly climb behind the station, eventually swallowing both lines via a pair of Greenmax tunnels mouths, currently en route from Plaza Japan, along with a small selection of Sankei buildings to fill in some gaps.

Towards the top of the hill will be a small farm, which will have some open ground around it, before the landscape gets covered by trees. My first set of cheepo trees from China arrived the other week. Ideal for using in a forest, but probably not up to scratch for individual trees. Tomytec have provided a couple of bamboo trees, along with a couple of cherry blossoms, however the rest will come from Graham Avis, which is a UK manufacturer mainly providing architectural model supplies, but get used frequently for modelling purposes. Some of these trees feature in pictures earlier in in this thread.



I have finally managed to fit the platform canopies, following the addition of signage. I'm not too sure what other platform details will be added...perhaps some of the plant areas provided in the Kato station accessory pack may add an extra splash of colour.



Kanjiyama sees a little freight traffic. This will eventually be in the form of an occasional fuel-oil train to the stabling point, as well as a more regular sand train, which uses the third-sector line. JRF traction will almost invariably be the DE10, although an occasional DD51 will crop up. The Kanjiyama line has a DD16, which is mainly used for engineering trains, as well as a couple of DE10s from the Tarumi line, bought when the cement operations ceased a few years ago. These are very recent additions, and are not, as yet, being used on the sand trains, which remains in the hands of the line's two DF50 locos...one of which has been fitted with headboards by the loco staff; delusions of grandeur setting in!





The sand trains will not properly start operations until I finally get round to obtaining a set of the Kato sand hoppers!

Operation is quite simple. The train arrives from the JR line and pulls into platform 3. The Kanjiyama line loco then runs out of the stabling sidings, hooks onto the end of the train and takes it up the branch. The JRF loco then runs to the stabling point to await the train's return. When it does return the whole process is reversed.



Neither lines are really heavily used, so the bulk of the traffic is handled by single-car units - KiHa110s for the JRE line, and either a KiHa40 or KiHa53 on the Kanjiyama line. Two-car sets do operate, and the Kanjiyama line has recently obtained a second-hand two-car KiHa58 from another forum. Two-car KiHa110s and a recently delivered KiHa130 also show up on the JRE line.

Rush hour at Kanjiyama can get a little hectic!



In the main, platform 1 is used by the JR Eastern services, whilst platform 3 is used by the Kanjiyama line. Platform 2 is used occasionally, and is only accessible to the JRE line.

Just occasionally invisible catenary appears, allowing me to exercise some of the electric fleet. The local railfans got really excited with a couple of visitors from the Iida line turned up...



Now I am awaiting the arrival of the remaining buildings and the tunnel mouths before pressing on with the scenery behind the town. I also need to pay more attention to the stabling sidings and work out what buildings are going there...so far I have one portacabin.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

More work has been taking place on Kanjiyama...this time on the Sankei buildings I received last week. I have three; two apartment blocks and a factory. They are really nice models, and quite enjoyable to build. They also make up really good models, which do not look like card buildings when you view them, even closely.

Having built some British card structures a few years ago, these Sankei models are streets ahead...even beating many UK plastic kits.

The factory was the first building constructed. This will be at the back of the layout between the road and the back scene.


Following on from that, the first of the apartment blocks was put together. This will be more or less in front of the factory, between the road and the railway. A lovely model, but much finer than the Tomytec apartments that share that plot. Perhaps a few trees between the buildings may disguise the difference a little.


In both cases, the buildings need a little touching up with a paint brush to eliminate the white edges of the card... which is from the coloured roof sections as opposed to the main sections, which are in fully coloured card.

Also with the Sankei kits came a pair of Greenmax tunnel mouths.

Disaster upon disaster here when I discovered they were too wide for the area designed to take them. There really is nothing suitable size-wise without resorting to major surgery, so I decided to build the tunnel mouths myself from card - or in my case mountboard.

I liked the design of the Greenmax kits, so wanted to mirror them fairly closely. The first tunnel mouth has been more or less completed now, all it needs is some paint, a bit of weathering and the protective fence which runs along the top. My version, on the right of the compare and contrast shot with the Greenmax example, shows that I needed to make my tunnel mouth considerably narrower that the kit version.


The third-sector line tunnel is even narrower, and is still in a very basic form. Hopefully more on that over the next couple of weeks, along with the final Sankei apartment block.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

I am trying to get the Japanese characters for Kanjiyama, although this is not proving very straight forward. The best I can do is the following:

漢字閻魔

This is probably completely senseless, and I was wondering if any Japanese speakers could (a) tell me if this indeed more or less correct – or at least acceptable – or (b) let me know if there is something more appropriate?

Thanks

***********
Correct typo that lead to spelling query!

[Densha]

I'm not a Japanese speaker, nor I probably know sufficient Japanese to help you, but what would the meaning of the name be? Or did you just make a random name out of it? Also you've written it like Kanjiyama en Kajiyama, which one is right? I know 'yama' means mountain, and in that case I would use 山 of course, but as I said I'm not sure if it's right since there's the possibility that there exist multiple ways of writing it.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

The word Kanjiyama is used on the NHK World program – Kanjiyama Mime (see Avatar!) – so cannot be too offensive! I quite liked the name, but also liked the significance of have Kanji in the title; which I thought would be a nice throwback based on the layout subject.

Yama is ideal as the layout is based in the Akaishi mountains, so assists in giving it a sense of place. Now you say that it makes sense, as Mount Fuji is often described as Fujiyama.

A final nice to have would be for the characters to be relatively simple. So far my initial findings make a word which is probably as complicated as any word in the Japanese language!

[Densha]

Googling Kanjiyama Mime results in it being written in katakana (カンジヤマ・マイム) .
Are you referring to the kanji characters in your post? In kanji (lol), kanji is written as 漢字. That would result in 漢字山 meaning something like "Chinese character mountain" 

[Claude_Dreyfus]

The joys of literal translation! 

Yes, I would like the station name - as well as pelmet board (it is to be an exhibition layout) - to have the Kanji script. I think it looks more 'Japanese' despite its Chinese origins. It may seem a bit of a faceceous comment, but the aesthetics of the appearence will give it that little bit extra.

I did first consult the translation of Kanjiyama Mime; but like you came up with a great long title that would not look too comfortable on the station nameboards. For the reasons above I don't really want to use the Katakana script.

Your solution looks to be more or less what I am after - despite the Japanese name being 'Chinese Character Mountain' - as it sort of makes sense as a name; is not naughty, crass or stupid; is not too long, or uses too many characters; and sounds pretty good - to me - in its Japanese form.

[Densha]

I understand that you prefer kanji characters on the sign as I've never seen katakana before on those, I've seen some pictures of signs with hiragana, but that wouldn't shorten it.
As I said before I don't know what the meaning of "Kanji" in Kanjiyama was meant to be, but since 漢字 means is the way of writing a Japanese word, it could be a choice indeed. Maybe there's someone out here who could confirm my reasoning.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

As I said before I don't know what the meaning of "Kanji" in Kanjiyama was meant to be, but since 漢字 means is the way of writing a Japanese word, it could be a choice indeed. Maybe there's someone out here who could confirm my reasoning.

To be honest, I assumed - rightly or wrongly - that the Kanji in Kanjiyama made some reference to the character set as the whole basis of the 'show' is around the learning of Japanese words.

Thanks for your time in helping me get my head around this!

[Densha]

Ah, right. That would make sense. Then the name of the show would mean something like "A mountain of kanji characters", sounds stupid but makes sense if it's that kind of show.

No problem, I'm glad to be of help! (and surprised that I could help someone with something like this)

[marknewton]

More work has been taking place on Kanjiyama...this time on the Sankei buildings I received last week. I have three; two apartment blocks and a factory. They are really nice models, and quite enjoyable to build. They also make up really good models, which do not look like card buildings when you view them, even closely.

Very nice indeed. I particularly like the factory, I'd love to see this done by Sankei in HO.

Cheers,

Mark.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Yes, the factory in H0 would be most acceptable...I do have plans to build something for my H0 collection to run!

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Time for some more questions... This time it is in relation to the yard.

I would like some sort of fuelling facility in the yard, preferably very simple. I am envisaging a tank, some sort of support building, plus some pipes to attach to the locos and units. Thing is, I cannot locate any pictures of Japanese fuelling points, and am working on the assumption that as the technique is pretty much the same the world over, a very simple refuelling point would be much of a muchness wherever you are in the world.

Would I be right in this assumption, or is there something specific I am missing; for example they don't use this sort of set up for refuelling?

I am also assuming that fuel in this low volume would not arrive by rail, but via road...similar to many parts of the UK. If this is also the case, does JR have a contract with any particular fuel producer; for example would it be likely we saw an Eneos or Jomo tanker parked by a small fuelling point?

[KenS]

I've never seen a picture of a fueling point, and given how small the diesel fleets are in most places they could easily refuel from a trackside oil truck (a method used in the U.S. by smaller railroads and some commuter agencies).

However, looking at the engine facility at Tabata in northern Tokyo (via Google Earth) I turned up the photo which might show a fuel pump (it could be something else):

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/52448161

You can also see it from Streetview in Google Maps:

http://maps.google.com/?ll=35.743695,139.756117&spn=0.002114,0.002961&t=m&z=19&lci=com.panoramio.all

[cteno4]

what about sand?

jeff

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Thanks for that.

It looks like it could more than likely be fuelled direct from a road tanker. This is quite a common occurrence in the UK now as rail deliveries to depots, indeed depots themselves, become few and far between. I wanted to be a fairly sure, as it is easy for me to just default to UK practice to fill in any gaps I am not certain about.

I also wanted to mindful not to fall into the trap of having major depot facilities – or at least heavily used stabling point facilities – in a location that would see few movements. I have lost count of how many layouts, especially modern, I have seen that have a stabling point armed with pretty much everything you need to run a modern loco fleet…including locos with their power units exposed undergoing a major overhaul!

My yard would need to carry out very basic maintenance, such as fuelling, changing oil and water, really basic repairs such as replacing a bulb and topping up sand. This, in practice, means barely any facilities…really the yard is meant to put things awaiting their next duty – particularly the loco following the transfer of the freight. Buildings will consist of a small crew hut, a portacabin or two and a couple of old containers. There will also be a few barrels (oil and water) boxes/crates/pallets and bags of sand knocking around.

Having the refuelling coming straight from a road tanker would eliminate the need to dedicate a siding to fuelling, cut down on the structures and remove the need for pipes. It also adds a splash of colour to the yard by having one of the Tomytec six-wheeler tankers positioned there…if there is no particular company, I may go for the Eneos version.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

what about sand?

As in filling up loco/unit sandboxes for grip?

If so, yes I will be looking at adding some reference to this in the yard.

[cteno4]

yep for sandboxes. ive never noticed sanding towers, but expect they must have something as when i have seen sandboxes on japanese locos they are pretty high so you could not shovel it in. suppose you could haft bags up and split them, but may be messy and i figure a japanese yard would have some nifty clean way of doing it.

im interested in any yard shots like this as well. i love maintenance yards and want to do a big one eventually.

cheers

jeff

[Claude_Dreyfus]

More scenic progress to report...this time at the other end of the layout where I felt progress was clearly lacking.

Before this, however, I had one more Sankei structure to complete. This was the most complicated of the three, but made up a really nice model.





Perhaps the pictures don't show it in the best possible light...and yes, I still need to line out the roof edging to get shot of the white from the tile paper.

Now the three Sankei buildings are complete, I was able to roughly position them on the layout in more or less where they will be living. The landscape still has to be properly formed, but I hope you get the idea. There will be a tree lined bank between the right-hand Sankei building and the much larger Kato structure beside it.



A drawback with these very fine kits is that they are perhaps too fine compared with the altogether more 'rural' Tomytec offerings. This does look odd, so I have had to separate them to an extent...trees will come in very useful here!

The previously mentioned Kato apartment is the final town building to be added...save for a few small outbuildings etc. It was purchased to fill a large gap which I had not accounted for. It is still a bit bright, however will be toned down in due course.

This rather indifferent picture shows the overall townscape, awaiting the finer landscaping features before the first layer of paint and plaster is applied.



At the other end, the fiddle yard has now been obscured by a new hillside.



Just visible in the foreground is the start of the form work for the front hillside, which will be relatively high. I liked this idea as it would loose the trains in the landscape to a certain extent...and try to disguise the fact the layout is only 1'6'' wide. The area I have to play with in terms of the third-sector companies yard is now a little more apparent.



This final image shows the front edging more clearly. This is to protect the scenery from the front, and at the board join. The pink foam will form the main basis of the hillside. The woodwork will be painted black to blend in with the framework at the front of the layout.

[KenS]

It's looking very good.  I like the idea of the obscuring front hillside. Breaking up a long run of track is a good idea, and this is a very natural-looking way to do that.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Hopefully the approach of the higher scenery at the front to hide some of the track work will work...fingers crossed!

Progress has been really good this weekend...by virtue of the Easter break and my usual reluctance to go away over this period; really busy roads, still unpredictable weather etc. The scenic structure is more of less complete now, just some finer details to complete before starting on the colour. This is the state of play yesterday...



The hill has been completed on the left, whilst the road now heads into the background. Its sudden stop will be where the backscene cuts across from the back of the layout to run behind the half-hill hiding the fiddle yard.

Today was about completing (more or less) the hillside and start adding the plaster and mod-roc.



There are still a few gaps around the tunnel mouths. This will be concrete retaining walls, which may be added tomorrow depending on the weather. The new road section can be seen on the right with the blue car marking its course. There needs to be another layer of plaster over the hillside to hide the bandages of the mod-roc.

Now that the hill is in place, access will be a little restrictive to the track accessing the yard. When complete most of this area will be covered with trees.

Talking of which...



I have a number of trees for Kanjiyama. First up is a box of cheepo Chinese trees, which will form the background of the woodland. Mixed in with these will be some of the Woodland Scenics 00 branches from their tree kits. Ideal for smaller N gauge trees. Finally are the trees in this picture.

They are produced by a company called 4D. Their shop is in London, more or less outside of Fenchurch Street station, and about 15 minutes walk from my work. They are mainly aimed at architectural modelling, and do a wide range of scales. These just happen to be 1/150!

Amongst this lot are beech trees, silver birch, pine and a more general deciduous...one of which is bare. There is also a tree in blossom, which will take over form the Tomytec blossom trees for the orchard at the front of the layout.

The next picture was taken this afternoon, now having had the first of the plaster surface added.



The white strips are intended for tow purposes. First to mark around the buildings, adding a little extra road height and therefore disguising the bases. Secondly was to mark out distinctive areas. The area around the station will have a very different road surface.

The roadway continues through the village...



I need to get that retaining wall behind the tracks completed as a next task, before getting the sand paper out to smooth those road surfaces...

[Densha]

It's really getting to look like something now!

[marknewton]

I turned up the photo which might show a fuel pump (it could be something else...

Ken, it's a fuel pump. We have very similar equipment here.

Cheers,

Mark.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

A mixed bag of an update this time around.

Since the last update more work has gone ahead on the scenic base, with a layer of modroc being put down, followed by a layer of scultamould. The sculptamould has been used before, but not quite to this extent. It is quite rough, and does not take being attacked with various grades of sandpaper too well.

It will help with the rock faces, where the texture is rough, but I will see with the grassed areas...there may need to be something like a layer of plater to smooth it out.

In addition, the first road surface has been added. This is a fine plater-like substance obtained form my new favourite shop - 4D Modelshop in London. I slightly dilute it, making it very easy to spread. It is also quite messy, as the best tool I could find for giving an even covering was my finger!

This week, and the modroc is in place, along with the second layer of road surface. This will be painted in the very near future.

Apologies for the poor pictures here...the weather has been rotten here of the last week or two. My area has just had an official drought warning put in place - with the time-honoured hosepipe ban. The day the order came into force, the heavens opened!



The road still needs sanding...but I am happy with the texture.



The various grey blotches are were there will be patches of exposed rock. Most of them will be covered, but it is good to get the very bottom coat on now...looks like progress!



The tunnels are in place...although there is still work to improve just inside...needs more black! I am quite happy with the way the have turned out, and how they fit into the scenery. That said, I not 100% convinced by the high wall running along side the right-hand tunnel. It seems too high, and crying out for some sort of grading. This may be easier said than done...but now is the time. I am a little restricted by space here, so there may have to be a compromise.

The white behind the left-hand tunnel mouth is actually a piece of card that is to form the base of the factory unit! I have also noted the ragged edged by the same tunnel mouth; a little surgery need there.
 

[scott]

Looks like you're making some good progress there--it's fun seeing this one come along. (Distracts me from *our* lack of progress, too... :-) ).

[ia909]

Looks fantastic.

Regarding your high retaining wall thoughts, not sure what your plans are for the terrain covering the tunnels, but would lots of foilage trailing down from the top of the wall roughly to the height of the tunnel portal work and blend in with your scheme?

Ian

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Hi Scott,

Progress has been slow and steady here lately, but it has not been fantastic bearing in mind I've been at it for over two years! I marvel at the progress other on here make, but then again, is it not the 'doing' that is the most fun...even if progress ain't great...

Ian,

I have been thinking about disguises, but I want to go a little easy on the greenery as the layout is set in springtime. As I said, the space I have means I am a little limited in what I can do. I like throwing in some curveballs - like the season meaning I cannot have too much vegatation, or the track layout limiting operations, but the space around the tunnels was not one I had planned for!

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Today I was able to take a couple of hours adding the first layers of colour to the layout. The base colour is a mixture of brown and green poster and powder paints, which dry quickly, and will be absorbed by the scuptamould, hopefully disguising any of the inevitable chips and knocks that are bound to take place.

The tunnels are starting to look more in place now, although there is still some work to do inside to hide the white foamboard used for the superstructure. Some additional scattering has been added to the trackbed since this picture was taken...


That picture, and the next, show the first of the buildings to be fitted in place. This is a small farm building beside the orchard, which I have needed to build into the landscape as it has quite a prominent base. The white around and leading to it will be a farm track. In the distance, some further work has taken place in the yard...


...which is seen a little clearer here.


This is the basis for a hard standing area around the yard, which is formed from mountboard, with the joins filled in by the same fine plaster used for the road surfaces. Where the board ends is filled with a little balsa filler, and will lead on to a gravelled/dirt area. There may well be another small building towards the front of this area as well.

Another view of the orchard area and entrance to the yard.


The other building to be attached is the second farm shed. This will be beside the farm house, and again is slightly built into the landscape. Both of these structures are Tomytec.


This picture shows an overall view of the country end of the layout, with the farm, farm buildings and workers cottages visible. You can see in the very foreground the base for the factory unit in place and given an undercoat of grey paint.


The retaining wall behind the station needs to be completed - I cut the plasticard for this today - as well as the road surface, before the niceties of scatter and attaching the buildings is looked at...

[keitaro]

nice. I really like your work so far.

particularily how you have done the tunnels.