Tree Test

I experimented with some trees tonight to determine how the colors and techniques were going to work. For the basic process I used SuperTrees with a wire and wood armature to make a deciduous tree.

I had several packages of Woodland Scenics Fine-Leaf Foliage, medium green (F1131). These packages contain about 75 cubic inches of SuperTree material  that has been treated with an adhesive and coated with ground foam.  They seem to force the clumps into "tree-like" shapes because if you examine each cluster, you find the smaller branches going in random directions instead of radiating out for the main trunk. In O scale these trees will only work in the background or as bushes. Their trunks are too wispy to represent a mature tree in O Scale.

Before clipping the needles

I had a tree armature left over from a pine tree experiment (see photo at left).  I was not happy with the bumpy chenille I used as pine needles. So I clipped them off and repainted the bare trunk.

Then I took the worst-shaped clumps of fine-leaf foliage from the WS package and started gluing them to the armature with CAA and zip-kicker.

I found that I had more reticulation in the armature than I needed as the clumps of fine-leaf foliage were able to cover fairly big gaps. I used about one whole package of WS Fine-Leaf  Foliage for this tree, though I also got one good looking O Scale shrub to use along the backdrop.

Once the foliage was on, I sprayed the whole tree with matt varnish and sprinkled on some green blend ground foam to cover some bare spots.

I found that the faded green trees on the backdrop were not dark and saturated enough to blend with the WS medium green foliage, especially when the foliage is right against the backdrop.  So I got out my paints and used  Cadmium Yellow and Ultramarine Blue (green shade) with a touch of Paynes Gray to add an area of more intense colors where the trees will abut the backdrop.  I darken the shadows and added brighter highlights.  I think I got a good color match.

One O Scale tree covers a lot of ground!

Overall I think the test was a success. There will not be a lot of trees on the layout, so the ones we have must be well executed.

Basic Terrain and Backdrop Coloring

The Muddy Creek bridge is a forested and swampy area. 

I painted the scenery today. Since we are using wood ties for the track, the terrain under the ties must be painted before installing the ties. So using a mix of burnt sienna, golden brown, brunt umber and trusty C&O Mountain Sub green, I gave the terrain a basic coloring. Before I did that I painted the blue sky with a few clouds as I didn't want to drip blue paint on the painted scenery. C&O Mountain Sub green is a grayish green color I have used on many of my previous modules and layouts. It works very well with the scenic materials from Woodland Scenics and others.

The overall layout depicts a scene on the Tennessee River, so I used some photos from that area to get ideas for the backdrop. I painted a distant ridge line on the backdrop. I haven't decided how the foreground of the backdrop will be painted. Much of it will not be visible once the structures are installed, so I may wait until they are done to see what works best.

It is amazing what a difference the backdrop makes. I also noted that the LED lighting is very effective with the brighter backdrop. They are working out just fine. It is starting to look like a layout!

I placed a depot from my home layout on the Road Show to get an idea of how things will look.

Testing one of Brian's backdrops behind the depot. This building is also from my layout
and is a stand in for now. The water battery is in the foreground.

Road Show Terraformed

The revetments for the water battery can be seen in this photo

With the terrain forms carved I added a layer of light weight patching plaster to smooth out the carved terrain. Before I did that, I made sure all the pink pieces were securely glued to the plywood surface and backdrop. I used yellow glue along the perimeter in places where it was needed.

I carved a trail heading down to the waters edge on the shipyard scene. Most of this slope will be covered with a marine ways showing a barge under construction.

The bottom photo shows a mock-up of the through truss bridge planned for that section. Also visible are some bluffs and slopes I added to give that section some vertical relief. This will add some variety as the other sections are essentially flat.

Road Show Work Session and Visitors

With the rail guns complete it was time to get get back working on the road show. Gerry stopped by on Saturday with another chocolate cake to energize us as we laid the sub-road bed for the layout.

Modifying the track plan

As we laid out the turnout mock-ups to see how the track plan looked in full scale, we decided to make some tweaks.  There would have been a nasty "Ess" curve in the three-way turnout in front  of the ship yard, so we removed it and simplified the whole design a bit.

With a finalized track plan, we cut strips of 1/8 inch aspen plywood for the sub-road bed. We glued this to the foam with yellow carpenters glue. We placed weights on road bed sections so they would dry flat and smooth on the pink foam.

River bank taking shape in front of the ship yard

With the glue drying on the road bed pieces, we used knives, key hole saws and Surform tools to shape the foam terrain.  In some places we glued small sections of foam back on the layout to make the river bank look more varied. The yellow glue on pink foam can take a long time to dry, especially in areas where the pink foam abuts pink foam. In some cases, the glue will never dry as it makes an airtight seal. But as long as it dries on the perimeter, we should be OK.

Mike, in his secret mission as a rebel spy,
is  plotting how to sabotage the Aquia Line.

Later on Saturday Mike Garber from Richmond and Peter Sefton from Alexandria stopped by to visit.

Mike is a HO modeler from Richmond, VA. He works for VDOT. He has relatives that fought in the ACW for the CSA.

Peter Sefton and I discuss the burned station at Falmouth

Like me, Peter is native New Yorker, but unlike me, is now retired as a census official. He  is very involved in historic preservation of structures in the Alexandria and Washington area. He lives in Alexandria. He has an interesting web page here 

New Maps of USMRR Aquia Line

I recently discovered the Historical Map and Chart Collection of the NOAA Office of Coast Survey. After some searching on their site  I found two new maps (to me at least!) of the USMRR Aquia Line.

The first one is quite interesting as it shows the HQ locations of the major units. It also shows many of the structures that occupied the area.

The second map shows the USMRR Aquia line in the upper right corner of a fairly large map. It is interesting as it shows a lot of woods and stream detail. Many of the farm houses are also identified.  You can find that map at this link http://historicalcharts.noaa.gov/historicals/preview/image/CWEVA