May I suggest...

...Posing the Bride and Groom on the turntable with their photographer

In all seriousness...

If your other efforts are any indication, it's going to look great Rob!

@Rob

Keep Us Posted

Rob please keep us posted with regular updates. As previously discussed, I will be following your progress with great interest as I continue to develop my own after the chainsaw plan.

Peter

The Tool Kit

Using some new techniques (for me) here.

Foam is great for carving into basic shapes, but because the mountain is so sheer and helix tracks run so close to the edge, I don't have clearance for foam blocks in most places.

So I'm going to use aluminum mesh fixed with a glue gun and layered with plaster cloth.

I've cast a huge selection of plaster rocks. That way I can play around with different combinations and orientations to get the desired effect. Its a bit like landscape gardening on a small scale - you have to mentally 'feel your way' to a comfortable picture.

Today should see the first bits of Facet Number 1 under way.

Rob
Cornhill & Atherton

Similar situation

I am contemplating a similar situation on my future layout and plan on only modeling the top of the mountain. All of the helix will be hidden and only one entrance point will be visible on the top level. It will not have include the curve on the first layer of the helix but will be accessible from the inside. The sides of the helix will receive the same fascia treatment as the rest of the layout and the same depth except on the side that hits the lower level which will be a mountain that gets  one tunnel portal.

I will be depicting standard gage mainline of a coal hauler in the 50s so the scenery and treatment will likely be different than yours. The top will include a division point engine facility with 130 foot turntable and approx 1/2 circle roundhouse and related facilities. The turntable in your photo suggests different equipment and operations as well as time period so you would need to adjust accordingly. The only thing that looks like it may present a problem is the cut and tunnel to loop around the engine facility. I am wondering if the line you are modeling would have spent the resources to engineer such an expensive section of the railroad or if they would have found a cheaper alternative.

If access is wanted a hinged panel may be the answer to allow access and allow engineers to check on trains but maintain the continuity of your great work with out tossing in something that says why would they do that. If you are not bothered by the rock cut and the loop tunnels by all means go ahead as you will do a nice job on the scenery and it will be pleasing.

Rob in Texas

P.S. Good name

Sunday Situation

Rob -  Thanks for your comments - I look forward to seeing development of your railroad and how you tackle the helix/engine facility. Sounds like a much bigger arrangement than mine!

You are right about era - I am solidly in the 30s its an "old man" thing

I may have misunderstood your comments about the cut and tunnel loop but, the tunnel behind the engine facility is actually a fake, representing the main line heading off to the North.  Its about 10" long and needs no access. The line you see on the right is actually the exit point from the top loop of the helix and is fully accessible from inside the helix. The main travels all the way round the room before arriving at Atherton (and the engine facility).

Luckily I don't need an access hatch. With the 'blob' work out of the way there is nothing critical out of reach.In fact the longest reach needed on the top of the helix is to operate the turntable, deliberately placed at the front edge.
 

Here's todays work - long way to go:
Mesh added......... positively flew on with the Glue Gun.

Plaster cloth added.........

At the moment looking powerfully boring - needs some rocks!

Rob

Rock On

First stage of rock application complete.  Its an incredibly slow process, more from a thought point of view than anything else.
I'm trying to create plenty of ledges for tree and shrub growth and also trying to break up the evenness of the helix through in/out/up/down rock placements by the road bed.
 

This is the first time I've used a glue gun and I am very impressed - glues anything to anything, including the rocks to the plaster cloth.
Also requires more care - 200 degree glue burns a hole in your finger end real fast

Looks like nothing on earth at the moment but previous experience calms my nerves - when the scenic effects are added it should look OK.

You can see the second facet prepared for rock application.................

 

Story continues................next episode soon.

Rob
Cornhill & Atherton

Looks good!!!

Are you using a low temp glue gun? Still can be painful when the glue gets stuck to your hand but not quite as bad as the higher temp model.

Michael

2 Way Pain

Hi Michael

Its a dual heat gun............
Both settings hurt a lot, but the high temp setting kicks in faster

Regards
Mr Clumsy

I'm impressed!

Do you, curved track, take this hill to be your lawfully wedded

Occupational hazards, eh Rob? Here's a safety tip... quit touching the hot part with your finger!

Rock work is looking good. Glad to hear you are thinking anti-roundness. It would be nice if you could cut away a little of the flat top surface or extend the bottom edge outward here and there to add more irregularity to the rock curve.

Nice Rocks

Rob,

Love the rock work, looking good. Who's moulds did you use r did you make your own? I also love that water tower in the background.  Is it a kit or did you scratch bulid it?

Ryan

Photo Pain

Alan - funnily enough, within 15 minutes of posting the picture I was back in the train room, hacking at the road bed (and some of the finished rock work!) to increase the irregularity.
I was perfectly happy with what I had done until I had a good look at the photo. Proves again how powerful a tool a photograph can be in improving things - absolutely unforgiving, (bit like the hot glue).

Ryan - The Water tower is a very old Campbell kit which I found at a ridiculous bargain price on eBay a few years
ago. The rock moulds are all Woodland Scenics. My LHS (5 minutes drive from the house) had a good stock so it seemed an easy route. Time is money!

Rob

Finger caps

I'm pretty sure I've seen (heck, I may even own) finger caps that can protect the ends of your fingers from the hot glue....

Ah, yes, this package looks so familiar I know I have some stashed away around here someplace:

http://www.amazon.com/Plaid-Mod-Podge-12958-Finger/dp/B0087D3MKM

You Learn Something Every Day

Thanks Jeff - never knew such a thing (as finger end protectors) existed.

Sunday progress - view "up the mountain". A lot still to do, but it's coming together

Rob

Great work

Awesome looking work!!

Awesome looking work!!

Rock Colors

Hi Peter

Rock coloring has been done using Woodland Scenics pigments and follows fairly well defined principles.

Yellow ochre and burnt umber washes are applied in a “leopard spotting” pattern covering about 40% of the rock. Then an overall black wash which ends up giving the rock its grey color. Key thing is to keep a reasonably high level of dilution on the washes and just use multiple applications to build up to the tone desired.

Obviously you can use any combination of pigments to give rock colors that match your chosen location or look.

After basic application the plaster looked like: 

After that we texture the rock faces by spaying with scenic cement and ‘blowing’ soil, medium green and yellow fine ground foam from a folded sheet of paper.

We use Sculptamold to fill gaps and this tends to stain the rock white in places. This is a desirable effect (for us), but not everywhere, so some dry brushing is also done using earth tones at strategic points. Joint with the same plaster that you make the rocks with if, you want an even color.

A spray of scenic cement ‘fixes’ the pigments to stabilize color. We find there is still some minor fading over the first couple of weeks following application so we apply the color slightly heavier than the target finished tint.

Close up of this (+ some shrubs 'n stuff) looks like:

We make talus from broken up rock castings and color with pigments – same process as main rocks to guarantee a match.
These are glued in place  at the foot of rock faces/ledges and bound in with soil and earth ground foam.

Ground up dried leaves and tea (from old tea bags) also get used in heavier vegetation areas.

Hope this helps…………….

Rob (and Jean)

Cornhill & Atherton

Thanks Rob

She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain

Not much to report - some further tidying up of Facet 1 detail, but mostly thinking and chilling time.
A test shot (unusually for me) including a locomotive:

Some more detailing:

Sunday will see some preparatory progress for Facets 2 and 3

Rob

Now It Gets Interesting

This is the really tricky bit.

An almost vertical cliff face and I want a trestle at the base to add interest and drama (also a hint of where the train is on the helix).

Lots of preparation needed in terms of tunnels – track has to be ballasted and weathered and tunnel liners /light baffles fitted.

As you can see, the initial helix roadbed has been removed where the trestle will go. The plan is to create a ‘dummy’ trestle with basic roadbed and bents out of sheet material so that the scenery can be formed. 
I knew this would be difficult but it’s proving even more of a head scratcher than I thought in terms of visualising the finished scheme.

It’s almost ‘build a bit, think a bit, change a bit, build a bit’ etc. – great fun though; I love a challenge.

Rob

 

Wow!

That has really turned out nice Rob. I like the way you've worked the flora into the rockwork. Looks very thought out and placed so it looks natural. One of my pet peeves has always been seemingly endless rock cliffs without a stitch of plant growth. Especially when modeling in forest area.  Very great work!

Dreams and Reality

Thanks for the kind words Kevin, much appreciated......

I love building up layers of vegetation - for me it 'eases' the eye into a scene. Also hides a multitude of sins .

Right now I am staring at a large near vertical plaster cloth face and trying to work out the rock placements, so that I provide plausible reasons for vegetation to grow. There is a perfect plan in my head, but it's behaving a bit like a  dream just after you wake up - as I grasp an element of the scene it floats out of reach. This is purely a confidence thing, so I'm taking my Mojo by the shoulders and giving it a good shake.

By Sunday night I'll be posting the results (wether dream or nightmare)

Rob