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Frequent poster 890 posts Verne Niner Frequent poster 890 posts
Verne Niner
Had a great time today working on the layout!
 
The village of San Lorenzo is nearing completion. Today I completed a new station platform, located the buildings and completed the ground cover.
 
From left to right, the station, pump house and company store (awaiting its turn on the workbench).
 
The material for the platform came from Kibri, it is a foam that is embossed with random stone or brick shapes. I painted it brick color, and then dusted it with the sanded grout I use for my ground cover.
 
The pump house was carved from a solid piece of florist foam. The streetlight is a Modeltronics HO model I heightened by adding a section of McDonald's coffee stir stick at the bottom, finished off with a steel washer.
 
The company store will have an open patio to the left, with a woman weaving a rug (and pots, etc. on display for sale). It will have full illumination and interior detailing.
 
A hawk's-eye view of the service area behind the foreground buildings. There's a small freight dock, an old retired boxcar (from Boulder Valley Models) for tools and storage, and oil and water tanks. Further back out of view are the coal bin and gasoline tank.
 
I added lighting to the new scene, which makes it come alive at night.
 
The station, also carved from a solid block of foam, looks inviting in the desert night.
 
It's been a fun day delving into layout work, and very rewarding. Next up, I need to add lighting to my San Lorenzo village...something I did not have time to do before the convention last August. Too bad for me, it would have been so much easier then, but it's still very do-able, and will be worth the effort when the whole village lights up at night.
 
On a side note, these images are the first taken with my new camera, my 3rd Nikon Coolpix I've had in the past 13 years. It's low-light and macro focus are even better, and it will be enjoyable capturing my continued work using it!

ne-alt-1.JPG 

See my website here: The  Maverick Canyon Branch of the Rio Grande Southern 
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Dave O Prolific poster 1,145 posts
Dave O

Beautuiful ...

... and creative too!  Florist foam building ... gosh, what a wonderful idea that is!  Thanks for sharing.  

 
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upsbb New member 7 posts
upsbb

hi, so different, its great,

hi, so different, its great, alot of credit to you for being so creative.

andrew
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fernpoint MRH Contrib. Editor 1,931 posts
fernpoint

Lights, Camera, Action

Great job Verne.
I've avoided thinking about lights up to now, but you scenes are so evocative and full of atmosphere that I'm very tempted.

That's another job to add to the list.

Out of curiosity - how were you lighting the room  when you took the night shots? - the blue/green hue you have achieved is very realistic.

Rob
Cornhill & Atherton RR
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Verne Niner Frequent poster 890 posts
Verne Niner

Thank you

Thank you for your comments. When I 'went rogue', quit prototype modeling and switched to On30 years ago, I set out to do something very different from the norm.

Rob, the lighting is irresistible...next I want to use the battery-powered 'tea lights' you can get pretty cheap from craft stores to simulate lantern lighting in my village. The light will be dim and flicker slightly, and produces a nice atmosphere. The overall lighting in the room is one 25-watt blue bulb, in a light on the ceiling fan in the center of the room. Very low tech, but I think it creates a nice effect.

ne-alt-1.JPG 

See my website here: The  Maverick Canyon Branch of the Rio Grande Southern 
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Art in Iowa Regular poster 274 posts
Art in Iowa

Wow Verne...

Just wow..

I get slowed down working on anything then you pop up with something like this...

Art in Iowa

Modeling something... .

More info on my modeling and whatnot at  http://adventuresinmodeling.blogspot.com/
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mt813 Active Member 49 posts
mt813

I thought I was in Mexico

Great job. The minute I clicked on your post and saw the first picture I could hear Mexican music floating in my mind. Your patience and attention to detail draws you into the scene and gives you a feeling of being here. Something we all subscribe to in our modeling.

Jeff Z in CT

Jeff Z in CT
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Utrainia New member 5 posts
Utrainia

Wow!

Wow Verne, amazing stuff. All the little details provide hours of visual entertainment, and I love the quirky engines and rolling stock. Off to read your blog now and see what I can reuse in my modules.

One question though, do you do anything to seal/protect/harden the florist's foam after carving it?

Check out my N scale blog: http://www.utrainia.com
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Verne Niner Frequent poster 890 posts
Verne Niner

Thanks

Utrania, I have a how-to tutorial on my website...I use a thick coat of spackling compound thinned with water, and several heavy coats of acrylic paint to help seal and protect the foam underneath. Thanks for your kind comments.

ne-alt-1.JPG 

See my website here: The  Maverick Canyon Branch of the Rio Grande Southern 
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dkaustin Prolific poster 1,515 posts
dkaustin

About the station...

If it started as a solid block of foam, did you hollow it out?  Can you explain how you did the light in the windows?

Den

n1910(1).jpg 

     Dennis Austin located in NW Louisiana


 
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Verne Niner Frequent poster 890 posts
Verne Niner

Hollow core

Den, I simply carved out the inside once I had the stucco shell on the exterior. Then I pushed the window openings all the way through the 'walls' left by hollowing out the interior. You have to be careful and keep the walls thick so they are strong enough, but adobe walls tend to be thicker than other types of construction anyway. The hollowed approach was tried as an afterthought so I could add lighting. The windows are frosted with Dullcote to hide the fact it's just foam and wires inside!

ne-alt-1.JPG 

See my website here: The  Maverick Canyon Branch of the Rio Grande Southern 
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Erich Vandevoorde New member 3 posts
Erich Vandevoorde

Pure ahmosphere

Amazing work of art, and very inventive ! Some model railroaders are real wizzards!

I can hear the mariachis on the village square...
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Tad New member 23 posts
Tad

Very Nice!

That is very nice work, Verne.
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slow.track Regular poster 275 posts
slow.track

Verne, the lights really set

Verne, the lights really set off all that great scenery! So, what's next? Can't wait to see more.

-Travis

Prairie Scale Model Railroaders
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wp8thsub MRH Author 3,349 posts
wp8thsub

I Like It

The new structures are great, and I especially like how the tile roof on the depot turned out.

Rob Spangler MRH Blog
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