Franksville Wisconsin N-scale modutrak module buildout

[lashedup]

Great stuff Tony. That will be one very unique building. I've had better luck getting around the rounded corners using less force and maybe a cap that doesn't cut quite so deep. Again, it is an experimentation thing.

BTW, the guys started another specific thread for the Silhouette SD in case you didn't see it:

http://therailwire.net/forum/index.php/topic,23354.0.html

[lashedup]

Any reason after all this time you decided to move this here?

[DKS]

Any reason after all this time you decided to move this here?

"After all this time" was about an hour, since this is a brand new forum created to showcase work like yours.

[lashedup]

"After all this time" was about an hour, since this is a brand new forum created to showcase work like yours.

What I meant was this thread existed for two years in the n-scale forum where it thrived and people knew where to find it. Now, it has been moved to a another place and, to be honest, left me first wondering if the thread had been removed from the forums altogether as I couldn't find it anywhere in the n-scale forum. It wasn't till I started looking around the other forums in here that I found it.

- j

[lashedup]

So back to our regularly scheduled programming...

I'm at a point where I can start to plant buildings into the modules semi-permanently. I like to use some piano wire super glued to the corners to push the buildings into the foam base. I also run glue into the holes so they remain snug and don't move, but if I need to dig them out, I can still do it. Worst case I can carefully "break" the CA bond on the piano wires and pull the structure up that way as well. Being that these are portable modules, crap happens and sometimes I have to "fix" things.

Anyway, the lumber building will be the first thing I'll work on.



I recently added some interior details with some beams and storage areas. They don't show up well in this photo, but you get the idea:



At this point the building is just sitting on the module. I need to make some repairs/improvements to the dirt yard in front of the building before I "plant" the building more permanently. Once it is attached I then go back and build the dirt up around the building, add weeds and so on so that it looks like the building is part of the scenery as opposed to sitting *on* the scenery.

Here are a couple of photos of the dirt yard:



There is a track that needs to be buried in the dirt here that leads into the lumber building. To get the dirt between the tracks and to build it up on the outsides, I used some 1/8 inch thick self-sticking cork that I picked up at Hobby Lobby. After I cut the cork, I laid it in between the rails to build it up and also added it to the outsides of the rails. Then I took a brush and some white glue and carefully painted the surface of the cork and then sifted some Smith and Sons dirt over the top. Once the glue is covered with at least an 1/8 to 1/4 inch of dirt I take a sheet of paper and gently press down on the dirt to compact it a bit. Then I mask off the rails and center portion of the track, mist everything with 90% alcohol and then diluted white glue. This gave me a good base layer of dirt that when dry actually had some cracks that formed just like real dried-out dirt. However after a couple of shows where I'm assuming it got knocked around and people kept touching it, the dirt wore away between the tracks exposing the cork a bit and I had giant craters that formed where the glue hadn't soaked in enough:



So I repainted the top of the cork again and sifted more dirt over the whole area. I used a piece of paper to smooth it out and compact it down carefully and then soaked it all down with alcohol and diluted white glue. I also added some more dirt around the track areas to try and blend the transition in a bit more.



The flangeways need to be cleaned out a bit more (as does the track itself). I also will go around once it is completely dry and rub it down a bit to give it a more worn and smoother look. Here is an eye-level view:



The yard will have a wood fence around a portion of it and there will be a transition area full of weeds and such between the yard on the street (as well as a drainage ditch). There is also an access road out of the lumber yard. These details will all jump out once I start to add details and greenery.

That said, I have been working on piles of lumber materials and the fence pieces. I'm going to add some thin piano wire in a few key spots to replace a couple of fence supports so it has a little more holding it up. The detail on these RS Laser pieces are great, but it is very fragile. I may have to add some plexiglass to the viewing side of this module for shows so I'm not replacing fence all the time.



Close up of the fence section:



and here it is laying up against the building:




So the next step is to get the building planted and start working scenery in around it. I need to finish making fence sections and weather them up a bit. I also need to start thinking about weeds and grass and getting some base layers down and here there so I can trim them down and bury them a bit in the dirt. Also, the drainage ditch needs some pipe and a few other odds and ends, so I have plenty to think about it and work on.

-jamie

[Philip H]

Jamie,
Those RS Laserkits fences sure look nice, but wouldn't one of the Blair Line wood fences be moore era appropriate (and a little more robust post-wise)?  Also, the plywood stacks are going to look nice - I have some plywood "sheets" from the guys who originally made the Blue Point controllers (Before they sold the company) and I keep wondering what to do with them since I have no lumber yard to model.

[lashedup]

Blair Line doesn't show any laser cut fencing outside of some included in one or two of their building kits. I figured I'd try the RS Laser version to see how they look. If I can find something more period correct I can always swap it out. Here is what it looks like right now:

[diezmon]

..I take a sheet of paper and gently press down on the dirt to compact it a bit. ...

I do that too.. but I use sand colored grout.  I love how this method turns out.  The scene is looking great!

[Philip H]

Sorry - was thinking Bar Mills, not Blair Line . . . . :

[wm3798]

Going to put some lights in that warehouse?  It's an excellent place to use up those yellow LED's that come out of old diesels...

Lee

[sirenwerks]

Jamie,

This is not criticism, just observation and suggestion... with your relocation of the lumber yard closer to the mainline, you're losing the grassland that sits between the two in the prototype view. You might want to weed choke the area under the fence line to pay homage to the lost greenery and to break up all that dirt? Unless, of course, back in that day, they had some efficient way of killing weeds and the likes of lumber yards actually cared enough to pursue such a detail. But to my eyes, something's missing down there.

Also, would the fence be turned unfinished side in? It stands to reason you'd want the finished side facing your customers, right? The proto photo looks like the fence has 45-degree bracing on the trackside too, which also hints unfinished side would be facing the mainline..

[lashedup]

Jamie,

This is not criticism, just observation and suggestion... with your relocation of the lumber yard closer to the mainline, you're losing the grassland that sits between the two in the prototype view. You might want to weed choke the area under the fence line to pay homage to the lost greenery and to break up all that dirt? Unless, of course, back in that day, they had some efficient way of killing weeds and the likes of lumber yards actually cared enough to pursue such a detail. But to my eyes, something's missing down there.

Also, would the fence be turned unfinished side in? It stands to reason you'd want the finished side facing your customers, right? The proto photo looks like the fence has 45-degree bracing on the trackside too, which also hints unfinished side would be facing the mainline..

Not taken as criticism in the least - thanks for the suggestions Bryan.

The observation on the fence is a good one and I'll turn it around to face the proper direction and add the support 2x4's that appear to hold up a portion of it. That will be a nice touch in the deeper grass.

Your first comment about the location of the building is something I should have mentioned and clarified. This building sits on the "short" side of the module and it is really tight space-wise. The building ends up about an inch from the edge of the module and may necessitate me having to clamp some plexiglass to that side of the module for certain public shows. I'm not a fan of the plexiglass but when it is a matter of protecting all that scratch-built stuff I'll likely have to use it. Anyway, the space is tight, so the building had to be compressed and the spacing in relation to the tracks had to be tightened up quite a bit. I was on the fence for a while trying to decide whether I squeeze it in or not.

The dirt (so far) is a base layer. My plan is to add weeds, grass and more behind the fence and where the transition of track from the buried dirt section to the street occurs. I'll probably use more of a burnt grass near the mainline as they used to scorch the hell out of anything growing near the mainlines. So the steps I'll use will like be a very light fine ground foam first, then burnt static grass, followed by late summer green static grass. I'm going to play around a bit more with the textures and heights not only in application of the grass itself but with an electric beard trimmer to see if I can get a bit more variation going. Once the grass is down I can also go back and sprinkle dirt on parts of the shorter grass to thin it out and add even more variation. In the photos it also looks like there is grass growing between the tracks on the siding, so I'll likely have to go in and hand paint glue down between ties and add static grass there as well. Throw in some random bushes and other odds and ends and it should come together nicely. <edit> I ended up putting this together in Photoshop so you have an idea. The top is the current state of the module and the bottom is where I'll likely add grass and such. If you right click and open the image it should be larger.



My other issue is continuing the fence at the back of the building. I really like the way it looks and it helps define the lumber yard as a design element within the scene, however the fence is extremely fragile stuff and having it that close to the edge is just asking for it to be mauled over or hit. I can reinforce it a bit with more piano wire uprights, but realistically it is going to get hit. The other thing I'd also have to consider is outside storage bins for lumber. I'm assuming they didn't leave stacks of lumber outside in the elements but if you look at the proto photo, there are stacks of stuff outside.



I've got a bunch of pipes, sacks of cement and quite a bit more lumber that I can put in various places. The outside storage buildings are pretty obvious and not overall complicated to build outside of the inside beam structures. I used real balsa wood to create the inside beams in the lumber building and while they look great, they were tedious to cut and glue together. I'd have to build a jig to make sure the outside ones end up nice and straight as I hand built the lumber building inside supports. Hmmm... I'm thinking that I'm talking myself into this.

Thoughts?

-jamie

[sirenwerks]

Off the top of my head I come up with three options:

1. Incorporate a break-away section at the front, maybe like 10 or 20 feet of fencing in from the edge, and reinforce the back portion. That way, rather than fighting the leverage, it goes easily. It can break clean away (it might walk away too, stuck to someone's sweater); made to spring back and forth (boings right back into position); or be secured by long string routed through the module with a weight on the end, so it has lots of give but still attached and is pulled back into place by the weight (...getting carried away here).

2. Place a large solid pallet(s) or stack(s) of something (piping situated longways with the fence?) directly abutting the fence to increase the mass of that front edge, giving it more of a fighting chance against the human masses moving by it.

3. Route out the fence-line and bury the bottom portion of the fence, so it has more holding power/area. (The silliest of all, but I believe in brainstorming)

Out of curiosity, what was the original fencing? If you look at the area where the bracing is (near the road) it seems to have a sheer quality (you can see through it to the stacks on the other side), like it might be a lattice. Perhaps chain link with slat inserts (a job for the Silhouette maybe). Also, my curiosity's getting the better of me... what's the building with the funky roof-line in the lumberyard near the street? A restaurant? (Mmmmm, Friday fish fry...)

[lashedup]

Good ideas that I'll have to think about. If I build the storage sheds, that would also help shore up that side (or even act as the fence/property limit).

The fence has been highly debated. It appears to have two horizontal boards that run almost the whole length at 1/3 and 2/3 height which would mean it isn't likely a metal fence. Best guess is that it is a staggered vertical wood slat that at the angle the aerial shot was taken enables you to see partially through it. That's a guess though. The Bar Mills fencing might be a little bit closer. I'm not sure that I'll go through the trouble to change it up though.

I need to ask one of our Franksville experts what the other building was. Looks like a restaurant of some kind. A little more room on the front side of the module and I could have included it.

-jamie

[Ed Kapuscinski]

What about doing the fence near the edge out of metal? Make it robust enough that when it does get bumped, it doesn't die.

I like Bryan's idea about the breakway too.