Free-moN Staging Yard - 16"x10'

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Painted the PC board ties a mixture of Floquil Foundation, SP Lettering Grey, and Grimy Black so the blend into the wood.
 Ballasted the ends, and THEN poured the Magic Water.
 Finally followed my own advice about doing the water last!!!
 


At the top of my workbench you can see some homemade tufts I attempted using hair planted in caulk on waxpaper.
 Makes decent watergrass.
 
Water still needs a day or two to cure, and maybe another pour if it seeps too far under the scenery, but so far so good:
 


[I placed a piece of black foamcore behind the scene, which is why it's a bit creepy]
 
But soon trains will be ready to roll!
 


Still need to place the guard rails in (got some C40 drying right now), but I can CA those in.
 Also need to put in some walkways / outer deck supports but those are easy.
 After the water stops seeping I can go back and touch up with some dirt and tufts along the slough.
 It's slow-moving, so I doubt I'll add any Modge Podge for effects, especially since MP seems to attract every dust & dirt particle known to man.
 Need to stick an old rowboat down there somewhere, too.
 


But a fun project for something that will probably never get used at a show!
 At least it's groovy for a small photo diorama.
 
Thanks for looking.

[Philip H]

MC as always, great job.  I really like how the scene looks in the close up of the legs.  That's some of the best water I've seen in a while.  Can we get another video?  Pretty Please?  Or can you just fly out here and do my water work?

[Chris333]

Man that is nice!

[GaryHinshaw]

10/10!   

[svedblen]

10/10!   

I second that!
/Lennart

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Thanks for all the kind words.
 
I use Magic Water tinted with some Floquil BNSF Heritage Green & Grimy Black (need to use solvent-based paints for tinting).
 The Magic Water tends to creep a lot.
 Here's after one day:
 


You can see where it's gone several inches up the ground cover on each side.
 It's almost cured, so I don't think it's going to creep any more than this.
 I'm not too worried about it, as I can plant more tufts and even spot-drop some dirt and static grass on the more offensive areas, but it's supposed to be a wet slough anyway
 
[The sign is for those who love to touch modeled water such as my wife and kids, and neighbors who wonder over when the garage door is open, which it was all day yesterday because I burned my hashbrowns into cinders and smoked up the whole house and so had to do some heavy venting before the wife came home]
 
Here's a shot on how it'd look coming off the Effett Yard insert:
 


Upon reflection, I probably should have made the insert straight and had one turnout come off each side, then we could have the storage yard AND a branch-line interchange!
Or I could build a small wye module to have both branch and storage yard on same side.
 Hmmm....
 
Thanks for looking.

[Scottl]

Have you considered covering the water creep sheen with matte medium?  I like the darkening it gives to the shore area, which is very realistic.  Matte would just kill the sheen.

Fabulous scene!

[DKS]

The Magic Water tends to creep a lot.

You got that right. (Myself, after my experience with the stuff, I'll never use it again.) If the final effect is a bit too wet-looking, I'd recommend waiting until the water is completely cured, then masking it off and hitting the banks with some Dull Cote. With the mask still in place, apply some dirt and fine ground vegetation, followed by tufts and brush.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

You got that right. (Myself, after my experience with the stuff, I'll never use it again.) If the final effect is a bit too wet-looking, I'd recommend waiting until the water is completely cured, then masking it off and hitting the banks with some Dull Cote. With the mask still in place, apply some dirt and fine ground vegetation, followed by tufts and brush.

Dullcote did pop into my mind.
Not going to do anything until it's completely cured (The Voice of Experience shouts pretty loud on that one  ), but some touching up is definitely in the plans.
DKS: what do you use?
Been using the Magic Water because of the "no smell" factor and ease of tinting, but as I'm modeling out in the garage now (as opposed to inside the master bedroom when I started three years ago), I guess I don't have to take the smell into consideration (too much )

[DKS]

DKS: what do you use?

One of two methods, depending on the desired result. Either dark tinted plate glass for smooth water, or any smooth surface painted with acrylics followed by generous applications of gloss gel medium for wavy water.

Example of method two:



I've also used tinted ripple glass for wavy water, with good results. It does however require considerable advance planning.

Also, for an extra-special effect, I've used smooth black glass treated with a special chromatic additive that produces irregular rainbow reflections, which looks exactly like water with an oil slick. I used it to make some puddles near an abandoned factory.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Thanks for sharing the tips, David.
I'll have to try the glass method someday.

Well, the Magic Water cured.
 While it creeped a couple inches to each side, after curing it's not as shiny as when wet.
 Actually makes a nice slight contrast with a slightly darker "ground" around the banks.
 To cut the shine that remains, I remembered an old trick I figured out a long time ago: sprinkle some dirt on the shiny area under the grass and then use an old toothbrush to rub it in.
 After vacuuming up the wayward grains:
 




It's actually a lot less shiny in person.
 So a few new tufts and adding some watercress leaves (brush grass tops with white glue and sprinkle AMSI light green fine ground foam), I think we'll be good to go.
 Time to attach the guard rails!
 
Thanks for looking.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Finally finished the transition module scene with trestle.
 Added walkways, bushes and a bunch of miner's lettuce near the banks (helps break up the line created from the Magic Water creeping into the groundcover).
 So here's some outdoor photos with the new Bachmann 2-6-0 (straight out of the box, no weathering or MT905 coupler replacement or anything yet):
 








I think it turned out alrighty, but any suggestions for improvement are always appreciated.
 
Now on to building more turnouts for the storage yard!
 
Thanks for looking.

[wazzou]

I think it turned out alrighty, but any suggestions for improvement are always appreciated.
 

Looks good, really good, but needs more Creosote...

[DKS]

Looks good, really good, but needs more Creosote...

+1, and a bit of rust around the NBWs.

[Chris333]

Just got off my butt and ordered a 2-6-0 after seeing these photos.  Sweet!