The Western Maryland in Free-moN Modules

[PiperguyUMD]

I am in awe. Beautiful man. Beautiful.

Do you need bush material?

I've been saving the bits that fall off the super trees and trying to figure out how to incorporate them. Not sure that's the best solutions though, do you have any suggestions?

[dem34]

I've been saving the bits that fall off the super trees and trying to figure out how to incorporate them. Not sure that's the best solutions though, do you have any suggestions?

I feel I had a decent amount of success crushing up the off cuts in my hands and using the material as an underbrush with some foam fixed on top




You're mileage may vary though.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I feel I had a decent amount of success crushing up the off cuts in my hands and using the material as an underbrush with some foam fixed on top




You're mileage may vary though.

That's really good. I have a not-so-secret weapon for my bushes: Heki Decovlies Wiesengras sprayed gray/brown.

https://www.amazon.com/Heki-1592-Wiesengras-Decoration/dp/B000PHCPZ6

Although I've always gotten mine from Scenic Express.

Stretch it apart and hit it with your favorite "tree" spray bomb.

You can see it here: http://conrail1285.com/may-2007-tree-progress/

That said, I REALLY like what you've got going there.

[PiperguyUMD]

Great ideas! I wasn't going to add anything on the forest floor. I think the canopy of the trees will be thick enough that you couldn't really see anything underneath. That said, I do need something for around the tree line - especially near the portals because I know these are going to be prime photo spots. Ed I wonder if the stuff you're using can be thinned out to look like the stringy stuff here:



I had experimented with Joey Ricard's approach, but it turned out to be too large and bulky for n scale.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

It absolutely can! It's perfect for that.

I go back and forth about forest floors, but not about the edges of forests. That's one of the toughest things to get right.

[PiperguyUMD]

Like I mentioned in the weekend update, not a ton of progress. I ran out of trees before I was able to finish Jack’s Mountain. Work is starting to pick up for me, despite June and July being my slow months, so I might be able to sneak out an order for more scenery supplies next month. Anyways, I connected Sabillasville and Jack’s Mountain for a FaceTime call with my 6 year old niece, which was the first time I’d connected any of my modules and I’m completely stoked with the results! The FreemoN bug has bitten hard!



When these two modules were apart, I was concerned about the scenic transition be very abrupt, but I’m pleasantly surprised by how natural it looks.

[Frank Amato]

Really really nice fall colors @PiperguyUMD !  Not obnoxious pink/orange like you see on some layouts.

  Frank

[Wolf N Works]

Great job, looks great.

[chicken45]

Whoa. @PiperguyUMD I hate to burden you, but could you tell me all the products you used for this?
You have clearly figured out the equation for fall in N scale!

[PiperguyUMD]

Thanks guys. My big secret is my wife's discerning eye. She's from Lancaster county PA, which isn't too far from Jack's Mountain. I mentioned to her one evening that I really wanted the colors to be right on this project, so we referenced a few photos from the area and she helped to match colors. So far here's my formula -

Scenery base is taupe grout from home depot over the whole module. Forest floor is toped with dead leaves from the yard via the blender. I have made a few trees with the dead leaf mix, the colors are good, but it doesn't have the space filling qualities of flock.

Trees are super trees painted various shades of flat camouflage browns and grays, topped with the following colors:

YELLOW CLAY FINE- 48 OZ. ECO PAK - EX835E
BURNT ORANGE FINE- 48 OZ. ECO PAK - EX876E
AUTUMN GOLD FINE- 48 OZ. ECO PAK - EX874E
ASPEN YELLOW FINE- 48 OZ. ECO PAK - EX872E
GEORGIA CLAY FINE- 48 OZ. ECO PAK - EX840E
MOSS GREEN FINE- 48 OZ. ECO PAK - EX822E

Static grasses:

2mm BURNT GRASS STATIC GRASS FLOCK - WD0633
2mm LIGHT GREEN STATIC GRASS FLOCK - WD0634
6mm AUTUMN GOLD STATIC GRASS 2.6 oz. (75g) - HK3371
10mm AUTUMN GOLD STATIC 50g/1.75 oz. - HK3378

Ballast on the prototype for these modules was slag, and based on pictures, the Rusty Battleship blend from Superior Scenics looks pretty close. Also using some Woodland Scenics limestone and cinders.

Still need to get some of that stretchy stringy stuff that Ed mentioned a few posts back to finish up the edges of the forest and to make undergrowth on the rock faces near the tracks.

Hope that helps!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

You might also want to check this out too and see how it works: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=24108.msg667218#msg667218

[PiperguyUMD]

You might also want to check this out too and see how it works: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=24108.msg667218#msg667218

I saw that. I've been scoping stuff out at the grocery store!

[chicken45]

Thanks guys. My big secret is my wife's discerning eye. She's from Lancaster county PA, which isn't too far from Jack's Mountain. I mentioned to her one evening that I really wanted the colors to be right on this project, so we referenced a few photos from the area and she helped to match colors. So far here's my formula -

Scenery base is taupe grout from home depot over the whole module. Forest floor is toped with dead leaves from the yard via the blender. I have made a few trees with the dead leaf mix, the colors are good, but it doesn't have the space filling qualities of flock.

Trees are super trees painted various shades of flat camouflage browns and grays, topped with the following colors:

YELLOW CLAY FINE- 48 OZ. ECO PAK - EX835E
BURNT ORANGE FINE- 48 OZ. ECO PAK - EX876E
AUTUMN GOLD FINE- 48 OZ. ECO PAK - EX874E
ASPEN YELLOW FINE- 48 OZ. ECO PAK - EX872E
GEORGIA CLAY FINE- 48 OZ. ECO PAK - EX840E
MOSS GREEN FINE- 48 OZ. ECO PAK - EX822E

Static grasses:

2mm BURNT GRASS STATIC GRASS FLOCK - WD0633
2mm LIGHT GREEN STATIC GRASS FLOCK - WD0634
6mm AUTUMN GOLD STATIC GRASS 2.6 oz. (75g) - HK3371
10mm AUTUMN GOLD STATIC 50g/1.75 oz. - HK3378

Ballast on the prototype for these modules was slag, and based on pictures, the Rusty Battleship blend from Superior Scenics looks pretty close. Also using some Woodland Scenics limestone and cinders.

Still need to get some of that stretchy stringy stuff that Ed mentioned a few posts back to finish up the edges of the forest and to make undergrowth on the rock faces near the tracks.

Hope that helps!

Thanks!!! That'll be a great start for me.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I saw that. I've been scoping stuff out at the grocery store!

Let me know how it goes. I'm very curious but don't currently have a winter project to try it on.

[PiperguyUMD]

Very nearly finished up Jack's Mountain this weekend. Our nieces (4 and 7) were in town from MI this weekend and were more than happy to help me finish making the rest of the trees for this module. I dunno how interested they are in trains, but they love the roundhouse at Greenfield Village.  They are into arts and crafts, so making super trees kits was a great way to connect with them. Who knows, maybe I set the hook this weekend! Once the trees were finished, I wrapped up with the fascia.

I will go back and add some underbrush around the rock cut on the east portal and tale tails on both ends. I'll have to be careful with the underbrush on the west portal as its very easy to see up the mountain in a lot of proto photos, which is a look that I want to try to capture in low angle photos.

















Next up - Long's Run. Stephen Milley of Rail Scale Models is about 45 minutes from me, and was cutting the N scale company house kit that Jim Cushion was working on when he passed. Stephen set me up with two of these kits, which are identical to the houses in the photo a few pages back. I started work on these today so I can get a sense of proportion to the scene, then I will finish roughing in the terrain.