# starting a little diarama



## pat_smith1969 (Aug 21, 2016)

Never having ballasted a track before, or done any other type of decorating I decided to make a little diorama out of track I cut out of the layout and some spare foam.

The top track will be "main line". It sits on cork bed and will have the nice ballast put on it. The lower one is more of a yard/forgotten branch line type rail. 

In the pics the top rails are still getting glued down so they have some weight on them. THe white is some quilt batting.. I am experimenting with using that under the ground foam to add a little irregularity...it is in the process of being glued down too.

Finally the bottom is dirt. You can see a little area I want to make a puddle. It is all dark because I just sprayed it with wanter/soap mixture and then with nearly full strength Scenic Cement.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

I like to do that as well.

I have a CT River Valley dairy farm scene all done; a Middletown CT Christmas Scene about 1/4 done, and a planned Bavarian / Swiss Alps scene planned.

In addition to honing my skills, they let me experiment with things I like that I decided not to do on my layout. Mine are all 2x4, with a base of 1" foam. For the Christmas one, I made a shadow box out of birch plywood to "pretty" it up for home display around the holidays.


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## pat_smith1969 (Aug 21, 2016)

No pics = "didn't happen"


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

pat_smith1969 said:


> No pics = "didn't happen"


No pix = I do most of my posting from work on lunch break, and I don't have access to any personal photos.

No pix = "I can't take a decent photograph to save my life", which is a disincentive to do it.

I'm going backpacking with my Boy Scout troop this weekend, but I have a couple pix of the dairy farm. If you're really interested, I'll try to dig them out and post them Sunday evening.


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## pat_smith1969 (Aug 21, 2016)

I am interested in seeing the pictures.. but I was mostly just giving you a hard time.


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## pat_smith1969 (Aug 21, 2016)

It amazes me how much like dirt that dirt looks... I mean it looks exactly like dirt... the dirt does.


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## Mark VerMurlen (Aug 15, 2015)

Good idea for learning some new skills. I'm not sure I'd have the patience to actually complete a full scene like that. I've sort of practiced sub-pieces (like building one bridge tower, building one signal light, weathering one boxcar) but not as part of completing a full scene. Practice does make perfect as you quickly learn what does and doesn't work.

Mark


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

pat_smith1969 said:


> I am interested in seeing the pictures.. but I was mostly just giving you a hard time.


Yeah, that's what I thought. That's why I asked if you REALLY wanted to see pix.


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## pat_smith1969 (Aug 21, 2016)

Pretty much finished my little scene. I could do some more touch up, but I think I got out of it what I wanted.

Learned a ton.
1. Rock faces are easier to carve out of Styrofoam thank I thought. I am very pleased how it turned out.. even though you can still see the seams where it was glued together.
2. Way too much red and brown in the rock face.. I would prefer something a bit more grey.. there is a difference between "True Red" and "Terracotta". But it looks pretty ok otherwise.
3. Gotta watch how much scenic cement I use.. parts of the bottom portion of the gravel still looks white with the stuff.
4. I had some Hob-e-tack that was too old and that was a nightmare.. I had some foam cement and that was too old and dried up. I need to go get some Hob-poodge and maybe more foam glue to glue in my trees. That one is FInally in place but it was a battle without the right glues.
5. gotta watch how I use the grout. I wanted it to look like wet gravel, and it does but after adding the water it spread like no body's business.. then with all the scenic cement it kind turned into a mess.


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## NAJ (Feb 19, 2016)

Looks good to me. :smilie_daumenpos:


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