# Painting landscape one coffee ring at a time



## gimme30 (Jul 26, 2018)

I've been working on access to an enclosed tunnel section and have come up with a solution I think will work, but I'm having trouble coming up with a way to hide the seams. 
Here's the area to be enclosed:









Here's the access "panel."









Finally here's the panel in place:









The intent right now is to build a bridge from the flat part of the panel across to the curved section that will act as a handle of sorts to lift the section out. As close to the edge as it is, these mountains obviously will have very steep sides. I don't want to make a lift-off mountain and would prefer to be able to pull the access panel straight out. To avoid knocking over scenery I'll probably have to fabricate a flat piece to cover the screw and pre-painted area that would attach to the hatch itself...but how to integrate the sides, and more importantly, the mountain on top without obvious panel lines? 

If any of that made sense I'd sure appreciate some suggestions!

BTW, as some of you know I'm on the eternal quest for decent steam engines and finally pulled the trigger on a BLI heavy mike. (seen in the first pic) 
Supposedly great runners, gets great reviews....blah blah blah not so much. Yeah it looks great, and makes a variety of interesting sounds even on plain old DC, but it runs like a paint shaker. Literally. It shakes so violently front-to-back that I can't keep a car coupled to it for more than a few inches before they shake themselves right off the track. After running it by itself for awhile hoping it would break in, it threw the pin connecting all those tiny little rods on one side. Luckily I found it and was able to put it back together-it's just a press fit, and even glued I can't see it not happening on a frequent basis and that's not something I want to deal with. Looks like BLI (steam, at least) is going with Bachmann on my do-not-buy list. Unfortunate. 

So, back it goes. 

I've preordered Athearns upcoming 2-8-0, and was going to try a 2-6-0 from Model Power but stocks have been depleted. Unless Atlas or Kato start puttin' out some new stuff my steam choices are quickly disappearing. 

To any noobs reading this-if you're interested in steam, pick another scale.


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## cid (Jul 3, 2014)

My Brilliant Idea 🤣 is to glue in a pair of hidden or camouflaged magnets (flush or embedded) and make a wooden handle with a couple of steel washers/rods/whatever on the ends. 



> To any noobs reading this-if you're interested in steam, pick another scale.


I hear ya!!!!  But it's FUN...


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

gimme30 said:


> I've been working on access to an enclosed tunnel section and have come up with a solution I think will work, but I'm having trouble coming up with a way to hide the seams.
> Here's the area to be enclosed:
> View attachment 542407
> 
> ...


gimme30;

I'm not sure I should comment on your Styrofoam bead board mountain. You seem like a nice guy and I don't want to hurt your feelings. While there is a lot I could point out, I'll just say that bead board is way too fragile and messy to use as a removable hatch. It's going to flake off a lot of beads each time you remove/replace it. This will make forming a nice tight edge that doesn't show much, impossible.

Your steam engine sounds like it may have been "out of quarter" bad news for any steamer, and sometimes a bear to fix. Sending it back was wise. Maybe they will replace it with one that runs smoothly. I have some N-scale steam locos that run well, Kato and Roundhouse. 

My access hatches are quite different. They are made of hard, but flexible, plastic or possibly fiberglass panels I bought at Home Depot. They bend enough to let them be snapped in and out of position. When they are out, I can reach my hidden track. The panels are used as backdrops. I painted the scenery on them. The panel is the curved white thing on the right, in the first photo. The second photo shows the same type of panel with scenery painted on it. Unfortunately, none of that is going to work for you, since our layouts are so different.

Good Luck & Have Fun;

Traction Fan 🙂


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## gimme30 (Jul 26, 2018)

That's pretty clever TF! 
You know I don't mind if you (or anyone else) comments on anything I've posted....getting feedback is the idea here and even negative criticism is welcomed. I'd rather be told "What a stupid idea!" now rather than putting time and effort into something that will just have to be torn out later. 
Anyway that thick foam section on top won't be left bare, I just haven't figured out yet how to create a plausible looking cliff face without using a mold. You may not be able to tell from the pic, but it's 2" thick and with the wedge glued into the curve on the inside it's actually pretty sturdy. 
I'm thinking overhanging rocks or vegetation is going to be the way to go. 
Maybe vines. You know, to trip the Von Trapps while they're skipping around singing do-re-me. 

It's tough building a layout this size. I think if I had more space, an around-the-room layout or something larger, I wouldn't have some of the issues I'm faced with trying to cram everything onto a door slab. C'est la vie. I'll make it work one way or another!

I think you may be right about the quartering, and it's definitely something I don't want to mess around with. They won't be sending another though as it will be going back for a refund rather than an exchange-I don't think all that clockwork will stay attached to a plastic pin pressed in place for very long. Shame, it's such a good looker, and shouldn't everyone have a Mike?
(MTS restocked, so I'll be trying Model Power next. I've got to get lucky ONE of these days!)



cid said:


> I hear ya!!!!  But it's FUN...


Lol! It is, most of the time. Especially when they work well out of the box. It's not like I need or want a huge roster but it'd sure be nice to have at least a _few_ more choices!


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

gimme30 said:


> That's pretty clever TF!
> You know I don't mind if you (or anyone else) comments on anything I've posted....getting feedback is the idea here and even negative criticism is welcomed. I'd rather be told "What a stupid idea!" now rather than putting time and effort into something that will just have to be torn out later.
> Anyway that thick foam section on top won't be left bare, I just haven't figured out yet how to create a plausible looking cliff face without using a mold. You may not be able to tell from the pic, but it's 2" thick and with the wedge glued into the curve on the inside it's actually pretty sturdy.
> I'm thinking overhanging rocks or vegetation is going to be the way to go.
> ...


gimme30;

I hope your "That's pretty clever TF" remark refers to my removable backdrops,and not to something I said, or didn't say, that p*#sd you off. 

Well, OK, since you asked for it, I don't think beadboard belongs on a model railroad, at least not naked.
Many modelers use the hard and stable extruded foam insulation board for scenery construction, but that's a very different animal than beadboard. It's much stronger, holds its shape, and doesn't create a veritable "blizzard" of white beads every time you move it. But then, maybe you're aiming to model something from that new TNT TV series "Snowpiercer," where the train seems to be speeding through an avalanche!
Since finding extruded foam in southern Calif. Is a major chore, I have used beadboard as a lightweight form filler, under plaster cloth, but that's about it.

I recognize the Woodland scenics riser set, but is your thin-walled tunnel also a Woodland Scenics product? I have not seen that before. You said you did not want a lift-off mountain. May I ask why? That would give you much better access to the track, and would, being one piece, do away with the need to hide joints. (Besides, you live in Colorado, no need to hide your joints anymore! 😁 ) Your "reach-in-blind-and-hope" "access" openings are too small. You will confirm this with experience.

The photos below show one way of making a plausible-looking cliff face without a mold. It's made of tree bark. A very large bag costs a very small price ($3) at your local Home Depot. I hot glued the bark pieces onto a Luan board that holds the cliff together. Later, I added some Elmer's wood filler to the gaps between pieces of bark. Paint it, add some dirt, and some ground foam, and viola, a cliff. 
SAFETY NOTE; If you decide to hot glue some bark, or anything else, have a dish of ice water handy. you may, just possibly, have occasion to plunge your hand in this cold water to prevent tenaciously-clinging HOT glue from burning your fingers. I found this out through experience. Trust me, it's better to have the ice water handy!

Thinking about your situation, it may be possible to incorporate a smaller version of my snap-in/out backdrops to your little layout. What if you used a piece of flexible styrene, or 1/8" luan plywood as a base, and glued bark, or other scenic material, to the outside? It could be bent just enough to fit between two pieces of thin aluminum angle and snap behind them. This could be done horizontally, or vertically, like mine.
\
Plaster impregnated towels are another possibility. (Yet another example of how getting plastered can result in being impregnated! Who knows, the creep that did it might end up on the supreme court someday!) Anyway, the towels hold their shape well, once the plaster has set, and they're thin and can span the edges of a hole. With a little scenic fairy dust you can likely disguise the edges of the towel. BTW this works better if the hole, or at least the towel cover does not have straight edges. Nature very seldom has straight lines. If you build the "manhole cover" with straight edges and square corners, it fairly well screams, "man made." If your hatch cover is vertical, you could use vines to disguise it, with a Von Trapp hanging from each vine. You might also consider leaving the hole open and using a hinged down backdrop/view block behind it. That's all I've got, at least for now.

Good Luck & Have Fun (if possible)

Traction Fan


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## gimme30 (Jul 26, 2018)

TF, not PO'd at all, I always appreciate your insight and really do think what you came up with is a great solution! I have some galvanized angle laying around and a sheet of clear acrylic that's too thick to actually use but I can at least mock it up to see if it will work. I think there's Masonite lying around here somewhere that could be used for the base...

I'm definitely stealing your tree bark idea. That came out great and is exactly the sort of look I'm trying to achieve. No worries about burns-see that smooth glue line on the access panel? Yeah that was my finger. Can't stand a lumpy glue line. Years of high voltage shocks, accidental exacto insertions, fingertips a little _too _close to the sanding belt and various other things have made the end of my fingers impervious to things that mere mortals can't tolerate. Btw, I know I've seen that mansion somewhere before, possibly MichaelE's layout. Is that the Faller Villa?

How would you model vertical strata? (again, without a mold) I've tried 'sculpting' foam but apparently I just don't have an eye for it. The result looked like something a 3 year old Picasso created from things found in the litter box. I also tried folding cardboard into a square U shape, cut to random lengths and glued together but it too...well, Picasso, again.

The thin walls are actually foam from Woodland Scenics, pieces that were to be used as bases for the town and factory areas of the original plan, but as you can see I've repurposed them. I can get to all but the last couple of inches at either tunnel and figured a short stick could take care of the rest. It's not too late to change that if you think it may be problematic down the road. As for hiding our joints, yep those days are over, although I haven't touched the stuff since I was a kid. Buying weed used to mean driving to the worst part of town and hoping your car wouldn't get stolen while you negotiated with some neanderthal who'd just as soon shoot you as look at you. Now you walk into a boutique and choose from a variety of items all displayed behind brightly lit glass and get catered to by smiley happy people. Weird as hell. But not as hot and a LOT safer.

I didn't want to go the lift off route for a couple of reasons. I don't know that it could be done with what I have in mind for that side of the layout, and I didn't want to have to deal with disconnecting a bunch of wiring anytime I might need to get in there. Still, nothing's set in stone so I'll keep thinking about it.



traction fan said:


> (Yet another example of how getting plastered can result in being impregnated! Who knows, the creep that did it might end up on the supreme court someday!


ROFL! I could go so many places with that....but since we're PG here I'll just keep my trap shut.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

gimme30 said:


> TF, not PO'd at all, I always appreciate your insight and really do think what you came up with is a great solution! I have some galvanized angle laying around and a sheet of clear acrylic that's too thick to actually use but I can at least mock it up to see if it will work. I think there's Masonite lying around here somewhere that could be used for the base...
> 
> I'm definitely stealing your tree bark idea. That came out great and is exactly the sort of look I'm trying to achieve. No worries about burns-see that smooth glue line on the access panel? Yeah that was my finger. Can't stand a lumpy glue line. Years of high voltage shocks, accidental exacto insertions, fingertips a little _too _close to the sanding belt and various other things have made the end of my fingers impervious to things that mere mortals can't tolerate. Btw, I know I've seen that mansion somewhere before, possibly MichaelE's layout. Is that the Faller Villa?
> 
> ...




gimme30;

I'm glad you were not offended.

The mansion kit has been around forever, and sold under many brand names. I wouldn't be surprised if it were once a Faller villa. I don't have the original box, but I think it was called a "Mansion", rather than a "Villa." I've posted this photo several times, so you may have seen it before. It does look like something MichaelE might use on his German/Swiss based layout, I don't know if he has one too.

I have an idea that might work for your trap door. (and now a word from our sponsor. I just saw a sidebar ad on the edge of my screen for a Lexus NX car. In the background is a (presumably real) gray rock cliff, that looks a lot like my tree bark creation. Nice to get some positive feedback from the real world.)
We now return you to our regularly scheduled idea. At the bottom (door base) of your opening, mount a piano hinge, and attach a piece of Masonite to the other side of the hinge. The top edge of this Masonite hatch cover should fold over the top of the opening in your mountain when closed. The Masonite should be at a steep angle, but not vertical. It can also be curved, if you like, by submerging it in very hot water for an hour and gently bending it an inch at a time to form the curve. When open, the Masonite cover would hang down below your layout.
Now for the scenery. You could use my tree bark idea to make a cliff. If you do this, stagger the pieces of tree bark like bricks in a wall, including the edges of your hatch cover, and the part of the mountain immediately beyond. I did not do this on my joints between sections and boy does it show. The ragged, as opposed to straight, edges, will be a lot harder to see. BTW I cut pieces of bark in half on a bandsaw to get flat sides to glue to the Luan baseboard of the cliff. Tree bark breaks fairly easily, so you might want to cut your Luan hatch cover to include backing for the projecting "bricks" of your hinged "wall." Do the same for the interlocking bark pieces attached to the "door frame" around your hatch.
Another scenery option would be to paint the hatch cover a dirt brown color, and later glue some finely sifted (through pantyhose) real dirt onto the cover. Then make some of my cool-looking trees, (see photos and the file on how to make them) and drill holes in the Masonite to "plant" the trees with Elmer's glue. Then you will have a "forest" that can fold down to expose the opening.

How would I make vertical strata? Um, rotate the tree bark 90 degrees? 
Actually I have used larger, flat, slabs of bark angled upward and glued on.
I've always liked using Elmer's wood filler, instead of plaster, for scenery effects. You can use a putty knife to apply a layer of it onto Luan plywood, and lightly draw a wet table fork, curved side down, through the wood filler to create the strata. To see a sample of this wood filler rock face, look again at my steel trestle photo. From left to right, the trestle has a short 4 leg tower, a taller 4 leg tower, and a 2 leg single bent. Look at the cliff behind that right-hand single bent. There is very little, if any tree bark in that flat, thin rock face. its made of wood filler. Once the filler has set up hard (overnight) you can carve it with an X-acto knife to break up some of the regularity of the strata. Besides the table fork (don't let your wife see you steal it!) you can use an old toothbrush on the wet filler to form fine stratta. All these techniques work with plaster, if you prefer to use that.

As for the access issue, while you can seldom have perfect access, it is wise to build-in ALL you possibly can.
If "access" involves the use of a stick, or other reaching tool, you definitely don't have good enough access.
Murphy's law applies just as much to model railroading as to anything else. (maybe more.) That one little area where you can just reach it with your "magic wand" absolutely WILL be the spot where the rail comes up out of the tie strip, or the track gauge is off, or some other disaster will occur. I've learned this the hard way many times, and, sooner or later, you will too.

regards;

Traction Fan 🙂


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