Track + Ballast + Power = ???

Gday All,

Another milestone has been reached with the first section of track being glued down and ballasted.  This enabled the FIRST EVER POWERED RUN of Orbost.  More of that later.......


First step in this process was to solder feeder wires to the rail.  The track was then fixed to the base board using a super glue gel. Haste was necessary to ensure the correct allignment of the track.




Ballast was sourced from the ACTUAL rail allignment.  This was crushed with a hammer and sifted through a stocking.  Following this the ballast was applied by a straw. 



This shows all the ballast in place.  The next step was to gently smooth this out with a dry paint brush.



The ballast first wet with a solution of water and detergent then mixture of PVA and water was applied through an eye dropper.



After the ballast had set, an artist chalk was rubbed over the railtops and blended onto the ballast with a dry brush, as indicated on the the left, compared to unweathered ballast to the right.



This winds up yet another blog update.............










Oh yeah the videos you ask???? :-)


This is a video taken with an iPhone.  Fortunantly the camera is located quite low enabling an EPIC view of the railway. 

This video was uploaded by the owner of Hobbies Plus (www.hobbiesplus.com.au), who is the Australian supplier of T gauge products.

Hope youve enjoyed this MAMMOTH update.

Take care and HAPPY MODELLING!!

Paul and Adrian.

Road O'Clock!

Gday All!!

Quick run down on the road construction.  The road shape was traced from the layout and applied to 10thou styrene then cut to shape with a scalpel.  Following this a coat of Matt Humbrol enamel paint was airbrushed with a colour that accurately represented the prototype colour.   

This photo is a trial section experimenting with the above listed paint and using scribing to mark the white line.  This proved to be quite successful.  



 This small concrete bridge is located on the old Princes Hwy near the base of the Newmerella hill.  The tree line can be seen in the background.



This concrete bridge was modelled from 10thou styrene, then painted and weather accordingly.



With the bridge installed, the first roadway of the layout can be finally installed. :-)







A bead of grey ToolBox glue was piped trough the centre of the roadway.  The styrene roadway was then gently pressed on top.



The road shoulders were added using acrylic paint that resembled the prototype.  Up to three applications were applied to get the best result.



A view of the area sadly with no bridge or rail.  This photos resembles how the area appears presently in 2012. :-(




With the roadway permently in place, the trees have been glued in their prior positions. 

 So much has been completed in past weeks.  It would be nice to sit back and relax however these scenes still lacks a lot of detail.  Details such as fences, reflector posts, road signs, power lines and telegraph pole lines are required to complete this module.

Stay tuned as Paul has just hit 2nd gear on his way to getting as much as possible constructed for the upcoming Stawell exhibition in JULY!!!

Take care and HAPPY MODELLING

Paul and Adrian.