EXTREME Makeover: Layout Edition


M

Myowngod

Pennsy Tuscan Red Blood
A couple weeks back, I was asking about charging to build a layout for someone. Charging to Scenic a layout? By the way, thanks for all the input.

Well, here's the start of "EXTREME Makeover:Layout Edition"

I named the thread after the TV show because I am REALLY pressed for time on this project. The family is having a party on Jan 12. I only have 5 days to build this layout at the site. I am limited to working on it only on my days off from my main job. I can do some of the small building at home, but most of it is on the job site only type work.

The first day I took up all the track to start to layout out the new plan I came up with.

Old layout before I touched it.

A basic loop with a passing siding put 6ft away along the back wall.

Here's the proposed outcome
This is a quick sketch I did to get the idea on paper so the client could visualize it better. I made the track plan using Xtrkcad and Atlas Right Track program only for the 3-D view.
 
Day 1

Progress on DAY 1

I took up all the track and started laying out the new plan. I had to hold off on the whole plan because the new track had not arrived from the supplier yet. I did my best with what I had.

Start of new track plan

Next I started to make supports for the raised city on the left side of the layout. I also cut out the base for the city.
City base construction

Near the end of the day I started the base of the mountain using pink foam.
Mountain base

That's as far as I got in 8hrs.

DAY 2 coming up!
 
Day 3

Progress on DAY 3

I started early in my Father-in-laws woodworking shop. I built the viaduct roadway that is coming off of the raised city. It has a ramp that drops down to the main layout track level. I cut some molding that looks like concrete side rails for the viaduct, but I have not installed them yet. I spray painted the underside of the viaduct with rusty red primer and the rails with Rustoleums tan textured paint to give it a rough concrete look to it in a short amount of time. I post pix later... Maybe day 4.

Once I got to the site I cut out the last piece of the retaining wall and then started to plaster the mountain. I dyed the plaster using Quicrete's charcoal Grey dye. It doesn't take much of this stuff to make a difference. The first batch turned out almost black...Oops:eek: . The bottle is meant for a 60-80lb bag of concrete, not a 3qt patch of plaster. I adjust the next batch ALOT!
Plastered mountain
More of the mountain

After the plastering was done I went back to the wood shop and pickup the viaduct, now dry. This is just a test fit on the layout. I actually cut out supports and rails for the roadway.
Viaduct install
Side view of viaduct

I also used textures from www.cgtextures.com to apply to the retaining wall. I also modified some road texture from that site to apply to the viaduct. Must save time!:D


That's it... if you can say it's a little:p !

DAY 4 coming soon. Short day, maybe only 4hrs on the layout.;)
 
I Was wonderin where You'd been!!! Now I see that youve been bustin your booty tryin to get that thing done. Think you'll make it??/ Good progress So far!
 
4Starcstms said:
I Was wonderin where You'd been!!! Now I see that youve been bustin your booty tryin to get that thing done. Think you'll make it??/ Good progress So far!
Click to expand...

I think I can... I think I can... I think i can...

The little engine that could.

I actually think I'll pull this off. I half a few hrs on Sunday, 1/6/08 and then the long haul on Thursday,1/10/08. Maybe I'll put in 9hrs on that day. Final day before the party. If for some reason I don't make it by that day I might be able to sneak in on Friday night... I just hope the stuff would dry for the party on Saturday, he he:) :eek: .
 
Comming out nice, and with your City base platform, you gave me a brilliant idea for my layout, which I was much thinkning about to make a small town, but had very little space for it. More details I will post them on my own thread :D

Nice work, keep the pics comming.
 
timd35 said:
looking forward to seeing some more pictures. May I ask the size of your table?
Click to expand...

Thanks everyone,

Timd35, the table is 6'x12'. It's completely flat, so to add dimension to the layout I planned the mountain on the right side and a raised city with viaduct on the left.

More pix to come... soon.

Must get back to work. Building a warehouse to night. It's the only build up kit I have to do, all the others are pre-built MTH Rail King model. Very nice O-scale models.
 
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I'm Done!!!

I'M DONE!!! I'M DONE!!! I'M DONE!!!

Man, am I fried. I can't believe I just pulled that project off in time.

OK, I have to change it to 5-1/2 days. I managed to sneak in a few hours in on Sunday 1/06/08.

I installed the the bridge and finished up the viaduct install. I also glued down all the road print outs in the city.

View attachment 8264

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The roads are glued down on the viaduct but not on the main raised city. The MTH Railking buildings I got look really good for prebuilt.

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The retaining wall is MDF board with pictures off of CGtextures.com

Well, that is day 4-1/2.

Day 5 coming up... "Judgment Day"
 
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Day 5 "Judgment Day"

On this day the world was create... and it was good.

I finished the scenery. There was alot to do on this day. I put 13hrs in on this day. I started out cutting out and painting the base of the river area. I realized this would take a while to dry, and I still need to put 2 layers of gloss medium over it.

This is how it looked at 8:45am
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Here is the painted base.
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While that was drying I turned my attention to the mountain. I painted it with a tan paint and started to sprinkle on the textures. A lot of them
you can also see the road base I painted on the grass mat.
View attachment 8271

More to come on day 5...
 
Day 5 Continued.

Here's the mid-day progress shots.

I started by putting on the 1st layer of gloss medium on the river area. Once that was done I started to wrap the scenery around the back of the layout. Texturing around the lake and building up the right side of the bridge area.

View attachment 8272

The bright green mat area is where the track or buildings are located. I didn't want to waste the material in the no see areas.

View attachment 8273
 
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Here is the "almost finished" scenery.

I brought it all the way across the layout, from mountain to viaduct.

This is when I 1st put down the track. You can see how the bright green is starting to disappear.
View attachment 8274

The next sequence is of the completed layout minus the trees. These shots were taken at 9:00pm. I did go to to the LHS (20min drive, one way), and lunch. Total trip 1.5hrs. So the scenery was actually 12hrs of work.
View attachment 8277View attachment 8276View attachment 8275

In the left picture, the city is looking quite busy and bustling.
The middle picture, the train station is the focal building here. The industrial spur can get really busy with freight going to the warehouse and factory. Behind the station you can see the baggage/depot track.
The right picture is the rural mountain area. The lines on the road were done with Krylon paint markers. I think they turned out really good.
Do you see the cop car waiting for speeder in the speed trap?:p
 
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And the last few pix of the day.

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Here's a shot looking down over the mountain into the layout.
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Here's the proud owner of the new layout. You can see the lights I hooked up in the buildings: upper city, factory, station, even the strobing light on top of the bridge.
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One of the things that surprised me is the strobing light on the bridge. It actually strobes, not just blinks. I had to install a small computer board under the layout for it. The Corner store in the city (the one to the left side) has a neon blinking sign. These MTH Railking building are really nice. Maybe I'll have to make an O-scale layout for myself. The grade crossing at the bottom of the photo actually works. It comes down, flashes, has sounds of bells etc. It's Lionel, very nice.
 
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