12.31.2009

A Bridge Too Far...Viaduct nearly done.


The viaduct is done! Well, some more scenery and other details, but the heavy lifting is complete!  Not a lot to comment on about this project that I haven't already said about the construction technique.  I mentioned in my last post that I was a bit concerned about the the Testors Dark Aircraft Grey being a suitable 'concrete' coloe.  As it turns out, I think the color turned out to be a pretty good choice after all, especially once some weathering was applied.



Something I didn't plan on that turned out pretty well was that when I started to apply my dark grey Sculpt-a-mold (created by adding a small amount of black acrylic paint to the wet Sculpt-a-mold mix) I started to worry about how I was going to apply scenery materials to the virtually 90 degree cliffs!  As the Sculpt-a-mold was still quite wet, I took a few sheets of Busch and Noch foliage and some Woodlands Scenics foliage clumps (aka bushes) and pressed them into the wet Sculpt-a-mold.  Voila!  Heavily vegetated cliff walls!



And for posterity's sake, here's a 'before' photo to remind myself why this 'little' project was worth it!


5 comments:

  1. Thank you again for your encouraging words! Yes, I am very pleased with how this turned out. There are some things that I will fine tune in time, bit I am generally pleased.

    I agree, having multiple levels will always come at the cost of the 'lower' level-that's a very good point. I think the new viaduct improves the view of the lower lines in three ways: First, this area is now a much more interesting place to view trains, before I never looked at anything here! Second, because of the wider radius, it actually 'opens' up the area where the lower tracks are. And finally, because this new viaduct looks so different from the other 'lower lines' there is more contrast between the lines (if that makes sense) and so the lower lines seem to be more noticeable.

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  2. la saucisse, I was thinking the same thing: That this is a wonderful vantage point to show off trains. I rather like the effect it has on the edge of the layout; rather than a solid wall of fascia, the layout kind of just pops out the side in a very pleasing manner.

    Jerry, this is yet another extraordinary project you've put together, and how quickly! It would take me a year or more to achieve what you have in just a few weeks.

    Now, we need videos of your favorite trains on parade, from an angle that shows off that canted curve :D

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  3. A video is in the works!

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  4. Great work! It's very well done!

    Now i think the trains should run better in the curve instead of "breaking" it (as the little straight track did before).

    Waiting for a new vid! :D

    Best regards,
    Alessandro

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  5. Thanks Alessandro! And thanks for reading my blog! I checked your blog as well, and I think it looks great! I see that you use Wordpress, I've long admired Don's blog design (http://akihabara.artificial-science.org/) which also uses Wordpress. I would like to add you to my list of blogs as well! I haven't found many English speaking blogs that focus on European trains (ironically, there are some good Japanese ones however!).

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