Ive been busy

People have been asking me about a new diorama..it turns out life's been a little hectic, and ive been really busy...but dont worry folks! A new diorama is on its way!

Nice works from a fellow diorama builder, Laurie Green

A few months ago, I stumbled on this guy's website while searching for some O Scale diorama ideas. His dioramas are really very nice and inspiring. To those folks who have always wanted a model railroad but never had the space, check out Laurie Green's site for some ideas.

Old Time Dioramas

Its the digital age, and Ive always loved what you can do with your digital images now a days. I took a couple shots of my dioramas, and did some photoshop work. I made the pictures look like they were taken some 50 years ago or older. Cool!

RAILSERVE.COM

Hi Folks..
I just thought its worth sharing....this is probably the best site to get you "on track". Please do check them out.

RailServe.com: The Internet Railroad Directory - Guide to 16,000 rail-related websites including train travel, model railroading, railfan resources, train simulators, and railroad industry sites

Thanks

The Tool Shed PART II

Today, i had the tool shed mounted to a plywood base...around 7 x 7 inches. I sprinkled on some fine sand and some dirt and laid down the ground work. Good old kitchen sifter and some white glue was all i needed. When the ground dried, i glued the structure to the small base using liquid nails.

I added another layer of dirt, and some green foam foliage. When all was set, i finished the scene with additional detail parts lying around the small shed.

The details really bring the scene to life. I really enjoyed this cute little project. I hope you did too.

The Tool Shed

I love details...but sometimes, large dioramas and structure take forever to detail. So instead of making another big structure, I thought id make a small one...a relatively small one that i can load with lots of details. Here comes the TOOL SHED!!




Like all my other structures, everything starts on paper. After sketching some elevations, and making out the key dimensions, I made wall patterns on a CAD program. I then laminated thin wood sheets to clear acrylics, and then had Mr. Laser do the rest. Not bad!


After the walls were cut, I prestained the wood side with ink, to give it an aged look. I also "distressed" some of the siding, to make it look like its an old shed that has served the test of time. I had the doors elevated because i wanted to put a platform or deck. I love decks..and I really like wood decks, so out comes the strip woods! When the deck was done, I focused on the roof. I had some stock thin cards that would look like tar paper when painted black. After spray painting the paper black, it looked "too black", so I took some white chalk powder and brushed it on the tar paper roof.

Then comes the fun part, detailing. All the details on this model are built from scratch. Like what i mentioned on my previous post, I wanted all the details to be unique on every diorama, and not repitive. Most of them are styrene plastic strips and rods, that ive shaped and carved to look like familiar tool shed stuff. I painted these details flat black, then followed by a coat of rust brown and gray. I highlighted some of the objects' edges with white paint. Some of the details recieved a fair dusting of brown and white chalk. If i had an O Scale chain, i would not have scratch built one from copper wire...trust me.

I do not have a base for this structure yet. I will make one in a couple of days. Although I originally planned to make this small and simple, this project turned out to be just as fun as the other big ones. Enjoy!!

The Creamery Diorama

Several weekends ago, i started building another structure. I didnt know what it was suppose to be. All I know is that it must have a track side, and a truck side....
Until one morning, I had cereal and milk for breakfast, and then it hit me. That's it! Milk is good! I am gonna make a creamery!!!
I didnt have the complete picture yet, so i played around with some parts. I made a large smokestack, a water tank, and a chimney, and thought id arrange them later. I cranked up the laser cutter, and had some walls and roof parts cut, then covered the upper walls with wood sheets, that i had laser scribed earlier. The lower walls recieved a stucco finish, which i really liked. Maybe someday, ill post some "how to pics".
Anyway, pics below will do the talking now.....so enjoy!