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Showing posts with the label foam

A Few More Photos of Lukey's Model Railroad

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While my health is recovering today, I'm taking it easy. I get easily bored whenever I am in recovery mode so I pulled out my camera in an attempt to shoot a few more photos of Lukey's model railroad.  I suspect this little model railroad will take a beating once Lukey starts playing with it... the same holds true for Kenzie's dollhouse. Needless to say, I'd like to have as many photos of these two gifts in their 'new - never been used' state.   Yesterday, I added a bit more shrubbery and weeds to the model railroad. I do believe it is detailed enough to hand over to Lukey now.  In the meantime, here are a few more photos... Train station on one side of the layout right in front of the jacks to connect power. I added some weeds and shrubbery to the foreground here.  Uphill, to the right above the concrete retaining wall, we will eventually build a small country town... The small combination freight depot/train station located on the opposite side o

The Railroad World Has Been Carved

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I just finished carving the entire model railroad for Lukey's Christmas present. I suspect I'll find a few little things to cut off or shape here and there but, for the most part, I am finished carving this little model railroad. Next is to add some thinned plaster to a few select areas... then paint...  then some roads... then some grass and bushes... then some touch up here and there... This little train set is coming along very nicely!

Carving a New World

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I truly wish that I could say I am "carving a new world" in the real world but I am really referring to Lukey's Christmas present... a model railroad. I have begun the next phase of creating this little railroad world... I am transforming a flat terrain into a three dimensional world by carving the flat, blocky foam into rolling terrain, rocks, hills and ditches.  This is an exciting time because I begin to see the world I have locked inside my head as I carve, scrape and shape this new world. It is also incredibly messy with chunks of foam flying (not quite like Edward Scissorhands but messy enough) and clinging to everything. Then, when you move and cause a disturbance of air, these foam chunks blow around the room. What a mess! (Bending over on the floor isn't helping my spinal injuries either!)   Anyway, I just wanted to add some more photos showing this process... I hope to have this entire little railroad world carved before bedtime. Now I need to go sh

More Progress on Lukey's Railroad

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Before I went any further on building Lukey's railroad Christmas present, I needed to add a couple of power feeds from the track to a jack panel to connect a transformer to this basic layout. I started drilling... then cutting with a kitchen knife... this was a relatively easy task... This may look like a culvert but it is really where my power panel will be located... I will be able to plug-in the appropriate transformer here using banana jacks.   Once I had the power feeds in place, I was able to glue down the track. This track that I'm using is an HO sectional track by Atlas called True Track. It comes with a plastic roadbed already in place. This saved me some work but the trade off is that is doesn't look as realistic. That being said, for this project, this track is just fine. After setting the track/roadbed down in the wet glue, I placed a newly bought 30 pack of beer on the track (believe it or not, I bought this 30 pack with this project in mind) ... this