Thursday, September 22, 2016

China buildings update: Piece was sent!



In my previous post - http://n-rail.blogspot.com/2016/09/china-offerings-two-more-buildings.html - I mentioned that a piece that was missing on a previous building I ordered was supposed to be sent, but never was. Well, shortly after that, another package arrived containing the piece!

So HAPPY SUN remains in good standing!   :)

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

September 19th People and Parts




I've started putting more people into the mix on the layout. Things are starting to feel more locked down, so I'm able to start adding people here and there to fill out scenes.

I have to say, they are adding a lot to the layout overall. Getting that storybook feel to things. At some point, I need to get a small hobby vacuum to deal with the dust in a more efficient manor. :)

Many of these figures have been purchased over time and were just waiting for the right time to be placed. A system that's working well for me right now - I'm able to add to the collection of people over time with smaller purchases instead of trying to populate the whole layout in one move. They add up price wise and I am not currently making time to do painting of blank figures either.

These figures are just Tomytec figs. They are colored well and look grand on the layout when paired with other touches like Tomytec's vehicle selections.




This shot really shows the orange hue to my lights! WOW! I usually run these through some post-effects to chill the orange.

Some other folks were added around as well. Some on the bridge, some in shops, and a few in the bus turn area. 





I got a...yes....TOMYTEC pack of cycles and scooters as well. :)  The vehicles are separate from the people which is a nice touch. If you want people, you can stick them on. If not, you can leave them off for parked vehicle looks. 




Some of the figures are set in a standing position as well.





I had a lot of fallen figures in the Harbor section, so I spent some time dusting and re-setting there as well. Makes a huge difference. I don't have little crime scene looking areas anymore! hehehe



And I finally started doing some helicopter tests. Sadly, the first run didn't match expectations. I need to go with a lighter color thread. Other than that, I like the overall look of it. I'll have to keep playing with it.

The plan is to have a few I can set up along with a blimp that I'll put in as well. It's very small and will have the look of being far off in the distance. I think that will be fun as well.
And, when I finally get my Kaiju Monster in place somewhere on the layout, I'll hang my military copter above the scene to monitor the action of the troops below! :)   Should be fun!  

I've also started in on more scenery. Again, just trying to kill off the bare wood look of the layout deck in various rounds when time allows for me to work on the layout. No rush. 

 


 Happy Hobby Time, All!  Thanks for reading!

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Wednesday, September 14, 2016

N SCALE-RIFFIC - new additions


Some recent additions to the layout. No need for great descriptions or diving into details - it's pretty self explanatory. :::grin:::


I snagged one of the Tomytec tugs. Some of their boats get to be hard to find and I've been going back and forth on this one for a while now. Wanted to get it before it went missing. :)


Added some figures.


Plays well with the Tomytec barge offering.


Yes, I saw the dust on the barge. It's been addressed. :)
Not bad. I'll weather it up a bit later.


Purchased some detail elements from Tomytec as well. Not sure why I went with these instead of some Sankei paper kit details. Most likely due to the fact that I'm feeling time pressed these days and didn't see myself being very happy building the Sankei kits right now.



Some other layout shots. 









I added another round of paint into the mix one afternoon after work before the wife and kiddies got home. Between work times in the evening and some quick projects in the afternoon at lunch time, I'm getting some fun work time in.

I moved all my factory items out of the way and did a few layers of paint in the space.




The black was a bit too black, so I lightened it up in the second round of painting.



I want to go in and do road markings and the like, but I still need to address just how I'm going to go about it. I've experimented with paint pens and they work rather well. I've also tossed down some tape and painted in the markings and that worked rather well as well. Once I find a good source of road marking reference and explanation, I'll play around with some options on a test area, then I'll get to work on all the road areas that are ready for markings. I think that will up the level of the layout immensely. 

Cheers!

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Base painting: Bye Bye Plywood!



Just some follow up photos from the base painting I've started. I'm looking forard to having all the plywood deck covered by 2017! :)


I've finally addressed the depot space now that I know it's going to live here permanently.I started by clearing everything off obviously. :)


I wanted to have a tarmac kind of feel, so I went with a darker color.




Then I painted in the street area....


Carried it out into the yard area....
 
Then I did a similar dark color in the yard area as a base before putting down other scenic materials.





The first round of painting made a world of difference.





I also did a little base adjustment on the loading dock and raised it up a bit. It's going to play nicely with the trains and the newly painted shipping area.


I have plans to go back in and address some level areas and some areas of the deck that need attention, but it's a nice start. It's nice to be fitting some of these projects in around the edges of "real life". It's nice to have a balance going between family, work, and hobby time from time to time.

Of course, the blog suffers the most. I did this a week and a half ago. :)


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