Smooth-it, round 02

Smooth-It is a fantastic Woodland Scenics product. It's pretty forgiving - I mean, it's basically plaster. But, it's so easy to mix and use that it makes it easy to work with. As long as you follow the instructions, you're good to go.


They have this puffy tape to use and it goes on GREAT! It's super easy to use and you can bend it to follow lines and areas with ease.

Once the tape is down, you can pour. The idea is to pour a little into the center of the tape area, then "smooth it" - getting some sort of straight and running it over the top of your tape to smooth things down and come to the top of the tape line. The tape is road thick, in theory, so you have the proper height for your scale.

I started by mixing a small amount in a small container to get the first roads in and down.

However, I had a larger area to cover with the second round, so I mixed up a huge batch and just went for it. Obviously, I could not run a giant, straight piece of board across the tape at this point. I just eyeballed it and gave it a go. You can sand the product, so I wasn't so worried.

The smaller roads were easy, but I messed up the mix and got a few bubbles which, when sanded out, made some holes in the product. Not deal breakers, but a drag for sure. All my fault and not the product.

I tried to get a little creative with the product as well, making this lumpy and rough section for an area under some track toward the front of the layout. We'll see how this goes in the final.

Road up to the Harbor Area

This was the biggest pour I had done with Smooth-It and I really wasn't sure how it was going to go. It turned out really well and was looking like I wanted once I sanded and painted! Whew! (photos to follow)

Village area pour

Village area pour

The only real crap part of the Smooth-it system is the tape the sell for it. Yes, it goes down GREAT. Yes, it sticks well. But, it stays down TOO well. It's a bit of a pain when it gets stuck to the deck. I had to break out a screwdriver and scrape. Most of the time, the deck is going to be covered with scenic materials anyway, so the only real pain point is the time it takes to scrape it up and off.

Once the Village area was poured and dried, I did another layer that went up and over the top of it for the Town area. Once that dried, it was easy to sand it all down to make it match and blend. Again, it worked like a dream and was super easy and quick.

Town area pour

I spent Father's Day working on the sanding and painting and it was a great day! Music played as I worked away for three hours or so and I had a blast. Photos of the painted Smooth-It to follow.

Cheers, All!

Caterpillar equipment in japan

WHEW! :)

I just found out (thanks, Internet!) that the Caterpillar company has equipment in Japan. I had a bunch of Caterpillar items that are dern close to the right scale for N and I wanted to use it. I have weathered one in the past and love how it turned out.

But I was thinking it through and thought, "Do they even have this stuff in Japan or do they have specific, Japanese heavy equipment items?" Well, Caterpillar has a Japan arm, so I'm good.

It seems like a little thing, but I didn't want to feature items that just don't exist in country - especially items as high profile as Caterpillar equipment.

So, I'll be adding in a scene or two of some construction going on. It should be a blast and a nice little scene to model. I already have the KATO road work set, so I'm good to go! :)

Soyokaze Hill - Outdoor Shots

I took some shots of my Soyokaze Hill section in outdoor light. There's a sweet spot on my deck that works really well for photographing my N scale stuff. The background trees work well as a background.
So, the sun was shining and the sky was blue and it was grand weather for a shoot. (...though, I wish I used the "real camera" instead of my iPhone :::grin:::)

This was a fun project and it really helped me define both what I wanted to do on my layout and how much time it's going to take to get it done.

All in all, I'm super happy with the way it turned out.

SOYOKAZE HILL

Hospital

Apartments and the Hilltop Hotel

Guest parking

Overhead

Conversation

And in place...

In place on the layout

The carved, stone wall worked out well. The whole scene needs another round of detailing.

This weekend, I plan on another big layout work day for Father's Day. We'll see what I get done. Pictures will follow, of course.

Comments welcome!

Soyokaze River Shots

Dinner in the lovely Soyokaze River area is not only fresh, but atmospheric. People travel for miles and miles to enjoy what the area has to offer. The sleepy Soyokaze River area is a romantic and quiet getaway spot. :)

Various shots and news

Soyokaze River Village

Greetings from Soyokaze!    :)

I've been going round and round on having this switching area (pictured below) on the layout. It's actually all dead rail and would just be there for show - running off the edge of the layout edge. I just thought it would be fun and interesting. However, it takes up a little more space than I thought, so it might not be a good idea at this point.

But...I like it. :)  Especially if it was integrated and scenic elements were added into the area. I think it would be fun. We'll see.

This hillside area will be another fun little detail section. It sits towards the back of the layout in the "Shopping Area" and will be housing, a hospital, parking and various scenic elements. Again, a nice scene section I'll be able to work on in the house, then port outside.

There is a bit of exciting news as well. We are going to have some visitors come to the States from Australia and my layout may be on the tour. I'm using that as a push to get some work done on the layout. Nothing works better than a deadline when you're trying to get things done. So, it's a win win even if my layout doesn't make the cut for the tour due to location or timing. I'll still have some of the items on my list done, so it's all good! :)

May Progress - additional items

More news from Soyokaze and Shizuka



MODEMO WEATHERING

I did a little lite weathering on my Modemo tram. It was hard to dive in on it, but I'm happy that I did. Light gray areas are now wondrously weathered and "used" feeling, the body has some wear marks, but doesn't look like it's ready for retirement (Thanks, James Lincoln - good advise on that from a Model Rail Radio Show. "Don't make it look like the railroad wouldn't be running it anymore because it's so beat up!" :)  ) and it looks like it's been out in the elements a bit instead of pulled from a box and placed. Ahhhh. 

The images don't really do it justice. I really need to break out the proper camera for some better photos.

Pre-weathering

Pre-weathering

Post-weathering

I also hit my little rail train and box cars. Much better.

Naze hashi なぜ橋 details

I finally got around to doing the last bit of barrier work on the bridge. I went with using the road barriers from KATO turned upside down and I'm happy with the way it turned out.

Roz From Oz - what do you think?   :)

Soyokaze Station 02 details are in, but I need to take another "clean up" pass at it. I was working a bit too fast and would like to address some of the sloppy lines and the like. but...you know...better than out of the box, in my most humble of opinions. :)

More KATO barrier use

In place

One thing I really need to think about are sidewalks. I need to put some thought into that for sure. You can purchase them - sure. Or, I could make them out of styrene sheets, but I'd rather come up with a cost effective, Home Depot-like solution. Like some sort of strip roll of some product that could be cut down and applied that looks like sidewalk. Any feedback there would be appreciated.


Cheers!