Despite the heat, I have continued to work on the scenery and structures on the Willow Junction portion of the 4th Subdivision. Having the road into the scene completed has prodded me into focusing on this section. First, I worked on some scenery to help hide the abrupt meeting of the backdrop and the ground. Having decided to use the Great Northern portable depot that I started a number of years ago, I have been making some progress on completing that kit. As ballast hadn't been installed on the mainline in this section, I did some ballasting. Over the last several days, I painted some HO scale figures to include in the interior of the station, as including some interior details is part of my plan for the station. In this update, I will touch on some of techniques I used.
One of the challenges in creating the illusion of reality and depth in a model railroad backdrop is creating a smooth or hidden transition to the background (in fact this is one of the points in the scenery AP judging). In this area, I wanted to hide the joint with a combination of a raised landscape or berm and a grove of trees. I cut and carved some scraps of foam using both some pink insulation foam and some packing foam. In the photo, the foam has been already been carved and positioned and I am in the process of gluing it in place with a foam-safe adhesive. As I positioned the foam, for the most part, I left a small space behind it, rather than placing it right up against the painted backdrop.
After the adhesive had dried, I taped some wax paper to the backdrops and painted the foam with my standard "ground" latex paint. On one section of the pink foam it had left a rock-like texture when I scored and snapped it. I painted that section with a gray craft paint. After the paint had dried I also applied "
ground goop" to soften some edges and add additional texture on and around the foam. After taking this photo, I added a first layer of ground foam.
This photo, showing the "too regular" portion of the berm and the backboard joint to the right that still need to be resolved, also shows the placement of the GN "portable" depot. This station will be located along the main line here, on a wooden platform. While I am still undecided about adding a light to the depot, I will have visible shadow box interior scenes. So, I have added paper flooring and a wall between the baggage area and the waiting room. In trying to determine the interior colors, I found photos of the Whitefish GN station and a site documenting the
restoration of an early GN station online. While not a perfect match to either, off-white walls and a darker gray wainscot seemed like a reasonable choice. Having them on hand, I chose Americana "Bleached Sand" and "Slate Gray" as my compromise colors to paint the interior. I also noted that I should paint my bright green bench that I planned to use a brown or natural wood color.
This portable depot kit, purchased from the Great Northern Railway Historical Society, has proven to be a bit difficult to build. For example, each window is made up of five separate laser cut pieces, before adding the two clear pieces representing the window glass. This is fiddly work with my shaky hands! Also, many of the window openings required final sanding with an emory board or file to allow the windows to fit. That said, so far, I am pleased with how the depot is looking. I am also quite pleased with the Vallejo "Sky Grey" and "Neutral Grey" Model Color paints. Those two colors are a close match to the Great Northern's building color scheme of the 1930s until they changed to white and green in the mid-1950s. The Vallejo paints brush on very nicely with good coverage and minimal brush marks.
As I am getting close to finishing the completion and installation of the windows, I chose some of my stash of unpainted figures to use in the station scene. I primed the figures using a Krylon camouflage rattle can that I had on hand. After letting the figures dry over night, I went ahead and painted them with craft paints intending to use the inside to outside technique. As I found that the sand colored primer was a bit too dark for the skin color, I broke the sequence part way through and repainted the figure's faces and hands. The blue tape, sticky side up, worked fine for holding the figures for the spray painting. However, many of the seated figures liberated themselves from the tape while I was applying colors or washes, next time I will secure them in some other way. All in all, I think they will be fine for inside the depot, and I have gained some experience in figure painting.
So, I think I have just one more ballasting session on the Willow Junction side, and if I continue to make headway with the completion of the depot I hope to move on to getting some ground cover, trees, and a gravel road wrapped up around the asphalt road before my next update.
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