This little module will help me when using the waterfront module, and since I have most of the structures already constructed I decided to go ahead with the scenery. This will also be a nice diversion from the intense industrial scenery I've been working on for the last few years.
I asked my friend Joe Balint to build a wye switch with the track on this small module. Joe likes to use galvanized wood screws for soldering the rail at the edge of the module.
As you can see in the photo, the screw heads are quite obvious and will be a challenge to hide.
To help make the screw heads harder to see I cut away most of them as close to the rails as possible. Damaging the rail would be bad, so I had to limit how close I got with a cutting wheel on the Dremel.
I will add wood ties cut to fit around the remains of the screw heads to further hide them.
Next is the gluing of additional layers of insulation board. I like to use adhesive latex caulk for this.
Here the ties have been painted and I've even begun shaping some of the foam for where the roads will be located.
Another view from the front of the scene. There will be a road approaching from the left, intersecting the road that goes from the front edge to the back.
Here is a better view of what I'm trying to create. The main road that travels to the back of the scene will climb a short slope once it crosses the railroad, and curve to the right.
A birds eye view of our main road "Sullivan Ave". The cardboard square on the left, up the hill is the footprint for a RIX house kit that I want to place in that area. At this point I am also trying to resolve the parking lot arrangement for the diner. All to often modelers create parking areas (if at all) for businesses that are way to small. The end result the the scene look like a toy. If I can't make the diner and its parking layout in a believable way then it goes somewhere else.
Here is the house located further to the back with room for a driveway. This layout for the diner works better. It is not ideal but it is believable. the truck helps provide perspective on the necessary size of the parking area. Sullivan Ave also has been cut into the hillside and the drainage ditches along the railroad are also started.
The first coat of brown latex paint makes it easier to see the slope of the landform. I have the drainage ditches carved along the railroad and the driveway to the house has been cut into the hillside.
At this point I have glued down the thin plastic that will create the plug for the foundation of the gas station and the pump island. The foundation will fit down into the raised area.
Here is how it all fits. I will use Elmers wood filler to pave up to the plastic. Once it is painted and weathered, it will all blend in making the building look like it's mounted into the scene.
Paving of the asphalt areas has begun. I colored the wood filler with inexpensive gray acrylic paint. This way if it chips or cracks the light brown of the raw wood filler won't show.
