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Yes, making a lot of sense. The "cave" mouth looks fortified. Great work so far.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, I hope you intend to seal all that foam before painting it. Elmers glue, modpodge, or similar work really well for that.

Looking good man. I always wanted to make a railroad, but with my sons love of "choo-choos" I would always be fighting with him over the use of it.

I cant wait to see how this turns out. =D

Looking fantastic. Is the little ramp an indication of the width of the track?

@monkeytroll: Sounds like a plan! Or, I could just try and build a real gaming table...

@Warboss_Waaazag: Thanks. I was going for something like this (reinforced more than fortified, but I guess the distinction would be a very fine line, if at all!):



And thanks for the advice on the sealing, too. I covered with dry wall filler, and I'll use only acrylics on it, without can-spraying, so no melt-down risk here.

@GamesEtc: Thank you! I know the feeling, it's always hard to make the cubs understand that Dad's toys are not actual toys (At least, not for them to play with!)

@Cam: It is, HO scale. Small for 28mm, but it can pass by a narrow gauge...

Those track sections are - with a few honourable exceptions, including yours truly - some of the oldest things around the house, and it's about time they got put to use again!

Speaking of filler:



Still hasn't dried since last night, so no more work on it for now.

C&C are welcome, as always.

Thanks for stopping by.

looks very promising...and the hole even looks a tad menacing

I like the looks of this think it will turn out great

No, I think you've got it right. My words/your words, I think we mean the same thing. Your execution looks almost exactly like the upper left hand picture you posted.

A hand-vac is your best friend with that stuff. Or a shop-vac. How do you plan to make it durable?

I know, always questions...

@Vik: Thanks! Menacing, umm... I had planned a gate there (more of an entrance to an underground facility than a tunnel sort of way), but...

@DiDDe: Thank you, will try!

@Warboss_W: Glad it does, thank you. Yes, I was going for that, combined with the harder rock and stepper mountain side of the pics on the right, will have to see how that comes along...

@Red H: I did vacuum, and more than once! But those bits get charged and stick to everything, and keep coming back after cleaning up over and over! I think I'm done with them for the time being, so all is good!

Regarding durability, I've found the dry-wall filler cover quite enduring before, and the tall sides are walled in styrene. If needed, a polyurethane cover coat could add some extra protection against wear and chipping.

Ask away, asking questions is the proper way to wisdom ! (And the make me think, too, and - sometimes - good things come out of that too )

As said elsewhere, not much else done today, but at least got to lay down the track, and actually put it on theme:





And close ups on the entrance-to-be:





Thanks for stopping by.

With long drying times between layers and such, I did not get around to write up an update until now, but work has been getting done.

First step, added some rock textures:





(Beams, supports and such are only there holding the pieces together until the glue dried; they are not going to be part of the final build. Or they might...)

Closer up:





Next, the rocks got blended into the mountain-side (AKA, more filler, followed by more drying time):





And closer up again:





And mostly to give my poor little camera a break (the almost all white piece, light by workbench spotlights, was pushing it towards an impossible focus & unmanageable white-balance issue nervous breakdown) I laid down some colours on it too:



Ah, added a concrete guard-post/watchtower too, but I guess that was quite obvious by now.

(I'll be uploading and posting some other pics and close ups of the present stage ASAP)

The basic base (sounds odd, but that is what I actually meant) is about done, time to really get started on it now.

C&C are most welcome.

Thanks for stopping by.

Edited for miss-types.

Damn man, that's a hefty slice of progress there....

Good work, nice job with blending the bark in so far...intrigued to see what goes on in the little overhang

Ha, I did wonder at first, if those sticks were going to be part of the piece and then realised that they were glue supports. I often do the same sort of thing.

Good progress.

It's coming together!

@MT: , you noticed it? Now I will have to do something there, won't I?

@Dr H: Thanks. Actually, I never saw them as more than gluing help until the pics. Now, they don't that bad, and I'm regretting not having made provisions for some supports on that style. maybe I can throw some in somehow... At least, definitively saved for a later use, though.

@Warboss: Glad you approve. More to come.

Cheers.

All roads lead somewhere. Yup. And that brown. Fudge Icing?

Your workbench has an OSB surface? Ouch, splintery.

Progressing nicely.

guard tower looks nice... and I am waiting for a HW emplacement in that lil overhang now^^...

looks very good and using bark pieces is a rather interesting way of adding more rocky texture!

cool progress!

@Red H: The brown base will - hopefully - take a turn towards reds and tans in the future (though it already should be reddish, will have to work on that!)

OSB indeed, floor polyurethane topcoated. Not many loose splinters or chips to speak of, heavy duty, and very "damageable" without provoking guilt ridden conscience pangs.

@Vik: I was thinking shutters and/or vents, would that do it?

Seen from the other side:



And close ups yet again:





Content with the overall texture, lots of detailing and brush work pending... (And that's only the background!)

Cheers.

Fresh air??? I thought th there is only war in whatever millennium your thinking for this project...
But of course vents would be the better choice in terms of realism...

I'll make them small vents!

About to start on the main gate (Turns out it was an entrance of sorts, and not just a tunnel, after all), I decided to take a pot shot at some extra credit points, remembering this round added a new criteria:

 Red Harvest wrote:

... I would like to see contestants use materials in a way that require little or even no painting... .

So, giving it some thought, I came up with what I guess is somewhat the reverse of NMM; True Metal Metallics (Or, though less resounding, real rusted scrap).

First, had to find a suitable piece of properly - and very - rusted metal sheet. Rusted metal is not that hard to find when you have a scrapyard. Sorry, mistyped that. I meant a lot of (s)crap in the yard.

Once procured, cut to shape. Two main panels for the doors, and some side reinforcements. THIS is where rivets would come into play, some I had to add some to the gate. There was no way I was going to hole-punch some rivets from this stuff (You get to love styrene after working with actual metal, trust me). Instead, I embossed them on the reinforcement struts. By hand, hammer and an awl (Is that last one the right name for it?) Not perfectly aligned then, but close...

And put it together:



Closer look:



Not a single drop of paint on it! (Well, I did spray varnished some of it, but that was to prevent the rust from coming off)

C&C are welcome.

Cheers.

Cool bonus grabber there....and nice job with the embossed rivets

Thanks MT. When the going gets tough, every bit counts!

In between works on the gates, I applied the same concept to the tower top:



(Just placed on it for the pic, some more filing and forming to do before definitively fixing it on without gaps)

Thanks for stopping by.

Tower looks great. I love the metal plating.

Rust never sleeps. And I am impressed with that. Nice to see someone read my little post.

@Waaazag: Thanks, I think it came out all right, even if I say it myself

@Red H: Never hurts to know the rules! (Besides, what joy would we get from breaking following them if we didn't? )

Propped in placed, fitting check (needs adjusting, BTW):



Maybe a double-headed eagle on the gates before putting those in?

C&C are welcome.

Cheers.

I think the gates look good as is...leave them plain and rusty

Well LT you excelling again. Whole piece looks amazing, agree with monkey, leave them as is, they look amazing.

Agreed then, no artwork on the doors.

Gates definitively placed:



On a very hobby-wise unproductive day, I spent most of it just trying to get the hinges to match the door colours, and then fixing them to the walls. So much for my future as a building contractor...

(Noticed when taking the pics that one of the hinges brushes onto the frame and the paint rubbed off )

Just that for today, but hey, at least the door swing!

Cheers.

Opening doors too

And shouldn't worry too much about potential employment there....most building contractors are trying to cover up the rust, not colour match it

Looking great so far! Those pre-rusted doors are brilliant.