Detailing the station scene

The last time I posted on this blog in mid September I was getting everything ready for a local show called Los Altos Train Days.   Both modules preformed well and everyone enjoyed our joint Peninsula Ntrak / AsiaNrail layout.  The operation of the AsiaNrail layout kept both Paul, myself, and our usual small crew of helpers very busy and I never did get a chance to take photos.  Again this year the show had nearly 3,000 visitors over 2 days.

Since then I've been turning more attention to construction of my home layout and my wife and I been doing a bit of traveling.

While I was finishing a few things on the Hot Springs Junction module back in September, I did get photos and will add a few new posts from those.  First up, the little scene around the station entrance.

In last June's post Finishing the stations scene - Part 1, I had attached the station with a couple of screws and needed to cover the real obvious one with some detail.

I considered the kiosk that came with the kit but decided that it would crowd the scene a bit.

TomyTec kit number 017 is one of their series of pre-painted little diorama kits.  This little food cart turned out to be just the thing to cover that screw.

I put two of the customers on stools at the cart counter and will use the table and benches at the Hot Springs Hotel.

The kiosk is a great little structure and I'm sure it will get used somewhere on one of my modules in the future.

This is how the station scene looked just prior to the Los Altos Train Days show.   The food cart fits nicely into the scene without crowding it.  Also added is one of the old 3 wheeled trucks that belongs to the food cart owner.

Here is a lower angle close up of the station entrance taken from the end of the module.  This module is supposed to be Showa era.   I think I have a bit of an era clash with the newer crown taxi so I'll be looking for an older style taxi.

Finishing the station scene - Part 2

After spending what hobby time I had in July completing the wiring and controls for this module, this month I'm back to finishing the area around the station.  With the platforms now secured to the module, it was time to install the foot bridge.  Remember from the post Building the Green Max foot bridge that I had made my own support columns so that they would be long enough to reach ground level while the stairs would end at the platform level.

I cut short sections of square tubing that the bridge columns would fit right into.  These were painted concrete color before being placed into square holes cut into the foam.  White glue does not react with the foam and it was placed around the square tubing sections to settle into the space around the tubing.

Here is an over head view showing how the foot bridge rest on the platforms.   While the two pairs of columns on the outside were attached to the module as shown above, the center pair was attached directly to the surface with E6000 adhesive as that area is on wood.

The plate on the bumper at the end of the station spur track was painted white and a black "X" decal was applied over the white background.  In this photo, the empty concrete footings for the foot bridge can be seen in the foreground.  I had intended to attach the foot bridge to the module but it fits so nicely just sitting in the footings, I now plan to have it removable for better access clean the tracks.

A bit of weathering

For weathering I use Bragdon's weathering powders in several different colors.  I use a small shorted bristle paint brush to work the power into the spots I want it to be applied and the larger brush for smoothing.

Here's the assembled scene with both the station and the foot bridge weathered.  The foot bridge got a bit more than the station building as I recall most of them I have seen in rural areas have had a deferred maintenance look to them.




The station area is now basically complete.  Later I will be adding some signs, people, and other details but for now I am going to move on to completing the river scenes.

Finishing the station scene - Part 1

With the station, the foot bridge, and the platforms all completed, it was time to bring it all together and finish the scene around the station.  They would all need to be properly mounted to the module.

As there is wood under the station, I mounted it with a pair of small flat head wood screws counter sunk into the base of the station.  I may cover this screw with the kiosk structure shown here or some other detail.

The platform on the station side of the track was attached to the module with the clear E6000 adhesive.

Before mounting the station, the tracks were painted and ballasted. Also a bumper made from scraps of rail and brass strip was installed at the end of the stub track.

It is important for the two platforms to be equal in height and their tops parallel to each other for the foot bridge to sit correctly.  I used a straight scrap of wood to align them.  The terrain in the foreground had to be built up a bit to support the 2nd platform..

Here the foot bridge is temporarily set in place on the platforms and a pair of rail cars set on the tracks to double check alignment of the platforms.

While there is still more to do to fully finish this scene, it is great to see it coming together after so much work.

Finishing the Green Max station

After adding the window glazing to the inside of the station building, the building and the outer walls got glued to the base.  Also a few figures were added to the scene.

I was happy with the results so far but was concerned that after the roof was put on the scene would be lost in the shadows so decided some lighting was needed.

I used 3 small surface mount LEDs to light the open areas under the station roof.  The inside of the station building is not lighted.  I used copper foil tape to create the contacts and built the whole assembly on the top of the ceiling before installing it.  The red and black 22 gauge were will go down through the building and module base.

So here is the finished station with the lights on.  Not too bright, just enough so the details show.  This station is now ready for the module.  Platforms will be needed and I am planning to scratch build or kit bash those to fit the space.

Stickers for the Green Max station

Japanese train models and building kits come with stickers, not decals as I have been used to working with.  At first I found these hard to work with but after repeated attempts and trying different techniques, I have been getting better results.  These stickers are colorful and add quite a bit of realism to the finished structure.

This is the set of stickers that came with the Green Max station kit.  In this set there are many of the types of signs you would expect to find around a train station plus some advertising signs.

After figuring out exactly where you want to place a sticker, it time to cut it out from the sheet.  I have found the best way to remove the selected sticker from the sheet is to use a straight edge and sharp hobby knife on a hard surface.  Press lightly so that only the thin sticker film is cut and not the backing paper.

The sticker film should then be peeled off using the tip of the hobby knife.

The back side of this particular set of stickers had a foil look to it.  Later an accidental scratch on the front of the sheet revealed the same foil look suggesting that this is a foil sticker.

To apply the sticker, orient the hobby knife so as to give the desired angle to best place the sticker on the model as shown in this photo.  In this case, there was a raised frame around the edges of the sign location so size and positioning was more critical.

Painting the small Green Max station

I found this photo on the Internet of one of these kits that had been completed and liked the colors used for the building and roof.

Here are some of the major parts after being painted.  I did keep close to the same color scheme but reversed the base and trim colors of the building using Floquil antique white for the walls and reefer white for the trim.



Floquil oxide red applied with an airbrush was used for the roof and I decided to give it a little more variety using engine black for the railings.  Not shown in the photo I used Floquil concrete for the base.  The base was already about the right color but I find that everything looks too plastic unless its painted so I paint nearly everything in an unpainted kit.

Realizing that it would be hard to reach many of the details after the building was fully assembled, I hand  painted those at this stage.

Next I'll be working on applying some colorful signage to this station.

Building a small Green Max station

Cold, wet weather has been keeping me from spending much time out in the garage where the work was on the foam insulation board scenery was taking place on the Hot Springs Junction Module.  As I also need a few structures for this module, I decided that it would be enjoyable to spend some indoor time building a nice Green Max structure kit.

Green Max #27 is very similar to many small train stations  that serve outlaying areas or secondary rail lines.

I picked up this kit at TamTam in Tokyo during my November 2011 trip.

The instructions for the Green Max kits are on the back of the box and are in Japanese.

The illustrations are good and use numbers that match the numbers on the spues.




Unlike the Green Max houses and Green Max stores where I made some modifications, I plan to build this one just as instructed.

The Green Max kits that I have assembled have always had very clean parts and never any flash that needed to be trimmed.

At the last train show I attended I finally purchased a proper spue cutter so my cuts on this one hopefully also wont need much trimming.

I used the base to align the station walls while gluing the walls together but will leave the base unglued as I plan to paint it separately   On these Green Max kits there is normally a lot of detail that needs to be hand painted after the structure is given a base color which is usually done with an air brush.



The way this building is laid out, I decided to leave two outer walls of the building loose so I could get to the details on the inner walls.

To be continued