Scenery
Scenic Base
After almost a year, I've slowly started to do the scenery. Very slowly. Glacially, in fact. After thinking about various methods I could use to cover ground, I've gone back to my old staple - aluminum window screen and Sculptamold. This is not the only way to do this, but it is one that I’m familiar with, and is easy to do. I only use the screen where I’m covering the openings caused by the elevation changes, or from the table surface to the sides. I lay the screen out how I think the slope of the land should look and staple it down. I also place objects, such as blocks of wood underneath the screen to cause hills, bumps, etc to be created. Those are removed after the coat of plaster is dry.
Following the directions on the bag, I mix the Sculptamold and use my hands or a common dinner fork to spread it over the screen. I try to vary the texture as I place it. It goes on in a fairly thick coat and dries completely within a day. When dry, the Sculptamold can be sanded, cut, and shaped. The screen has no problems holding its shape as the Sculptamold dries very hard.
Scenic Base (click to enlarge)
After almost a year, I've slowly started to do the scenery. Very slowly. Glacially, in fact. After thinking about various methods I could use to cover ground, I've gone back to my old staple - aluminum window screen and Sculptamold. This is not the only way to do this, but it is one that I’m familiar with, and is easy to do. I only use the screen where I’m covering the openings caused by the elevation changes, or from the table surface to the sides. I lay the screen out how I think the slope of the land should look and staple it down. I also place objects, such as blocks of wood underneath the screen to cause hills, bumps, etc to be created. Those are removed after the coat of plaster is dry.
Following the directions on the bag, I mix the Sculptamold and use my hands or a common dinner fork to spread it over the screen. I try to vary the texture as I place it. It goes on in a fairly thick coat and dries completely within a day. When dry, the Sculptamold can be sanded, cut, and shaped. The screen has no problems holding its shape as the Sculptamold dries very hard.
Scenic Base (click to enlarge)
 Scenic base is started |
 Sculptamold applied over screen |
 I test fit structures during this stage |
 Looks like an early snowstorm in Colorado! |
Rocks
For my rock outcroppings, I purchased several different Woodland scenic rock molds. I use the Sculptamold to cast these. These dry enough to handle within a ½ hour, so once I make about 6 of these, I’ll place them while drying another batch in the molds. To place them, simply “glue” them onto either bare screen with Sculptamold or place them over an area already covered with Sculptamold. I blend them in to the background and each other by manipulating the plaster with my fingers. To give the rock outcroppings variety, I often break the casts into smaller pieces or turn them at different angles. This keeps any repetitive rocks from appearing. To color the rocks I decided to try the black base and dry brush method on these. It worked well and you'll see the results in a few moments.
Rocks (click to enlarge)
For my rock outcroppings, I purchased several different Woodland scenic rock molds. I use the Sculptamold to cast these. These dry enough to handle within a ½ hour, so once I make about 6 of these, I’ll place them while drying another batch in the molds. To place them, simply “glue” them onto either bare screen with Sculptamold or place them over an area already covered with Sculptamold. I blend them in to the background and each other by manipulating the plaster with my fingers. To give the rock outcroppings variety, I often break the casts into smaller pieces or turn them at different angles. This keeps any repetitive rocks from appearing. To color the rocks I decided to try the black base and dry brush method on these. It worked well and you'll see the results in a few moments.
Rocks (click to enlarge)
 Rock base black color  |
 Rock base black color  Rocks after dry brushing with colors |
Turf
To make what I hope looks like realistic turf, I painted the base with latex interior paint from the "oops" section at a local hardware store that matched the approximate color I wanted. While it was wet, I sprinkled a sanded tile grout over it. Once dry, I wet this and using a static grass applicator, applied some 2mm tall fall colored grass. It looked good, but I also have added some 6mm grass to some areas to make it stand out a bit more in places.
Colorado has some nice wild flowers that grow throughout the year. The fields around the old Continental Divide Raceway were covered in wild sunflowers. I found that Busch H.O. Scale sunflowers are the perfect size for replicating these. They aren't cheap at $12 for 60 of them, but I like the way they look! They are made of plastic and are extremely easy to assemble. To install them, I just used a pin to poke a hole in the turf, put a dab of glue on the end of the stem and stuck them in.
Turf progress (click to enlarge)
To make what I hope looks like realistic turf, I painted the base with latex interior paint from the "oops" section at a local hardware store that matched the approximate color I wanted. While it was wet, I sprinkled a sanded tile grout over it. Once dry, I wet this and using a static grass applicator, applied some 2mm tall fall colored grass. It looked good, but I also have added some 6mm grass to some areas to make it stand out a bit more in places.
Colorado has some nice wild flowers that grow throughout the year. The fields around the old Continental Divide Raceway were covered in wild sunflowers. I found that Busch H.O. Scale sunflowers are the perfect size for replicating these. They aren't cheap at $12 for 60 of them, but I like the way they look! They are made of plastic and are extremely easy to assemble. To install them, I just used a pin to poke a hole in the turf, put a dab of glue on the end of the stem and stuck them in.
Turf progress (click to enlarge)
 Grass! Static grass feels like the hair on an old G.I. Joe doll! |
 Fall grasses at PDR |
 Wait...flowers on a racetrack...? |
Concrete Grandstands
You may have noticed these already in a few pictures, but my track is an homage to the old Continental Divide Raceway, I wanted something that was unique to it on my track. The concrete bleachers there are a perfect fit. I made these simply by stacking balsa wood and gluing them together. a quick wash with a brush, and it looked pretty close.
Grandstands (click to enlarge)
You may have noticed these already in a few pictures, but my track is an homage to the old Continental Divide Raceway, I wanted something that was unique to it on my track. The concrete bleachers there are a perfect fit. I made these simply by stacking balsa wood and gluing them together. a quick wash with a brush, and it looked pretty close.
Grandstands (click to enlarge)
 CDR Grandstands |
 PDR's slightly smaller version under construction |
 Grandstands painted and populated |
Trees
Colorado is a mixture of evergreen trees such as Pine, Fir, and Spuce as well as Aspen, and other deciduous trees. Most of the evergreen trees I've accumulated have come from eBay, where a group is selling these as a mission outreach from the Philippines. They are available in many sizes and really fill in the spaces nicely. While some have remarked on other forums that they seem simple and are not proper, I think they look great. The price per lot of these trees is very reasonable, and since the monies go to folks less fortunate than I, I hope that I'm helping them out.
As I am modeling the fall season, I wanted Aspens that were changing colors mixed in as well as a few large deciduous trees in fall colors towards the front of my layout to help give depth perspective to the track. I found my local railroad store had packages of 10 or so Aspens and 2 large (11" or so) fall trees. The trunks on these appear to be made from sagebrush and have canopy stretched over them with the fall colors applied. I really think they look great.
Planting trees is easy - drill or poke a hole in the ground and simply use a craft glue to set them. I use Modge-Podge glue most often and it dries clear so it cannot be seen.
Trees (click to enlarge)
Colorado is a mixture of evergreen trees such as Pine, Fir, and Spuce as well as Aspen, and other deciduous trees. Most of the evergreen trees I've accumulated have come from eBay, where a group is selling these as a mission outreach from the Philippines. They are available in many sizes and really fill in the spaces nicely. While some have remarked on other forums that they seem simple and are not proper, I think they look great. The price per lot of these trees is very reasonable, and since the monies go to folks less fortunate than I, I hope that I'm helping them out.
As I am modeling the fall season, I wanted Aspens that were changing colors mixed in as well as a few large deciduous trees in fall colors towards the front of my layout to help give depth perspective to the track. I found my local railroad store had packages of 10 or so Aspens and 2 large (11" or so) fall trees. The trunks on these appear to be made from sagebrush and have canopy stretched over them with the fall colors applied. I really think they look great.
Planting trees is easy - drill or poke a hole in the ground and simply use a craft glue to set them. I use Modge-Podge glue most often and it dries clear so it cannot be seen.
Trees (click to enlarge)
 Fall in the Rockies! |
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 Two of these large trees will soon grace this part of the layout |
 Small stand of Fir trees |
Figures
I'm a bit of a realist...even though I'm playing with small cars. I like figures that are reasonably scale and look like a person. With a layout this size, I need a large number of figures so that it doesn't look like an abandoned race track after a zombie apocalypse. For track officials, I'm using the Revell Monogram sets as well as their great pit crews. I've picked up two of the MRRC news crew sets that will eventually get painted like ABC folks. I'd started with the Scalextric spectator figures but found them to be over-scale and not very well done. I switched over to the newer Carrera ones but they are extremely expensive and repetitive in their painting. I found numerous sellers on eBay that have a reasonable number of figures you can buy in bulk both painted and non-painted. I picked up 130 pre-painted figures for under $100 shipped. Multiple poses are available, and some children are included. In the lot I purchased, there were 10 girls about 4 years old with pigtails clutching a teddy bear. Not on my layout! To the trash with those. The rest of the poses were just fine though. If I had to pick nits, the paint jobs these came with are not very good but are reasonably realistic for the tiny cars screaming by. I'll be repainting some to break up the crowd and make it a tad more diverse as 90% of them have black hair. The last issue with the paint jobs is that there is no detail on the faces - again, not too much of a big deal, but I think the next order I place will be for the unpainted figures - I can do those while watching a movie some evening.
I'm a bit of a realist...even though I'm playing with small cars. I like figures that are reasonably scale and look like a person. With a layout this size, I need a large number of figures so that it doesn't look like an abandoned race track after a zombie apocalypse. For track officials, I'm using the Revell Monogram sets as well as their great pit crews. I've picked up two of the MRRC news crew sets that will eventually get painted like ABC folks. I'd started with the Scalextric spectator figures but found them to be over-scale and not very well done. I switched over to the newer Carrera ones but they are extremely expensive and repetitive in their painting. I found numerous sellers on eBay that have a reasonable number of figures you can buy in bulk both painted and non-painted. I picked up 130 pre-painted figures for under $100 shipped. Multiple poses are available, and some children are included. In the lot I purchased, there were 10 girls about 4 years old with pigtails clutching a teddy bear. Not on my layout! To the trash with those. The rest of the poses were just fine though. If I had to pick nits, the paint jobs these came with are not very good but are reasonably realistic for the tiny cars screaming by. I'll be repainting some to break up the crowd and make it a tad more diverse as 90% of them have black hair. The last issue with the paint jobs is that there is no detail on the faces - again, not too much of a big deal, but I think the next order I place will be for the unpainted figures - I can do those while watching a movie some evening.
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Pit Lane
Since re-routing the front stretch that includes the pit area and the start/finish line, I've done some scenic work. Mind you, it isn't done, and probably never will be, however I'm pleased with the outcome.
Since re-routing the front stretch that includes the pit area and the start/finish line, I've done some scenic work. Mind you, it isn't done, and probably never will be, however I'm pleased with the outcome.
 Jim Hall's pits are busy  More weathering and a temporary guardrail installed on the left. Pesky drivers keep trying to slide into the Canyon of Doom! |
 Lots of action  I used some heavy duty, self-stick numbers for the grid. |
 Tirebird done for the day and heading for the paddock |
 It broke! |
Footbridge
I needed a footbridge for the spectators to get from one side of the track to the grandstands. Made of balsa wood, I still have hand railings to build. My daughter painted the figures for me.
I needed a footbridge for the spectators to get from one side of the track to the grandstands. Made of balsa wood, I still have hand railings to build. My daughter painted the figures for me.
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Flags
No track is complete without flags. As you can see on the footbridge above, I made some larger ones from styrene that has been melted to give the effect of it rippling in the breeze. Here's how I did it:
No track is complete without flags. As you can see on the footbridge above, I made some larger ones from styrene that has been melted to give the effect of it rippling in the breeze. Here's how I did it:
 Start by gluing a piece of thin styrene plastic to a tube.  These are for my pit structures. |
 Using a candle (scent of your choice!), carefully heat the plastic until it starts to move.  And here they are painted and installed. Simple! |
 As you can see, it will curl if you hold it long enough. |
 When you get the shape you like, simply remove from the heat. |
Fuel Truck
No track is complete without a fuel truck, and at the PDR, all fuel is delivered by a local petroleum company; Chief Petroleum.
I started off with a First Gear fuel truck from eBay that was a blem. I paid under $20 with shipping. After a few quick coats of primer and white paint, I added some home-made decals of their logo, weathered it a little bit, and voila! A new truck that fits the era of the track.
No track is complete without a fuel truck, and at the PDR, all fuel is delivered by a local petroleum company; Chief Petroleum.
I started off with a First Gear fuel truck from eBay that was a blem. I paid under $20 with shipping. After a few quick coats of primer and white paint, I added some home-made decals of their logo, weathered it a little bit, and voila! A new truck that fits the era of the track.
 Start with one First Gear fuel truck! |
 Some Duplicolor automotive white paint... |
 ...and the boys from Chief Petroleum are ready to get Mr. Penske's car on the track. |
 Looks right at home on the PDR! |
Utility Poles
Now that scenery is moving along, I am starting to go back and "fill in" areas with things that have always been on the plans, just not done. I decided that PDR needed some utilities in order to power the track PA system, the eventual snack bar, etc. I started with some 1/4" dowel cut to 30 scale feet in height, added some balsa wood cross beams, some ladder steps made from standard staples and used some green clear beads as the insulators. A little stain and weathering and they look pretty good. I'm not going to wire them across the track as that would just make marshaling cars too difficult. They look pretty good as is in my eyes. I used two 1/8" dowels as the speaker poles, only about 20 scale feet in height and then attached thread and glued some triangular flags to them. I made the flags by cutting triangles of styrene and holding them over a candle until they furled a little before painting them. I think they look pretty period correct from the pictures I've researched.
Now that scenery is moving along, I am starting to go back and "fill in" areas with things that have always been on the plans, just not done. I decided that PDR needed some utilities in order to power the track PA system, the eventual snack bar, etc. I started with some 1/4" dowel cut to 30 scale feet in height, added some balsa wood cross beams, some ladder steps made from standard staples and used some green clear beads as the insulators. A little stain and weathering and they look pretty good. I'm not going to wire them across the track as that would just make marshaling cars too difficult. They look pretty good as is in my eyes. I used two 1/8" dowels as the speaker poles, only about 20 scale feet in height and then attached thread and glued some triangular flags to them. I made the flags by cutting triangles of styrene and holding them over a candle until they furled a little before painting them. I think they look pretty period correct from the pictures I've researched.
 Poles ready for installation! |
 Good scale size. |
 Great place to hang the flags! |
Sponsor Signs
What track is complete without some signs promoting products at a race? Sticking with my desire to pay homage to some local businesses, I have added a few - most notably, Chief Petroleum Kerosene, Celebrity Sports Center (they had a slot car track at one time!), and Red Top Hamburgers. Great family owned place with HUGE burgers. Sadly, Red Top went under in 2012 and Celebrity has been gone much longer. I also added a few automotive related ones. All of these were printed on standard paper with an inkjet printer, glued to picture matting, and then cut and mounted to supports. I've weathered them slightly as they've probably been there all racing season. Home Racing World is of course my homage to my slot car "hangout" on the web.
What track is complete without some signs promoting products at a race? Sticking with my desire to pay homage to some local businesses, I have added a few - most notably, Chief Petroleum Kerosene, Celebrity Sports Center (they had a slot car track at one time!), and Red Top Hamburgers. Great family owned place with HUGE burgers. Sadly, Red Top went under in 2012 and Celebrity has been gone much longer. I also added a few automotive related ones. All of these were printed on standard paper with an inkjet printer, glued to picture matting, and then cut and mounted to supports. I've weathered them slightly as they've probably been there all racing season. Home Racing World is of course my homage to my slot car "hangout" on the web.
 Sponsors |
 More... |
 Hmm...where have I seen that before...? |
 And still more... |
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Concession Stand
Finally! After two years of complaining, the little people now have a place to eat. The original CDR had a building that I believe was the concession stand to the north of the concrete grandstands. I've always wanted to replicate something along those lines. Sadly, I've only got 1 picture of the building and it is from a distance, so I've had to "guess" at most of it. Since the track is an homage and not a full replica, I figure that the ghosts of tracks past would be alright with that.
I started by scoring some concrete 4x4' grid lines in styrene and after a quick wash with several colors, I glued it into place and added Sculptamold and turf to the area. I purposefully added dirt and weathering to the pad to make it blend in with the surrounding area. The building is constructed out of styrene with Plastruct lap siding laid over it. The windows were simply boxed and have clear plastic added to them. The dutch door idea I "borrowed" from my friend Brad K's layout...although like everything he does, his is better... The roof is corrugated styrene, and I'm still not completely convinced that I'm in love with it. I wanted the building to look simple like the original picture, but wonder if it is too simple. I'll let it sit for awhile and think about it.
The signage is all printed out on my trusty ink-jet printer and glued to picture matte for depth. The RC Cola them falls perfectly into the track's official colors of white and blue, so that was a natural for the stand. The side of the stand has a small shelf with condiments and napkins for the patron's use. Those were made out of wire in the case of the mustard and ketchup containers and simple block of styrene for the napkin dispenser. The last thing that is bugging me is that the stand has no interior. I may rectify that at some point as well. We'll see how motivated I am to do that.
The picnic tables and benches are all simple styrene builds. The phone booth is a reproduction part off of eBay from an old Marx play set. It comes very plain, but paint and a plastic door I built for it bring it to life.
Now, off to get a burger at the stand while I think about the rest of the scenery...
Finally! After two years of complaining, the little people now have a place to eat. The original CDR had a building that I believe was the concession stand to the north of the concrete grandstands. I've always wanted to replicate something along those lines. Sadly, I've only got 1 picture of the building and it is from a distance, so I've had to "guess" at most of it. Since the track is an homage and not a full replica, I figure that the ghosts of tracks past would be alright with that.
I started by scoring some concrete 4x4' grid lines in styrene and after a quick wash with several colors, I glued it into place and added Sculptamold and turf to the area. I purposefully added dirt and weathering to the pad to make it blend in with the surrounding area. The building is constructed out of styrene with Plastruct lap siding laid over it. The windows were simply boxed and have clear plastic added to them. The dutch door idea I "borrowed" from my friend Brad K's layout...although like everything he does, his is better... The roof is corrugated styrene, and I'm still not completely convinced that I'm in love with it. I wanted the building to look simple like the original picture, but wonder if it is too simple. I'll let it sit for awhile and think about it.
The signage is all printed out on my trusty ink-jet printer and glued to picture matte for depth. The RC Cola them falls perfectly into the track's official colors of white and blue, so that was a natural for the stand. The side of the stand has a small shelf with condiments and napkins for the patron's use. Those were made out of wire in the case of the mustard and ketchup containers and simple block of styrene for the napkin dispenser. The last thing that is bugging me is that the stand has no interior. I may rectify that at some point as well. We'll see how motivated I am to do that.
The picnic tables and benches are all simple styrene builds. The phone booth is a reproduction part off of eBay from an old Marx play set. It comes very plain, but paint and a plastic door I built for it bring it to life.
Now, off to get a burger at the stand while I think about the rest of the scenery...
 The only picture I have of what I assume to be the concession stand at the old CDR.  I added a new fence section to this side and if you look hard, you'll notice that the concession workers have opened the side window to get some air in. |
 My attempt to at least capture the feeling of the original CDR. At least it looks busy today!  An overview of the concessions. |
 A little plain on the backside. Still need to do some detailing to bring it to life on this side.  |
 A closer view of the phone booth. BTW, who picks up the trash around here? Slacker-type of work going on.  |
So, that's where I'm at on the PDR at the moment. I hope you've found this journey interesting!