Back to it !

So after the great Sunday modelling event, Model Railways for a Day convention, Scooter and I thought we'd complete a couple of the spare left over diorama modules. Scooter grabbed his and I'll play with the remaining two. So today I took them down to the club and started.

All I have done today on these two small modules is to carve them up with a box cutter knife a bit and glue a couple of small bits in place and a quick rasp over with my Surform tools. More on Saturday I think. Here are the before shots of the two small modules:

And here are the after shots from today of the small modules:

I will also fully complete the two large foam modules I used to show both Extruded foam and Expanded foam to the punters last Sunday. The Extruded foam is the yellow one here and the blue foam is the Expanded type. I have decided that the yellow Extruded foam module will be for a dual track mainline N Scale scene and the blue Expanded foam module will be a single track HO Scale line.

So the first of these modules worked on today was the Extruded foam one. Out with a box cutter and I shaped it up a lot as well as hoeing into it with the 150 mm and the 65 mm Surform tools. This gave me the rough shape I wanted. Here is the before and after shaping shots.

A quick check that 2 N scale tracks will fit properly in the right of way showed I was ready for the next step - putting up the gaps and making a few mounds to add to the shape of the hills. 

I mixed up my usual Vermiculite and Gap Filler mix with just enough brown kiddies acrylic paint for colour - Burnt Umber. 

With the help of  a paint scraper and my trusty artists spatula, the goop went into place and completed the hills nicely in my view. The module was then put aside for a while while I got into the Expanded foam module.

First up I used my rasps to shape the hills on this Expanded blue foam module to the way I wanted them. It is much easier shaping this Expanded foam compared to the Extruded which is a much tougher type of foam. 

So once the shape was right I then got out some cork for the base of the track and glued it down with Liquid Nails.

The Vermiculite goop was still viable, so a touch of water to keep it at the right texture and a pile of it got put to good use on this blue module. I didn't need too much patching, just enough to cover up any visible joins between sheets of foam and to add a smooth patch here and there as well as some small mounds. Filleting in the hills to the flats was also done.

With all the Vermiculite goop used up it was time to make another goop mix for use on both modules. This time it was the same mix but without any Vermiculite added. This will seal the foam yet leave a rubbery type film over it all that keeps it all together and can be modified with a knife later on if needed.

So in the end we have sealed modules in both cases, which were put aside to be worked on another day when they have dried - maybe Saturday I might be inclined to do some more work in between drinking coffee and gas-bagging with the fellas at the club..

Auf Wiedersehen.