a all and welcome to another
long-awaited tutorial in this video I'll
be showing you how to create an amazing
and functional model railroad diorama
it could be a standalone diorama to
display your favorite models or it could
be part of our larger layer but in
either case whatever you decide to do
with the diorama like this it will
surely look absolutely fantastic and
amazed of your friends let's not waste
any more time and get started building
as with all model dioramas we'll need to
start with a base a wooden frame was
built using 11 millimeter by 42
millimeter pine which is glued clamped
and screwed together the top is made
using three millimeter plywood and it
too is glued and screwed for strength
after building the frame and testing for
rigidity I noticed there was a lot of
walk from side to side for a mostly
plaster model this is a bad thing so to
fix the problem I fitted two cross beams
from one corner to the other not just
will cut out and the cross beams get
glued and screwed into place
[Music]
now when I test for side-to-side
twisting the entire base is much more
rigid in order to know exactly how big I
can make the river I'll first need to
build the bridge this particular bridge
kit is from micro engineering and it's a
50 foot open deck girder bridge and just
like all other plastic model kits the
parts need to be removed from the sprue
tweezer style flush cutters like this to
a really good job of minimizing the
amount of sanding and filing that will
need to be done later and any seams or
excess plastic flashing is removed and
sanded back to assemble the model I use
an extra thin plastic cement and a small
brush to help get a more accurate
application of the glue before the glue
has fully set be sure to check that
everything is nice and square
the bridge feet are metal castings and
to glue them to the bridge I use some
gel super glue and carefully press them
into position on the bridge because
we've done a lot of sanding and filing
we'll need to wash the model before
painting in warm water with just a very
small drop of dish soap then once the
model has been dried we can start to
give it a coat of paint the bridge is
primed with Tamiya like race service
primer and after trying about three
hundred times to flip that can just for
that one shot I'd say that it's
thoroughly shaken the main color of the
bridge is created using some camo black
and blue gray from the scale modelers
supply these bottles are made from glass
I've decided to put them in the paint
shaker instead of trying to flip them
thoroughly to mix them it was about a
70/30 mix of blue gray to black which
gave me a nice dark gray color I like to
thin the paint right down so it sprays
smoothly however this means I need more
coats to build up the color but it also
gives me a lot more control and I'm much
less likely to accidentally apply it too
much paint now for the fun part
adding rust it's actually much easier
than it looks
using a piece of artist sponge I lightly
dab it in some Vallejo rust after
removing any excess paint gently press
the foam into the areas who want rust I
focus on the corners of the bridge
panels just remember to start lightly
and gradually build up the effect as
it's easy to overdo
next day is the brush with some more
Vallejo rust and apply the paint into
the corners and connect up some of the
rough spots to create larger areas of
rust you can also apply the paint to the
corner and use a fresh piece of sponge
to feather out the wet paint after it
has been applied to the model for
another type of effect
to add a second large shade of rust I
take an old brush and cut the bristles
to create short stiff bristles then with
the Vallejo light rust I lightly stipple
the color onto the larger areas of the
dark rust only a small amount is needed
and it's only applied in a few locations
on the model and only on top of areas of
the dark rust dirt and grime is added
with some weathering powders a mixture
of dark earth and concrete rust gave me
the color I liked these powders are
applied along any areas that may collect
dirt and dust specifically along any of
the riveted seams to build the bridge
abutments I've decided to use foam board
once the dimensions of the bridge are
taken I can design the abutments I'm
going for a simple cement design that
will make use of the texture from the
foam board all the parts to the abutment
are cut out and to remove the paper from
the surface of the foam I soak them in
warm water after a few minutes you
should be able to rub your finger along
the surface and you'll see the paper
start to peel away the structure gets
assembled with the epoxy glue
a bit of detail is added to the top of
the abutments with strict styrene which
is built up to the desired width by
adding two strips together ideally a
razor saw would be best to cut with but
all I had was a small hacksaw and along
with some sandpaper it got the job done
a sharp hobby knife does a good job of
carving out the finer details and
grooves in the styrene then once
everything is cut to size it gets glued
onto the abutments with epoxy it's
almost unavoidable that there will be
gaps but these are easily filled in with
plastic putty priming with Tamiya spray
is okay but just spray with the very
light thin coats most heavy duty spray
promise will chew through the foam if
you're not careful Tamiya seems to be
okay
and I didn't have any noticeable side
effects using this on the foam
but again just start with very light
thin coats of paint to paint on the base
colour for the bridge abutments I'm
using barley grain the concrete texture
is applied by using a makeup sponge torn
in half and lightly dab into various
shades of gray paint
it's then pressed onto the bridge
abutment until you get a nice buildup of
texture and color
a thin translucent layer of light gold
gray is applied over the top making sure
the texture underneath is still visible
[Music]
cracks are added with a mechanical
pencil and then the final step for these
bridge abutments is to add streaking
effects with some of the dark earth
weathering powder I try to simulate
streaking to indicate cement slab lines
I also added a very small amount of
desert yellow and an even smaller amount
of red earth powder a little powder goes
a very long way then finally to seal all
those weathering powders onto the bridge
abutments I give it a light coat of
scale-model as supply flat clear now
that we have our complete bridge we can
start to map out our River on the
plywood the mainland form is being built
up with expanded polystyrene mainly
because it cuts really well with the hot
wire foam factory tools and it's also
very light once the sheet is cut to size
I retrace the design onto the foam and
start cutting with the river section cut
out i roughly carve out the shape of the
embankment it will all be covered in
plaster soon so getting at looking
perfect isn't necessary at this stage
when it comes to gluing the foam to the
base board
I used irony it's easy to use and dries
fast which is perfect for projects like
this after about 30 minutes of being
weighed down I start to work on the rest
of the model
the train tracks are going to be
elevated on an embankment
so foam blocks are used to build up the
areas of the embankment
this is why working with foam is so easy
to install the bridge abutments all I
needed to do was trace out the shape of
the abutment onto the foam and then
using the hot knife just carve out the
shape until the abutment fits then once
you check for a good fit you can blend
in and surrounding foam with the rest of
the riverbanks the bridge was designed
to perfectly line up with the two layers
of 30 millimeter foam but for the track
to line up properly I'll need to raise
the bridge by the same amount as the
track Road bed this is easily done by
using small pieces of the road bed
underneath the bridge abutments the
abutments can now be glued down just be
sure to glue them with the bridge in
place so they don't move whilst the glue
sets and suddenly a bridge doesn't fit
anymore the track Road bed is hecho
scale from midwest products some pieces
may need some light sanding to get a
smooth edge the track centerline is
marked out and the first half of the
road bed is glued with hell Masuka tack
adhesive and pinned to the phone once
the first piece is down the second piece
is even easier to place just press it up
against the first piece and pin it down
whilst the glue sets
laying the track is a little more
challenging because we want it to line
up perfectly with the bridge track once
the track is being trimmed so that each
rail perfectly lines up with the bridge
piece I dab a small amount of superglue
on each tire where it touches the rail
for about nine or ten ties back from the
end that way when I handle the track to
follow the burr and then start to curve
the track around the bend it won't
disturb the alignment of the rails with
the bridge now it's simply a matter of
gluing the track down to the cork with
super tack adhesive or PVA glue
pins are used to hold the curve in place
and the track is weighed down with
bottles of paint
while the track is drying I continue to
build up the landforms on the embankment
using offcuts of foam and styro goo to
hold it down
[Music]
one of my favorite modeling materials to
work with is sculptor mold it's much
easier and cleaner to work with compared
to plaster cloth and it's extremely easy
to build up and create terrain small
hills embankments and it's also great
for dirt roads this is a pretty big
model so I'm going to need a lot of this
stuff it gets mixed to a thick paste and
applied over the entire model there's
really no right or wrong way to do this
just get it on and spread it round you
can shape up the riverbanks and create
small hills and gullies as you go also
try your best to avoid getting the
plaster onto the face of the bridge
abutments and the track
it can't be washed off but if it can be
avoided it makes life much easier as the
plaster begins to harden I continue to
smooth it out I have a rough idea of
where I want the road to go so I make
sure that those areas are smoothed out
as much as possible before the plaster
has completely cured
just keep working along until it's
completely covered and if you have a
helping hand it'll make the job go even
faster
any stray bits are promptly removed from
the abutments before they dry depending
on and how humid it is this stuff can
take ages to try so just keep that in
mind it can sometimes take four or more
days to dry if you can leave it in a
room that's relatively dry compared to
outside that'll help with the curing of
the plaster the rails are weathered with
hull red using the airbrush but before
painting I'll make sure to mask the
bridge abutments just remember that our
well shaken paint bottle gives you the
best result once the rails are done
weather the tires by first spraying a
mixture of three parts dark earth and
one part camouflage black when applying
this using the airbrush I make sure to
only apply it in a top-down direction
that way I avoid getting the dark brown
on these sides of the rails that we just
painted with the whole red individual
tiles are separately weathered with
various shades of brown and beige colors
from Vallejo again these colors are
sprayed in a top-down direction to avoid
getting the color on the sides of the
rail
before painting and adding dirt I sand
away any excess plaster from the edges
of the model
my color choice for painting the base
color is Joe Sonya's form it's a nice
brown that is a close match to the dirt
texture that I use the paint gets
diluted in water before being applied
and just remember to be careful when
painting around the bridge abutments
I've made a large variety of dirt
textures over the years they're all made
using real dirt sifted to various grades
and earth colored grouts have been added
the riverbank is first painted with
Vallejo Earth textured paint it's a
thick paste and works really well for
getting the dirt texture to stick to the
sides of the bank the dirt is liberally
applied across the bank and a soft brush
is used to mini plate and push the dirt
up and under the bank to reach the hard
spots and these small overhanging
sections of the Bank once the area is
completely covered I make sure to remove
any excess dirt from the riverbed before
moving on to the next step when it comes
to applying dirt over the rest of the
model I first brush on a layer of
diluted Mod Podge mat this will help the
dirt stick to the small hills gullies
and the embankment without first
applying the glue the dirt will tend to
slide down the hills and pile up at the
base with a good idea of where the road
will be I first apply my lighter beige
colored dirt mixture along the intended
path of the road the rest of the area is
covered with a darker brown mixture the
same color that was used to add the dirt
on to the riverbank for a rougher
texture you can sprinkle on some of the
coarser dirt that has larger rocks at it
it can be done before or after adding
the fine dirt layer however if working
on a hillside it helps to sprinkle the
larger stuff on first and then add the
fine dirt over the top that way the
larger stuff has a better chance of
sticking to the hill again before gluing
anything down I first clear the riverbed
of any loose dirt the glue I'm using is
a homemade mixture using one part Mod
Podge map and three parts water with a
few drops of dish soap however before
spraying the glue all over the place I
first mist the dirt with isopropyl
alcohol
this helps the glue soak into the dirt
better and gives a more permanent result
excess glue can be soaked up with a
paper towel and any areas of dirt that
we miss can be touched up by adding more
dirt whilst the glue is still wet just
be careful as the alcohol can soften the
acrylic paint making it more easily
scratched
now with the masking tape removed we
just wait for everything to dry creating
the illusion of depth in the river is
done by spraying some Vallejo black
brown mixed with a couple of drops of
Vallejo beige I mix the beige and the
black Brown to get a color that was
reasonably close to the dirt color I
used on the bank and then blended that
in with the sides
lastly I splayed the black brown on its
own focusing on the center sections of
the river to give it some simulated
depth
after another test fit of the bridge I
noticed one of the footings was causing
a slight wobble and not sitting flat
with a bit of sanding this was easily
corrected additionally the bridge track
ties were slightly thicker than the rest
of the track which caused the rails on
the bridge section to be about one
millimeter too high again with a small
amount of sanding I was able to get the
tops of the rails to match perfectly
once happy their bridge was glued down
with a few drops of super tack adhesive
before gluing the bridge track down I
need to scrape away a small amount of
paint from the main rails this makes it
easier to slide the track joiners onto
the rails with all of the joiners in
place I can glue the bridge track down
on top of the bridge and with everything
lined up I'm able to slide the track
joiners across both pieces of rail
creating a perfect joint now is a good
time to clean the top of the rails with
the track rubber and test the track with
their train to make sure everything runs
smoothly if you're using this to
actually run locomotives you'll need to
solder the track so there's a good
electrical join providing power as the
train rolls across the top of the bridge
the ballast I'm using for this model is
Matt's ballast from Australian modeler
it's a nice light gray with a good
variation of color application is pretty
straightforward I start with the center
of the track and apply the ballast the
soft brush is then used to spread the
ballast along the track keep spreading
it out until there's a good even
application and there are no loose bits
of ballast sitting on top of the ties
once the centre is done I move on to the
edges applying the ballast in basically
the same way
to fix the ballast I soaked it first
with isopropyl alcohol using an
eyedropper then apply the diluted Mod
Podge matte mixture we used earlier for
the death by applying the glue along the
rail you'll prevent the glue disturbing
and washing ballast away or creating
small craters from the droplets of glue
now we need some trees there are
literally hundreds of ways to make trees
for a model like this and on this
diorama I've used a few different
methods all of which I have videos for
describing the process the most detailed
trees are these where I used a
combination of natural twigs
Hecky sea foam woodland Scenic's coarse
turf and knock leaves for a complete
list of trees and how to make them check
out the full trees playlist at the time
of making this video there are 11 tree
tutorials there showing exactly how to
make these trees and many other types
there will also be a link in the
description to the playlist before
adding any scenery I start by planting
all of the trees onto the diorama I then
replace all of those trees with small
numbered Flags this means when it comes
to putting the trees back I'll be sure
that they all end up in the exact
position that they started in the reason
I go to all this trouble is so when I
start adding the static grass I'll know
exactly where not to apply the grass
typically grass doesn't grow much
underneath trees
in past videos you've seen me use my own
homemade static grass applicator you've
also seen me use the noch grass master
2.0 both of which are great however for
this video I'm using a brand new static
grass applicator that was sent to me
from woodland Scenic's called the static
King along with a range of their
products from the field grass system I
started by filling the static grass king
hopper with some seven millimeter medium
green static grass you can easily mix
colors to get shades of lighter or
darker grass which I ended up doing
later with a small amount of light rain
mixed with medium green once the
grounding pin is plugged in it can be
attached to this supplied metal anchor
however because I'm working on a large
area I'm simply using a piece of wire
that I can easily move along as I go the
static tack glue is randomly dubbed
across any areas I want grass applied
and then spread out with a brush the
static King is then turned on and held
about three to four centimeters above
the surface start shaking and watch the
magic happen right before your eyes
the applicator can be powered with a
cord plugged into the wall socket what
I'm doing is using it with a 9-volt
battery
static grass will typically stand at a
90-degree angle from the surface so to
get it pointing in the right direction
on steep hillsides you can use the
supplied comb to gently brush it upwards
on slopes whilst the glue is still wet
the field grass system offers a model
vac for collecting loose grass but due
to the size of the diorama and the area
I'm grassing I chose to use my vacuum
with a stocking attached to collect the
loose grass I keep working along until
the model is sufficiently covered you
can see in this shot that I've avoided
grassing areas directly under the trees
as indicated with the yellow flags I've
mostly used the seven millimeter grass
for this model but some small patches
over four millimeter grass was used
along the sections of dirt road the
train signal was nearly missed however
adding it later isn't too difficult the
hole for the signal wires was drilled
once the wires were threaded through the
hole some sculptor maldis used to build
up the ground around the signal and it's
blended in to look natural it gets
painted and while the paint is still wet
dirt is sprinkled over the top
extra ballast is also spread around and
the area is pre wet with alcohol and
then finally glued with the diluted Mod
Podge one of my favorite ground
coverings to use is crushed leaves
simply dry them out and put them in the
blender and once they're thoroughly
blended I sift them into a fine and a
coarse grade
I also use some of the woodland Scenic's
plant use flowering foliage and course
turfs mainly medium green and burnt
grass the blended leaves are spread out
all over the diorama with a focus on
bare patches of dirt and the areas where
trees will be placed I also use the leaf
mixture along the roadside as well the
larger blended leaf texture is used
mostly around the base of larger trees
course turf is pressed into areas of
grass and bare patches of dirt once all
the foams and dirt textures have been
added I make sure to remove any excess
from the road surface before gluing I
mask not only the tracks but also the
river bed as well as the bridge the
bridge abutments and the Train signal
the area is then mr. lightly with
isopropyl alcohol first and then the
diluted Mod Podge glue it only needs a
light misting but you may need a
slightly heavier application over the
areas of course foam just to make sure
it holds while the glue is wet I apply
some of the plant hues in spots and I
also apply some of the flowering foliage
as well the dirt road detail is added by
dusting over some yellow ochre paste or
using a hecho Scout vehicle will help
get the right distance between the wheel
tracks gradually build up the color
using a dry brush and feather it out
until you get a nice transition between
the edge of the road and the wheel
tracks the train tracks get weathered in
the same fashion using weathering
powders dark earth is initially used
both down the center of the track and
also along the edges of the ballast
the grimy black is only applied lightly
down the center of the tracks
now I can add some road signs these
signs are made using aluminium can and
signs printed on photo paper that get
glued to the aluminium styrene poles are
super glued to the back and painted
silver I make the poles longer than
needed so I can trim them if required
when they are installed for sides with
two poles I cut one pole to the height I
wanted the sign and the second pole is
left longer that way I only need to
drill one hole for their longer Pole and
the second pole sits on the surface all
the trees get returned to their original
positions and they are glued in
permanently with super tacky adhesive
any gaps around the base of the trunks
is filled over with the fine blended
leaves and glued in place smaller bushes
and shrubs are added with the woodland
Scenic's briar patch it's very similar
to the woodland Scenic's finally foliage
however it's much more heavily coated
with foliage and pieces need to be torn
off with a piece torn free I apply glue
to the lower branches and simply press
it onto the scenery in preparation for
the water effects I dam the river with
some masking tape that is trimmed to
size the edges have a bead of wood glue
applied to ensure there is a good seal
while the glue is drying I add some
details like protruding roots from the
roof bank using roots from actual bits
of grass they get glued with a drop of
glue at both ends to prevent the tiny
little roots from moving as the water
effects are added and a fallen tree is
added for good measure
before pouring the water I always make
sure that the surface that the diorama
is sitting on is nice and level I also
make sure to double-check that the
surface is clean and no stray bits of
foam or dirt remain my original plan was
to use polyurethane resin but after
testing a small batch I realized that it
gets very hot so much so that it melted
the cup that I tested it in so I decided
to use something with a lower thermal
reaction envirotec sleight works
exceptionally well and water-based
acrylic paint can be used to color it
it's mixed at a 50/50 ratio and stirred
thoroughly for about five minutes
I used a combination of murky water tint
and some Vallejo darks and just be very
careful that you don't add too much of
the acrylic paint or you'll be left with
a rubbery tacky river surface that never
fully cures I mixed up about 300 mils of
resin and used in total about six drops
of murky water tint and four drops of
the dark sand acrylic paint I pour the
resin down the center of the river and
it slowly works its way to the edges to
help the resin flow into tight spots and
around submerged details
I used a stick to push it around bubbles
are inevitable but they are easily
removed with their soldering torch just
be very careful that you don't set the
entire model on fire I make sure to
never hold the flame in one spot for
more than a quarter of a second and I'm
very careful to keep it away from the
phone covered trees they go up in
seconds if you can try to cover the
river as it cures to prevent dust from
settling on top once the river has had
at least 15 hours or so to cure I had
the final bit of detail to the river
surface by adding ripples my favorite
technique for this is applying a thin
layer of Mod Podge gloss and then using
the airbrush to create the ripple effect
for a slow-moving river this technique
is ideal for faster moving water using a
product like woodland Scenic's water
ripples might give a better result or
you could use a combination of both to
get our more dynamic effect and we're
finished this model took many hours to
build but with a final result like this
I think it was certainly worth the time
and effort
before I go I have to give a quick shout
out to Mike Walters a DCCC sound I was
having a few problems installing the DCC
decoder into this locomotive and after
sending it to Mike he is able to find
the fault in the light circuit and fix
the problem something I would have
really struggled to diagnose so if you
have a locomotive and want to add @ DCC
decoder and an awesome sound file or if
you want a professional to do it for you
be sure to visit his website at DCC
sound comm thanks for watching and if
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Cheers
and thanks for watching