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NorthGeorgiaWX

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Blog Entries posted by NorthGeorgiaWX

  1. NorthGeorgiaWX
    They are still working on the garage but things are moving along nicely. They finished up the woodwork today. The trim for the wainscoting is up and the shoe moulding is down on the floor. Other than paint and getting the vanity for the sink, it's just about done. I have pictures and neon and things to go on the walls, so I just need to get some paint in there! In that box on the floor is a new air hose reel that will go inside of the little closet on the right hand wall. I'm going to make a hole on the wall for the air hose to stick through, so the reel and compressor will all be hidden.

     
    The painters will have to go over some of the trim again since I changed the color after they got started. You can see the lighter color trim on the closet doors versus the newer darker color on the refrigerator door trim as well as the trim around the opening. All of the doors and the rest of the trim (including windows and the garage doors on the inside) still need to be painted. 

     
    You can see the red color that the walls will be painted (Sherwin-Williams "Real Red"). They had to paint a strip of red before they put the wainscoting trim on, so that's why there is only a little bit at the moment.

     
    The ceiling will be the blue color on the far left in this image. It's almost black. (Sherwin-Williams "In the Navy")

     
    We're still waiting to get the vanity and sink, it's been ordered for a couple of months now. 




     
    The trim around the garage doors still has to be painted as well as this side of the actual doors. 

     
    Next Post:
     
  2. NorthGeorgiaWX

    Garage Update - 12/20/21

    By NorthGeorgiaWX,


    Car
    More progress made today and they may be finished painting tomorrow 🤞
    The ceiling is done. They need to go back and recut the red in a few places, and there are a few spots of ceiling paint on the wall that they will touch up. The louvered door that covers the refrigerator went back on this morning. 
    The garage door side is the focus now and they made good progress on that today. The paint wasn't dry when I snapped this picture, but you can see some drier areas on the left door. All of the trim around the doors will be painted that same color. You can click to enlarge any image.

     
    Here's the opposite wall. The trim and ceiling are darker than they look in the picture. 

     
    This wall is pretty much done except for a few minor touch ups.

     
    This picture is not in focus. The camera was having a hard time focusing on the red wall and I should have fixed that, but hey... it is what it is. They still have some trim paint to do on this wall, the door needs to be painted, and some cut in work on the red, but almost done. You can also see where the vanity and sink will go back in. I need to call them to see when it might ship. I ordered that in October and I think it was a 12-14 week lead time... it should be about done. 

     
    You can see the blue in the ceiling color even though the camera doesn't show it exactly like your eyes see it. 

     
    The garage door wall should look great once the doors and trim are finished.

     
     
  3. NorthGeorgiaWX

    Garage Update - 12/25/21

    By NorthGeorgiaWX,


    Car
    Finally, the paint is done! They will come back after the first of the year to touch up any areas I might find, but otherwise it's done. I'm extremely happy with the way it turned out. 
    I'm still waiting on the vanity and sink to arrive and the blinds (they will be black) for the windows have been ordered and should arrive the second week of January. I have found a new toolbox to replace the old red one I have. I needed a small workspace in addition to the storage for tools, and this box fits the bill. I think I'll stain the wood on the top to something darker but otherwise, this will work perfect

     
    I still have more to put on the walls, but I need to think that out before I make a bunch of holes. 
     








     
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  4. NorthGeorgiaWX
    The Eagle has landed!
    I placed the order in October for the vanity and it finally arrived yesterday, Glenn has already started the work to install it. I will be installing a spigot for a hose on the left side of the vanity so I can have hot water for washing the cars. On the right side, I will have a hole in the wall for the air hose. I had Bruce Jankowski install an electrical outlet in the closet (that door to the left) and I now have my air compressor in the closet. Not only is it much quieter, but it is also hidden from view. Now the only thing you'll see is the hose sticking out out of the wall.


     
    The sink. 

     
    This new air hose reel will be mounted to the floor in the closet just like you see it here. Once it's installed, I'll adjust the black hose stop so that only a little bit of the hose sticks out.

     


     
    Almost done. This was the last major piece to install. I did talk to Bruce about possibly installing some lights in the recessed area that use to be storage, so we may do that at some point, but otherwise this will complete it. 
    Next post:
     
  5. NorthGeorgiaWX

    Christmas Village Diorama - Part 7

    By NorthGeorgiaWX,


    Christmas Diorama
    10/16/16 - Working on The Park
    These images in this particular gallery don't necessarily appear in the proper order of assembly but you'll get the idea...
    Spent time today working on the Park feature. It's right in the front of the layout so I wanted it to look as good as I know how to make it, which at this point, probably isn't all that good. 🙂 I kept putting it off simply because I wasn't sure how I wanted it to look. I'm not sure why I have that fear... maybe it's just because this is all new to me and I don't want to screw it up at this point, I don't know.  So I went ahead and forced myself to jump right in and it seemed to have gone pretty well. 
    I added a stone wall around the perimeter of the park and I still need to go back and black wash some of the sections where I joined the pieces of wall together with plaster. I use a stone grey paint to paint them, and once that dries I go back and use some diluted black paint over the top. The black "wash" runs into the cracks between the rocks and gives them definition, and makes them look more like rocks. I've ordered more stone wall for the other side of the park so I can't get it all completed until that comes in. I will be adding a small Christmas tree to the center of the park as well as a bonfire with people standing around. Details make the difference. 
    Once I get the landscaping done, I'll then go back over everything with snow and cover it all up. It's almost ashamed to cover up my landscaping but hey... it is suppose to be winter time! 
    Filling the pond with water is coming along but it's a slow process. I actually tilted the whole diorama today to get more water in places where I don't have it right now. I'll keep tilting in different directions until it fills up like I want it, and then I'll then go back over it with a some white tint to make it look frozen. I do have HO scale figures that will be skating on the frozen pond. 🙂
    I hope to have my street lights plugged back up today as well. I had three lights connected to one junction connector and when I unplugged the one street light to replace it, the wires for the other two street lights came out as well. These wires are SO tiny you can hardly see them, so it takes me a while to get them back in the holes. 
    Since there are a lot of images, I've added those in this album:
     
     
    Wow... can't believe how much I've gotten done today, I'm getting pretty close to being finished! Today I managed to get pretty much all the snow down on everything except the road and park. All of the structures got "snowed in" so you can no longer see the base of the building, it's all blended in by snow. The park got a light dusting of snow but I need to wait until the pond is done before I finish that part. I can start adding certain figures to the layout, I just need to decide where I want them to go. I haven't decided if I'm going to have a vehicle or not, I'm back and forth about that right now.
    So, what's left?
    I'll try to get the three street lights hooked back up later today (done) Install the  4 trees and some stone wall pieces I ordered today Finish the pond Snow in the park/road/detail Add figures  Next Post:
     
     
  6. NorthGeorgiaWX

    Christmas Village Diorama - Part 10

    By NorthGeorgiaWX,


    Christmas Diorama
    10/21/16 - The Home Stretch
    Just a few items left to finish up before it's done. 
    The two main items to finish are the pond and park area, and the outside edge of the entire diorama.
    I have covered the front and part of the sides with 1/4" thick pieces of sheet foam as well as adding handles on the sides to help in carrying it around.
    The foam was glued tot he sides and hopefully today (Saturday) I will get it painted. I'm going with a dark forest green color, I think the dark color will help in taking your eyes to the layout. I want the sides to fade away so that they aren't really noticed. 
    I added the "ice" to the pond yesterday. I think I'll go back over it one more time today with just a little bit more white pigment. It looks icy right now, but not thick enough to skate on, it needs to look "thicker". After I add that layer and it dries, I'll lightly dust it with snow and it should give me the look I'm after. Before I do the snow dusting I'll go ahead and add the skaters. I have 7 little people with ice skates, and I think I'll have 4-5 on the pond with a couple standing at the edge watching. 
    I added a little pile of wood for a campfire and have a few people standing around it. I have a plan to make the fire look like a fire, but it probably won't happen on this first go around. Woodland Scenic's makes some "Just Plug" nano LED's that flash. My plan is to drill a hole underneath the pile of wood, and secure the LED's about 1/2" below the surface. I would then cover the hole with a flat piece of foam with a small hole that's maybe 1/8" and put the wood back on top. If the plan works, the flashing LED's would appear to be coming from the wood and the random flashing would look like fire. We'll see. 🙂
    Once the water part is done, I'll go back and add more snow all around the edges of the pond as well as the rest of the park, right now there isn't much there and it looks a little out of place with the rest of the diorama. 

     
    I also took some random pictures today. Since I'm been moving the diorama around, some of my little people that haven't been glued down have fallen over. 🙂 They'll just have to lay there until the end. 
    Also, I would not use these fall deciduous trees on a winter layout again, and at some point I will replace them with trees that I've made. These were pre made using a poly fiber product that is like a carpet. When I added the snow and Scenic Cement, it made the poly fiber sag once it was wet. To me, they just don't look like real trees.  Next time I'll buy the armatures (the woody part of the tree) and glue my own "leaves" on the branches. I've already got a stack of these armatures so it's just a matter of getting some fall foliage to glue on them. It's kind of funny, but when I got started I decided NOT to make trees and just go the easy route and buy the pre-made trees. And don't get me wrong, there are different levels of pre-made trees and some are very nice, but also very expensive. I think you are better off buying pre-made evergreen trees due to the density of the plant material. There are also varying levels of quality for these trees as well, and I have about 3-4 different qualities on this layout.
    If you ever decide to try to build a diorama, you'll find yourself doing more and more from scratch instead of using the pre-made materials, trying to make it look as realistic as possible. 
    Pictures are in this album.
     
     
    Next post:
     
  7. NorthGeorgiaWX

    Christmas Village Diorama - Part 11

    By NorthGeorgiaWX,


    Christmas Diorama
    10/22/16 - Close now
    Today I painted the foam surround, or the sides of the base of the diorama. Now your eyes focus on the diorama because you're not distracted by the ugliness of the unfinished surfaced. 
    I added more white tint to the pond and I think I'm done with that feature. Once the water dries (tomorrow) I'll finish the landscaping and snow around the pond and add the skaters. In the end it will get a light dusting of snow, but that will wait until after the skaters are added. 




     
    Next post:
     
  8. NorthGeorgiaWX

    Christmas Village Diorama - Part 12

    By NorthGeorgiaWX,


    Christmas Diorama
    10/23/16 - Well... is it done?
    Well, added the last coat of paint to the front of the base, glued down all the little people, added the skaters to the pond, finished the snow around the pond.... there really isn't much left to do. 🙂 I will go back and add more snow to the fall colored deciduous  trees and I'm still waiting on the rock wall to arrive so I can finish the left side of the park. 
    The night pictures don't really do it justice, I need a better camera to capture that. I may even try my GoPro in low light mode to see how those images look. If you click on an image, they will display larger and you can go through them one at a time.
    Lots of pictures in this album.
     
     
     
  9. NorthGeorgiaWX
    I decided to combine October 27, 29, and 30 into one post.
    -----------------------------
    10/27/16 - More Changes
    I've decided to pull up the deciduous trees. I originally wanted to go for a late fall/early winter type of look, but that just isn't going to work with this winter layout.
    I have ordered new tree armatures so I can make 5 (5-7" tall) new deciduous trees with no leaves. It will be more fitting to the winter look of the diorama. I should have those early next week and it will take me an evening to get the trees formed and to add "snow" to them. It's a pretty simple process to pull the old ones up and glue the new ones back in place, and it really doesn't mess up anything. Once I get them back in I'll re-snow around them and you'll never know anything happened. 
    I did get the remainder of the stone wall in for the park, and I got that painted and installed. I also went back and re-snowed the entire layout, but mostly focusing on those areas that didn't have much snow to start with, and I really think that it looks much better now. 
    I also have a few more people on the way that are three older couples in coats (click on image), and I'll place them on the sidewalks once they arrive. 

    I'm still seriously considering adding a "Just Plug" car to the scene. The Just Plug vehicles have working lights and would be a great addition to the diorama. All of their current vehicles are generally from the 1940's to 1950's era and I'd really like a vehicle a little older, so we'll see. (2323 Note - I added three cars to the scene)
    I'll have some additional images that will reflect all of the recent changes once I change the trees out.

    10/29/16 - Making trees
    The tree armatures arrived today, so while I was sitting around watching a football game, I decided to make and paint the trees. 
     
    The Woodland Scenic's armatures came in a package of 12 and are 5-7" tall and they come flat in the package. I used Woodland Scenic's Flex Paste to add snow to the trees after I twisted and bent the branches into shape. I'll lightly spray them with Scenic Cement and dust them with the fake snow just to add more texture to the Flex Paste. The bases don't get used as the armatures have pins on the bottom that I can just press into the plaster, but they are a great way to hold the trees while they dry. If you were actually making these deciduous trees, the stands would be great for holding the trees after adding the leafy material. These trees are going to be a better fit for the rest of the layout versus the fall colored deciduous trees. 
    The six little old people arrived with the trees, so those will get glued down tomorrow along with the trees. More pictures then.
    10/30/16 - Done?
    Other than gluing down 2-3 little people and re-dusting with snow... I declare this thing done. 🙂
    Leafless deciduous trees were added last night along with a 4 little people, so there really isn't much left to do! I'm sure I'll nitpick little things along the way,  but everything that I wanted to do has been done. I would like to do something different with the bonfire (I need flames) and still considering adding a vehicle. I'd love to find a horse pulling a sleigh but I've come up empty handed so far. I still need to glue down two more people.
    It's been a fun project. I had no clue what I was getting into when I started and I've learned a lot along the way.
    I've had people ask me how much did it cost to build this. A lot! 🙂 I still have materials left over and I initially had to buy some tools, but I've spent more than $600 from Woodland Scenic alone. Granted, most all of the products and accessories I used came from Woodland Scenic, so it was the majority of the build. But if you include the frame materials and the things that I've purchased elsewhere (I bought some Woodland Scenic products at Hobby Lobby), and not including the houses, I probably have $800 in materials. We purchased the houses off of eBay and those were approximately $50-65 each, and there are 7 of those on the diorama. I added lots of detail to the layout, so you could do it cheaper, it all depends on how you want it to look. 
    At this point, I wouldn't  be afraid to tackle a larger, more complex project (trains?) in the future. I think I will be taking our Nativity scene and building a diorama around it... 🙂 Can I have it done before the holidays? 🙂 If you'd like to find out... stay tuned! 
    The pictures in the first gallery below were taken with a GoPro Hero4 camera. It was set to 7 mp medium perspective and set to night mode. I used the GoPro app on a tablet to control the camera and take the pictures. I just set the camera down and look at the tablet screen to see what the camera is looking at and readjust my view if necessary. The shutter (if you call it that) stays open quite a while on the night pictures, so it's nice being able to do all of the camera control from the app. 
     
     
    Next post:
     
  10. NorthGeorgiaWX

    Christmas Village Diorama - Part 14

    By NorthGeorgiaWX,


    Christmas Diorama
    01/23/18
    Here are the latest updated images. More changes coming that include lamp post in the park area (LED like the street lights), probably 3 vehicles (like the vehicle in this image) that have working headlights and taillights, more trees for the background, and I may re-work the frozen pond. 

     
    Just wanted to give you an idea of the size of things.... click on any image for a larger view.



     
    2023 Note - This was the last of the original post. I'll make one more post that has the latest images in it, and I'll be done. 
     
     
  11. NorthGeorgiaWX

    Christmas Diorama Part 15

    By NorthGeorgiaWX,


    Christmas Diorama
    12/11/23 - Update
    Ok, we back to the the present time, and all I really have to share are a few more updated pictures. The main changes were the addition of three cars, lamp post for the park, and more trees. I've also rearranged the people a little bit and added more snow. This pictures are from 2020 until present.
     
     
     

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