An 'MLP' modelling thread for your Daughter - Curious??

[Army_Air_Force]

After a period of drying, the hillsides were painted with a thin coat of PVA glue, and the first coat plaster added to create the ground texture.

 

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

On August 23rd, all the tracks were ballasted fine kiln dried sand. The sand was brushed into the track with a soft modelling brush and then sprayed with a plant sprayer containing a water/detergent mix. This breaks down the water's surface tension. Once wetted out, a water/PVA glue mix was dripped into the sand, which once cured, holds the ballast in place.

 

The two roads were also surfaced in the fine sand. A sunny day helped to speed up the glue drying time.

 

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

A load of cardboard tubes! All hand made for a special job.

 

 

Here's the first of the buildings under way. This is Twilight Sparkle's home, the "Oak Tree Library". The smaller tubes were made to be cut in half to form the window and door areas. The card rings around the main tube are formers to help for the tree truck shape.

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

Working up the tree, this shot shows the balcony and the start of one of the larger branches.

 

 

Another window and the second large branch. Card strips now start to form the basic tree trunk shape, blending the tubes.

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

More blending of the branches and windows.

 

 

Finally, the structure is covered in plaster bandage. A thin coat of plaster would follow to give the trunk a bark texture, but before that, I needed to make the formers that would give the foliage its shape, much like the trunk. A thin covering of clump foliage would then cover this foliage former. Twilight inspects the progress so far.

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

August 24th. My daughter was delighted with the progress on the Oak Tree Library. The first job of the morning was to set her off painting the ballast grey while I got on with the formers for the shape of the foliage on the tree.

 

 

The first few card formers are glued in place. The overall height of the tree was limited due to wanting the model to store in the top of my daughter's wardrobe.

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

I've had a busy few days at a four day military show but can get back to the story now!

 

Before I got too far with the tree house, I also fitted white LED's into three of the rooms. This would give the simple layout a bit more playability as individual lights could be turned on and off as characters come and go.

 

 

The card foliage supports were done next, giving the basic shape of the tree.

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

Once the framework was dry, the plaster bandage covering was added. This was a joint effort. I was trying to keep my daughter as involved as possible in the construction where she was able.

 

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

While the plaster bandage was drying in the sun, I started her off, chopping and tearing lichen and clump foliage into small pieces. Normal model railroad foliage always seems quite fragile, and often starts to shed bits after a short time.

As a result, I never use foliage as it is, but break it up into small pieces and mix it with slightly dilute PVA glue. The glue rich foliage is then applied to the layout or tree armature. Once dry, it forms a nice firm plant that will stand the test of time. I can control the shape of a tree or bush much better by adding small clumps at a time and letting it dry a little so it can support additional layers. Most of my railroad layouts have been transportable for exhibitions, and the plant life last much better made like this. Sometimes the finished tree is a little satin, but a quick dust over with a matt varnish in the airbrush will dull down any shine.

 

 

Exiting the top of the tree is a large branch with a small observation platform and telescope. This would make the tree too tall to fit in the wardrobe when stored, so the top branch would be detachable. You can see the join in the tube about 1/2 inch up where it would separate.

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

I cut some wooden discs to plug the tube and then magnets were epoxied into each section hold the top of the tree in place.

 

 

The upper branch was made from thin card tubes and copper wire, covered in plaster to create the bark texture.

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

When done and assembled, it looked too tall, so I chopped a section off the branch and refitted the magnet. It wasn't too big a job to do.

 

 

Here's the shorter version

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

The last job of the day was to paint the trunk and give the foliage area a base coat of green. This was in case there were any gaps between the foliage once applied. I didn't want white plaster showing! A little PVA glue was mixed in with the paint to help seal the powdery plaster surface.

 

 

It's a bit of an odd shape, but we've tried to keep the feel of the house from the show.

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

August 25th 2016. My daughter starting to apply the chopped up foliage/PVA glue mix to the tree. It was slightly thinned with water to keep the PVA fluid, as when neat, it dries very quickly. The clumps were applied and gently pressed down with foreceps.

 

 

The tree was covered in sections, so the weight of the wet foliage wouldn't pull it off the tree. So the top was done first, then force dried to some extent with a hairdryer. Once firm enough to support itself, the tree was turned and the next area covered. The whole tree took around 5 hours of gluing and drying.

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

The top branches had foliage added to the looped copper wire first, which was then force dried. The clump was then built up slowly, gluing and drying to allow the foliage to spread across the branches and meet the others.

 

 

The completed tree was then moved to the airing cupboard to fully cure overnight. Once hard, we could then do the top observation platform and telescope. Windows would come after that, and my daughter pointed out a Bee hive hanging from a branch in the picture we were copying, so a little lathe work was also needed!

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[JPuente54]

What a wonderful project that the two of you are doing! You are not just building a train/playset for her; you are also building great memories! Her involvement, and her skills will make all the better for her and you. My stepdaughter wasn't into the "MLP" thing; she had other interests; but, it was a big thing here in the USA as well; so, I was aware of it. The two of you are doing a great job of it. I am following along with great interest.

Joe

[Army_Air_Force]

On August 26th 2016, work continued on the Library. I made the observation platform for the top and the telescope. The scope was clear acrylic, turned on the lathe while the support was brass sections soldered. The scope can rotate and elevate.

 

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

The other accessory I was under orders to make, was a Bee's/Hornet's nest, which can be seen hanging from the tree in the picture I'm working from. This was another lathe job on some modelling resin block.

 

 

The glazing for one of the windows can be seen here too. Further foliage was applied over the edge of the window.

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

The other windows are now fitted. Two of the lights can be seen being tested here too.

 

 

 

We also gave the layout its first test run since the track was first laid.

 

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

The following two days on the railroad were also busy days at the building bench, working on the Ponyville Station and Rarity's Boutique. The Station took priority, with the boutique progressing while glue was drying on the station. The station building framework was made from 1/8 inch hardboard, with oversized openings for the windows and door.

 

 

The roof structure was made from scraps of 4mm plywood. I'm trying to use as much recycled cardboard, paper and off-cuts of wood as possible, to keep the costs down. While the layout is a 'toy' rather than an accurate scale railroad, I tried to include as much detail as was reasonably possible and durable.

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

While the station was drying, I made a card tube by rolling paper and card around a roll of duct tape. Once dry, I added some ply hoops inside to maintain the shape.

 

 

Another card tube was made around a postal tube, but it had a few uneven areas, so this was then wrapped in some 1/64th plywood to give a nice surface to finish.

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

The three main buildings on the Ponyville side of the layout in position for a size check. There's Rarity's Boutique, Princess Twilight's Oak Tree Library and the Station. The patch of ground in the loop of the path would get another house, but at the time, we hadn't given the design any thought. Some further episode watching for research purposes was needed!

 

 

The sloping roof panels can be seen drying on the station roof here, along with the windows which have masking tape frames. Some 3/8 inch MDF forms the core of the platform structure.

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

If the loco pushed the wagons up to the station, the platform was long enough for both wagons. If the loco pulled the wagons, only one wagon fitted the platform. The protect the loco from over running the station when pulling the train, if my daughter wasn't paying attention, I added a diode in the track to stop the loco before the end, but allow it to back away again. 

 

I found out later that the two locos I had were wired with opposite polarities, so the diode would only stop one of them! One loco was more easily rewired than the other, which I did, but this meant I needed to turn the diode around.

 

 

The station door was made and fitted next. The basic station structure was clad in 1/32 inch ply with the proper sized window openings cut in. This left a recess on the inside where the thicker hardboard structure was, and allowed a nice fillet of glue behind the glazing.

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

More 1/32 inch ply was cut into 1/8 inch wide strips and then stained for the platform planking. This was a varying mix of brown and black emulsion to give a nice subtle variation in the plank colour.

 

 

They were force dried with a hairdryer and then the planks were glued one by one onto the MDF platform.

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

Two white LED's were soldered up to their resistors and then glued into the station roof.

 

 

The station roof structure is finished, and with the lights glued in, it was glued onto the rest of the building. It would still need a method of representing a thatched roof. The walls of the station were also painted, as have the masking tape window frames. The platform is also finished. The diode on the track hasn't been burried under ballast at this point in time.

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

Hopping back to the Boutique, a piece of window plastic was taped over the card postal tube. It was then softened with a heat gun until it conformed to the curve of the tube. 

 

 

In the second floor, the window opening was cut, and the edges cleaned with a mini sanding drum.

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Army_Air_Force