ROCK FORMATIONS ON THE JJJ&E

                                                   Photo 1

This article was published in the August/September 2007 issue of N Scale Magazine.

The JJJ&E is a small railroad located in the mountains in the western United States. The JJJ&E is a multi-leveled layout using Kato Unitrack which has been completely weathered and ballasted. The entire mainline is graded (2%) and there is no level track on the 120' mainline.

I integreted both lower and upper levels of the layout with rock formations in the background as well as on other parts of the layout. Hence there are many mountainous areas around the long two percent grades of the layout.

Iused three different methods to make the rock formations on the JJJ&E. The first method is to use individual rock casting molds supplied by Woodland Scenics. Woodland Scenics has a wide selection of molds to choose from. In Photo 1, I used the individual rock casting mold technique to build the mountainous area in this scene. An ATSF 2-6-6-2  # 1175 is seen high in the Monterrey Mountains on the upper level of the JJJ&E.

A second method is to make rock casting using an aluminum baking pan as a mold for the casting. The aluminum baking pan is crumbled up and the hydrocal/plaster mix is poured into the crumbled pan. The beauty of this technique is that you can use different sized aluminum baking pans to make rock castings. After the rock castings are in place you can use different fine instruments to carve in additional details in each rock formations. I like to use dental hand instruments to carve in the added detailing in the castings.

Photos 2, 3 and 4 below show the aluminum baking pan technique of making rock casting. The double track mainline of the JJJ&E can been seen below the rock formations and the San Marino switching yard can be seen on the upper level.

                                                   Photo 2

                                             Photo 3

                                                  Photo 4

You can also use a combination of the above two techniques to make hydrocal/plaster rock castings. I used the above two techniques in Photo 5.

                                               Photo 5

A third method, which I will explain in detail alter, is to use Vanda Orchid Chips or any commercial brand of Orchid Chip to make small individual rock castings, which in turn can be combined to make larger rock formations.

But first, let me describe how to mix the hydrocal/plaster with water to obtain a good hydrocal/palster mix without any air bubbles. Before I retired, I practiced Posthetic Dentistry in Boston for over thirty years. I mixed plaster/hydrocal every day to making bubble free dental casts of patients mouths.

Here is the technique I used to make bubble free casts. I placed a measured amount of COLD water in a rubber mixing bowl. You should never use warm water, as this will markedly affect the working time you have with the hydrocal/plaster mix. Warm water will cause the hydrocal/plaster mix to set too quickly. The amount of water you use initially depends on the number of rock castings you want to make in one sitting. It is best to make smaller amounts of individual rock castings with one mix.

Then I take a stiff mixing spatula, ( you can get one at an art supply store or a dental supply company) and gradually add the hydrocal/plaster powder to the measured amount of water in the rubber mixing bowl. You should mix the hydrocal/plaster powder into the water quite vigorously The resulting mix should not be runny. This will only give you a weak hydrocal/plaster casting full of air bubbles. To test the mix, turn the rubber mixing bowl upside down. The hydrocal/plaster mix should stay in place in the mixing bowl. Now add the hydrocal/plaster mixture into your rock mold by pouring the hydrocal/plaster mixture into the mold at one end of the mold. Gently tap the mold on a table to distribute the hydrocal/plaster mixture into the mold. To prevent air bubbles in the hydrocal/plaster rock casting, continuously tap the rock mold on a flat surface for eight to ten seconds. The vibration of the rock mold against a flat surface will cause any trapped air bubbles to come to the surface.

Let the hydrocal/plaster rock mold set completely for 24 hours. When dry separate the rock casting from the mold. Now comes the fun. Piece the individual rock castings together to form your rock formations. You can use a thinner mix of hydrocal/plaster to close any seams between the castings.

When the rock formations are completely dry, ( I would wait several days) you can use earth tone washes to achieve the color that you want for your rock formations. Earth tone washes include: raw umber, burnt umber, raw sienna, burnt sienna, ochre, green, slate, black and of course white.

The final color of your rock formations is dependent on the number of washes you apply to the rock castings. This could take a considerable amount of time to finish, but the end result is worth the effort. Photo 6 shows part of the upper level of the JJJ&E. The Monterrey mountains are seen in the background, with the town of san Marino in the foreground.

                                              Photo 6

In Photo 7, we used many earth tone washes to create the color on the rock formations below the San Marino switching yard. Ochre, green and black were added to the predominant earth tone burnt umber.

                                                Photo 7

Now I will discuss the third method of making rock formations using Orchid Chips.

I always look for alternative methods of modeling when working on the JJJ&E.

(See Photo 8) One day last summer, I was in my local Home depot in the gardening section of the store. I was looking for some orchids, when I saw another method of making rock formations on the JJJ&E right before my eyes. I picked up a large bag of Vanda Orchid Chips. These chips could be used for rock formations if the chips were placed on their sides. 

                                                      Photo 8

                                                Photo 9

The cost of this ready made source of rock formations was $2.49 per bag. When I returned home, I separated the Orchid chips in two piles. There were larger chips that I could use for the base of a large rock formation as well as smaller chips that could be used in small rock cropings. I wanted to use the smaller chips above a retaining wall on the JJJ&E near the St. Albans tunnel on the west side of the layout. The larger Orchid chips were saved for a mountainous area on another part of the JJJ&E.

These Orchid chips were the right size for my needs and the color was close to the red rock coloring of other rock formations on the JJJ&E. Ypu could always spray paint the Orchid chips with a wash and then use earth tone coloring to obtain the color you want for your rock formations. ( See Photo 9)

The stone retaining wall below the new rock formations was adjacent to the St. Albans Tunnel on the JJJ&E and was about four feet long. I had to shape the chips on one side as they were to be placed against a pre-existing styrofoam wall on the JJJ&E. This wall was one wall of the St. Albans tunnel.To cut the Orchid chips I used a dremel tool with a rotary sandpaper wheel. (See Photo 10) Spread plenty of paper in the area you're using for sanding the chips, as the dust has a tendency to fly around. I was able to work outside when cutting the Orchid chips. This is your best option. After the chips were cut to size, they could easily be placed and cemented against the Styrofoam wall. This project was part of a fourth addition to the JJJ&E which was started almost nine years ago.

                                                 Photo 10

The first part of this project was to cement in place all the Woodland Scenics retaining walls against the Styrofoam. The retaining walls and Orchid chip rock formations will cover a pre-existing side of the St. Albans Tunnel on the JJJ&E. Part of the upper level of the JJJ&E rests on top of the St. Albans Tunnel as can be seen in Photos 11 and 12. An access opening in the wall of the tunnel was placed in case of derailments inside the tunnel and can't be covered up permanently.

                                                       Photo 11

                                                     Photo 12  

The N Scale Architect Lasercut building, The Lehigh Valley Lumber Comapny will partially hide the access opening for the tunnel with some strategically placed trees. This building has to be removable so quick access to any derailment in the tunnel can be achieved without too much disruption.

The Woodland Scenics retaining wall was sprayed with several washes of burnt umber and black to highlight thr random cut stones  The washes were 80% blue windshield wiper solution and 20% Woodland Scenics earth tone concentrated washes. Many washes were applied to obtain the coloring I wanted for the retaining wall. When the retaining wall had completely dried (at least 24 hours), It was time to place the Vanda Orchid chips above the wall. Piecing together the individual Orchid chips was like putting a puzzle together. Separating the smaller pieces of the chips was very importanat. The Orchid chips were cemented against the Styrofoam with Aileen's wood glue. The end result was worth the effort of trying this method of making rock formations. When the glue was completely dry, I brushed on washes of burnt umber, black and white to accent the coloring of the new rock formations above the retaining wall. Woodland Scenics yellow flowers and scenic foam was placed amongst the newly formed rock formations (See Photo 13).

                                                    Photo 13 

A closer view of the rock formations shows how the Orchid chips were pieced together to form the rock formations above the retaining wall.Foliage wa placed in between some of the rock formations to show vegetation growing in certain areas. The foliage was also used to hide any voids between the Orchid chip rock formations (See Photo's 14 and 15)

                                                  Photo 14

                                                   Photo 15 

The use of the Orchid chips provides a pleasing result in this rock formation technique as well as being cost effective. You can use the Orchid chip method of rock formations for larger grouping of rocks or mountainous areas. Increasing the length and height of each rock formation can accomplish this easily (See Photo's 16 through 20)

                                                 Photo 16

                                               Photo 17

                                                     Photo 18

                                                     Photo 19

                                                   Photo 20

                                                   Photo 21

In Photo 22, we see the Orchid chip rock formations above another part of the retaining wall with a cloud background directly behind the rock formations. The foliage gives the illusion of distance when viewing this scene.

                                                 Photo 22

This method of making rock formations provides a cost effective way for the modeler to accomplish this procedure. It can be combined with the other methods of modeling rock formations to produce a very aesthetic result and is worth a try. You will be pleasantly surprised with the results.

The photographs in this article were taken with a Nikon D-50 DSLR, using Helicon Focus software.

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