Ash Pit - Diorama

The basic diorama is done but a lot of details are still to be added.

I wanted to have a small diorama that I could display my non-operational engines. I had a piece of foam given to me by Bob Hannah and a Walthers ash pit model that was assembled by an area hobby shop. With some Micro Engineering track, and details I thought this would all come together well. The captions tell the story. I took my diorama to the NFR convention this spring...you be the judge this time...the finished scene will be in a future post...George Dutka

The basic fit of code 83 track, the ash pit and my brick storage shed which I covered last winter are set in place. I cut the pit area and added wood shims under the trackage.

The track is trimmed and gouged before spray bombing with gray car primer. The foam base is painted with dollar store black water based paint.

The ash pit got some weathering before being installed. I also added a sand tower to the scene. Highball cinder ballast is applied followed by some Highball sand.

A closer look at the basic track detail and ballasting.

I have added some limestone in areas, beach sand on the roadway and basic ground foam. The track got some weathering using Floquil weathered black wash, Hunterline stain and some India ink. There is some rusty Bragdon powders applied to the rail and ties. The ash piles around the track and tower is actually some very old Woodland Scenic coal which has a really flat look to it and looks more like burnt coal than something that should be a fresh load.

A few ties are weathered and will be glued around the scene. In the background one can see a scratch-built fence. I used some coarse green Woodland ground foam along with three different lengths and colouring of Noch static grass.