Jim’s been back in touch with a post on his HO scale structures and scenery.

Have a look at what he’s had built:

“Picking up where I left off. I will cover more structures and some scenery in this thread.

Here are some of the early pictures of my yard.

The first pic is the EAST tower of the Colton Yard. It has a twin on the West end.

More weathering and lighting details are scheduled for both structures.

This is NOT an antenna farm. It is a section of one of the primary focal points, which is a LARGE farm with crops and lots of cattle.

I had a difficult time trying to get “D” type block signals.

Details West -out of stock, no ETA.

Walthers Kato – look like they belong on a 1950’s Lionel layout.

These are avail on the bay:

Lucky for me PMD was able to get the 13 that I needed from one of their many contacts.

Remember this picture of Veteran’s Park?

A couple of weeks later it looked like this. Starting to shape up nicely.

There was still more to be added. This scene is one of the key focal points on my layout.

Early on the tunnel portals and surrounding area looked like this.

Here are a few wider shots that include the “first rough coat” ground cover.

All the GREEN is just a base to give all additional ground cover applications a surface to cling to.

When these guys get going the acres and acres of well-manicured “putting greens” will disappear.

The second coat of the general ground cover has been applied to some areas of the layout.

Things are starting to come together a bit faster now. The 3rd and 4th layers will be added this week.

At this point, it is all about layers, texture, and colors blending together. Also, note that no trees or bushes have been added yet. It will get better.

More landscape details as layers, texture, and colors blend together.

The scouts are camping this weekend at Camp Wenonah. This too is in the early stages. Many more details will be added.

Scout Master Grayson is just returning from his walk through the woods. He can’t wait to tell the boys what he saw in the clearing.

The crew of Steve, Joe, and Jim like to mess with me. They are always adding STUFF on the days I come to take pictures. What a GREAT crew. Ask for anything and they will make it happen. This whole campground was an afterthought just to fill in some empty space. More pictures of this later.

My all-time favorite Christmas movie will be playing 365 days per year. This also gets more details later. The “Boys” fabricated all the lettering.

Can’t take this hobby too seriously, IMHO you gotta have a little whimsey. [:D]

The guys doing the build once again display their humor by staging a circus train wreck before I arrived. The helicopter crew captured these beasts hanging around the lake. I have been assured that they will be rounded up before the layout is delivered.

I was also assured that the track gaps would disappear when the trestle bridge is installed on the upper level. Too dangerous to fix now with the giant albino bird and gator hanging around.

Calling it quits for today. I will post again tomorrow. Hint: It starts to get REAL.

Jim”

A huge big thank to Jim for sharing the evolution of his HO scale.

It just goes to show you can have a lot of fun with a layout, even when you’re not building it yourself.

I love what he’s done, I think the personl touches really add to it.

Jim’s first post is here.

Here’s his second post.

That’s all for today folks. Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get tired of sitting on the side lines, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.