# In-ko-pah RR in Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine!



## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

My first full column in Model Railroad Hobbyist has just been published in the June issue! It's free and can be read online or downloaded to your computer, kindle, iPad, etc.


http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/magazine/mrh-2015-06-jun


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## David Leech (Dec 9, 2008)

Ray,
Great article of a great railway.
Regards,
David Leech, Delta, Canada
p.s. I had never heard of Model Railroad Hobbyist until now!


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Thanks David!


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

I ditto David's sentiment, great article and great railway! You have some crazy good details too! Glad to see your railroad getting recognized


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## Richard Weatherby (Jan 3, 2008)

I've always loved your work BUT the story was great also.


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Thanks, Jim and Richard!


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## livesteam53 (Jan 4, 2008)

Ray,
Very well done!
I enjoyed reading it.


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Extremely well done, Ray... Fantastic article...









Enjoyed it very much...


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Thanks, Mark and Stan!


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Recently I needed to build a small wooden shack using Sintra PVC foam board, to be featured in an article I'm writing for Garden Railways. At the time I didn't know where it would fit into the layout. Eventually I decided to put it in the town of Grandt Cliff. Until now the only other structure I'd created for that site was a miner's cabin. This will be an old shack which has been converted into a sandwich shop, called Serenity's Sandwich Shack.



The town site is at the base of Grandt Cliff, and was undeveloped. To prepare the site, I had to chisel out some of the rocks and mortar near the base of the cliff. I built up a foundation for the shack, starting with a section of miniature stone wall made of real rock and mortar. I also used some small slabs leftover from a previous project:














Strips of foam core art board were hot-glued in place to make a form, for extending the foundation:












Mortar was poured into the form, then shaped and leveled. The cavity in the foundation is to hold wiring for the building lights. A brass tube acts as a conduit. Another tube provides drainage:












Eventually there will be two or three other buildings at this site, including a RR depot. So after pouring the foundation, I also began pouring part of the slab for the platform of the future depot:












I added a small slab to one side of the shack's foundation. This will be part of steps leading to the shack:












Here's a shot of the unfinished shack, temporarily in place on the foundation:












A similar shot, with the more work done on the porch. The porch and shack are built as two separate pieces to facilitate painting. They won't be glued together until after both structures have been painted:












And here's a shot of the entire town site, located below the Cliffside Mine:












Enjoy!


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Well, I was going to try to hold off posting more pics of this until it was finished, but I'm so tickled with the way it's turning out, I couldn't resist. This has been a really fun build!



I've finished painting it, including many hand-painted signs. Still have to add the corrugated metal to the main roof. Also need to add some light fixtures and other exterior details, and glue the porch to the building. Also need to finish the surrounding landscape, and the stairs/path leading up to the building on either side. Eventually I'll build and detail the interior too. Here's how it looks so far:


























































Enjoy!


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## denray (Jan 5, 2008)

Ohhhhhh BOY another build structure of RAY's to follow, it just started, and I am excited to see and
follow Ray's description of how too's. 
Hoping to make a request,
Ray please give us some insite in your painting your signs, I know they are hand painted, I hope there
is a trick besides 2 hours per word.
Thanks Ray.
Dennis


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Neat! Really neat!

With a name like Serenity, I'm guessing that the store owner is either a Quaker or a hippie. ;>)

Best,
David Meashey


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Thanks, Dennis and David!

The sign on the top of the front of the building (Serenity's Sandwich Shack) and the sign on the front of the porch (Sandwiches/Cold Drinks) was done with stencils. I laid out the lettering in Pages on my iMac, and printed it onto self-adhesive vinyl. Then I cut out the letters, peeled off the vinyl and placed it in position. I applied the paint using a combination of light, dry-brushing, and stippling. After removing the stencil, I touched it up as needed with a fine brush. Then I painted the dark outline by hand using a good, #0 artist's brush.

The large signs on the sides that say, "Cold Drinks" were tricky. Because of the battens, I couldn't use a stencil. So I used a pink colored pencil to very lightly lay out the shapes of the letters. This was not done to any detail, just very rough forms, like stick-figure letters, mainly to make sure I the size and spacing would fit the area. Then I hand-painted it with a #1 brush, using very thinned down paint and mostly kind of dry-brushing it. The outlines were done as before, with a #0 brush. The saving grace is that I was going for a not-very-professional look for the signs on the sides. 

The smaller signs were were supposed to be very amateurish and crude, so I just winged it, painting them freehand with the #0 brush. 

One thing that really helps when painting freehand, whether lettering or any other small detail, is that the hand holding the brush should have at least one finger resting against the model. This makes a big difference in steadying your hand.


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## denray (Jan 5, 2008)

Thanks Ray
Your description was very good, and helpful. And as a compliment, your description shows
us you are HUMAN. Some of us have wondered if you had some type of Super Human Powers.
But this really confirms it,,,, You are just GOOD.
Thanks Ray
Dennis


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

*A Job Well Done*

Ray-

Finally catching up on magazines. Just finished your MRH article. Well done!!!

The new Sandwich Shack is looking great!


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Thanks!


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

My Lord Ray!! That's phenomenal...


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

I wanted to have stone stairs going up the slope to the shack. To do this, I made a form out of foam core board:

























Then I used curved tweezers to place small stones in the form, added some 1/4" hardware cloth, and then poured in some thin mortar:






































The mortar wasn't quite thin enough to get into all the spaces between the stones, but that's fixable:














I rubbed thin mortar into the gaps, brushed off the excess with a wet brush, and after it set I sanded off some of the residue and it turned out fine. Here's how everything looks so far:












The building itself is almost finished. I just have to add the lighting and a few other minor exterior details. I also have to finish the landscape around the building. And later I will build and detail the interior:


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Great technique Ray! Thanks for sharing, gotta remember this one for in the future. Those are some great looking steps.


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Another new photo of the model and its surroundings:


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Here are a couple photos of a bridge I just finished. It's for a 15" gauge mine tram, that will run from the mines above Mineral Ridge, across to the mill. I gave it a planked deck because I figure they wouldn't want to risk spilling rocks onto the building, pedestrians or vehicles below. This is also the reason for the corrugated metal along the sides (plus it hides some less-than-prototypical construction elements):

























I still need to extend the concrete base of the bent, and also fill in a couple small voids in the concrete. The bent, and most of the bridge, is made from strips of styrene textured and painted to look like wood. The deck is 6mm Sintra.


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## Ted Doskaris (Oct 7, 2008)

Ray, you always have the most outstanding work.

Do the Sandwich Shack's front window sashes work so they can be swapped from bottom to top (and top to bottom) to help keep out the rain?

Excellent job,
-Ted


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Thanks Ted! No, the window sashes don't work. The window is permanently closed.

Here are a couple small projects I worked on recently. First was making a big batch of new ocotillos to expand the foliage on the layout. I start with florist's wire, which has a green plastic coating on it. I use a couple different thicknesses, either individually, or mixed, depending on the size of the plant I want to model:














The next step is painting them with gesso. That's the stuff they use to prime artist's canvases. While the gesso is wet, I sprinkle on some fine grain sand available from the craft store. This goes on mainly at the lower end, to thicken the branches near the base. Then they're hung on a wire to dry:

























Next I paint them with a coat of grayish-brown latex house paint. While the paint is wet I sprinkle on some green plastic grit from Plastruct, catalog #GC-104. It is then hung up to dry again:














I've found that the green grit fades, so the next step is to dry-brush on a bit of green latex paint:














To finish it off, I cut off the hook used to hang them. Then I paint some of the tips with red latex paint to represent the flowers. Finally the whole thing is given a couple coats of Krylon UV-resistant matte clear. Here are a couple photos of the plants installed on the layout:



























The other little project was a test piece. I wanted to see if I could use Sintra to make a stone wall that matches the pinkish rocks on part of my layout. (I'm not sure but I think they may be rhyolite.) Here is a photo of the rocks on the layout, followed by a photo of the test piece:

























I think it still needs a little work but it's getting there.


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