Finishing the On18 Bandit Canyon Railway

[Music] howy folks Dave here at Thunder maesa Studio where we are just one week away from my deadline for finishing the 08 Bandit Canyon Railway in a very short time I'll be packing all of this up and heading out to California for our annual small layout get together with friends and as of this recording there's just one more Scene to add and some scenery to finish around the sides of the L and a few other odds and ends but I think I can get it all done but there's a lot to do so I better jump right in and get to work clearly I still have a large area of scenery that needs to be built here below Robert's Roose to fill in all of this but I figured out a way to um speed things up a little bit using a big chunk of scenery that's being recycled from the old Mesa layout some of you who've been watching the channel for a while may remember when I built this I'm talking about this ancient Native American cliff dwelling this used to be down below uh the Hanging Rock area on the Thunder Mesa layout I have a whole section of new ruins planned for the updated Thunder Mesa layout they're going to be more extensive than this so I thought it'd be perfect to reuse this model right here so my my plan is to fit it in right about there I had to trim the original piece a little bit to get it to fit there but it almost looks like it was made for it so I need to build up some layers of rock down below here to support it couple maybe a layer or two up here on the top and then blend everything in together and paint it all to match he [Music] all right let's uh test the [Music] fit that's just about perfect okay like a glove but I don't want to mount that in there permanently yet because I need to do something about this Tunnel right over here need to finish that off first remember we have this tunnel down here and this is a continuation of the road that comes down from hole in the wall switches back through the canyon comes through here and then where does it go well now the idea is that U it goes through the but here and then comes out of through the Indian Ruins on the other side I think that'll be pretty cool don't really need to do that I just need to make this look like it continues on so here's what I came up with a small section of t carved out of foam that just curves around the corner and disappears I just got done painting it it's h the paint is still wet but it doesn't matter because I'm just going to glue it in place right back here behind the opening I've added a 45 degree angle brace here out of some 2in foam and then I've got some 3-in drywall screws going all the way through it so uh you know barring a major earthquake shouldn't go anywhere this up at the front I'll drive these screws in to help hold it in place too these are some 2in drywall screws drywall screws are incredibly handy for doing this kind of you know seat of the pants creative engineering with uh with foam much much more useful than pins because the threads they hold in the foam much better than pins do it's not going anywhere and from this side looks like that another real time saber is that uh this already has LED lights installed so all I need to do is hook the wires up here to the 9vt DC wiring bus now glue this in just applying some glue to the bottom because the rest so it's going to be held in with sculpter mold I do all the blending here all right I'll flick the power on oh yeah that's the stuff right there now I can finish off the layers of foam over on this side [Music] now I'm just carving away some of this excess sculpta mold here I I used a lot more when I was doing the rock work on this than I have on the Bandit Canyon layout so the challenge is going to be making this look like it's all of One Piece piece like it's always been there making all of this match so once again I'll do the the serious blending with sculpt to mold on these larger gaps and then after that's applied I'll come back and do the smaller gaps between the foam with just some spackling compound now this Edge over here needs a lot of help the sculpt the mold is starting to set up but while it's still pliable take an old toothbrush and you know dampen it just a little bit and go over the surface to match up the Strat lines coming off of the uh carved foam scenery when it's all painted should look pretty good like it all goes together at least I hope so this also gives me a chance to finally finish this secret Escape tunnel out the back of eda's place though some people using it might be disappointed about where it ends up or maybe not it might be just what they're looking for and this piece of cardboard right here this is actually going to be a a retaining wall right here I'm building up sort of a ramp coming down because this is where the trail comes out goes into the cave over there goes through behind the ruins and comes out right here at least that's the uh the illusion I'm trying to create so ramp coming down here onto this ledge where it just goes around and vanishes off into the fascia Parts Unknown all right I think that's going to do it for the sculpt the mold and the Spackle going to let all of this dry overnight come back tomorrow get some paint on here and you know see if we can't make this look like it's been here for a thousand years [Music] [Applause] [Music] now with the scenic painting done I can come in and build this retaining wall and I'm just using some you know basically scraps of lumber left over from other projects I saved all these all the little C offs and pieces when I'm building stuff I have jars full of these coming really handy for things like this these are uh some 8 by8 Timbers that I have cut them about SK 5T long so I can have them you know Contour to this curve here and just a little custom piece on each end this is really my favorite way to build something like this I love building stuff in place on the scenery you get a much more I think natural realistic look as it Contours to the scenery then to finish this off I've got some rounds here of different diameters just uh like random logs that have been driven in to hold this up now sprinkle on some real rocks and dirt blend that in with the road bed up here give a little Spritz of wet water and dribble on some diluted white glue got some lighter color sand for the path coming out of the uh secret exit from ed's place while this is still wet I have a structure that I want to add right here got to have a ouse right that's where the secret path leads to I'm going return some of the bushes I removed while I was working on the ruins here bushes are always greener around the ous then coming out of the ruins I want to use that lighter colored soil once again to indicate the pathway continuing down this way a few Fallen rocks to remind everybody this is dangerous and finally another board Ridge across this narrow spot on the trail I think it's safe to take this masking off now and while I wait for all of this to dry I can show you all what I have planned for this part of of the facial here starting here at the corner now these are some 1in wide Birch planks um I found these on Amazon actually they were sold as paint stir sticks but they don't have the little dimple at the top and you know they're not all exactly uniform so they're perfect for something like this and I've stained them with the same uh shoe dye and um rubbing alcohol mixture I use for you know all the weather wood on the layout so it should all match nicely now I just have to uh cut each one to size and glue it on I'm cutting each of these pieces to size and to fit with my band saw some of them require custom cuts I decided to do this kind of late in the game to add these slats here so on this side I'm having to cut it to match the Contours of the scenery and then I'm going to have to go back and blend that in a little bit but on the rest of the layout I'm going to add it first and then build the scenery on top of it which is a much smarter thing to do I think [Music] I do believe that is the last piece of the fascia now I just need to finish all of these Cliff sides including a couple of necessary access panels but you know if you've been following this series for a while by now you have seen me build an awful lot of Canyon scenery so I think this time we're just going to skip ahead I'll snap my fingers and through the magic of editing it'll all be done when you come back if only it were this quick and easy in real life see nothing to it of course I used all of the same scenery techniques that I've used across the entire layout sculpting the uh the layers out of foam blending them together with the sculpt to mold and spackle and then finishing everything off with acrylic paints but this time I also needed to make some allowances for Access like here where the MP3 player for the shootout is hidden in this removable panel and over here where I needed to make a large section of the cliff wall removable so I could have access to the wiring electronics and the animation Motors that are hidden inside as you can see I also did some work here on the base I removed the metal clip that held this Jeep crate together because they didn't look particularly old west to me and then I replaced them with some six by one and A4 inch cabinet screws so I can still back those out and break this whole thing down flat if I need to and then I painted the whole thing a dark forest green to complement the juniper trees and Sandstone colors on the layout and with that I'd say the old Bandit Canyon Railway is about 98% done so now it's time to add that final 2% bring it across the Finish Line one thing I think I absolutely have to finish are the stairs coming here from the Sundance mine many of you have pointed out that the stairs are not finished yes I know and some of you have been waiting patiently since I built the Sundance mine well today your patience is going to pay off today I finish the stairs the stairs I'm going to be using these are some laser cut parts and these are actually from the old uh Crescent Creek models Gallows kit I think these stairs have been sitting on my workbench here for about six months at least if you go back and watch some of the older Bandit Canyon videos or the other build videos You'll see them over in the corner there waiting to get built so today's the day it's going to feel good to get this done I also need to build a little uh Landing or uh platform up at the top of the stairs stairs the short stairs come down from the mine and they're going to turn and go down um these however are not going to be connected to the mine structure these are going to be connected to the Cliff face whoops and that way the mine can remain removable and this is just some some scribe stock some uh 4x6 down here and then I've got some 6x8 beams this is going to sit on top of and these are going to go into the f of The Cliff face one of the things I really like about the foam scenery other than the fact that it's you know lightweight and all that so it allows you to do things like this build right into it just poke a couple of holes [Music] a slight complication looks like I'm going to need to relocate this Cactus cuz wouldn't you know it I planted it right in the way I'll have some Timbers here for steps to bring the path around this way I'll back fill there with some dirt and small rocks bring the path the rest of the way down here to track side don't worry I'm going to put in some [Music] railings okay just a little chocks on there and I think that'll do it for the stairs I replanted the cactus over here what else do we need to add one thing we definitely need is a track bumper right here keep any any stray cars from heading off the edge of the world I've decided to place this little Dynamite Shack right here this was a gift a visitor to the studio fan of the show came by brought this uh it's his version of the uh Big Thunder Dynamite Shack and I thought it would work really nicely right there and of course where we have that Shack we have to have the goat the famous Dynamite chewing goat um this is not the one from the Thunder Mesa layout this is a different goat but it's the same model I guess this came in a bag of animals that I got at U can't remember exactly where it might have been Hobby Lobby or someplace like that bag bag of farm animals and the uh the dynamite is just a piece of uh insulation off some wire some 28 gauge wire and a little piece of thread there for the fuse one thing that many many people have suggested that this layout needs is a coyote and perhaps also a Road Runner so I do have a coyote figure this guy's from mini prints that just finished painting him up perhaps like the Raven up on the cliffs he's patiently awaiting the outcome of the uh shootout over in h in the wall his name is not Wy by the way you can call him Wy if you want to but his name is uh Fred Fred the coyote and with that I think I can honestly say that this layout is 100% done but you know there is just one more thing I'd like to add decided I want to have some name plates for the railroad now don't be fooled these are not brass I actually uh laser etched this out of some 1116 of an inch thick MDF and uh painted it to look like brass and so like everything else on the layout it's done with a little bit of artifice and Artistry bit of a magic trick and now my friends may I proudly present the O8 B Canyon Railway [Music] [Laughter] [Music] n la [Music] n [Music] [Music] n a [Music] wow I can't believe it's actually done of course you and I both know that a model railroad is never truly finished never 100% there's always a little bit more you can add details here and there maybe some Rolling Stock who knows but for now we're going to call the Bandit Canyon Railway done and I think I'm going to take the next couple of days off maybe head out to Southern California see some friends of mine play with some trains hang out have a good time and I want to thank all of you for hanging out with me here today and following along with the Bandit Canyon series and all of the projects that we work on here at Thunder Ma's Studio from the Thunder ma Mining Company to GR some GS to the Goldfield in Calico got a lot more coming your way soon so I hope you will stay tuned for that if it's your first time here please subscribe and hit that notification Bell so YouTube will let you know when the next video is coming from Thunder maesa studio and you can also follow us over on Instagram at thunder. Mesa and see what's happening on the Thunder Mesa Studio website at Thunder mesa. Studio as always a huge shout out and thank you to our patreon members who helped to make these videos possible until next time keep moving forward my friends adios for now [Music]