Cheers mate… It indeed is quite a large dio, but otherwise the vehicles will not fit… 
Allas, I don’t have a cabinet that can contain this volume. That means a very regular dusting will be needed…
I’m thinking Aquarium tank…sans water of course 
Dang it! I knew I’d seen this beast of a build before! Truly outstanding piece(s) of work!
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—mike
Good thinking, but these are rather thin on the ground, and when they are around (found 1 brand) they are quite expensive (nearly €1700,- new). I need one sized 150x65cm.
Thanks Mike… This one consumed more than 2 bottles of PVA glue already!!! I am currently wondering if and how I will treat the ballast… Good suggestions are welcome…
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Excellent work on the two track elements Erwin, really looking forward to seeing your groundwork progress my friend, 
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Though I have to say, I don’t imagine Mrs. Erwin is looking forward to dusting that beast down each week, 
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G 
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Thanks G. I am not sure if I will press an further with the ground work…
Nah, I am affraid that I will be the one who will do the dusting here…
Hiya Erwin, any progress, Bro?
Thanks for the inquiry. Progress on this one has been minimal. My focus lately has been on my Encounter diorama.
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Right, though unseen by the public, I slowly but surely did more work on the base. I painted the ballast and the water crane… How is this looking?
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Looks good to me – can’t tell from that angle but as long as the arm would reach the track centreline it’s fine. The drain cover looks “blind”, I thought you might have scratched the cover from thin strips with a cavity beneath? I’m more accustomed to grey shades of ballast, but yours looks right so it must be
Looking really good! Always good to see progress on this one, so keep it coming!
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Hey ! I have not read this thread before
But what a fantastic build I really like the train carriages and your own decals (everything is incredibly nice) Good luck / Micke
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@Dioramartin The reach is sufficient to service both tracks (tested during measuring the setup). As for the drain, it is a rather solid piece of resin that came with water crane kit. I painted the crevices black and added a layer of gloss varnish to represent water. The bars are painted a dark rust with a lighter rust pigments dusting to create tonal variation…
@justsendit Thanks Michael. I promised myself that I will not start anything else till this one is finished. I already did complete 2 intermezzo’s since I started this one.
@Micke_MM It is quite a challenge I put myself on. The size looks large, but I put on the mortar and it dwarves the base already !
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Looks good Erwin , I like the lighter color ballast . With the grey tone loco and the grey uniforms the lighter ballast will break up the mono tone .
I also like the fact that you put soot , grease and grime down the inside of the tracks !!!
Cool man .
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I think it all looks great!
J
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Thank you for the kind words Glenn. And a very keen eye for details, you have, yes.
Over here the ballast is generally brown in color:
The centerline has been simply sprayed with a mixture of black with a little bit of dark brown to lessen the intensity of the black.
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Thanks Master Jerry…
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In the meantime I put everything in place, sans the figures and accessories. The right side is rather empty. There will be 2 figures but not much more. How about adding a Horch personell car there?
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Looking good Erwin, , my only observation would be that the drain looks a tad ‘clean’. Now I’m no expert on railway infrastructure, so stand to be corrected, but, unless it was new, I’d expect to see more water staining and maybe algal growth…but the I always overcook the weathering on my builds, 
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G .