Bad Bayou Halloween Diorama | Final
Halloween is finally here, and so is the final build article for the Bad Bayou Halloween shadowbox. In the last article we had the basic foam shape we’d use for our track and scenery. We’ve fleshed this foam form out a bit more and hit it with some very basic craft paints just to give us a feel for the scene, it’s nice to have a general color pallet to work with.
The foam fits nicely and the green tones will work well with the box itself as well as the interior tree bark. While we had to get to the lighting, a pot of hot water and glycerin was warmed up to treat the roots we’ll be using for our creepy small trees and vines. The glycerin helps to preserve the roots and twigs.
Now we begin installing the lighting. We decided to use 2 rows of cool white LEDs attached to the shadowbox top, one row at the rear and one at the front. The LEDs extend from side to side at the rear, while only a half dozen or so were placed up at the front of the box. I wanted more lights in the rear to better highlight the bark on the removable back panel. Before the lights were permanently attached we did some placement testing to see the final LED positions.
Wiring the LEDs came next. A standard DC jack was installed in the box and then: soldering, resistors, shrink tube and just a little patience. The row of LEDs at the rear of the box was wired separately to an LED remote with various flashing modes. With a little tweaking, this remote can do a fun simulation of lightning! A last minute addition was a pair of warm white LED spotlights. I added these for highlighting the MTL Halloween car.
It’s at this point as we look at the final article photos that I can say that there’s still (lots) more scenery work to do. These photos feature just a few trees and ground cover temporarily placed over our earlier applied craft paint. On the evening of the 29th into the afternoon of the 30th, we lost power due to a nor’easter here in New York, and evenings in to the wee hours are typically when I do my work, so it was either detail the scenery or get the final article up on time. The scenery here is very basic, but it gives off a good feel.
I really enjoyed this Halloween project, I hope you did too, and a big thanks to Micro-Trains for making the Halloween car and providing the inspiration for this build.
Article Links
Micro-Trains N Scale BNSF Halloween Graffiti Car
Micro-Trains
Category: Raildig Build Projects
