Weekend Update 01-03-2010

[wm3798]

First Weekend Update of the New Year!
Had a great time running on the Bantrak modules at the Beano Museum on Saturday, both running my steam era train, and a few other things.  Also got to make the rounds with Puddington's world traveler.







And the latest from the Puddy World Tour...






Happy New Year!

Lee

[up1950s]

[Ryan87]

I've decided to try to share something each week for 2010...

Here's a kit I've been working on, It still needs weathering and some fine details... and I need to figure out what to use for shingles (the laser cut plastic in the kit sucks...)

[Dave V]

That's awesome!!!!!

[Jim Starbuck]

Finished my Milwaukee 'bug bash

[BCR 570]

Richie:  Very nice work.

Ryan:  Several companies offer shingles, depending on whether you are wanting asphalt shingles or wood ones.  Builders In Scale, GC Laser, Kanamodel, New Rail Models, Northeastern Scale Models, Paper Creek Model Works and RS Laser are a few that come to mind.


With the helix now complete and operational, my first goal for 2010 is to start laying track out of the helix and along both decks.  First up is the connection from the bottom of the helix to the temporary bridge on the lower deck. 

I begin with a 1/8" balsa spline sub-roadbed which provides precise alignment of curves and gets the roadbed up high enough for drainage ditches alongside the right of way.  Then comes the Woodland Scenics foam trackbed, which is also secured with the foam tack glue.  Next is a layered strip of masking tape to super-elevate the outside rail of the curve.  Here is the roadbed in place:




I used Peco Code 55 in the helix for its robustness and ability to hold a curve well.  I will using Code 40 track everywhere else.  The track is assembled with Micro Engineering Code 40 rail and the ties are Fast Tracks Quicksticks:




Here is a close-up of the transition from Peco Code 55 in the helix to handlaid Code 40 outside.  The rail joiners are temporary - when this is all secured into place the transition track will be soldered to the Code 40:




After testing, this track will be lifted and wired with feeders from below.  For now it is receiving track power from the bridge which has been wired up already and connected temporarily to the DCC command station.

With everything in place, it was time to sit back with throttle in hand and enjoy watching the first train, Work Extra 632, make its way out of the helix and onto the visible portion of the layout:




With this piece of track now in place, trains can run all the way down the helix, through the new curve and across the temporary Pine River bridge:




That is as far as I can go along the lower deck until the remaining section of benchwork is built and installed, so my attention now turns to the upper deck, where track can now be laid from the top of the helix to the west switch of Tremblay siding.


Tim

[bbussey]

That's awesome!!!!!

Agreed.  Excellent work Rich.

[Andrew Hutchinson]

Ryan, neat structure.

By shingles do you mean duroid or cedar? I think you can do both using similar methods. Not long ago I did some shakes out of masking tape when I was in a bind for time. I used the stuff before in HO but that was a long time ago so it was surprising when it didn't look all that bad. The nice thing with the tape strips is that they are easy to position compared to using  brown paper bag. you can also squish the tape slightly to get the proper amount of relief for the material you want to represent. Cuts can be made for individual shingles after installation due to the tape's inherent softness. This helps to avoid spacing problems that sometimes crop up when cutting the shingles in prior to application. The down side is that without a carefully hidden carrier (.005 styrene or vellum) the edges can take a bit of a beating if the structure gets handled more often than it should. I used vellum for the bottom course and this helps but sort of defeats the purpose of repositionable roofing. Once it is down it is down...

To make the shingles I put tape on a smooth surface and add paint in the direction of the grain of the shingles. At this time I also spraymount very thin vellum or even tissue paper to the subroof of my styrene structure to stick the tape to. When the paint is dry I cut my strips to width and apply them to the roof per whatever schedule is required. an N scale ruler usually works well - 5" schedule being close enough to the 6" markings on the ruler.

Duroid can be done similarly, but I think it might look better to just scribe the shingles out of a solid sheet of .005" styrene. Doing so  you might  achieve the proper amount of relief relative to the paint and weathering being placed on top. I did a few tests some time ago and only recently did another one to see if I remembered first time out . I think I am content with the compromises this method presents. The big issue is that with more complex roof lines accurate patterns become important. The test pieces I did were just flat sheets. Where (if) the roofing runs through a valley you would have to add a fillet (not an issue if it is flashed) which  can be time consuming to match to the styrene roofing. Even considering those potential downsides, I think (hope) when completed the material will look better than the printed mediums available. The issue I have with the rtr roofing is that under most conditions  the  lighting always shows just how flat it is. Perhaps scoring the photo paper would work - if the material was the  colour and scale you were after and somewhat archival. You're still minus the durability of the styrene roofing at the end of the day.
Compromises, compromises...


As always, YMMV

Andrew Hutchinson

[Chris333]

the laser cut plastic in the kit sucks...

Lemme guess, Branchline Trains?

[Erik W]

I've decided to try to share something each week for 2010...

A couple of months ago I decided I'd do the same thing.  When I've made some progress, I'll break out the camera and post some photos.  In that spirit, here's the couple of small things I've done this weekend.

This is an Athearn cab with a Showcase Miniatures trailer.  This will be at the loading dock of my furniture manufacturer.


I have a couple of Walthers Parkview Terrace building flats.  This one I thinned the width even more and added some people.  The other one will have some folks standing/sitting as well and have some laundry hanging to dry from the steps.  Final weathering will happen when I scenic the area around it.


 . . . and I got the hankerin' yesterday for a Tennessee Pass DVD and maybe a Rio Grande book.  When I got to Caboose Hobbies, they didn't have the Tennessee Pass DVD in stock (website had said it was in stock) and on persuing their D&RGW book selection, I realized I already own all of them.  So, I browsed for a while and walked away with this stuff.


Erik

[diezmon]

I managed to add some more weeds.. and some old concrete.




plus, one more decoder install:  LL GP-18 with the TCS K2D4 decoder

[Caleb Austin]

I am modeling winter... again. This time for good... I think. ;D

I've been trying to match that brown/green patchy looking winter grass. A pack of super trees should be arriving soon.



The first steps.

[up1950s]

I managed to add some more weeds.. and some old concrete.

Yes indeed , old foundations on the nondescript kind . Really an often forgotten thing on layouts , yet they are out there often enough in the real world , many times with graffiti on their vertical faces . Nice touch .

[Jim Starbuck]

I am modeling winter... again. This time for good... I think.
I've been trying to match that brown/green patchy looking winter grass....

Beautiful work Caleb.
You nailed it.  When looking at that scene, I can feel the chill in the air.

Jim

[mcjaco]

We've got one more week before MiNi has to be taken down, so I ran down and ran a little this morning.