Sunshine, Palm Trees and a Food Industry...

Hi Pete, thanks for your suggestion.

I'm making the steel frame work as close to the prototype as possible. This diagram shows how I'm going to make the structural I beams. The styrene show in my post above is the soft yellow sections in the diagram below. I will be lining the edges with the 0.75 x 3.2mm styrene strip to resemble the I beams.

I assume (?) that once I have all the pieces lined with the outer strip, it will improve the strength.

A way of allowing this to free stand is possibly do what I have shown in the diagram below. By incorporating the external wall on the outer side of the vertical post, this shall increase its strength. This all being glued to either a 0.5 or 0.75mm thick sheet which sits under the track will also help to keep the roof structure upright.

I may even add some gussets (that cannot be seen between each of the nine frames) to the external wall and floor piece.

Cheers, Gary.

 

These pieces are not that big to incorporate small metal brackets.

The base is 8mm and the top of the angled upright is 12mm... See my reply to Pete above on how I can strengthen the whole structure.

Cheers, Gary.

 

Thanks Gormo.

I have started on turning the uprights and laterals into I beams. I did run out of Evergreen Styrene #136 (0.75 x 3.2mm) strip. I know have that and the build commences.

Cheers, Gary.

 

Thank you kindly. The building does look the part and fits in nicely with the other buildings I have scratch built.

Cheers, Gary.

 

It has been a rather quiet week on the modelling front, mainly due to cutting and gluing styrene strip and making sure all pieces go together as planned !

The pieces of angular styrene I showed previously have been edged out with the 0.75 x 3.2mm styrene strip. The top beams had to be taped together and sanded to make sure each were uniform in size/shape.

The flat styrene was glued vertically to the 0.75 x 3.2mm strip...

I cut each strip longer than the angular beam/sheet, enabling me to trim to size once it had cured. Both top and bottom was done then the end pieces were applied

The roof beams required a little more work due to the angles. All sides were edged out with the same 0.75 x 3.2mm strip.

Then both parts were united...

Now a few things have popped up during this build, one being the fixing and how to go about it and the other was to create a 'buried track' look.

I'll start by describing how I will go about creating the buried track first. Peco sleepers are approximately 1.5mm thick, so I have elected to glue down a strip of 1.5mm thick balsa wood to the surface, butting this right up to the sleepers. To gain the height for the concrete hardstand, I will be using 2.5mm balsa glued directly on top. Peco code 100 rail is approximately 3mm high, so the 2.5mm balsa will sit under the rail head and allow for cleaning, without damaging the concrete surface.

I have already glued the 1.5mm balsa in place and it is curing as I write this. Next up will be the 2.5mm balsa sheet. The underside of this sheet will need to be beveled to allow the sheet to sit over the chairs. Once this goes down and is securely fixed, it will be treated with paint and fiber paste, followed by paint and washes. A strip of balsa will also be cut and treated the same way and positioned between the rails.

Now to the fixing of the structure...

The easiest way I think to make this building free stand and also so I can remove it for cleaning the track etc, is to use neodymium magnets. Using Araldite, a small 3mm square/cube magnet will be fixed to the inside of the upright beam (out of view) and I will align 3mm cylindrical magnets into the base and gluing them into the surface. This will allow me to remove the building quite easily. I'm positive that at least five magnetic points along the structure will be enough to keep it upright. Well, here's hoping...

If this fails, I'll resort to another plan, when I think of one !

Cheers, Gary.

 

Cheers Gormo.

If I use a back scene, I can add small clear styrene ledges that each beam can sit on, as these would be hard to see under the roof.

Another idea I came up with, which may be even better than magnets is gluing (araldite for brass) 70mm long brass or solid styrene rods to the uprights which can then be plunged into firm fitting brass or styrene tube in the foam and baseboard.

Time will tell....

Cheers, Gary.

 

Over the last couple of days I have been constructing the hard stand area of the scrap yard. As my diagram shows above in post #247, I went with the balsa plan. This is the 1.5mm balsa glued down to the base with PVA.

To add the next layer of 2.5mm balsa, I had to sand out the edge so that the balsa didn't ride up on the chairs. This was done usind the straight edge and a sanding block.

The end result after sanding, test fitting and more sanding is this...

Both these sheets were glued down on top of the 1.5mm thick sheet using a good spread of PVA.

To allow this to sit flat and firm, a few lengths of pine and a piece of chip board was used with clamps to hold down firm. This had over 24 hours to cure.

For between the rails, I measured the wheel spacing on the axles of a few different wagons to make sure I would leave enough clearance for the wheel flanges. A strip of 2.5mm balsa was cut to length and then the edges sanded back 45*, enough to clear the chairs.

This piece was glued in using Gorilla Glue, as PVA doesn't work all that good on plastic sleepers. This was held down over night with a thin timber strip and clamps.

This morning I had painted the balsa a mid to dark grey and allow this to dry. Next up will be the spreading of the fiber paste to simulate concrete. I'll get this done and whilst that is curing, it'll give me time to duck down to my local hobby store for some needed styrene.

Cheers, Gary.

 

A layer of fiber paste has been applied to the painted balsa sheet and allowed to dry.

On closer inspection sees that another thin layer may need applying as the grain of the balsa is seen. This could be the fact that the paste dries clear, yet there could still be some of the emulsion in the cracks, but it is simply highlighted, magnifying the grain..? Maybe a wash of colour over the top will verify this.

The peninsula baseboard has been separated from the layout so I can work on it. This pic shows the fiddle yard (uncovered) and the clamped down tracks that serve the industry being glued into position. The clamped down tracks will be treated the same, being buried tracks in concrete.

1.5mm balsa sheet will be cut today and glued into position, followed by the 2.5mm sheet.

Ok, it's time to head off to work, yep, on a Sunday morning....

Cheers, Gary.

 

Thanks Chris.

On the original Miami shelf layout (where this layout started), I have a railway crossing (grade crossing) made from card board and haven't had any issues with the locomotives I have. I have made a substantial gap between the inside rail edges and the infill piece. I went through various pieces of rolling stock checking the wheel spacing on the axles to make sure I have enough clearance. As they say, measure twice, cut once !

Cheers, Gary.

 

I don't mind working every second weekend, it gives me more dollars for my modelling ! Good thing is that I'm normally home by 9.30am, although last weekend we had a water leak and I had to stay back waiting for our on-call plumber... At least I get paid double time for my efforts on the Sunday !!

As for the hammer, I can't remember what I had that for, but I can assure you i wasn't for destruction !

Cheers, Gary.

 

The concrete hard stand/buried track has started around the area where the produce centre stands. I now have that area done to rail height yet I still need to install the balsa between the rails.

I also have finally had the ceiling in the room fixed and a new LED oyster light installed. This light is much brighter than the existing light ! While speaking about light, I bought myself 2 x 3m lengths of LED strip lights with power supplies.
Although I ordered two lots of lighting, only one arrived in the mail, so I got in touch with the seller and he rectified this, well sort of...
I contacted the seller (ebay) and he duly sent me the second item. After receiving this, I purchased the aluminium channel and a few fittings so I could hang the LEDs.

This didn't take too long to do as the LED strip has a sticky back on it which made installation easier. I wired in the terminal plug, hooked both lights up to mains power and bam, there on ! Only difference is the seller sent me out a strip of 'cool white' rather than 'natural white' that I initially ordered. He has been contacted.

So, this is what it looks like now, although I'm using string at the moment to hang the lights, this way I can gauge the height I require, not too high, not too low !

I will have to do something about the plugs and work a way to have these connections run directly across to the wall rather than hang off the channel, looking sloppy.

Two weeks ago I got in touch with Steve from Euro Hobbies and purchased a few more containers and a front end loader. The loader is from the Road Ragers range of models and once weathered up, it shall look the part.

I have decided on an alteration to the track plan, once again it involves the fiddle yard ! I have decided to add a drop down section to the end of the fiddle yard so I can incorporate a point and short stub track. This will enable me to run a loco around the train it has brought into staging. More of this will follow soon.

Oh ye, here is the latest video update..., Enjoy.



Cheers, Gary.

 

Fantastic news regarding the inconsistency in my ebay purchased LED strips... After sending the seller a message and supporting photographs, the seller has elected to send me two new lengths of LED strip ! When these arrive I'll have to strip out the 'cool white' and replace them with the new natural white' strip.

Cheers, Gary.