Thanks Ron, thanks Paul. It's better than getting an Easter egg ! Although Jody did bring one for me... Cheers, Gary.
Great day for you all Gary. I'll bet Jack was over the moon with the layouts progress and all to the usual standard that we have all come to expect. Say hi to the boys for me.
Another loco weathered... from this... to this... Total time to weather : 10 minutes to mask off wheels with paper and tape 10 minutes to apply Maskol to all windows, lights, marker lamps and running numbers 10 minutes to dry 3 minutes to apply matt spray 45 minutes drying time 20 minutes to dust up with powders and apply isopropyl alcohol via the airbrush... So, if I didn't have to wait for the clear coat or Maskol to dry, 43 minutes all up ! Cheers, Gary.
Definitely Sol, someone needs their butt kicked ! I will say that the line the loco runs is a partially run down, short line railroad, although it does get its fair share of traffic to and from the grain silos and furniture factory ! Anyway, today I had to get onto building a frame, or I should say legs for the layout and the fiddle yard. I was originally going to use the legs frame from Industry Lane and make a 3' long extension, but this would not do. I needed to make a separate set of legs for both the scenic section and the fiddle yard. This was made from some 42mm x 18mm dressed pine, a bunch of nuts & bolts and a handful of screws. A little PVA was also thrown in the mix for extra strength. Both sections were made with the legs attached, but they fold up into the layout. The layout stands 1m (40") high, but the fiddle yard is slightly lower, actually 3mm (1/8") lower. Above you can see the attached legs and aluminium strips to retain the squareness of the legs, one at the front, the other end at the rear of the layout. Below. The fiddle yard board which measure approximately 1200mm long (just under 4'). Again, a strip of aluminium strains the leg and keeps everything square. Here you can see the 3mm difference in the baseboard heights. Why you might ask ? Is it an oversight, or did I just bu@@er it up ?? No, this pic below shows why it was built (designed) this way... I needed the step in the baseboard height so that I could use a piece of 3mm MDF as the sector plate, exactly the same as I done on Industry Lane. So, there is a method behind all the madness... Next up will be sorting out the sector plate, gluing down the lengths of track with PVA and then wiring the plate up. Cheers, Gary.
Clever What's the scenic break between the layout and the fiddle yard going to be on this one Gary? Ed
The end scenic break is the same as the rear, just a continuation of hills and sky. I have taken it off as I need to attach it to the fiddle yard board. Cheers, Gary.
Great Stuff Gary, That`s a light weight set up you`ve come up with there. Are you bracing the 3mm sector plate in any way to stop it bowing up or down or will the track keep it in check.??? http://www.clickGormo
Gormo, I did not have any problems with the MDF sector plate on Industry Lane. I'm guessing that gluing the track down with PVA may help it from bowing. Even stored away in the spare room, there has been no distortion what so ever. Maybe to combat any possible bowing, I have some aluminium angle that I could fix to the MDF. Cameron, yes it is identical to Industry Lane, except a little longer. I'll glue down some stop blocks on the outer edges of the sector plate baseboard to stop any over-throw. Cheers, Gary.
Now Cameron you don't expect him to reveal all his secrets Gary - I've found a diagonal cross brace on the leg really firms up the assembly as well. Paul
Hi Gary lots of progress and it's looking good. One suggestion something I learned on Moonan I added a diagonal cross brace to the leg H frame and it made the layout super stable even though it is quite tall, without them a slight bump would move the whole layout, with them it can take a good knock without moving. Attached files
I had considered diagonal braces at the beginning, but once I secured the first set of legs, I realized that they are very rigid. The small horizontal timber at the base of the legs is very secure, it has two 40mm, 10 gauge wood screws and PVA to hold it together. These were set in place with a carpenters square. The bolts at the very top into the baseboard are 1/4" diameter and are a tight fit. Basically, they were screwed into the legs through to the baseboard where a nut locks them in. I would say that the whole set up is much more rigid than Industry Lane. Cheers, Gary.