From armchair to benchwork!

Hi, kidz...

Here's the week 4 progress report!

I'm not on plan this week, but I'm close to it.
The awaited order of sheet styrene finally arrived, but I ran short on paint! The hobby shop that stocks Floquil paints is about 35 miles away, so major purchasing trips wait until the weekend. Here's plan and progress on each item from last week:

Plan: Complete the tower building (install windows, shades, etc.)

Progress: I've installed the window 'glass': transparency film. After resupplying with Floquil 'Foundation' color, I've painted the shades and I expect to install the shades and complete the tower this week. Photos to come!

Plan: Complete the building with the wall detail suggesting a demolished neighbor (City Classics Iron Front building kit).

Progress: I'm really pleased with this one! I've got the front and side walls detailed and all that remains is to to cut the other walls from sheet styrene. I'll post photos and detail the technique in next week's report.

Plan: Complete the tower building's neighbor, a Bachmann Savings & Loan kit.

Progress: This is a simple four sided building, so its going together quickly. The front wall is painted. Side walls are cut from sheet styrene because of the unusual footprint (some walls are hidden by other buildings, so those walls from the kit are saved for use elsewhere and replaced by plain sheet styrene) and remain to be painted. This one should be done in time for next week's report.

The layout party is a great motivator! I've pulled out several books and magazine articles detailing techniques that I wanted to try "someday". Well..."someday" is here!

Here's my "top three" list of publications (webmaster: this is not a commercial plug, just recommendations based on my opinion):

'Styrene Modeling'
Evergreen Scale Models

http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/Book.htm

Follow the link to download ".pdf" files of sample chapters from this book containing tips and techniques for styrene modeling.

'Model Master Technical Guide'
Testor's

http://www.testors.com/hobbyist_guides.asp

The multiple chapters that cover all facets of model building such as painting, weathering, and other topics make this publication a superior value...because its free! Download a ".pdf" file for each of twelve chapters free at the Testors website.

'Building City Scenery for your Model Railroad' John Pryke

http://www.trains.com/content/dynamic/articles/000/000/002/290xbdhz.asp

This one's easy to find on my bookshelf...its the one with the well-worn cover! Mr. Pryke, a contributor to Model Railroader Magazine, shares his techniques for modeling the urban environment, including info on forced perspective, weathering, city details, and constructing in-street tracks. A wealth of info can be found in this book!

Best regards until next week...

Bruce J.

 

BEGINNING WEEK FIVE

Thanks for the links to build with styrene, the testors one looked the best given that it is free.

As usual, I discover tasks take longer than I had planned on. Difficult to describe what I have done. Really finishing tasks that needed to be done before the actual track laying I had planned on. Once I completed my backdrop, I had to join sections together that had already been constructed and cut. So the "flat" benchwork was done, but not joined. I have been joining these pieces together (MDF), levelling and gluing them as I go along. Since the glue needs to set for 24 hours, it means when I do a piece I have to wait a day before moving on to the next phase. I have been doing this all week.

This next week, I set up a slightly higher level for my urban port scene.

 

Hooray!

I've completed my six week goals in four weeks. I completed a coat of paint on all of the foam yesterday. I'm now ready to start laying track.

To celebrate my success, I'm going to take a week off, and fly to London. Actually, the trip has been planned for several months. It will give me a chance to recharge after spending most of the last month in the basement.

When I get back, I will be laying in the E/W staging yard, and the mainline thru the Lyons yard.

Keep up the good work!
Dave

 

Congrats on making your goal for the 6 week period. It would be nice if I could go to Europe as a celebration event, but I guess I'll have to settle with "internal satisfaction of a job well done".....groan.... I'd rather go to Europe.

 

Good work dave have a good and safe trip.

I have made pretty much no progress at this stage, all i have done is put a lightbulb in a house.
i have not felt like doing any modeling at this point. ive been feeling sick and have a few other problems to deal with at the moment.
i will visit the hobby shop tomorrow and probably buy a structure and see if that motivates me to do some more work.

 

Well... here we go. I had made some progress on my 15ft of roadway... what is that? ~~ 1/4 scale miles? I dare say I wont be getting any VDOT contracts soon.

Today it is nasty weather so I anticipate getting the rest of it poured.

Tasks to finish:
</font>

• Pour almost 8 ft more of plaster roadway</font>
• Finish one grade crossing which involves blending existing track into crossing (plaster)</font>
• Paint the plaster sections and grade-crossing that I am about to pour</font>
• Find, obtain, and apply roadway decal stripes over the whole 15 ft of roadway</font>
• Blend in roadside, shoulders, etc with scenery</font>

Good luck to all w/ their projects. I will post more progress pictures when I get to milestones... (and REMEMBER to pull out the camera)

[ 30. March 2003, 13:50: Message edited by: Kitbash ]

 

I have now finished all of my bench work to the point that all I have to do is the top boards. I decided that I have room to expand the bench work, which would completely change my current layout design. For the better. I have laid the mainline and one parallel track which is the start of the yard. My layout is divided into two rooms. So the mainline is laid in one room, the other room is the room I just completed the bench work.

 

Hi, all...

Here's the week 5 progress report!

Hobby time took a backseat to real work this week, so I wasn't able to spend as much time as I would have liked. I did pretty well, though. Here's plan and progress on each item from last week:

Plan: Complete the tower building (install windows, shades, etc.)

Progress: Got the shades in, and I still have to do the final assembly.

Plan: Complete the building with the wall detail suggesting a demolished neighbor (City Classics Iron Front building kit).

Progress: Done! This is my favorite of all the buildings.

Plan: Complete the tower building's neighbor, a Bachmann Savings & Loan kit.

Progress: Done. I had a wall section left over from this building, so I tried out a technique of painting a wall sign using a hand-made stencil. I'll use the wall as a flat or part of a partial building to show off a really great looking Coca Cola sign. Photos to come!

My original plan for the layout party was to complete 6 buildings in 6 weeks. It looks like I'll have 4 of the 6 buildings complete. I'm behind the plan, but...its a hobby and its fun and who cares?!!. I've had a chance to try several techniques that I've always wanted to try and I am very pleased with the results!

I'll shoot photos for posting next weekend. In the meantime...here's my top 5 list of tips and techniques. I don't claim credit for any of them. I'm just passing them along.

5. Buy a medium quality airbrush and an air compressor. You don't have to spend a lot of money! I bought a set including compressor and two airbrushes from a vendor on eBay. You get much better control with an airbrush as opposed to a spray can, and much superior results as compared with brushing.

4. Mix 20-25% white into your color when painting. This simulates the real world visual cue of fading color at a distance.

3. Try premixed drywall joint compound, or "mud", to simulate stucco on your buildings.

Spread on a thin layer on a brick wall, let it dry, then carefully sand it smooth (down to the window sills). Use an X-acto knife to chip away some sections to represent wear and tear. Some of the "stucco" sticks between bricks for realistic looking "mortar".

2. Try painting thru a hand-made stencil to create advertising signs on buildings.

I prefer the look of a painted-on signs as opposed to decals or dry transfers. Here's a brief list of instructions for my Coca Cola sign as an example:

- Find a photo. There's plenty of sources on the web! I found a photo of a Coca Cola sign with the famous script logo.

- Use photo processing software with an "edge detect" function to convert the photo to a line drawing.

- Print the line drawing on cardstock. (I cut an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet from a file folder and ran it thru my HP inkjet printer). The software I use has various resolution settings for printing...75 to 200 dots per inch. You'll have to experiment to get a printout that's the right size.

- Get a pack of x-acto blades and carefully cut out a stencil from the cardstock. A **SHARP** blade is important. Cut out each letter (don't try to push or tear it out) and replace the blade for each letter. Don't forget to leave a "bridge" to free floating shapes like the center of the letters 'O' or 'A'.

- For my Coca Cola sign, I first painted a red rectangle on a brick wall section. Floquil Signal Red looks good to me. Let the paint dry overnight.

- Spray the back side of the stencil with spray adhesive. I use Elmer's Extra Strength Spray Adhesive. This adhesive is suitable for temporary bonds if you let it dry about 5 minutes before bonding. Stick the stencil in place, being careful to place it and press it down completely flat.

- Spray with white.

- Remove the stencil and let the paint dry. Apply white paint with a fine brush to cover the "bridges" left by the stencil. Use the sticky side of a piece of masking tape to remove any adhesive residue.

- That's it! I was amazed at the quality of the results! The most important thing is just take your time.

And finally...

1. Like the shoe company says: "Just do it".

Try a new technique. Build something. Paint something. If it isn't perfect, don't worry about it. The real world isn't perfect, so your model doen't have to be!

I'll share a bunch of photos next weekend.

Best regards to all.

Bruce J.

 

Great Post Bruce,
I have printed out your instructions for the Coke sign. I will be commenting on my progress shortly.

 

Not much progress from me this week, i bought some cows and placed them on my hillside, i was given more foam, i have plenty now i bought a structure kit on saturday, and ive cleaned up the flash and done some painting on it, now i just have to assemble it and do the final touches with the paint.
its a coaling tower made by a company called heljan, i got it cos it was cheap at $15 and i decided i would rather use it in my gravel loading siding than trying to find a front end loader like i wanted in the first place.
im thinking about makign the siding a place where the trains unload gravel instead of load it too now.

i will take a photo of the structure when its done.

i havent been doing much else with my layout lately, being unable to get the turnouts i need has really slowed things down

 

By the last week on these layout electronci round robin commitments, replies begin to peeter out. The first round robin group I held was a year ago and it was eight weeks long. I'm beginning to think 6 weeks is too long. I notice enthusiasm is sustainable for about a month, so the next one will be a month long commitment.

I will be just starting to lay track now, as I had to finish with all kinds of tasks, plus get up to snuff on some detection systems, so that I was conscious of the blocks I would establish for computer running of trains.

If any of you have comments on this thread and suggestions on how to improve the next round robin group which will be in October, I'm all ears.

 

Au contrair, I enjoyed hearing from people up through the six week period. Personally I had to drop off due to the wedding but I would have been in for the full nine yards if the timing had been a little different. As it was I did in fact stall after week four. However that being said, it took me about a week and a half to get started. So if you take it all into consideration I was really only working for about three weeks during the party.

If it's all the same to you guys, there are a few of you contributing this thread that I'm enjoying getting to know, and I'd like to continue to hear about your layouts. Although we may not be able to keep up the same intensity as the layout "party", I would like volunteers from this thread for a new thread for this coming month. I REALLY enjoy the team spirit, and seeing other people's progress in real time (as opposed to turning a page in a magazine and viola, finished scenery) is what motivates me to work on my layout.

Who's with me?
David

 

Due to the military activities in the middle East, my employer strongly requested that we curtail internet visits to .com sites, mainly to preserve some bandwidth thru our firewall. This directly impacted my participation.

Progress toward operations: Held a mini-session with several club members. Turns out the engine yard on my layout is dang near inaccessible. It's a spur off of the urban switching section.

Plan for the next month is to relocate the turntable and roundhouse facilities to the other side of the layout. They'll connect directly to the loop of track around the li'l town. It'll be in an area that's easily accessible, but doesn't have much activity, and I'll be able to add an "engine hostler" to the operating sessions.

New project underway, building a mated set of HO modules featuring a logging short line. If you guys choose to keep some type of motivational thread going, I'll participate when I can, using the module construction project.

 

Rick, David Chong, others.

I've really enjoyed participating in this thread. Due to my vacation plans, I had to work really hard to complete my goals before leaving at the end of week 4.

I'm in for the next month. I have company coming in the middle of May, and would like to have trains running. What that means is I have to start laying track now.

Since returning on Tuesday from vacation, I have been doing some cleanup in the basement, putting away tools that I don't need for the next phase, removing the trash, etc. I should be finished with that by Sunday.

I should be ready to start with track work by next Monday.

So, David, start the new thread. I'm there.


To those who made progress on their goals, Congratulations on a job well done!

To the rest, don't feel too bad. Remember THIS IS JUST A HOBBY!! If it feels like work, it is. And that's to be avoided. Set smaller goals next time. You will be rewarded.

Dave


PS. David, I also add my best wishes for your new marital life.

 

Rett/Pat,

That DQ layout looks like a lot of fun, but we need more info - how big is it, and is there a plan that we can see (or a better picture of the middle section)? If I missed a previous thread with the details, please point me in the correct direction - I am new here.

Thanks,

Kurt

 

Well, when I walked into my layout room last night, I realized how important these round robin groups were to me. I can honestly say they helped me get off my butt and do something. Its the old story, no body learns more than the teacher.

I will try another 6 week session if that is the consensus. I'm always here so if some want to talk about their layout, but it isn't specific to design, I'm open.

I just discovered one of my son's good friends has a digital camera, so I'll see if I can get him to take about 6 pics of which I will post about three so I can prove I actually have a layout...lol.

[ 04. April 2003, 21:34: Message edited by: rsn48 ]

 

Hi all,

You can check out my web site for info on my layout construction.

Any and all comments are welcome.

 

Boxcab,

I orginally started out following free-moN module standard, but I was not happy with any of the plans I came up with. since I always admired Robert Ray layout I decided to follow his sub-N module std. with one modification I am maintaining an 1.25" track spacing so my track spacing will be 16.5,15.25, 9,1.5

 

I would like to thank Rick for having this party. I had a lot of fun not only working on my layout, so that I could report progress, but also reading about the progress of others.

If we keep having these work parties, I might actually have trains to run for my friends when they visit. For the last few years, I think my friends have doubted that I really was building a layout.

Thanks again guys.
Dave