HOn30 Quick Build Christmas Layout

Curn Dec 8, 2019

  1. Curn

    Curn TrainBoard Member

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    The place I work encourages employees to decorate their desks for the holidays, and I have a filing cabinet with a pop-out 12”x40.5” shelf. So I figured plenty of space for a layout. I happen to have enough extra scenery supplies and track sitting around that I figured I could build a layout in 2-3 days.

    So here is day one. Got pink foam from the big box home store and cork sheet from the craft store.
    I glued two layers of foam together. Layer the cork and track plan over it.
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    The I cut out the track plan from the cork. This way I wouldn’t have to bend strip cork around the right 5 inch radius curves.
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    I slit the centerline periodically with a razor and then used a sharpie to bleed through and mark the centerline of the tack to the cork.
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    With the centerline transferred to the cork, it was then just a game of connect the dots to draw the centerline.
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    Matt
     
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  2. Curn

    Curn TrainBoard Member

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    More Day 1:

    Then glued down the cork.
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    Used paint bottles to hold it down while it dried.
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    Then soldered leads on to the track and started laying that down.
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    Used just about anything available to hold it down while the glue dried.
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    Then added some elevated areas and started carving the pond/creeks. By the end of Day 1 I was running trains, which is pretty good.
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  3. JimJ

    JimJ Staff Member

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    Nice. You got right down to business.
     
  4. Curn

    Curn TrainBoard Member

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    Day 2

    Started the morning by carving the rest of the hills
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    I filled in all the gaps and smoothed it out with lightweight spackle.
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    I painted the sides with a whiteish primer.
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    Then I covered all the slopes in white glue and put down express scale natural soil & dirt ballast to cover all the pink foam.
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  5. Curn

    Curn TrainBoard Member

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    Day 2 Continued.

    Drying time is my enemy right now, so I’m just layering all the scenery materials and will glue them down later. I want a layered look to the scenery.


    Ballasted the track
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    Green foam grass and some tuffs
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    And Snow!
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    Moving on to gluing this all down. I’ll have to repaint the sides.
     
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  6. Curn

    Curn TrainBoard Member

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    Day 2

    Added some silver trees I picked up at Target for $10.
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    Well going fast has its problems.

    In a few spots I have blue from the sharpie I used to mark the cork bleeding though.
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    I was building the trestles and the track un-glued and lifted up. Part of the risk of not letting it fully dry.
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    Still much to do. I think it will take me a few more days as I will only have nights to work on it. I’m planning on using canning wax for the frozen over pond, and I need to paint the pond bottom more of a blue/grey. And do all the electrical work.
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2019
  7. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

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    Dang, your moving right along!!(y)

    I'm loving this!:D
     
  8. Curn

    Curn TrainBoard Member

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    Day 3.
    Saw what things looked like in the morning. Went to the craft store and got Mod-Podge Matte, and EnviroTex. I couldn’t find canning paraffin wax, so I figured I would just use epoxy and add some white to fog it. And once it dries clear and glossy, I can airbrush it with a matte finish and sprinkle some more snow on it.

    So started off with painting the pond area a sea grey. Last nights snow ended up looking like a melted mess.
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    So I re-did all the snow. This time using diluted mod-podge rather than white glue
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    Looks much better now
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    And I let it dry well under a fan this time to speed things up.
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  9. Curn

    Curn TrainBoard Member

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    Day 3
    Moving onto electrical,

    I learned this from someone on this forum. I always though this offset splice was a cool way to avoid shielding or electrical tape.
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    I’m using a Medvend panel mount controller. Just something I had laying around from Z scale. I cut channels in the bottom for all the wires.
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    I don’t like using plastic rail joiners. They bend/give too much when laying flex track. I just cut the gaps after the track is laid. I’ll need to fix the scenery a little.
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    Power is coming in from a jack in the side. Electric done.
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  10. Curn

    Curn TrainBoard Member

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    Day 3

    And moving onto the pond ice. Epoxy time.
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    Mixed in color on the fly.
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    I may have gone too far white. I can always hide that latter with more snow. Well see in the morning.
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    For now I’m just sitting here with a mini torch, popping bubble in the epoxy as they rise. Then I’m done for the day.
     
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  11. Curn

    Curn TrainBoard Member

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    Day 3,

    Lesson Learned.

    So the EnviroTex epoxy instructions clearly states to pour no more than 1/8” thick. I think I was more in the 3/8-1/2” thick range. I handy used this stuff in a while and forgot about that.

    Do what happens when you pour to thick? The epoxy gets too hot an cooks itself. Here is what my ice turned into.
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    A hot puck of epoxy that cooks itself into a new color. I pulled the puck out, but the damage was done.
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    I think this is the new bottom of my pond. I can fix this
     
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  12. traingeekboy

    traingeekboy TrainBoard Member

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    This is wonderful.

    It's also a big signal to those of us who do not have layouts.

    I have some premade Roco track. Maybe it's time to lay out an oval layout just for fun.
     
  13. Curn

    Curn TrainBoard Member

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    Day 4

    I’ll update on how I got here later. I’m beat and need some sleep. But the layout is working and done. Here is a short video.
     
  14. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

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    That is awesome!!(y)(y)(y)

    Great job!:D
     
  15. Curn

    Curn TrainBoard Member

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    Day 4

    To fix the pond, I ended up using paraffin candle wax. I melted it and then used a flake of a blue crayon to color it. Ended up a little too blue.
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    I figured it would look ok once the wax went back to white so I tried it.
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    It still was too blue. So a made a new batch and put a white top coat on it.
     
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2019
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  16. Curn

    Curn TrainBoard Member

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    Day 4 Continued

    Because this would be placed on a metal shelf, I cut groves and hot glued magnets onto the bottom to hold it to the shelf.
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    To clear the snow from the rails, I made a tool from excess rail and a grinder. This worked really well. I’m going to use this for every crossing I do in the future.
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    Despite this useful tool. There were some areas where the snow wasn’t glued down well and it just flakes off while clearing the rails. Cleaning up the track was a pain in the rear. It’s like cleaning the flange groves on a 6 foot long crossing.
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    So I relayed all that snow, and then added a ring around the pond, and I was all done.
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  17. Curn

    Curn TrainBoard Member

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    Day 5!

    The layout has been moved to the office, and is working well enough. The filing cabinet has a pop out shelf and the magnets are holding it in place. It’s been running in circles for two hours now with only 1 stall, so not bad.
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    -Matt
     
  18. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Great job! (y)(y)(y)
     
  19. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

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    Excellent!!(y)

    And only 5 days, that's impressive!:cool:
     
  20. Curn

    Curn TrainBoard Member

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    Days 9 and 10.

    So I figured my layout would need something added to it. I was looking to add a little depot. I got some winter and Christmas figures too.

    The design is loosely based on the Sierra Railway Keystone depot; a flag stop on the line. As this is a snowy area, my version has a higher pitched roof.
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    I built it all out of strip wood. I winged the whole thing. I put legs on the platform with points cut into them, so it could be easily installed on the layout by poking it into the foam.
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    I put the siding on the inside of the frame to make the outside more interesting and because it hides my quick and sloppy lumber cuts. Then I covered the thing in snow and added the figures.
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    Looks good installed on the layout
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