Seeing your name in print... is a magic! Well, more I fall in love with this hobby, more life takes me away from it! Can't believe that I am returning to this thread after 3 months! This is the longest break so far (and literally so, because there is absolutely no progress on the layout since February this year). I just hope that I manage to finish this layout now by this year end. However, there is one good news - our first publication in N scale Magazine. Thanks Joe Warren and Walt Huston for guiding me through the process. So, here it is - our brief history of falling in love with this hobby, and then a consolidated history of building Wrightsville Port - all in super quality glossy magazine paper! Published in two parts: July/August and September/October 2013 issues of N scale magazine: http://nscalemagazine.com/index.html
Saw your article in N-scale and said to my wife, "Hey, there's a Trainboard guy in here!" She laughed. It is a very well done article I thought, and the opening photo is very nice! Congratulations to you both!!!
Thanks guys! This is a 2 part article till current progress, look for part two in the Sep/Oct issue. There will be another article (hopefully in two parts too) when the layout is finished (God knows when though!). I am taking a few days off this week to boost the progress, look for some updates soon.
Had the headlight of my Kato NW2 broken and lost during an over-enthusiastic cleaning drive (the headlight still might be under the bed somewhere, but might well be sucked by the mighty vacuum cleaner). So I decided to make my own version - definitely should not be even compared with the Kato quality, but overall I am satisfied. Parts - tubes from a defective Model Power light, 1.2mm dia acrylic lenses and paper...
If you care to, I would recommend a .040 inch fiber optic with a flared tip instead of the clear plastic. This is really easy to do. I was amazed at the improvement in brightness.
If you care to, I would recommend a .040 inch fiber optic with a flared tip instead of the clear plastic. This is really easy to do. I was amazed at the improvement in brightness. OTOH, I was using .040 for H0 scale. Maybe something a little smaller. Light housing looks good.
Now some fun time this 4th of July weekend! Here are some pictures of my new building interior - the complete picture to come soon (as soon as it's complete). But I couldn't resist sharing some sneak peek into the interior of the building - this building will be a central story telling piece in the layout: Lizzy, the attendant in the local small grocery store Ducketts is cleaning the floor right before closing. In the floor above Mr. Shaw had his long time friend Simon Green visiting him for an evening drink and some serious discussion on books and arts. Mr Green does justice to his name by wearing a suit of the same color and he really is not inclined to accepting that he looks awful in that suit! Here is Mr. Shaw again with his favorite blue bottle of scotch. You can spot a large peg in front of him (it is as large as 0.75mm dia and less than 1mm height!) On the second floor, however, there is romance brewing! local college student Dan Andrew had his new girlfriend visiting this evening! We expect the fancy floor lighting to be switched off very soon!! Here is Dan and his girlfriend with a beautiful painting in the background, and Mr. Green in his awful green suit. If you look carefully, you can spot the whiskey glass in his hand.
Thanks Flash. I don't have the right size of the optic fiber with me at the moment, so just wanted to put something to take care of the cosmetic issue. I will replace the plastic lenses with optic fiber as soon as I have them - thanks again for the suggestion.
Thanks. Yes, this region will be the hot spot in town - there will be a lot of details and many small stories. Thanks. You know, I first thought of using Noch Sexy Scene products - to make it really naughty! But then I thought that I do have kids visiting my place so it will be inappropriate to model 'that' - so went for a toned down version. This is more romantic though!
Nimo, I've just gone through the entire thread and all I can say is, Wow! I'm very impressed with the work you and your wife have done. I've really enjoyed the pictures and videos, and your creative approach to the hobby is inspiring. You've encouraged me to get going on my own project, and shown how interesting a small layout can be. Thanks for sharing your work - and I'll be sure to get copies of N-Scale. I've been looking for an excuse to subscribe and now I have one. Jim
Thanks so much Jim! Glad that you like the layout. If you are looking for the N Scale magazine, look for the next issue as well, it's a two part article. And yes, that magazine is worth subscribe to, especially if you are an N-scaler - highly recommended. Stay tuned - more updates coming soon.
Here are the complete photos of the new building: the building from the corner - two shops - one grocery and a fish 'n' chips take away shop. Notice that apartment entrance right in front of the factory - bay window, graffiti on the wall - hard to believe it is a paper kit! Now this photo shows all the interior scenes made so far. You all know about the scenes in the corner shop building, but the scene around the Fish 'n' chips store is not yet complete. Inside we have the owner and an attendant, and outside we have the resident cat licking her paw! But these characters are yet to be developed. The right front wall is removable and I am planning to do some extreme interior at a later stage of the layout.
This task has been kept pending for a long time, so I had to do something. Long story short, the major task was to make the pillars. So first I had cut thin (4-5mm) strips of thick 2mm cardboard and painted them - a combination of unbleached titanium white, black, burnt umber and Indian red in heavy matte medium mixed in unequal proportion to bring the rusty, weathered look. Three on the right hand was for the boat yard - wood pillars. Now here is the boat yard: Container portal: Main quay with Severus: Birds eye views: 4 major elements if the new detailing: The pillars, the ladders, the tires and the bollards:
