After gluing this in place, I find that the monochrome sand color is too stark. I used a darker, mixed ballast color through a strainer to darken all these sand areas and tie the whole area together. I had never tried the "strained-ballast" technique before. It is much better than the sand alone, it will easily glue in place, and I don't have to paint or use chalks to change the colors. It also blends with my track ballast along the interchange track. Here is the result: All dried and some vehicles in place. I will add some more vegetation and a shoulder area across the road. Now on to the truck stop near by. Maybe the old Red Apple and the Talton Hotel.
Flash - that looks great! Thanks for the blow by blow, er, step by step. It makes me want to copy it. er, I mean, us it for research.
Looks great Flash, worth the effort for sure. Todd, I now see the issue with the road along side the tracks. That will not do.
Great work, folks! I really like that shelf layout. I have cut my pieces for my two triple-length T-Trak modules to length and I got the basic boxes for each built yesterday. I will be adding some form of bracing today and, if the stars stay aligned, I am going to plot out where the track will go and maybe even start hooking it up.
Not exciting but it makes it clear I need to clean the track and maybe run a feeder or two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flo79_isTnY
Well, not much to update once again. I took a few pictures of where I am at. You can see the before and after of the outside of the room. I mocked up a little piece of cardboard to see what height I want my benchwork. I determined that 52" to the top of the mainline will be the dimension. Decided to throw a couple of trees and a caboose on to get a good feel. I am still trying to figure out what sort of benchwork I am going to use. With my deepest shelf being 18", I was thinking of keeping it simple and using steel L-shaped shelf brackets with an open grid frame on top. For $3.00 a piece at the local hardware store, I don't think I can go wrong. In the photo of the floor, I have taped out my benchwork just to make sure there is still room to stand. I think I am good. Anyhow, until next time here are a few photos. I used my wifes old point and shoot, and they are sorta yellow. Once things get going, I will see if I can break out the Nikon d90. Hopefully I will have a bit more to report by next weekend. That is if my other hobbies don't keep getting in the way. Cheers!
Shelf height sounds good. Pete Nolan, one of the TB members, said that the steel shelf brackets with the foam on top was not a good idea. I don't remember why and I can't locate where he wrote that. Maybe someone else can help.
I wouldn't attach foam directly to the shelf brackets, but that's not what Mr. Bevale is proposing. He's talking about, I presume, an open wooden frame with foam on top of that. The wood frame would be attached to the steel brackets. I've used this method for the last three layouts that I've built, and never had any sort of issue.
No particular reason. The throttle jack is in the middle, and the cable is long enough to allow me to reach the entire layout. The throttle pocket is just to store the throttle when not in use. Keep in mind, this shelf is only ten feet long.
Kitbashing underway The Dixon cityscape took major leaps forward tonight. The new structures still need many more details to get the look I want. But for just a few hours work, I can't complain with the results so far.
Flash / Tracy, My intent is, as Tracy says, to build an open grid wood frame which will be fastened to the brackets. I am still toying with the idea of using foam, or a cardboard and plaster shell. Both have their pro's and con's, and I suppose there are no rules saying I couldn't do both if I felt so inclined. I can definitely see that attaching foam directly to the brackets could be nothing but trouble though.
That really looks nice! :thumbs_up: Definitely better than the road scene. It is a lot of windows to paint. I have a lot of building details to add, too.
Ben, one of my fellow local N-scalers built a double-deck layout using 18" wide hollow core closet doors on heavy shelf brackets. A layer of foam on top gave him a workable surface. With brackets spaced every 32 inches, it is very rigid and lightweight. The doors were close to the cost of the wood for open frame. Further, for a double deck layout, they give excellent rigidity over large spans while minimizing structural height - a plus for maximizing vertical separation. It was definitely simple and fast.
I soldered some drops to two of the five sections of straight track for my triple length lumber mill T-Trak module and tack-glued them into place with the drops extending below the module last night. I am hoping to put the other track with the spurs for the loading docks tonight and then I will post a photo or two.
Details evolving at Dixon Rummaging around in the scrap bin paid off today. The new heavy industry at Dixon gained some prominent details.
Pachyderm, I like that idea, and if I can find some doors cheap enough at the Hardware store I may just do that. I was looking at your layout and see that you have some grade transitions. I think my biggest fear with using foam is creating smooth grades in the foam. Do you use a plywood subroadbed, or do you carve the foam to the grade you want? Cheers,
I use foam for everything above the benchwork (hollow core doors). To produce smooth, consistent grades I rip long tapers (2 percent) from 2" foam on the table saw. I don't worry too much about gaps between the track and the roadbed; ballast fills the gaps. You can see some of the bare roadbed in my Layout Construction album.
Some real progress! Well I just couldn't hold off any longer. I stopped at the hardware store after work and picked up some 1x4 pine. (hollow core doors proved to be too expensive in comparison). A few hours later, and my benchwork is just about complete. The steel shelf brackets work fantastic! Sturdy as a mountain goat!! Have to pick up a couple more 8' pieces to finish the last little bit, but I couldn't be happier with the progress. I may have to go back and check my goals for this layout party. If I recall I finished all of the ones I set... in that case I will have to decide on one or two more. Perhaps track... although I may wait a bit on that. Spending money is just too easy. Cheers!
