My past benchwork has been very quickly done and with little attention to repeatable details. They wer ebuilt to fit a specific space and thus enginered on the fly. When the layout went upstairs and finally became the monster 8.5x9.5 that is was, my madness finally go the better of me. I have now torn down the foam part of the old layout, and in analyzing the remaining benchwork there were no less then 8 different modes of thought in the construction. If we count backdrops as part of the benchwork, then I have precisely 10 different styles of construction altogether. It might come as no surprise that when I started taking the layout down with the intent to take it out in a similar intact condition, the layout did not come apart well. Taking down the layout was quite fun, surprisingly, as I felt the problems evaporate as I dismantled them. The problems inherent in the design are all GONE asside from the main pieces that survived. We will see if they survive much longer though, as they are not really meant for a "Modular" way of life and they are part of my headaches in designing a new layout. The benchwork that is still intact is quite ratty, and the sooner I chop it up the sooner I think I will be happy! Starting fresh all over has an appealing ring to it. The new layout will be modular. I want to be able to bring sections home to the apartment I share with my sweetheart so that I can work on them in the comfort of him, but I want to be able to have an achievable end-goal in sight. I also want a layout that this time will truely be moveable when the next great big move comes up. This means I will start designing this new layout from the ground up incorporating little those things I learned along the way but with modular as the main goal. Before I even thought about the benchwork I thought about the backdrop. I never would have done this before until Upstairs; there I tried putting in a 24" backdrop after everything was built and everything nearly died in the process. I will not be repeating that operation again! My backdrop will be 2 feet high, which means I get 4 2x4 foot sections of masonite from each 4x8 sheet, and then framed with 1x2 pine and hung on the wall or legs. I started smart by incorporating the leg into the design of the panel, negating any need to attach anything to the wall. First, each end will have 1.5" overlap to lap onto the next panel. Second, the framing will only box in 45" of the total length of the section, leaving 1.5" for the leg to extend up and through the section. Finally, four or more 1" drywall screws will hold the sections to the legs. The faces of the sections will be covered with light blue paper, with the parts right over the screws left unglued so I can get to the screws if ever necessary. In this way, my backdrop is not only done first and out of the way in a manner that it contributes to the overall rigidity of the final benchwork, but it is also modular so it can be easily moved aong with the layout when that time comes. So I then thought about the actual benchwork itself. I know the back legs will be 7 feet, and since I want to fit the finished product in my car so I don't have to rely on anyone to help me move when that so happens, this leg will have be removeable. Yes, an 8 foot long timber will fit in a Ford Fairlane; I can get at least 16 of them in there too! The basic conception at this point is a bench with 2 main shelves. The lower shelf is for projects and storage. I will be putting two additional shelves below the lower shelf for my Automotive Parts. Since my automotive shelves need to have 12" of clearence between them, and six inches on the floor to fit the original rear leaf springs for my car, the Lower main Shelf is at 36". I want at least 24" of clearence for my work areas, so that means the lower base of the layout is 60" I have a hunch I will be thankful for that later. The uppershelf will be the layout. The modules will be 2x4, though I might upgrade to 2.5x4 later. They will be fully removable once the restraining hardware is removed - I don't know what that is yet! I spent the morning putting the plan in my head out on paper until i had a point where I could predict how much wood I might need. I then went down to the big box and I bought some lumber; I spent a long time looking at plywood and I finally went with 4ply plywood; it seems to run roughly 1/2" thick, which is good news for drafting plans and making notes on paper. At this point I checked out and my planning shows in my slightly less then last time bill; take a guess how I know that 16 2x2s will fit in my car! I came home and spent the afternoon outside where I put a full scale model of my benchwork into existance. My final benchwork design consists of end pieces and shelf sections. The lower end pieces are notched to lap onto the lower 2x3 crossbrace. The upper pieces do not need notching because they lie on top of the crossbracing, but since they will have to go under the backdrop in the corners since the backdrop curves, they will have to accomodate 1/8" on the back side. Since these pieces lie above the crossbraces, they hang over the top crossbrace 1.5"; this provides the perfect space for a 4' or an 8' top rail that connects the top braces and keeps the upper framework rigid. And the whole thing can be disassembled because no screws are in unreachable places such as the face of the legs that lies against the wall. If I ever decide to make a segment of the layout lower for whatever reason, such as installing a staging yard, I will simply have to take out the 2x3 crossbrace and put a shorter brace at a lower height. Any benchwork in a lower part will be restricted to the width of the framework. So far, So Good! The first unit is built; now I just need to get the next couple done and I can properly arrange my new Storage Unit into a Proper Train Garage! Organization is the first step to Truely Enjoying this hobby! I must now go and sit and think about the design of the corner modules.
Sounds like you've hit it. Standardized designs for benchwork make it much easier. Also, backdrops have to be first, or as you discovered, it will nearly kill you to install.
