Thought that these filler furring pieces needed some help. Coated the screws with PVA before placement. Better than nothing. After making two small notches for the tray, did a test fit of the panel. All looks good, including clearance from the shelf above. I'll give the front a generous radius of about 4". Now it's time to purchase some sky blue paint and an outside corner trim length.
Ever trying to stiffen that side for a backdrop... have plenty of joint compound and put it to use. Rounded off the end panels with a 7" radius. Don't want the masonite to warp, so I'll be painting both sides, to seal it. The exterior will be the brown stain used on the base. The interior will get a coat of latex San Francisco Fog. I have some lying around as it's the color of my home's interior. It should make a good base for the sky blue. Might even let some of it peek out near the bottom.
Worked on the two end panels of the backdrop. Then I got an idea. On the right panel, I marked out where the mounting screws will be and drilled them through the masonite. This allowed painting the interior sides with San Francisco Fog, and the exterior with an Espresso colored stain. I was in our small bar room where we keep a couple of early original paintings by Susan Webster. I encourage you to check out her stuff... https://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/816012 Anyway, one of her quirks is that she sometimes has parts of her paintings hanging out past the edge of the frame. She does this by painting certain parts on masonite, then sticking them on the body of the painting with a hidden spacer. This gives a slight 3D effect. That's the idea. I'm going to try doing the same with some of the clouds on the backdrop. The photo is a small part of the painting named Game Night (2004). We purchased it before it could be catalogued. It was hung in the pool room of our last house. We have downsized from a 3-story house to a 1-story (no steps, thank you, Lord). This is why I'm building a layout on a door, in the garage. You can't have everything.
We did similar, moving last fall from a 2-story, master-up (with no bathtub/shower down!) where we'd been for 30 years, to a single story in the same zip code. Loving the new house (to us; it's almost 50 yrs old, but well maintained), in a heavily wooded neighborhood. No more swimming pool (you know, the hole in the ground into which you pour money) either!
The right part of the backdrop just went up. The background looks okay but the clouds show my complete lack of artistic ability. The panel did warp some, although both sides are painted. Hoping that when I attach an exterior corner (after the back is in) that the warp out can be brought back in. The second photo shows the back of this piece. The bottom row of screws is solidly into the door. The remainder of the screws are through furring strips attached to the pink foam board. I put a dab of glue on these screw threads, hoping they'll attach better to the foam board. I finished the screws by hand and they did feel secure. The left part of the backdrop is ready but I'm going to need an extra pair of hands to hold it up while I get some screws in. It is also similarly warped. Production of the rear part has not begun. There's going to be a vertical seam in it because the 80" door is far longer than the 48" masonite panels. I'm trying to think of some way to diminish the seam. Perhaps a tornado spout?
Figured out a way to install the left side without an extra pair of hands. So it's up. Will start on the back in a few days.
Regarding the backdrop, as Flyers announcer Gene Hart used to say, "It's all over". I decided to skip a tornado to cover up the seam in the back. A large cloud works well. There are many small details to do: a masonite sheet on the outside tray that I drilled 3 large holes in; a name on the cement plant; a pneumatic cement trailer, none are made in N scale, will look at next week's Plano show; a Soundbox, maybe 2 with a small stereo; waiting for a preordered Kato switcher, EMD NW2 (UP). By the way, any Soundbox users here? I have questions.
I have some overhead lighting giving perpetual daytime. I've already wired the donut shop but decided to abandon it. I would like to light the Kato passenger cars. The next big thing will be big sound: Soundbox, amplifier, speakers.
Very nice work, Numbers. You’ve accomplished a lot in a short amount of time and it looks great. Now you can spend some time running trains and enjoying what you’ve created. I don’t know anything about Soundbox so I can’t offer any advice.
Started a new thread showing the under door wiring. https://www.trainboard.com/highball...e-door-layout-what-i-did.156319/#post-1309904
Just gave these Walthers A/C units a second coat of metallic. One unit will be on the ground, next to the Amtrak station (will have to move one tree). The others will be rooftop units on the downtown buildings.
Went to the Plano train show looking for a Kato Soundbox. Nobody had any, zero, nada, niente. Now it's coming from Japan. The layout's front lowering 4' long shelf is going to marginal. I reused the finished and stained shelf from the old 2' x 4' layout. Should have gone longer. Tomorrow, going to pick up a ¾" x 11 ¼" x 6' (actual size) piece of lumber. Want to have it long enough to possibly add an additional Soundbox(es). Won't touch the brackets so I can drill through the existing shelf's mounting holes into the new wood. Also will add a moulding to help keep stuff from falling off the edge, when lowered. Will also need a small amplifier and speakers/subwoofer. Have a Martin Logan 12" sub in the living room. That would definitely do a good job of vibrating the layout with the sound of a prime mover. Perhaps too much.
It does sound great but has its flaws. Supposed to be wireless, but that doesn't work. So I wired it. Supposed to sense a signal and turn itself on and off, but it doesn't turn off. The sub worked with a couple of Martin Logan Aerius electrostatics whose crossover networks slowly died. Now, the sub supports a couple of Monitor Audio Silver units. They work very well together. I could put the sub with the Blue Top RR layout and get a new sub for the living room. It's about a 15" cube, weighing 34 lbs, and would be massive overkill. Never mind the cost of an equivalent new sub. Just did some research on the sound of train diesels. Lots of interesting info. https://www.nmra.org/sites/default/files/sr201112_dieselsounds.pdf https://www.matec-conferences.org/articles/matecconf/pdf/2015/12/matecconf_icmee2015_02001.pdf
From the "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" department. I'm not going to say anything about Kato's LED lights and install into their Amtrak passenger cars, zero, zip. Regarding the installation of an upcoming Soundbox, I won't be widening the current shelf, but make it a little deeper so that controllers can be stacked instead of being next to each other. Not going to make a final call until the Soundbox arrives. It has now cleared customs at LAX. Still looking at audio amplification options. Will be checking out something like Goodwill to get some cheapo, but working, stuff.
The Soundbox is currently in California, changing shippers. Supposed to arrive on the 10th but it should beat that handily. The sound card, ordered the same day, is coming from Georgia. Yes, it's still in Georgia, coming via USPS. From past personal history, I have little hope that it'll be on time (also the 10th). So, today I went to my local thrift store to find some type of used audio amplification. I think that I got lucky. Found a Logitech Z906 surround sound system for $80. In current parlance, it's a 5.1 system. Most important, it is THX certified. I've had THX components before. They are not shy on speed, power, nor bass. Only thing missing was the remote. It was designed as a small home theater system but it has an RCA stereo and an AUX input. Fortunately, its manual is still available on line. Spent the rest of the day testing and setting up. Being in the garage, there's no easy way to place the rear surround speakers. I placed those in front, but on a shelf higher than the speakers shown. The subwoofer fit perfectly above the paint sprayer and below the layout. Didn't want to put the sub on the layout itself because the vibration wouldn't be good for all those tiny train parts. The main control console is convenient, above the power outlets. Of course, I needed a source for testing. The only thing I had convenient was an old Pioneer TX-9500 Tuner, from about 1975. It worked! Right now, you can find this unit in a museum. Mine has the rare wood case. Anyway, the system was operational and sounded well. To an audiophile, the sub is musically boomy. But to mimic a diesel locomotive, it may be ideal.
