Thank you guys for your thoughts!!! Will look at some magnets at Walmart and Michael's later today. Tom, how do I model cow pies for N scale? Thinking about using a darker color of dirt in the pens. Joe
You might do better with the magnets on that auction site. They have awfully small ones and cheap but may have to come overseas. I'm sure there are domestic suppliers at slightly higher prices on that site too. You'll have much more of a size selection than at Wally World or Michael's.
My rare earth magnets are 1/8 inch diameter. I also used them on the 4 legs of my signal bridges...so I can take them off from over the tracks when cleaning them
Today I spread some dark brown ground foam on the pens and cut another base for the building. Went ahead and cut a second base for a different building to add variety. The building was modified by replacing the large door on the front and added double doors to the side near the yard. After dinner will make some fencing to go from the stock yard to the processing building. Joe
I just read your entire thread Joe and I have to admit I admire your scratchbuilding skills. I was awful nervous when I got to the part of your thread about Cynthia's accident. I sure am glad she finally made it home. I'm getting ready to start my first n scale layout and have picked up some great tips from your thread. Thanks for posting all the details.
This afternoon i finished the fencing from the stock yard to the processing building and a loading ramp. My next project is the loading structure for the oil depot, it will be made from all styrene pieces and be able to service three tank cars. Joe
I set up the stock yard and processing building on module 06, still need to smooth out the foam. There is a 6x2 inch area of caulking on top of the foam that makes the yard base rock a little and a slight mismatch between the two bases This evening I started the loading platform for the oil depot, the deck is half way done. The cross beams have been cut long and will do the final cut after the platform walkway is complete. Joe
The only thing I did yesterday was paint the oil depot platform deck Black and buy a couple more packages of styrene strips. Will start on the ice house loading platform deck later today. Joe
I finished the ice house platform deck this afternoon and painted it Golden Brown, will start on the support structure tonight along with the oil depot. The alternate industry for the ice house is a grain mill on module 04 that is already assembled. Want to cut the bases for the above industries as well as the bases for the saw mill or cold mine on module 08. Really having a lot of fun with these projects. Hope you guys are enjoying the progress. Joe
This is an excellent build thread with good photos. The dollar bill illustrating scale is a nice touch. Very enjoyable.
I am enjoying your build immensely. Your attention to detail is fantastic and giving me lots of ideas.
Just finished building the support structure for the oil depot loading platform. Still have handrails and other details to do on another day. The support structure went pretty quick, there are six bents, I glued one and then set up a second bent. By the time I glued the second bent the first one was ready to flip over to glue a diagonal support. The third bent is then assembled and so forth with the others. Will paint it black in the morning if it isn't raining The design is mine, doing it from memory looking at photos. Joe
Been following along for a while Joe. Definitely always enjoy seeing how things are coming along and what's next. I also have to note that it's impressive that this platform project went from $0.25 to $0.50 and now a $1
Thank you guys for your compliments!!! I really appreciate your support. I painted the oil depot platform black and still have to install handrails and other details some of which will do tonight. The total cost of the platform is about $5.00, used a complete package of 0.030x0.060 inch styrene strips plus several pieces of other styrene shapes. The platform measures 8 inches long (106 ft), 1.3 wide (17 ft) and 1.9 high (25 ft). The large base will have the loading platform, medium sized tank, small tanks and the building. The small base will have the large tank, 3 or 4 small tanks and a guard shed. Somewhere in my collection of scratch building supplies I have some cut off scraps from the B1-B. They have a wire mesh in between two layers of rubber that makes great N scale chain link fences. It's real easy to remove the mesh from the rubber and it's made of Gold, not enough weight to be of any financial value. Will use the material for the fencing around the oil depot. Joe
Found out that the platform is too tall, oh no. I'm in the process of making the legs shorter. Guess I made it for guys my height 6ft 2in. Haha. People were shorter than they are today back in the late 40's early 50's. Joe
Last night I cut the legs for the loading platform shorter and cut new cross braces, after installing the braces I painted it black this morning. This afternoon I painted the edge of the bases and sifted dirt on top. Now it's ready to add the loading structure, handrails, slide out ramps from the platform deck to the tank car and other details I've seen in photos. After that will look thru my treasure box for items for the smaller storage tanks and pipelines. Joe
