Haha -- already noted that. Good ole' New Mexico -- all that wind comes from the gas bag politicians in Santa Fe. The sign you are refering to in the second postcard represents what I believe is the early 1970's as best I can tell. I will be creating the sign on a single pole as represented in the first postcard, which I believe is from the 1950's/1960's era. One element I had to give up on for this build, was trying to duplicate the letters on the front top of the building that were most likely neon lit. Refer to first postcard pic. Try as I might, I could not get my laser to cut at that fine of a level. Therefore had to take "artistic license" which will be demonstrate when I mount the roof. Right now, I am in the midst of creating drop down hooded lighting specifically for the booths, and a few for the back of the dining room as well. If I can pull it off for the booths, the effect will be pretty cool through the front window.
They have prewired 0402 warm white LED's that would make drop down lighting easy. I got them from Amazon, eBay, and Aliexpress, with the later the cheapest if 3 week shipping is acceptable.
Rob, I almost went that direction with LED's, but also wanted a decorative lightshade/hoods of sorts to hang over at least the booths. So I am "attempting" to use fiber optic cable and our standby 1.5MM bead caps to represent the hoods and have them drop down from the ceiling. The fixtures will be painted gold to represent the typical "cheap plated ellegance" of that era. The challange/nightmare is tying all the lights together, routing them to the light source, and ensuring their drop down heighth and poles are straight. I should be able to provide some completed pics soon.
I'll bite... Where did you get 1.5mm Half Round Bead Caps? I personally have spent over 40 hours researching high and low and the smallest I could find are 3mm, which scale to 26". I could really use a source for the 1.5 to get closer to a 12" scale that can be used for over door type lights. Oh, by the way, the 0402 LED is still easier to use than fiber optics. Trust me...
SORRY, I was off by 1MM --- my apologies. These are 2.5MM X 1 from FIRE MOUNTAIN. Sorry to get your hopes up too much, but these little guys are pretty darned close to the over the door type hoods you are seeking. You may already have these in your aresenal. Bead cap, sterling silver, 2.5x1mm smooth round, fits 2-3mm bead. Sold per pkg of 50. https://www.firemountaingems.com/itemdetails/h207431fx Scott found these for us when I did that post awhile back titled "LIGHTED GOOSENECK WAREHOUSE LIGHTS IN Z". I also used them on the SAWTOOTH WAREHOUSE build. You'll see one deployed over the attached office, and lighted, plus one on the side door of the warehouse itself, although that one got a little wonky and twisted a few degrees after install. Agreed too, the 0402 LED's may be a better choice versus fiber optics --- and I still may have to go down that path if these don't work....
I just spent another 20 minutes searching and no go on less than 3mm, so your 2.5mm source seems the best case available.
I just reviewed that old LIGHTED GOOSENECK post as well, and you noted 3MM in your postings, and I wonder if they are a true 3MM -and- I wonder if these 2.5MM's FIRE MOUNTAIN sells are true to size as well? I'm not at home to check.....but will later. Yeah, I'd say this is about the best we have at our disposal for the time being, until the bead industry decides to get off their backsides and do something to support those of us in the Z-scale community ---- UPDATE --- I just called FIRE MOUNTAIN. They noted that 2.5MM was the smallest they could source.
I spend countless hours on the web each week looking for materials and methods that can be adapted to Z Scale modeling. Each and every model I make is an attempt to make the previous one look like a poor attempt, as I am always challenging myself to raise the bar. And I don't want to leave anybody behind, so I always share any new methods, techniques, or materials I find with anyone who will listen. On the flipside, I would hope others would do the same and share what they found. Don't anybody be afraid to try something new because for every few failures there is a success waiting to be found.
Yes sir, on-board 100% with that Rob, and I will second that by saying I think it is also the "spirit" of those on this very forum that are doing a fantastic job of sharing their knowledge, techniques, wisdom, etc. And I believe it's what has taken Z to the next level. INTERESTING SIDE NOTE ABOUT SOURCING MATERIALS - when I was a small kid in the early 1970's, maybe 7 or 8 years old, I was always carving and making small novelties out of wood, toothpicks and other materials --- sailing ships, trucks, miniature skateboards, military vehicles. Not kits either -- all custom from material I could find. We are talking way smaller than normal here. So there I was, working on a caboose -- probably 1/500 scale literally --- made out wood. And of course, I needed end ladders for realism. Try as I might, I couldn't make them out of wire. Then it hit me -- that new glass storm door my dad just installed, you know those ones that have a glass partion that slides up so you can let the air pass through -- well it also had a webbing material that was made out of a rubber/plastic material and the webbing was spaced just right and the scale was just right for it to suffice for ladders. And slice I did -- a nice golfball size piece of material. A small price for the door to pay so that I could complete my caboose!!! Welllllll needless to say, when my mom saw it afterwards, my other caboose got blistered for that stunt! I don't think my dad was much happier either. My mom still has all of my little knick-knack carvings and she used to display them in a printers shadow box. And yes, that caboose is still in that collection. Moral of this story -- I'm not really sure there is one.
You got pics of that caboose? Remember the board game, "Empire Builder" I think it was? You could get little game pieces like GP30's and old 4-4-0 steamers-I took the GP30's, painted them Great Northern and made a diorama of them coming out of the west portal of Cascade Tunnel! They were just about 1/500th too.
OK Kurt, my sister in New Mexico just sent these pictures LOL! Now, don’t judge me by this, but you’ve got to take into consideration I was 7 or 8 yrs old maybe. Threw the sailing ship pic in for posterity. Now I will say that ship was grand, considering it’s only about 2 inches long as well. Now we know where the Z-scale obsession comes from….
Like so many others on this forum, the summer months consume much of our time with outdoor activities, gardening, house repairs, etc. And like many, I still work an eight hour day too. But when the Model Railroading bug hits, you just go with it. I’ve been putting in a few minutes here and there…. As you can see by the pics below, I have made substantial progress on our little Cafe’. The interior is finished, and the back room lighting is installed. For the observant, I had to use some tape to cover the tops of the back rooms to hide light bleed between the walls and ceiling. As you may recall, the postcard I found on this café stated that it had a “friendly western” themed interior. Hence the wallpaper, the artwork, etc. I was debating to install a couple of deer or elk racks on the wall, or even a buffalo head. But wall space was somewhat limited and I went the easy route and hung western art instead. Not to mention those little features may have interfered with the drop down lighting that is being installed. Anyway, the interior is complete and the exterior walls as well. Here’s a few interior pictures of that progress:
…..and a few pics of the exterior walls looking in… ……. we will now take a short intermission. The snack bar and restrooms are open. More to come, as the roof and lighting has been installed. Just need to take a few pics to share.
