It's been a busy year for you Paul! Glad to see you back posting. That shower tile for the wall looks great along with all the rest of the work on the house. The truck is super nice too.
It's more than I was looking to spend if am being honest, but it's absurd out there - a 6yr old pickup with 100k costs maybe $5-7k less than a brand new one. I can't say I understand it. Good news is I've put 5k on it in the last 7mos so it should last me a good while at this rate hahaha
well, interesting milestone in the progression of this project of mine - got a decent bonus check from making Lowe's a ton of money last month, so added a little to it to buy the last of the Unitrack that I needed. But the big thing is I was able to buy all 8 Kato power packs and adapters for my layout, which means for the first time since I even started thinking about things, I will have power for all of my trains. I guess I have to quit piddling around and get that room ready now, eh? Will be a little while yet before that happens, but that's a pretty big hurdle to clear. Am pretty stoked about having that expense out of the way, finally.
I can see it now; you, in the cockpit of your layout, with an arc of power packs before you, furiously flittering amongst the levers, deftly controlling your empire in motion, like a puppeteer pulling the strings of his marionettes! Complete with a curtain and smoke. And a little dog too. Yep; I can see it now.
UUuuuuh... it will probably be more like this: me standing there with arms crossed, intently watching them go around the tracks, feathering the throttle lever of one every now and then thinking to myself "that right there ain't right. It shouldn't rock that much going through that curve. That building isn't straight. Is that a thumbprint on that car window?? Would people actually be standing that close to the escalator on a platform?" ...and then half a bottle of Woodford later and "SHINKANSEN DRAG RACE!! WIDE OPEN, BABY" and "WHO PUT THIS PAINT BRUSH IN MY COFFEE MUG?? I JUST POURED THIS!"
"WHO PUT THIS PAINT BRUSH IN MY COFFEE MUG?? I JUST POURED THIS!" [/QUOTE] PS: Stick with acrylic paints...
Cleaning paint brushes in Woodford Reserve is a hanging offense! Maybe you could claim impairment... A half-empty bottle would be Exhibit A. Drinking Woodford from a coffee mug is only a misdemeanor. You could claim diminished capacity (no, not the coffee cup!) Any port in a storm. Port?! Who put grape juice in my whiskey?! ZZZzzz...
guess we're about due for another no layout progress, bi-annual rove from me. The good news is with the exception of finding someone to redo the ceiling in the bathroom (have hired 2 different people so far, both did more damage than good), all the big home projects are done. I've spent the last few months building a bunk bed, a wall-length bookshelf, and a couple of ARs while others built... well, giant messes of my only bathroom and my bank account, if am being honest. BUT, that's the last of the major projects, and aside from finishing up a small console table that you see on the sawhorses and a work desk you don't see at all once the weather cooperates again, it will finally be train room time! ^1/25/2025 - This is the train room Spent the morning fabbing up this ugly duck, but it does EXACTLY what it's supposed to do so definitely a case of function over form. Like I said, I have to wait for warmer weather to finish up a couple of small projects down here, then I can drop a partition just the other side of all the plumbing (I'd really rather leave that whole side open, but I just feel like if I leave the bathroom plumbing in proximity to a 90sq ft layout I'm just asking Murphy to pay me a visit!) and take out that wall heater, then I can get to work on choo choo land. I kind of want my spare bedroom closet back! ...not to mention the spare bedroom dresser that is also (STILL) full, and several other stashes all over the house. Just because am not active on here lately doesn't mean I am not still buying stuff all the time for that rainy day - just bought several scale acres of pine trees from a certain seller yesterday haha Still, will likely be late spring before am back in the full swing of things and can finally build the benchwork, but headway is being made. Looking forward to finally seeing this beast take shape and getting back to swearing at the tiny parts again.
Don't have any children at all (that I know of! ) but have wanted to do an AR10 project forever now - a short barrel DMR highly accurate to about 5-600yds as a semi, and a Uintah Precision bolt upper for those real reach out and touch... well, whatever moments past that, just swap the uppers between a designated precision lower. Could I have probably gotten a better single all-around rifle for what I spent? Definitely. (to be fair, I briefly considered a Falkor Petra just for the wow factor but then talked myself out of it because, well, that thing is ludicrous. So, it could have been even more! lol) Would it have been what I've been wanting for a decade or so? Newp. Just like building a model railroad, I got to read up on and learn about all the different pieces parts and get exactly what I wanted. Have shot plenty, but never built an AR before. It's been an experience. Still putting the final touches on it all then I have two scopes to zero and two barrels to condition. Then the real fun starts lol
ok, am going to pick this forum's brains a little here... as I'm getting ready to be able to start building this little world finally, I am starting to wonder about dust controls. I originally was just going to throw a sheet over it when not in use, seeing as how the one tower is going to be almost 3ft tall but the rest of it maybe only 2-12", but then I got to thinking about it and all the little tiny antenna on rooftops and especially all these trees am stockpiling... they're all things that not only are really obnoxious to get dust OUT of, but will be very breakable, as well. My most recent thought is to put some 3-4" lengths of pvc in the corners and then use dowel rod to stand off a frame to lay something like a sheet over so that I can still cover the entire layout, but not be touching those fragile and breakable parts? I saw one guy had used black pipe to make risers over his and was just using corrugated plastic to cover it, but I've got enough height differences that I couldn't do that. Am just curious what works for you guys? I imagine some people don't cover theirs at all, but my house is old and a dust factory, so even with the expensive filters I need some kind of countermeasure or my layout will grow hair faster than I do anymore.
I don’t cover my layout because I run it a number of times each week. A cover would be more hassle than helpful. I have one of my wife’s old makeup brushes that I use to sweep dust and other debris and a hand held cordless vacuum cleaner. That’s been enough for me to deal with the dust so far.
Maybe you could build/drill some sockets for removable dowels at the edges/corners, and drape a bedsheet over the whole thing? I have a fitted California-twin bedsheet that I have covered my 36x80 HCD layout with. The layout is at a stage of construction now that does not need protection from dust. I'm creating a much bigger mess anyway. But once I add scenery, the bedsheet may need something to hold it up off the layout.
