That is looking really good already! I love these different progress threads on here. We have several, and all have there own look to them. Keep the shots coming, they are great!
Fascia is up and painted Took a bit longer than expected, since work got in the way, but I completed installing the fascia, and got it painted. Didn't get the flashing up, since I decided to mount some panorama photos of hills and Donner Lake to parts of it. These are shown, in draft and partial format, in the following. Here's where the small piece of plexiglass will mount, so that we can see the underground train platform The long-angle view of the room Here's the draft version of the Donner Lake picture which will mount on the flashing as the mountain backdrop (note - the wall pictures that you see are just on plain paper, not trimmed nicely, or anything. Have high-quality photo prints of these, for mounting)
Hill Pictures I'm going to run a 100 inch panorama around the far wall, from the window, across the back, and to the area of the "town" This shows a small section of the panorama and, where it will run to The other item which is clear is the amount of mess I've made on the bench top already. I'm going to have to put all these tools away, at some point! Prediction is for 90+ heat the next few days, possibly getting over 100, so probably won't get much, if anything, done over the weekend.
Great progress Rick.:thumbs_up: I like the color you chose for the fascia. That is the same color I have in mind for my fascia.:tb-wink: That color would also work well as a base coat for the top of the layout foam. Jerry
The color I used on the fascia is Valspar (Lowe's) Fired Earth. I used a satin latex, to allow for cleaning scuffs. I'm going to use Valspar Lyndhurst Stone, flat, a light tan, for the top of the foam. Since the Jacalar is in Calif, we don't get that dark loamy ground look, except in the redwood forests. Not sure how well this will show, but here are the two colors from the Lowe's Valspar site, together
Thanks Rick for pulling up the Valspar color palette; since that is the brand of paint I will be using.:tb-smile: I was speaking for myself when mentioning using the "Fired Earth" color on top of the layout foam. The dirt in the Chicago land area I'm modeling after is definitely that dark (almost black). Here in mid-Missouri dirt is much like the tan color you have chosen to use. Thanks, Jerry
Foam is down No pictures, yet, but I finished laying the foam this afternoon. Got it all glued down, and have bricks, paint cans, power tools, tool boxes, etc., spaced all over the layout, while the adhesive (liquid nails), sets. Somehow managed to miscalculate the amount of 2-inch foam that I needed by 64 sq ft (4 sheets of 2x8), so am offering that up to anyone in the Bay Area who has a need. PM me, and as long as you can come over and pick it up.... (Thinking back, I think I know what I did to end up with so much extra -I did buy more 2-inch than 1 inch, on purpose, since I also used it to insulate the shed). I have one spare sheet of 1-inch, as planned.
Congratulations Rick. I'm glad to see you're brickin' it. Leave the bricks on for four to five days to allow the Liquid Nails to set up. You can always use the extra foam for mountainous terrain and grades.
Foam and Backdrop Painted I've got the first coat of paint on the foam, except for the subway area, and the lead in to the bridge. Plus, got the vinyl up and painted for the backdrop, along with almost all the trim molding to frame it. Somehow managed to cut a 61" (measured twice) length of molding 58.5" (don't ask, I have no idea what I did).... so had to cut another piece (it is correct) and paint - so it still has to dry Here, you can see this missing piece of molding Looking the other way:
Roundhouse area Here's the base of the 12-stalls, with the template for the turntable and... the hole for the turntable Next up (besides the last piece of molding): I'm going to lay out the Unitrack, per the design, and see what changes I might want to make, before any drilling and cutting. Also, start marking exactly where I need to do my grades, particularly those which will require cutting into the existing foam (going upwards is not as big an issue).
Wonderful progress on the bench work and backdrop Rick! Nice job on cutting out the foam for the turntable. Jerry
I will admit to "cheating" on this. I very carefully tacked the foam down, ahead of time, and laid out the base of the roundhouse and turntable template. Then, once I had everything exactly where I wanted, traced the circle, and took the foam off the layout, and cut the circle with a jig. I cut just slightly smaller (1/16"), and then used a hot foam cutter for the final fit. I would have hated trying to cut this already glued to the bench.
I just realized that in the pictures I posted yesterday, the only tools visible are a Leatherman, a level and a hammer. Guess that's all anyone really needs (ROTFL)
Track on the bench! Nothing is hooked up, of course, but I laid out the unitrack on the benchtop, to start playing with the grades, and to verify that what I had in XTrkCad was really going to work, and if I wanted to make changes (yep - I did). So, here's a bunch of photos, over the next few posts: We'll open with the yard (pre grades). You'll note that an SP Morning Daylight pulled in, while construction was occurring And here's the roundhouse and turntable area -- placed the turntable into its hole Overhead
