John, Greetings from the other side of the, uh, pond. Since you are starting from "scratch" I might suggest a couple of suggestions of the latest technology.
Jim Six (OK so he's in HO, but what of it?) has been using a sandwich with a base of extruded foam glued to the wood frame, covered with as many layers as needed of ceiling tile. The ceiling tile is the scenery base, and is even the roadbed. It gets carved to contour with hand and power tools. This all gets glued together (the layers that is) with water base contact cement. Once the track diagram is laid out on the tile, roadbed, trackside ditches, streams, etc. are carved into the tile layer(s). Then the track (he's using flex track) is glued down with adhesive caulk as used in bathrooms and kitchens. Application of scenery materials is done with water base materials such as matte medium. NEVER use white glue, as it dries hard. This system produces one of the QUIETEST layouts around. No table rumble. If you have more questions, just ask. Darrell Smith --- In [email protected], "johnmwalker" <johnmwalker@...> wrote: > > Greetings colleagues, > > Because of heavy seasonal 1:1 scale railroad work commitments, my 1:64 > railroad progress is limited to 2-3 Saturdays per month, sad to say. For my > eight hours of SMF + SAF (figure that acronym out for yourselves) I've just > finished rearranging my modular tables on my layout. It remains 5.44 m wide > (that is 18' plus a few inches). Depth will vary but at no point will I need > to reach beyond 70 cm module width. > > I did all of this at the last moment - i.e., before finalizing my track plan > - because I was unsatisfied with the minimum radii. Until today they were as > tight as 31", which looked a bit toylike. I've now increased minimum radii to > roughly 42" and it is usually 45" (excluding freight yards of course, where > things are tighter).The new modules 'collapse' wherein the gap between the > modular tables disappears when not operating, and I will be able to install > the turntable of my dreams on the southeastern corner (more on that as this > progresses). > > Where I could use some advice is on the foam. I can get extruded polystyrene > panels from my lumber years (the brand is called 'Ursa' as in bear) but no > one around here models with it. The fellow at the depot thinks I am missing a > couple of software upgrades, thanks to the bizarre purchases I've made in > recent weeks, to wit: "do you REALLY want to cut the panels like that? ...do > you REALLY want legs that high? and so on). > > I plan to get foam panels into which I'd carve streams and a river. Atop of > the panels will be Tomalco 60 degree trackbed. The blue and pink foam panel > brand names most of you speak of are unavailable here, hence the Ursa > extruded polystyrene. Am I going the right way with this material composition? > > Any suggestions on affixing roadbed to foam? > > Thanks in advance and best Regards from Hombrechtikon, Switzerland. > John M Walker > > P.S. In case anyone has not yet purchased Tomalco flex track, I can > recommend the brand highly: these products are beautiful out of the box. > ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
