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Leaves on the line?

James Hilton

Entry posted by James Hilton

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What other half baked excuse could there possibly be for my baseboard being 6 months late?

Well today my daughter and I were building a platform for her Harry the Hauler trainset and it seemed rude to not finish off the plywood - so 6 months on and progress had made a giant leap forwards and the baseboard is 'finished' (just needs sealing with satinwood later this evening now the PVA is dry).

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So I thought I'd share this milestone for two reasons - show that the project isn't dead yes, but also to show my slightly odd baseboard construction. Paxton Road used insulation board framed with plywood - but that gives a lightweight but chunky side profile. As this layout is aimed to be viewed on three sides (the two long edges and the curved edge) to make the most of the P4 track, with just a backscene along the short straight edge, I wanted to give the feeling of the layout floating. If I ever exhibit I don't intend to use a curtain - so I'll need to do something quite 'trick' with the legs to, but I think I've achieved my first aim - by using a 24mm ply top surface and a soft planed pine spine I've got a very thin edge with enough rigidity (given the very simple track plan) for the scenic board. There is a small fiddle yard to be added at a later date when I can be bothered!

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So what next? Once the paint is dry I'll turn the board over and can stick the track down - and then craft the landscape from insulation board (hopefully). I think I'll use hardboard for the road surfaces to avoid issues with trying to smooth a filler. I'll knock up a softwood core for the platform and then build the finish on to it I expect. I might be a bit beyond the deadline here but I hope to be well on the way with the scenics now by Christmas which at one point seemed very unlikely.

One last thing - I've got to find somewhere to put it now though!

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Jan

Hi James,

 

Couldn't you have saved a lot of bother, and just bought an ironing board? :)

 

Seriously though, I like that you've thought about the viewing angles and presentation; and I'll be intrigued to see what you're planning for the gap between board and floor. Now... distraction enough - back to the OU.... :(

 

Cheers

 

Jan

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halfwit

Interesting design James, and some neat woodwork. Now if you fancy knocking up a couple more boards and sending them this way...

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Mikkel
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Very interesting indeed. For the legs I suppose it should be something thin but strong to give the floating illusion, maybe some of those "mix-and-match" Ikea legs if they have some steel ones than aren't too obvious...?

 

Oh and it's ok to admit that you liked playing with the "Harry the Hauler" set too :D

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James Hilton

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys! I expect I'll make some 'rapid' progress on this one as the basic scenic work is something I always enjoy!

 

Mikkel I'd considered the Ikea legs - I want something with a bit of height - about 3'9" I was thinking - but we'll see what's available - the advantage would be the ability to just unscrew them!

 

Paul I've got some more to build when I finally start Meadow Lane - but I've a Sentinel 0-6-0 that I want for Christmas to be built up full sprung before that progresses much further I expect!

 

Jan it does look like an ironing board doesn't it! It's about 8" shorter than originally planned but reading Barry Norman's book on landscape modelling convinced me I can compress things and still capture all the character of the prototype!

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Will Vale

That looks excellent, nice to see a different approach to exhibition presentation although I'd be a bit scared about stability. Maybe you could have a weighted pedestal and cantilever the board and fiddle yard on opposite sides of that, giving you lots of airiness, but it would need nerves of steel.

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James Hilton

Will that's a really interesting idea! I'd not thought of that - I had a milk maids stool in mind - 3 legs - and ideally quite high although initially I might go with Ikea table legs for ease...

 

One thing I've been thinking though is I'll need to do a lot of 'forward thinking'... eg if I want to fit lighting i'll need to run the low voltage wiring in before I lay any scenery as I don't want anything showing underneath. Luckily the track wiring can be fed from side feeds hidden under the road bridge at the backscene edge of the layout :)

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