artizen

I'm sure you are familiar with Troels' work but here is another 0n30 layout featuring a stupendous wharf thing! http://stummiforum.de/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=70994&start=700

Where's the button called "Prays to the God of Plastic"? That is simply stunning and opens up a whole new world of complex modelling combining laser, circut and CNC that was only a dream about five years ago.

Interested, entertained and edumacated!

I have no interest in or knowledge of, conduits, AWS plates or beading etc but what gets me is the lack of crew on so many layouts. Surely it is about time the three main suppliers of locomotives in the UK produced tart-up kits as a separate option, that included all the screw links, air hoses, lamps and crew for us to add if we think our layout will ever make it into print? I'm leaving now - I don't want to send this thread off topic again!

I have always steered well clear of heating CA - the cyanide fumes might be minute, but deadly all the same. Shame we can't get nail polish remover with acetone any more for CA removal. Would the debonder liquid work? I tried using one of those to glue something up and was incredibly frustrated until I read the tube! Mr Sandside - this layout just gets better. Bodgit - stories of your soldering makes me laugh but I bet it hurt on the day!!! My kids don't believe me when I call modelling an extreme sport.

So do you still have to move to be close to HQ in your new job? Myself, I would be tempted to dismantle the boards now and then reassemble them with mobility in mind for any future move. (And lets face it, we will definitely move from our current residences at some point in our lives.)

The curved backscene looks better to me. It follows the eye as you watch the train around the curve. Looking at the photos, I assume you don't need access to the window at all?

I think you need a bigger garden! I know you posted a full plan a while back, but has the layout become bigger since then?

The under roof shot is fantastic!

This is the alternative view showing that the wall is higher from the inside by a substantial margin -https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ll=52.576611,-0.25099&spn=0.010588,0.033023&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=52.576562,-0.250603&panoid=7_qsJNIej1zSjVbDlH4a1A&cbp=12,133.78,,1,-3.79 Gilbert - to for a drive on google maps: Double click on the little man on the map (indicates where the linked image was taken) Pan left or right using the mouse (press down on the mouse as you move left or right) You will see a flattened circle on the ground indicating that you can move to that point by clicking on the mouse By "going for a drive" out to the intersection and turning left, you can see the old buildings from the road side quite clearly. Might be useful for a closer look at the terrace houses (or what's left of them) EDIT OK the link is not accurate. Once you have landed, pan left until you can see the tower behind the tree (next to what looks like a fire station). Place the flattened circle at the end of the steel railing under the tower and go there. Pan back to the right to see the wall and there should be a man walking along the footpath. Place the circle directly over the man and go there. You should now be able to see an end photo of the wall showing the height difference between inside and outside the yard. (Bit like playing Myst really.)

Wouldn't reverse canting affect the angle of the draw on the couplings though?

Good luck!

Would the problem with centrifugal force be determined by incline and radius? Just thinking, if the incline is easy and the radius is large, the whole thing must work - plenty of layouts have them. Post 1427 shows a train going up the incline so I am assuming there are no problems with derailments then?

I went for a drive on google earth and got outside the carpark. There is a large artic parked against the wall and it looks even lower from that angle. The driver is almost as tall which implies that the wall on the outside was only 1.8 metres or so high. Quite a lot of old railway infrastructure still there by the look of it as well (if you turn left at the first intersection from the above link).

I have the software to do the back scene if you supply the photos but if you want actual models of houses, then I would suggest downloading a Scalescenes terrace house file and printing it out at smaller than 1:76 so you achieve a scale somewhere around the 1:100 you are suggesting. This would also be useful for creating a receding perspective if you feel brave.

I purchased a static applicator off ebay here in Australia and found out it was a reworked Grass Tech machine from the USA. I took it to the monthly club meeting where some of the attendees had a show and tell amongst themselves which resulted in the applicator being dropped and fatally broken. Best thing ever - I had to rebuild it so I switched to a simple torch from a $2 shop which of course incorporates a switch and a place to put the Oatley Electronics 12,000 volt generator (running off a 9V battery). Now I have a machine with grunt and attitude - it can pull 6mm nylon fibres up in the air at least 50mm!!!!!! Up to this point, I had been using applicators with D cell batteries and was always having to use the applicator far too close to the surface resulting in glue and fibres sticking to the tea strainer. This new and improved reincarnation uses the supplied bucket with a mesh that was sold with the applicator for serious quantities of grass and the plastic rim means I never have a blue flame when it touches the surface. But with the power I am getting out of it, I don't need to be anywhere near the glue any more. Win and win!!!! You now need to post photos of your scenery results using your (very) small applicator. BTW - good grasses are MiniNatur (8 very flat colours and don't bind together) or Polak (currently may be in short supply but they have 18 colours). Noch and Heki make 10mm and 12mm grass as well if you want longer fibres. War World has a very wide range but they appear to have slightly more shine than the others. Another source here in Australia is Gale Force 9 (makers of Flames of War). Fredericus Rex have grass tufts in their Green Line range which range up 18mm in height for effect. Hope this helps.

Great to see you continuing with this excellent layout!

You need to tie a string around your finger to remember!

All wood products absorb moisture. It's the nature of the material (get it - nature?). However, living in a damp but warm climate here would be same as living in a damp but cooler climate (over there). The result is the same - warping and mould. I have to paint everything. Something cheap is enough - it just has to act as a barrier across all surfaces. I also have to cover everything with a lid and preferably walls to keep the dust, cockroaches, skinks, spiders, ants and other crawlies off my work of art!!!!!

You just answered your own question, Ron. Etches it is then.

Don't suppose you will be subjecting this little beauty to a load test then?

My experiences with ply is that it will curl when affected by damp. Mind you we do experience a monsoon season around about now for the next four months. Getting back to ink fade - the paper can have a bearing on the life of the printed image as well. Cheap photocopier paper as used by most of us in our desktop inkjet printers is doing the ink no favours due to impurities and "built to a budget" pricing. Using the HP 44 inch inkjet sitting next to me I can get a half decent result on bond paper but to be sure, I keep my layout covered (mostly for dust and bugs, but also for light fade). The bond paper image will eventually fade away but then I just run the file again.... I have tried matte photo paper on the best setting on my desktop inkjet printer and the results were spectacularly good but the paper is just too thick for modelling. Maybe try finding a high quality bleached white thicker office paper (primarily sold as quality paper for letterheads in the printing industry). Bleached is bad for the ecology but unbleached tends to leave just a few too many impurities behind. Failing all that, try sourcing a proper inkjet paper instead of just photocopier paper.

The sky with the birds is so realistic. Makes me cold just looking at it!

Yes the darker shade of the bricks should be right. That normally indicated that the builders used engineers' bricks which were more waterproof than a normal house brick and stronger. Same reason they always used white glazed bricks in urinals - they could take the punishment! No doubt someone on here will be able to confirm why the bridge had different bricks in the structural part of the centre span.

This is your FIRST railway layout?