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I well remember as a nipper sitting at the front alongside the driving compartment when my Dad took me on the LOR several times as a treat. Have you seen the preserved coach in the Liverpool museum near the Albert dock Stephen?

 

Dave

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I'm still attracted to the idea of extruded foam baseboards, with a thin ply frame.   This display diorama is built on a base of 30mm thick extruded polystyrene flooring foam with a secondary lower frame, cut from the same 30mm thick foam.  This particular baseboard has an outer framework mitred up from 9mm thick MDF, and four diagonal cross braces also from 9mm MDF help to reduce torsional deflection. With acknowledgements to New Prospect Lane.

baseboard diorama.jpeg

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To me, that still looks very heavy construction.

 

On my Grindleford layout I used 50mm insulation foam - known as Celotex, Kingspan and other brand names - with 6mm ply sides and 19mm ply ends glued to it:

 

grindleford-baseboards001.jpg.a38b6853a8b4001ab4cb1a0bbb2d2bf1.jpg

 

grindleford-baseboards002.jpg.0eab1cda350f818bcf76dc158c858134.jpg

 

grindleford-baseboards003.jpg.bd9c9f85c0abd58c68b6535e62a5420b.jpg

 

I found that the 50mm foam has sufficient torsional rigidity on its own to not require further bracing.

 

The end result is much, much lighter than a conventional ply-built board, but is just as easy to model on.

 

I used a layer of 6mm ply glued on top to define the trackbed.

 

grindleford-baseboards004.jpg.9417d66af292985cb34dbfcecc9d0575.jpg

 

Hope this helps,

 

Al.

 

 

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3 hours ago, Alister_G said:

To me, that still looks very heavy construction.

 

On my Grindleford layout I used 50mm insulation foam - known as Celotex, Kingspan and other brand names - with 6mm ply sides and 19mm ply ends glued to it:

 

grindleford-baseboards001.jpg.a38b6853a8b4001ab4cb1a0bbb2d2bf1.jpg

 

grindleford-baseboards002.jpg.0eab1cda350f818bcf76dc158c858134.jpg

 

grindleford-baseboards003.jpg.bd9c9f85c0abd58c68b6535e62a5420b.jpg

 

I found that the 50mm foam has sufficient torsional rigidity on its own to not require further bracing.

 

The end result is much, much lighter than a conventional ply-built board, but is just as easy to model on.

 

I used a layer of 6mm ply glued on top to define the trackbed.

 

grindleford-baseboards004.jpg.9417d66af292985cb34dbfcecc9d0575.jpg

 

Hope this helps,

 

Al.

 

 

 

Thanks very much.  It's really useful to see what other people use and how particular methods perform.

 

Stephen

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On 10/09/2019 at 16:58, Alister_G said:

To me, that still looks very heavy construction.

 

On my Grindleford layout I used 50mm insulation foam - known as Celotex, Kingspan and other brand names - with 6mm ply sides and 19mm ply ends glued to it:

 

grindleford-baseboards001.jpg.a38b6853a8b4001ab4cb1a0bbb2d2bf1.jpg

 

grindleford-baseboards002.jpg.0eab1cda350f818bcf76dc158c858134.jpg

 

grindleford-baseboards003.jpg.bd9c9f85c0abd58c68b6535e62a5420b.jpg

 

I found that the 50mm foam has sufficient torsional rigidity on its own to not require further bracing.

 

The end result is much, much lighter than a conventional ply-built board, but is just as easy to model on.

 

I used a layer of 6mm ply glued on top to define the trackbed.

 

grindleford-baseboards004.jpg.9417d66af292985cb34dbfcecc9d0575.jpg

 

Hope this helps,

 

Al.

 

 

 

How deep were the sides and ends Al and what did you use to glue the Celotex? 

Steve.

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3 hours ago, sb67 said:

 

How deep were the sides and ends Al and what did you use to glue the Celotex? 

Steve.

 

Hi Steve, the sides and ends were made 100mm deep - i.e. twice the depth of the foam. I used a solvent-free building adhesive (I think it was from Screwfix) to glue them to the foam.

 

Al.

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A slightly different view of the scene that has inspired my layout interest, featuring the Lancastrian rail tour.  The dock police were in a good mood and let some photographers into the dock estate to photograph the special excursion train.  Photograph courtesy of Dave Rogers?.

 

rogers.jpg

Edited by Stephenwolsten
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The sun always shines in Liverpool.  Isn't the internet wonderful!   A photographer took this picture out of interest and years later I find it useful for modelling the distinctive MDHB lamp posts.  (Please see 16 June 2019 post too).   This view confirms the shape of the lanterns.   Now I need a  'cottage industry' manufacturer of small architectural parts to supply some complete lights with columns .............

 

#120 365 30 April 2013

 

Edited by Stephenwolsten
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In 2001 Iain Rice asked, in his book Designs for Urban Layouts, 'why has the urban railway received such short shrift from modellers'?  Things have improved a lot since then, but there is still some truth in the question.   The idealised countryside where it never rains is still a common sight at exhibitions!  American and Continental modellers seem to have modelled urban scenes more than UK ones, but in some cases - for example Germany and Switzerland -  the results are a bit 'twee'.

 

The concept of Atlantic Dock was inspired by an actual location - East Princes Half Tide Dock in Liverpool - but it shares many of Iain Rice's thoughts.   For example, he noted that seaport cities offer rich pickings for railway modellers, with dock lines of inset track diving off into a complex riverside jungle of quays, transit sheds, warehouses and goods yards.  He identified paved track in granite sets as the signature of the urban/dock railway if ever there was one.  And he emphasised the vertical scope of urban railways.  Multi-level urban railways offer great variety where different railways meet or cross.   In the case of Atlantic Dock, the intensive rapid transit of the Liverpool Overhead Railway contrasts with the shunting of dockside goods traffic below, movements to and from the inland BR depots, and the occasional passenger train on the Riverside Branch.   

 

The Overhead is unique and instantly recognisable as Liverpool.   But Atlantic Dock will also have other "signature items" that will convey the location and period.  The elements that define the essential character of the dockside railway on the Mersey include the cobbles, the lamp posts, the high dock wall and gates, the signage on the transit sheds, massive warehouses, crossings, and of course the L&Y Pugs.

 

I also think that an eye-level viewpoint with a diorama approach involving a fairly fixed viewpoint will be very suitable for Atlantic Dock.   I want people to view the scene across the layout from the quayside, rather than from above as a seagull.  And practical considerations of space will make it essential to use buildings or part of buildings, such as transit sheds, to constrain viewing.

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Has anyone tried Redutex 3D self-adhesive texture sheeting please?  I have seen the earlier thread some years ago, plus this useful image of the material used on the Kingfisher Wharf layout.  This product could save days of work clay modelling.  

https://redutex.com/en/0-1-scale/822-032ad111-cobblestone-8435570201137.html

 

Edited by Stephenwolsten
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I have used the 4mm version. 

 

This is how it looks when laid;

 

 

 

I ordered directly from Redutex in spain when UK stocks were low. It needs to be cut with something very sharp and the surface on which it is laid needs to be decent, any wee blemishes show through. The nearest thing I can liken it to is laying 1 mm thick lino. 

 

I also gave the surface to which I was sticking it (thin card in the case of that bridge) a wash over with dilute pva to prepare it. 

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On 16/09/2019 at 16:08, Stephenwolsten said:

I wonder what is the best way to model a few feet of a brick wall that accurately represents this view of the 13 ft high dock wall in Liverpool? 

030 Clarence Dock (Wall)

 

I would use MS Paint, a standard, easy to use facility on your PC.  You could reproduce this photo above and be sticking it or chosen portions of it onto a plasticard backing in a couple of minutes.

 

Move the captured image (via CTRL+PRINT SCREEN) through the MS Paint programme into a blank WORD document, Print as large or small as you need (If you go to VIEW on the top of WORD toolbar and select GRIDLINES, these will show on the image but not appear on it when you print. This will allow you to size it for scale by dragging the corner of the image on the WORD doc. I find one grid square equal to about 9 scale inches in 4mm scale, so you can play around and adjust for any scale).

 

I then print whatever is required, and cut it out, using printer paper, not photo paper, to keep it matt. I then brush liquid poly onto the back of the printed image and it can dry if it chooses to. Then lay it on plasticard and re-soak the image with liquidpoly. This goes through the paper and sticks it onto plasticard. If not fully fixed, give it a minute and the add more liquidpoly. BE WARY - ENSURE GOOD VENTILATION.

 

You will now have the brickwork you had in the photo fixed to plasticard which you can trim as necessary. Align another print-out of the wall and by joining print-outs you can make it as long or as high as you need. I copy photos of signs, make my own signs in Powerpoint and copy those across, and lift bits of useful photos I find or took myself. Once you get used to MS Paint and the transfer to WORD, it is very quick and easy.

 

You would get about 18 scale feet width of brickwork from the above photo.

 

aac

 

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