Fairport Mk2

[47137]

1 hour ago, sb67 said:

Nice photo's Richard, which camera did you get?  I've also a question about your Lack shelf, how did you find attatching stuff like the backscene to it, is it oretty sturdy? I'm asking as I got a cheap one from Ikea Lakeside with the view of building a layout on it.

Steve. 

 

Hi Steve,

 

The edges of the Lack shelf are quite sturdy - they seem to be strips of chipboard. There appear to be extra layers of the chipboard at the back: one layer along the length of the shelf and extra pieces at the two ends. This leaves a recess for the wall bracket to slide inside, so the shelf goes tight against the wall.

 

For me, I made the backscene from 6 mm ply, with a recess cut along its bottom edge. So the backscene is fixed to the rear edge at the two ends. I also put a length of strip wood (probably ramin or pine, can't remember) along the base of the backscene at the front, tying it to the top of the Lack shelf.

 

The arrangement is pretty sturdy and the shelf seems to be "dimensionally stable" and still "flat" after over a year. The best thing about the Lack is its wall bracket. If you can arrange some spare space on the wall below the layout, you might be able to turn your layout upside down on its bracket for storage.

 

Panasonic Lumix TZ90.

 

Edit: the two new photos are straight from the camera, no editing or enhancements.

 

- Richard.

Edited February 21, 2019 by 47137

[47137]

I'll add - the outer surfaces are 2mm MDF ... if I was going to use a Lack again I'd consider fixing a sheet of 6mm or so ply onto the top, to give something solid to hold small screws and nails.

 

- Richard.

[sb67]

Thanks Richard. My only real problem is my method of operating points. I've always used a wooden dowel under the baseboard using a micro swith to change polarity. I'd have to think of something different if I'm using the shelf. 

Steve.

[47137]

21 hours ago, sb67 said:

Thanks Richard. My only real problem is my method of operating points. I've always used a wooden dowel under the baseboard using a micro swith to change polarity. I'd have to think of something different if I'm using the shelf. 

Steve.

 

I think we develop favourite point operating mechanisms after we have built a few layouts. Mine is wire in tube worked by a slide switch. But I used bicycle spokes on 'Lakeside' and these worked out fine.

 

When I cut a hole in the top of the Lack I could see the space inside is filled with thin cardboard, much like a cheap flush door. If you stay away from the internal supports for the shelf bracket, you might be able to push a bicycle spoke through the inside of the shelf from front to back. Holes drilled front and rear and the spoke pushed through the cardboard inner. The nipple being on the front of the shelf as a knob. Then cut a hole in the Lack below the tie-bar and arrange the switch and a vertical wire for the mechanical linkage to the tie-bar. The switch might be a reed switch with changeover contacts tripped by a magnet glued onto the spoke. I have one of these switches on my fiddle yard and it is still working without adjustment.

 

- Richard.

[sb67]

1 hour ago, 47137 said:

 

I think we develop favourite point operating mechanisms after we have built a few layouts. Mine is wire in tube worked by a slide switch. But I used bicycle spokes on 'Lakeside' and these worked out fine.

 

When I cut a hole in the top of the Lack I could see the space inside is filled with thin cardboard, much like a cheap flush door. If you stay away from the internal supports for the shelf bracket, you might be able to push a bicycle spoke through the inside of the shelf from front to back. Holes drilled front and rear and the spoke pushed through the cardboard inner. The nipple being on the front of the shelf as a knob. Then cut a hole in the Lack below the tie-bar and arrange the switch and a vertical wire for the mechanical linkage to the tie-bar. The switch might be a reed switch with changeover contacts tripped by a magnet glued onto the spoke. I have one of these switches on my fiddle yard and it is still working without adjustment.

 

- Richard.

 

I like the idea of threading a bycycle spoke through the board. I had wondered if I could fit a Peco accessory switch under the point and operate that using the vertical bit of wire going through the tie bar. Dont know much about reed switches but that sounds like a good idea.

Steve.

[CloggyDog]

I've done 2 Lack-based layouts, with a third (at least) in development. Reading Signal Works (UK OO) complete, Nove Mesto Na Nedostatku (Czech TT) in build and Hasselhöf Nord (East German H0) in planning. All use the 110cm Lack with a fiddle stick extension off one end.

 

I use 4mm ply sheet to box in the Lack (backscene, front fascia and end panels) just glued/pinned to the Lack, with some lightweight strip in the front corners to keep the ply panels together. A 3" wide strip of 4mm ply runs the full length from end to end attached to the top of the front fascia with LED strip underneath. The backscene piece has holes drilled through for the wall bracket's prongs.

 

My trackbed is 2mm EVA foam sheet, glued to the Lack's surface with pva, into which I inset lengths of 1.6mm square brass tube for my wide-in-tube method of point operation - these wires come through the fascia and the 'handles' are made from modified single sections of 'chocolate block' connectors. Some of the early pics in the RSW thread show the layout under construction which should illustrate my methodology.

 

 

[47137]

It is easy enough to write down "lighting rig" and "dust cover" on a list but  for me much more difficult to actually do something.  A loose fabric dust cover is likely to damage parts of the model, and the lighting needs to be in front of the model and not above it, quite difficult to arrange in the domestic setting.

 

I am building what I will call a lighting cover: a piece of board to keep most of the dust away, and hold a strip of LEDs, and able to slide forwards to light the layout. It's all a bit chunky for my taste but here is the cover in its retracted position:

 

The front edge of the cover is directly above the front edge of the baseboard. The cover is held in place by a rigid shelf, fixed down onto the top of the backscene. This shelf ought to hold some small things to make everything look less bare.

 

The cover will pull forwards about 60 mm, so the lighting can cast realistic shadows onto the model:

 

Looking up underneath, here is the lighting strip, some cream coloured paper to reflect the light downwards, a brace holding the board flat, the underside of the shelf, and a length of wood holding the shelf to the backscene:

 

The cream paper is very experimental. The LED strip is "daylight white", the result looks a bit blue to the naked eye but quite good to the camera:

 

The lighting cover will pull off altogether to give access if I want to work on the layout.

 

The challenge now is to try to make this all a bit easier on the eye. A thinner shelf would have looked better but the usual melamine faced chipboard is 18 mm thick nowadays, a bit over the top here and no obvious substitute except uPVC, which looked a bit pricey, and aluminium sheet which is difficult to source and to paint.

 

- Richard.

 

 

[47137]

I've found a bottle of "headlamp amber" paint I bought for some too-white uplighters in the garden, and I've put dabs of this onto every third LED. This has calmed down the lighting a bit.

 

The colour temperature is a matter of taste, but for me I want it to be as cool as I can get away with. I painted the model under a cool white LED lamp, and model looks about right under the new lighting. I suspect I might have put the amber paint onto every other LED, but the job is done now.

 

- Richard.

[sb67]

That all looks very nice Richard, do you plan exhibiting Fairport at all?

 

Steve.

[47137]

11 hours ago, sb67 said:

That all looks very nice Richard, do you plan exhibiting Fairport at all?

 

Steve.

I would very much like to exhibit the layout, this is usually a sociable if very tiring activity. I would have to put myself at the front of the layout so I could reach the point lever. This implies an open fiddle yard, which I could build to show off my models. The layout would need some fairly high trestles if I am going to use the new lighting cover, otherwise people won't be able to see into it. Or dispense with the cover and put the layout on a large picnic table or similar.

 

- Richard.

[mjcampbell]

It's a bit late now, but I found "Natural White" is a much better colour balance for lighting, being between warm and cool/daylight, though it's not so widely available (I got some off Amazon though). I've seen people paint thin yellow paint over some or all of the LED's to reduce the blue.

 

An alternative to high trestles is shorter legs that go onto a table, although exhibition table heights and sizes can be variable. I find table-top height is too low for comfortable viewing, adding 6-8 inches as a minimum makes a big difference.  You could also make the height of the lighting variable, so it can be set higher at an exhibition, or knock up a simpler (lighter) exhibition-only lighting rig?

[47137]

9 hours ago, mjcampbell said:

It's a bit late now, but I found "Natural White" is a much better colour balance for lighting, being between warm and cool/daylight, though it's not so widely available (I got some off Amazon though). I've seen people paint thin yellow paint over some or all of the LED's to reduce the blue.

 

An alternative to high trestles is shorter legs that go onto a table, although exhibition table heights and sizes can be variable. I find table-top height is too low for comfortable viewing, adding 6-8 inches as a minimum makes a big difference.  You could also make the height of the lighting variable, so it can be set higher at an exhibition, or knock up a simpler (lighter) exhibition-only lighting rig?

 

At the moment the lighting cover is in bits with fresh paint on its front edge. I can change the LED strip if need be, it's only glued on, but before then I've bought a large sheet of yellow card to try inside the top of the cover. I am hoping I will find this will make the effect too warm and I'll go back to my original cream paper.

 

I've spent over a year doing nothing about this. I fancied a strip of U section aluminium, with the strip of LEDs inside it. I gave up trying because it wouldn't integrate with any kind of dust cover I could think. However, it might be just the thing for a show -  narrow and elegant and unobtrusive.

 

The present lighting cover was supposed to be hinged and I bought a piano hinge for this but it all seemed much too complicated. Trouble is, the layout is 4 ft above the floor at home so it is easy to see across under the cover, and if I want to work on the model it is best to slide the cover off.

 

For a show, the layout will need some kind of fiddle yard. It has a link span to connect it to the next baseboard at home:

 

The link span has Scaleway track and this rules out buying a few Peco loco lifts because they don't settle far enough down onto the rails, the rail fixings get in the way. At the moment I'm inclined to build a sort of 'flat ladder' construction to act as a tray to hold the layout and a fiddle yard together. This ladder to have the short legs you suggest to go on top of a table. Would be quite easy to build but yet another thing to find a home for!

 

- Richard.

[47137]

On 04/11/2019 at 22:11, mjcampbell said:

It's a bit late now, but I found "Natural White" is a much better colour balance for lighting, being between warm and cool/daylight, though it's not so widely available (I got some off Amazon though). I've seen people paint thin yellow paint over some or all of the LED's to reduce the blue.

 

I have worked my way through quite a few different materials for reflectors below the cover: from pale cream (which I started with) to yellow, white, kitchen foil, bare MDF, a different white, and back to the pale cream. 

 

It eventually dawned on me, some of the blue cast is light reflecting from the backscene - and yet, the blue paint I used for the sky could usefully be a bit cooler not warmer. The pale cream under the cover creates the most neutral look, the look which blends in best with daylight and the artificial lighting in the room, so I'll stay with this.

 

- Richard.

Edited November 6, 2019 by 47137

[JSModels]

For what it's worth, on my layout I bought some bi-colour led strip off eBay. It has warm white and cool white chips alternately down the length, wired on separate channels. The strip is driven by a controller with a remote, so you can alter the colour temperature of the light, from warm to cool, or anywhere in between (and you can adjust the brightness, too). I did put links on my layout thread to the items I bought, but they're out of date now.

 

Edit: This isn't the seller I used, but this is the same led strip. And the controller is better than the one I got: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F392332849547

 

JRB

Edited November 6, 2019 by jrb
Added link

[.Lachute]

Great layout. Could you post more pics of your fiddle yard ? Thanks.

[47137]

12 minutes ago, .Lachute said:

Great layout. Could you post more pics of your fiddle yard ? Thanks.

 

"Fairport" is one extremity of my wall-hugger, and it doesn't have a fiddle yard of its own. Rather, it connects to the next baseboard, and this connects to the fiddle yard:

General Arrangement

Fiddle yard

Of this lot, only the fiddle yard has seen an exhibition - it was actually quite fun as a self-contained model.

 

"Fairport" clearly needs some kind of fiddle yard if it goes to shows, and this will be a future project. It might be a new fiddle yard, or a sort of interface module to connect it onto my existing fiddle yard.

 

- Richard.

[47137]

On 06/11/2019 at 12:39, jrb said:

For what it's worth, on my layout I bought some bi-colour led strip off eBay. It has warm white and cool white chips alternately down the length, wired on separate channels. The strip is driven by a controller with a remote, so you can alter the colour temperature of the light, from warm to cool, or anywhere in between (and you can adjust the brightness, too). I did put links on my layout thread to the items I bought, but they're out of date now.

 

Edit: This isn't the seller I used, but this is the same led strip. And the controller is better than the one I got: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F392332849547

 

JRB

 

My lighting cover now has its cosmetic trimmings - some sticky backed plastic on the top and a strip of aluminium along the front. So it is a lot easier on the eye. I will call this "finished" but I have ordered up one of these controllable warm/cool LED strips to experiment with. It might be good for the main baseboard or even the living room.

 

- Richard.

 

[sb67]

That looks good Richard, it all looks nice and neat, the strips finish it off nicely.

 

Steve.

[47137]

Two more photos, extended and stowed. All of the trim is obechi I bought for model-making. I can pull the cover off completely, this leaves the white shelf fixed in place, and you can see the model from above.

 

For the avoidance of doubt, I didn't design this! I made it up as I went along and really, it has come out better than I expected.

 

- Richard.

 

 

[mjcampbell]

Neat, I love the switches too!

[47137]

On 08/11/2019 at 13:14, mjcampbell said:

Neat, I love the switches too!

I think they give the model a bit of a retro look. They remind me of the buying electrical bits and pieces in Woolworths back in the 1970s, there were open trays of bulb holders and terminal blocks and so on arranged like a pick and mix.

 

- Richard.

[47137]

On 06/11/2019 at 12:39, jrb said:

For what it's worth, on my layout I bought some bi-colour led strip off eBay. It has warm white and cool white chips alternately down the length, wired on separate channels. The strip is driven by a controller with a remote, so you can alter the colour temperature of the light, from warm to cool, or anywhere in between (and you can adjust the brightness, too). I did put links on my layout thread to the items I bought, but they're out of date now.

 

Edit: This isn't the seller I used, but this is the same led strip. And the controller is better than the one I got: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F392332849547

 

JRB

 

I have bought one of these and it as finally arrived. I suspect the parcel has come from China although the eBay seller claims to be in the UK!

 

To be honest, you may well have got the better version. The controller I received seems to be able to pulse the lights in various patterns but not give a steady light with the ability to change the colour temperature. In fact I am tempted to say it is utter rubbish, but I might be able to use the strip in the living room with a simple two-way switch to change the mood.

 

I am pondering whether to send it all back for a refund :-)

 

- Richard.

[47137]

It's funny how two model train fans can find much the same product just right and completely useless. The controller I received does flash patterns, flash rate, brightness and colour temperature, of which only the last is useful for the layout and touching the wrong button sends me into a cycle of unwanted strobe effects.

 

I tried to send the lighting unit back for a refund, but the return address is to China, not to London as indicated in the listing - international postage throwing good money after bad.

 

For the layout, I'll stay with the original lighting strip and my blobs of amber paint, but I can tuck the new lighting strip away and maybe find a better controller for it one day.

 

- Richard.

[47137]

One more photo of the lighting cover. This is the power inlet, underneath the front left of the cover. I find glass plates quite useful where there is a panel-mounted component but no panel, this one has a keyhole slot and didn't need any modification to attach the connector.

 

- Richard.

 

[47137]

I started this topic in the "Boxfiles, micros and dioramas" part of the RMweb. Andy Y has kindly moved the topic across to the "3.5 mm - British H0" area today. The layout is of course essentially "finished" now, but I can add updates on repairs and alterations.

 

- Richard.