Christmas Tree Layout

[JSModels]

I've always fancied the idea of building a small layout for the base of a Christmas tree, but I never really had a reason to, and the time/money at the same time. My daughter is now an adult, so it's a bit late for her, but I have 2 step-kids now, and my partner is a childminder, so I'm now overrun with reasons!!! I mean, we ALL know it's for me really, but it's still good to have an excuse....

 

With her being a childminder, we have kids from birth to around 12 years old in the house, so anything I make has to be pretty bomb-proof. I decided to keep it simple, and cheap; I've set a total budget of £100 to do the entire thing (plus whatever materials I already have). I bought a Hornby "Santa's Express" off eBay for a reasonable price (but brand new) along with some second-hand platforms and some bargain fir trees:

 

 

 

The set comes with an oval, but I won't be using the straights it'll just be circular. The main reason being the board I had in mind for this was only 900mm square, so not quite big enough for the full oval. The trees were just £5.00 inc. postage for 50 of them  but they are only around 50mm tall  so I will probably need to source a few larger ones.

 

The tree is going to be in the corner of the room, so I figured only half of the layout would need to be scenic, but I had to accomodate the pretty sizeable tree base, so I set about designing it in sketchup, after measuring & drawing up the base. I figured the easiest way to do it would be to box off the base like this:

 

 

 

I quickly realised however that that didn't leave much room for scenery!!! So version 2 was to have the base in the same orientation, and box it off at an angle:

 

 

 

From the back, that would leave room to slide the tree base in:

 

 

 

I was about to start based on that, when I realised it would just be far easier to rotate the base 45 degrees relative to the layout:

 

 

 

This would then require only 1 of the legs to box in, with the other 3 being behind the backscene:

 

 

 

So that was the design pretty much sorted! The trackbed is going to be raised by 50mm (I'll use 50mm insulation board for that) so that reduces the height of the boxing relative to track level. Onto cutting slices of reconstituted dead tree carcase!!!

 

The base is a piece of 18mm MDF I had in the garage. Yes, I know MDF isn't ideal, but since it's going flat onto the floor it doesn't really need to be overly complicated. The board was rounded off using my router & a tramel I knocked up out of a piece of scrap. Hee it is with the base of the tree, a few of the lowest branches fitted to determine the height, and the track & platform:

 

 

 

It's quite tight where the platform is against the base, but don't forget that's going to be 50mm higher. A bit more hacking of scrap MDF, and I now have a backboard:

 

 

 

Note that the ply under the platform is just to hold the track up - as I said before there'll be a piece of 50mm insulation board in there instead.

 

Next step is to get the insulation bought, cut, and glued down, and then onto scenics. Regarding that side of things, I have no real plan, and will make it up as I go along, but it's going to be pretty basic; tunnel mouth at either side, small station building, maybe a couple of houses on the hill behind. Oh, and snow. Lots of snow. I don't know whether to go full-on 'North Pole' and just lather everything in white filler & call it done, or go full scenic mode (ballast the track, static grass, etc) and then a light to medium dusting of Woodland Scenics Snow. I haven't used this, but fancy giving it a go. I suppose it'll depend on how well I manage my time between now & when the tree goes up!!!

 

That's pretty much it for now,

 

 

JRB

Edited December 18, 2022 by JSModels
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[JSModels]

Oh, forgot to mention the budget!!!

 

Train Set - £49.00;

Trees - £5.00;

Platforms - £7.00.

 

Total so far - £61.00

 

I've also bought a second-hand Hornby 4-wheel coach, but that hasn't arrived yet (that's another £9.00 in P&P) so that takes me to £70 already 

 

If I do decide to use the Woodland Scenics Snow, that'll be another £15 gone... 

 

 

JRB

[jbmccarthy]

What a great idea. Will be following with interest. 

[Acklam]

Some good carpentry skills shown, looking forward to following the rest of the build.

[Bo-Bo]

A great theme for a layout as well as loads of fun.

[Marly51]

Very well planned base, JRB! This is something I would like to do for the grandchildren (and everyone else in the family), but not this year. It is fun to produce and there are also lots of possibilities, using some of the many basic, and cheap, children’s’ toy trains available.

[JSModels]

1 hour ago, Marly51 said:

Very well planned base, JRB! This is something I would like to do for the grandchildren (and everyone else in the family), but not this year. It is fun to produce and there are also lots of possibilities, using some of the many basic, and cheap, children’s’ toy trains available.

 

Thanks Marly.

 

I've just spent a most enjoyable hour or so going through the threads linked in your signature - they were all fantastic, but the Waverley Corner one was exquisite!

 

JRB

[JSModels]

Last night I went to B&Q to buy a sheet of 50mm insulation, but it turns out they don't stock it at my local store! So a quick change of plan meant today was spent cutting some 18mm ply supports, and a trackbed from 6mm MDF scraps. The insulation would only have been £6, but I don't have much of the budget left so £6 saved is a bonus! The hole for the tree leg was boxed in too, ensuring sufficient space was left to get the base in & out of the layout without damaging anything. Then the track was glued down.

 

Here's the current state of play, with the platform & the 4-wheel coach that arrived yesterday:

 

 

 

I'm not sure on the placement of the platform yet; my original intention was for it to go in the centre. That would require cutting a small notch in the back wall of the centre section to clear the boxed-in part (not a big deal) but I think it might look better offset. That would leave one half for other scenic elements (maybe including a stream coming down the hill, and under a bridge before exiting at the front?).

 

I'm planning to get to either Colne or Wakefield show over the weekend, hopefully to pick up some cheap tunnel mouths for either side.

 

Now I've got all the woodwork done, I'll be taking the layout down to the club tomorrow, where it'll stay until the scenics are done. I've been told by the domestic authorities that I have exactly 4 weeks from today before the tree goes up...

 

 

JRB

Edited December 18, 2022 by JSModels
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[Bo-Bo]

Hi JRB your wood working looks really good, this is one build I will be watching with interest.

[Erixtar1992]

I reckon instead using a pair of curved platforms without the end ramps would look better, aslong as you fence the ends off!

[JSModels]

20 hours ago, Erixtar1992 said:

I reckon instead using a pair of curved platforms without the end ramps would look better, aslong as you fence the ends off!

 

Appreciate the suggestion, but I've already bought the platform so am going to use what I already have (I did originally consider just scratchbuilding a platform, but the Hornby ones were there & I'm inherently lazy!).

 

JRB

[JSModels]

Today was quite a productive day, despite only having a few hours at the club. Took the layout down there & got to work...

 

First job was to fix the controller to the back of the backscene, and wire up the track. Then I ran the loco in, with 4 lots of about 20 minutes in each direction (clockwise & anticlockwise, forwards & reverse).

 

Once that was underway I set about making the Hornby platform look (hopefully) less like a Hornby platform - Having glued the 3 sections together, I used some embossed plasticard to face the front, and filled in the gaps and the holes in the top:

 

 

 

I then blasted the plasticard with some grey primer, which made it look more like a Hornby platform again  but nevermind! Once I get some colour on it it'll be fine!!!

 

Once that was done I started roughing out the scenics with some polystyrene blocks & a hot-wire cutter:

 

 

 

I think I've decided on the above location for the platform; I think on the other side I'll have a frozen stream coming down the hill, and under a bridge under the track, with a pond half-way up with some ice skaters on. I've also got a nice N gauge building to put up near the top for a little bit of forced perspective.

 

Off to Wakey tomorrow, hope to find some tunnel mouths, a small platform shelter, and maybe a couple of other small buildings I can use.

 

 

 

JRB

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by JSModels
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[john new]

22 hours ago, jrb said:

Last night I went to B&Q to buy a sheet of 50mm insulation, but it turns out they don't stock it at my local store! So a quick change of plan meant today was spent cutting some 18mm ply supports, and a trackbed from 6mm MDF scraps. The insulation would only have been £6, but I don't have much of the budget left so £6 saved is a bonus! The hole for the tree leg was boxed in too, ensuring sufficient space was left to get the base in & out of the layout without damaging anything. Then the track was glued down.

 

Here's the current state of play, with the platform & the 4-wheel coach that arrived yesterday:

 

 

I'm not sure on the placement of the platform yet; my original intention was for it to go in the centre. That would require cutting a small notch in the back wall of the centre section to clear the boxed-in part (not a big deal) but I think it might look better offset. That would leave one half for other scenic elements (maybe including a stream coming down the hill, and under a bridge before exiting at the front?).

 

I'm planning to get to either Colne or Wakefield show over the weekend, hopefully to pick up some cheap tunnel mouths for either side.

 

Now I've got all the woodwork done, I'll be taking the layout down to the club tomorrow, where it'll stay until the scenics are done. I've been told by the domestic authorities that I have exactly 4 weeks from today before the tree goes up...

 

 

JRB

 

I may not have room for a similar one but the idea is brilliant.

[JSModels]

At Wakefield, I picked up a small Hornby platform shelter for the bargain price of £2, along with some cheap platform/street lights (10 for £5.99!).

 

I totally failed to find any cheap tunnel mouths though, so I decided to make my own. I was going to use offcuts of embossed plastic sheets (I probably still will on the RHS) but then a fellow club member gave me some of his left-over pieces from the Woodland Scenics rock moulds, so I dived right in with some filler and plaster bandage, and made a start on the scenery:

 

 

In my past model-making endeavours, I have been guilty of overthinking, planning every little detail in my head, which has lead to an awful lot of procrastination (I can't do A, because B, C and D need to be done first, and I don't have the particular widget I need to do D so I won't do anything, etc). On this build I've made a determined effort to NOT do that, and just get something (anything) done when I have time, whether I've planned it or not. 15 minutes before I took this picture I didn't even have the rock castings, and had no idea this would get done! I have found it enjoyable, although it does lead to other problems; for example, I haven't fed any wires to supply the lamps & station shelter yet, so that will be slightly harder now (though by no means impossible).

 

JRB

Edited December 18, 2022 by JSModels
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[JSModels]

Last night's progress - I got some plaster of paris on top of the bandage, smoothing it as it dried, as well as some more of the track. It's gone too far up the platform edge, so I plan to trim that back at some point (the platform will hopefully still come out!):

 

 

 

Also, another club member has very kindly donated a couple of old continental buildings to the project:

 

 

They're a bit big (particularly the church) but with a bit of judicious hacking I can make something useable out of them (and they'll look suitably 'Christmassy' with a bit of snow on!).

 

JRB

Edited December 18, 2022 by JSModels
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[Bo-Bo]

Great work on modelling the rocks and tunnel area.

[Ian Holmes]

Looking good. Well thought out. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished layout.

[JSModels]

For various reasons (including, but not limited to, laziness on my part) I haven't been down to the club, and hence haven't worked on the layout, for a full week now. Today I rectified that, and spent a good 3 1/2 hours there.

 

I've made quite a lot of progress - I've painted the platform & fitted a couple of the lamps to it, as well as getting some primer on the station shelter:

 

 

The missing bit of plaster between the track & the platform will be replaced once the platform is glued into position! I need to wire in the lights (including illuminating the shelter) and test them all before doing that. Not sure on the colour scheme for the shelter yet...

 

Also got the layout of the right-hand side sorted (I've decided against using the church, just using the house) and got the polystyrene cut & glued into place, along with some rock sections and a bit of wall. I also fitted a couple of the lamps into position on the path to the station, and then set about getting some plaster on everything:

 

 

 

 

The top of the tunnel, along with the rock piece to the front of it, were left loose so I could get to the track in the tunnel to plaster it, and so I can paint the tunnel lining. Then they'll be glued & I can then do the hill above:

 

 

I still need to sort the lighting out for the house, and once that's done I can glue that down & plaster up around it, blending everything in.

 

Here's the current state of play:

 

 

Looking pretty good, I think! Still lots of work to do on it though. Hopefully I'll get another few hours done tomorrow...

 

JRB

 

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by JSModels
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[JSModels]

I didn't get any more scenery done today, as my time was spent concentrating on getting the lighting sorted. I went to buy a cheap christmas light set this morning, intending to get a set of 20x warm white lights (by cheap, I mean the ones which are 3mm LEDs, wired to a battery box - usually only a couple of quid). I was planning on using only a few of these, just to light the house and the halt, but I spotted a nice set of coloured LEDs, which were tiny SMD LEDs soldered in parallel between 2 coated wires. Being wired in parallel meant I could cut them into shorter lengths - a good job, since there were 120 of them!

 

Since I had these tiny coloured lights, I decided to fit them to the house, like proper outdoor Christmas lights, as well as lighting up the interior:

 

 

They're still a tad overscale (!) but I think it looks ok. I also added an extra resistor to tone them down a bit, they were a bit too bright before!

 

Also got the station/pathway lights wired in:

 

 

I've still to illuminate the halt - a couple of other club members suggested stringing the Christmas lights round the shelter too, but I'm not too sure on that one.

 

JRB

Edited December 18, 2022 by JSModels
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[ColinK]

Looking good.  It might be an idea to turn the loco round every now and then as the wheels on the outside have further to go than those on the inside.  Saves the chassis wrecking itself after a while - guess how I know.

[Ian Holmes]

5 hours ago, ColinK said:

 It might be an idea to turn the loco round every now and then as the wheels on the outside have further to go than those on the inside.  Saves the chassis wrecking itself after a while - guess how I know.

This is true. I know too... 

[john new]

Good tip. I also read somewhere earlier today (In the magazine article on Peter's Spares IIRC) that forwards and backwards running is also desirable to even out brush wear.

[JSModels]

Only had an hour or so at the club today, but managed to get all the rocks at the front of the layout painted (using grey, brown, black, and green washes as per this tutorial) and once that was done (particularly the longer right-hand tunnel) I could glue the top on the tunnel & plaster over it. Also plastered in around the house:

 

 

Still to do:

 

Paint the shelter, and fit lights to it;

Paint the bit of retaining wall behind the pathway;

Paint the rocks behind the house (will be a bit tricky now I've stuck the house down, but you won't really be able to see much of it anyway!);

Fit 2 more lamps up the path over the RH tunnel;

Paint the pathways (so a bit of the colour will still show through the snow);

Paint the backscene*;

Fit some fencing to various areas;

Plant all the trees (I need to buy some more of those in different sizes, the ones I've got are all the same size & identical!)

 

Once all that's done, all that will be left to do is the final snow effects & scatter, and it'll be pretty much finished, at least for this year.

 

*With regard to the backscene, I'm really not sure what colour to paint it; I could go for a sky colour, but with all the lights, and the fact it's going to be relatively dark under the tree, I think it lends itself to a night-time sky colour, but black would be too dark, and I've no idea how dark of a blue to go for. Any ideas gratefully received! I might even see if I can find some cheap fibre-optic cable, and put some stars in the backscene 

 

JRB

[Jeff P]

I asked an artist friend a while back about a dark sky and he suggested Payne's Grey as a possibility...

 

Jeff

[JSModels]

Got a few bits ticked off my list:

 

Paint the shelter, and fit lights to it;

Paint the bit of retaining wall behind the pathway;

Paint the rocks behind the house (will be a bit tricky now I've stuck the house down, but you won't really be able to see much of it anyway!);

Fit 2 more lamps up the path over the RH tunnel; - Not sure if these are needed, I might give them a miss?

Paint the pathways (so a bit of the colour will still show through the snow); Again, not sure if I need to do this.

Paint the backscene;

Fit some fencing to various areas;

Plant all the trees - I've ordered a pack of 20, in varying sizes.

Final snow effects & scatter.

 

And a new addition to the list - Paint the 'backstage' areas that are visible through the tunnels in black.

 

 

With regard to the sky colour, I bought a tester pot of 'After Hours' from Wilko, which was still too light but the right tone, so just mixed in some black acrylic to darken it down. The transition between the snow and the sky will be softened with some white paint through my airbrush (I'll be doing a lot of that for one of the snow effects) and will have lots of trees there, hopefully.

 

 

The backscene paint is still a bit wet at the right-hand side there, that's why it looks a bit odd. I bought some cheap 0.75mm dia fibre-optic cable off eBay, so will be adding some stars!

 

 

The shelter was just painted in a light grey, the details picked out in red, and glazing added. There's two yellow LEDs one for the shelter & one for the office, as well as a red LED in the fireplace! I've just noticed the light coming through the hole above the door, so I'll blob something in there to block that if I remember next time!

 

 

JRB