Traeth Mawr -Building Mr Price's house , (mostly)

[ChrisN]

Baseboards

 

I built the 4th baseboard the other day and I would like to say that it went like a dream.  I would like to, but in fact it went together the worst of them all.  Still it is fairly presentable.  Below is a picture of all four of them together.

 

 

And the same from another direction

 

 

You will see that there is just enough room to get it in between the table and the settee, and although this is not where it is intended for it to be put up it does mean that when the railway room has visitors and there are grandchildren around..............

 

I have marked the boards as to which is where, and all the outside edges are smooth with no nails bulging out.  The next job is to make legs, buy the joining dowels, and the bolts and wing nuts and then put it all together.

[Jaz]

actually if you are stood away fro him you only notice the brown and a bit go finer mostly in the moustache. His hair is more grey than his beard.

I still say imagine Alexei Sayle...LOL.

Paint one colour probably the brown first, then some slight orange to the extended sideburns and a hint along the bottom of the moustache. An orange wash will be perfect put on before the brown dries.

[aberdare]

Hi Chris

 

The parade figures are coming on nicely and should look pretty good when completed.

 

Your boards fine to me and even though mine are not like that I have made other things from ply similar to that and suffered no warping so it looks as if you can progress steadily from now on.

You'll have that track down in no time at all now.

 

Jim

[ChrisN]

actually if you are stood away fro him you only notice the brown and a bit go finer mostly in the moustache. His hair is more grey than his beard.

I still say imagine Alexei Sayle...LOL.

Paint one colour probably the brown first, then some slight orange to the extended sideburns and a hint along the bottom of the moustache. An orange wash will be perfect put on before the brown dries.

 

Jaz,

Thanks.  The guy who I will use actually has moulded sideburns and moustache so I will do as you suggest.  Not sure that I have any orange, so I will get some 'Orange Lining' which is a not too bright orange.  I'll do the best I can but we are talking tiny here.   

[ChrisN]

Hi Chris

 

The parade figures are coming on nicely and should look pretty good when completed.

 

Your boards fine to me and even though mine are not like that I have made other things from ply similar to that and suffered no warping so it looks as if you can progress steadily from now on.

You'll have that track down in no time at all now.

 

Jim

 

Thanks Jim,

I tried twisting a board today and it is possible but I am not sure how likely it is to do it naturally.

 

Legs first, and then track.  Track will probably not be before July as we are on holiday in June.  I am being pessimistic here and as I think about it I may be able to buy the track before we go. 

 

The parade soldiers are taking longer than I thought.  There is no rush except that it means there is nothing to post.  Well, that is not strictly true but it means I shall run out of pre-prepared stuff.  There will be a lot of touching up to do.  I went to paint one soldiers trousers and found I had not put a scarlet stripe on it.  The stripe has to go first as it is moulded. 

 

When I have done the trousers I will begin to do black so it means that I can do the next bit of Jaz.  Then it is purple, amethyst and something else.

[ChrisN]

More Baseboards.

The individual boards are manageable on their own and can be carried as they are at the moment.  I am not sure how it will work once I begin to apply scenery, although I think that most structures apart from the platforms will be removable.  How I do this I have yet to discover. The boards will have to be able to be carried by one person up and down the stairs and out to the car.  There will usually be help at the other end.

 

I may have to think of some carrying handle(s) but that in itself will put a strain where I may not want it and cause bending/warping issues.  The handles, if I use them, will have to be removable.  I am just concerned that anything that is on the layout will be knocked/broken.  In theory it should not have to be moved too much but the railway room is not yet fit for guests let alone a railway so it may be moved more at the start than I had expected.

[Jaz]

Jaz,

Thanks.  The guy who I will use actually has moulded sideburns and moustache so I will do as you suggest.  Not sure that I have any orange, so I will get some 'Orange Lining' which is a not too bright orange.  I'll do the best I can but we are talking tiny here.   

yellow or yellow / red should be ok. And frankly brown is fine. When he was young he used to sport a fantastic flat top, I could run my hands thru it for ages.

[model-trains]

Baseboards

 

No one seems to have many comments about the track so I shall move onto the baseboards.  This does not mean if anyone still has comments on the track layout that I will ignore it.

 

My intention is that I use 9mm ply and brace it around the edges also with 6" of the same as I have seen that used and recommended on exhibition layouts as being easy to transport.

 

Jaz has asked about the boards being 3' x 4' but this will mean that the board joins are under the points, not a good idea.  I also wondered about having the front two boards 3' x 4' 6" so that the scenic area would be on the same boards.  This could be transported but it would make it more difficult to store when it is not up.  The boards will have dowel lugs to make sure they fit correctly together but the jury is still out how the boards will be attached to each other.  At the moment, it is between hinges with removable pins as per BRM 'First Layout' and toggle catches

 

To be transported they will have to be stacked.  My first thought was that the 6" deep sides would mean that they would stack over the scenery, then I realised as I lay awake one night that the sides would be laying on the tracks, not a good idea.  I know others use a solid backscene to keep various parts of the layout apart for transport but I am not sure that this would work for me.  I need to sides to be open so that stock etc can be reached.  Perhaps a support of some sort?

 

The type of support would also decide whether the buildings were permanently fixed or just positioned when in use.  Not just plonked down but bedded in, perhaps held with Velcro, just not stuck down.

 

Legs are another question.  I will probably need one section that is self-supporting that the others connect to.

 

Lots of ideas and questions.  Yes, I like making life difficult for myself but it will be worth it.

 

 

Hi Chris

 

You are thinking it out well, so many people rush in and then wonder why they never thought!

 

Good work, enjoy, we look forward to some pictures (not just plywood) 

 

I am reading from the beginning.

 

PJ

Edited May 5, 2014 by model-trains

[ChrisN]

PJ,

Thank you for your comments.  I was going to say that I have never done anything like this before but In fact I made a baseboard for my son's 009 layout a couple of years ago, (cough cough, my son is now 30).  I certainly have not made one that will be fixed together and be moveable.

 

I have read a lot in RMWeb and some magazines and that is how I came to decide what to do.  Laying awake in the middle of the night helps as well.  Just when you think you have it sussed someone like Gordon A comes along and asks, 'What about twisting?'  My stomach had that sinking feeling thinking that I had missed something very important.  However, I will add bracing later if I think it is necessary.

 

Hope you enjoy the thread.  It jumps about a fair bit.

 

All the best.

[ChrisN]

It's all quiet on the modelling front.  Well not really, I am painting at the moment.  I really ought to model WW1 or WW2 and have everyone in uniform as I manage to paint the faces, and the black boots and then run out of inspiration.  The parade is great as apart from needing a million different colours I know what I am doing.

 

As I said at the start the line will to run by the GWR with locos that probably were there are at least one that probably was not.  I am fairly sure that any Metro tank did not arrive in Wales until the 20th century but I like them so one got a bit lost. 

 

However, this arrived from eBay a couple of weeks ago.

 

 

Yes a Dean Goods in a much later livery and shape.  I believe Knobhead has a thread on backdating one of these so sometime in the future it will be done.

 

I have been looking in vain for an image of blue plush  that I thought I had seen on Wikipeadia but I cannot find it.  The one I saw had a fair amount of white in it as it was a velvet type of material.  Anyway I gave my coach a wash on the seats of white after I had painted the windows green.

 

This is the effect.

 

 

 

 

I had also found a swatch of Drab Rep but again that has gone missing.

 

I am still undecided about what to colour the inside walls up to the level of the seats which will be drab rep, a sort of drab brown.  Any suggestions gratefully received.

 

[Jaz]

More Baseboards.

The individual boards are manageable on their own and can be carried as they are at the moment.  I am not sure how it will work once I begin to apply scenery, although I think that most structures apart from the platforms will be removable.  How I do this I have yet to discover. The boards will have to be able to be carried by one person up and down the stairs and out to the car.  There will usually be help at the other end.

 

I may have to think of some carrying handle(s) but that in itself will put a strain where I may not want it and cause bending/warping issues.  The handles, if I use them, will have to be removable.  I am just concerned that anything that is on the layout will be knocked/broken.  In theory it should not have to be moved too much but the railway room is not yet fit for guests let alone a railway so it may be moved more at the start than I had expected.

Before you get too far, consider that you will want contours if you want authenticity. 

A station often is not raised above the surrounding area, platforms are often the same height as the pavements outside, thus the tracks have been dug out. You will eventually want to sort pavements and kerbs as well. I could point out to you that cutting PIR is a pain and messy....you will NOT be popular with the wife. BUT it is fast easily managed, PVE painted on it makes it stronger and stops it 'shedding' so much. 

Other tried and tested ways such as newspaper, plasterboard, cutting the boards and lifting and dropping them, have all been done well by many modellers.

So you just need to decide which route to go down.

One thing I will say in favour of PIR, is you can easily push figures with the little supports into the foam (beware the harden PVA, I use a bbq stick first so I don't bend the white metal.) Trees push in nicely, making spots for buildings fast and easy. changing your  mind for figures so they can be moved around easy peavey Though messing with the same holes can make them harder to stand upright, and occasionally filling / covering holes might become necessary.

Edited May 8, 2014 by Jaz

[ChrisN]

Before you get too far, consider that you will want contours if you want authenticity. 

A station often is not raised above the surrounding area, platforms are often the same height as the pavements outside, thus the tracks have been dug out. You will eventually want to sort pavements and kerbs as well. I could point out to you that cutting PIR is a pain and messy....you will NOT be popular with the wife. BUT it is fast easily managed, PVE painted on it makes it stronger and stops it 'shedding' so much. 

Other tried and tested ways such as newspaper, plasterboard, cutting the boards and lifting and dropping them, have all been done well by many modellers.

So you just need to decide which route to go down.

One thing I will say in favour of PIR, is you can easily push figures with the little supports into the foam (beware the harden PVA, I use a bbq stick first so I don't bend the white metal.) Trees push in nicely, making spots for buildings fast and easy. changing your  mind for figures so they can be moved around easy peavey Though messing with the same holes can make them harder to stand upright, and occasionally filling / covering holes might become necessary.

 

Jaz,

The thing with the coast line is that it is amazingly flat around the line.  I have just checked Barmouth, and Tywyn and the line is flat on the ground with the platforms standing up from it.  (The Cambrian was built very cheaply as they had no money and paid the contractor in (useless) shares.)  The ground around it does slope away or up though. 

 

The line and road behind it should be flat, but it also should be straight but has to curve to fit the baseboard.  What I intend to do is have the platform and the road flat and probably the line of houses as well but begin to have the start of a hill behind that.  I want to keep it as simple as possible.

 

The track will be laid on cork which will raise it up from the road, and this could well run under the station building.  However, the road and surrounding ground has to be made of something as it will have to take the structures which will be placed in gaps in it, if you see what I mean.

 

This is still a few weeks away.  Legs first, then buy the track which I have not costed yet and may need to be bought in instalments.  Umm, if PIR was 3/8ths inch thick then that would do it.  I can foresee more nights lying awake thinking about this.

 

(In case you are worried I do not lie awake at night worrying about this sort of thing.  I wake two or three times in the night and at least once a night unless I am very tired I do not go straight back to sleep and so I think about this sort of thing.)

 

I am at ExpoEM next weekend so I will look how people there have done it.

 

Oh yes, if I cut PIR I will do it when my wife is at work and then clean up afterwards.   

[Jaz]

The important thing is....you have thought about....and you have a direction going forwards...

[ChrisN]

Jaz,

Yes I did think about it, and your comments made me think again and look again at 'Streetview'.  I will now have to do something different from what I first intended, but what I am not sure.

 

Answers on a postcard please.

[aberdare]

Hi Chris

 

I just love those little Dean Goods engines and look forward to seeing you backdate it, I also picked a couple up in recent years one of them an outside framed version (2301 class) and think I need to do the same. The standard model (Kays kit) I got  really cheap at a toy fair as it is badly glued with impact adhesive and unpainted, a complete rebuild for this one which will make any mods easier.

 

Looking at your coaches I would have thought that the interior would be varnished wood so a brown would be fine, just a guess though as I know very little about coaches in that area.

 

Don't worry about changing your mind and doing something different, I'm always doing it as I spot something I missed in a photograph, or even stumble across an image I forgot I had and then wonder how to get round it.

 

I need that mental challenge now that the big 60 is getting ever closer.

 

 

All the best

 

 

Jim

[ChrisN]

Hi Chris

 

I just love those little Dean Goods engines and look forward to seeing you backdate it, I also picked a couple up in recent years one of them an outside framed version (2301 class) and think I need to do the same. The standard model (Kays kit) I got  really cheap at a toy fair as it is badly glued with impact adhesive and unpainted, a complete rebuild for this one which will make any mods easier.

 

Looking at your coaches I would have thought that the interior would be varnished wood so a brown would be fine, just a guess though as I know very little about coaches in that area.

 

Don't worry about changing your mind and doing something different, I'm always doing it as I spot something I missed in a photograph, or even stumble across an image I forgot I had and then wonder how to get round it.

 

I need that mental challenge now that the big 60 is getting ever closer.

 

 

All the best

 

 

Jim

 

Jim,

You are probably right and I had thought of painting it the same colour as the floor.  What makes me wonder though is that the book says that above the luggage rack was drab rep and the ceiling sycamore.  So why not mention the doors and walls?  I'll get there eventually, I am spending ages on these soldiers at the moment though.

 

Is the K's kit whitemetal and is it in the original form?  If not I imagine that it may not be easy to modify.  At least this is plastic but do not hold your breath waiting for it as at the moment it has not reached by 'To do' list, just my 'Future Project' list.

[ChrisN]

While I was doing something else yesterday and needed to cut some wood I thought I would take the opportunity to cut the wood for the legs on the baseboard.  I have bought wood that is planed and 180cm long, sorry 1800mm.  I measured the whole length and found one set to be 1794mm. 

 

Now I wanted it to be simple, one cut, two legs.  My woodworking skills are not fantastic so the less cuts the more chance I can do them straight.  I then measured the second set, 1792mm. Ah, so I cannot just cut them in half.  I am quite pleased that they could not be cut on the B&Q cutter as I might have legs of different length.

 

I shall have to do two cuts, both of 790mm?  I do not want it too high but I do not wish to lean over as It would ruin my back.

[Stubby47]

If you add an adjustable foot to the bottom of each leg, you will be able to use all the pieces and make sure the layout is level

[Jaz]

If you add an adjustable foot to the bottom of each leg, you will be able to use all the pieces and make sure the layout is level

We have those on our kitchen....you can get some nice cheap ones.

[ChrisN]

If you add an adjustable foot to the bottom of each leg, you will be able to use all the pieces and make sure the layout is level

 

Stu,

Thank you.  Yes, a bit obvious really, why didn't I think of that?

 

I assume you mean these screw up and down ones?  Have you used these before?  If so where did you get them from?  If not I will Google them.

[Stubby47]

Yes, there are different types of screw threads with feet, it depends on how you want to fit / use them.

 

I haven't used them myself, yet, but I have searched for them on the net and not made any final decisions on which to choose.

 

When I took the layout to Taunton, I used cardboard pieces to level the boards.

[ChrisN]

Right decision made.  I will cut the wood in half and so I will have two sets of six legs, one set for the front, one for the back.  I just need to source the feet.  The shame is that I have a couple of hours to kill near B&Q on Thursday, and it is Diamond Geezer Club on Wednesday. 

 

Mind you, you cannot move in there on Wednesday as it is FULL of old people! 

[ChrisN]

I have not managed to do much this weekend, as we were busy yesterday and out today.  However, I did spend an hour painting 'Jaz'.  It was the fiddly bits on the coat.  I am a bit concerned that the primer appears to rub off quite easily and some bits were covered, and then not, covered again, and then not.  I think it is fine now but I was using a purple that I had mixed myself so if I have to go back over it I will never get the same colour again. 

 

I have looked for feet and have not quite drawn a blank but I shall continue in real shop not on the web.

 

I have thought about Jaz's question about contouring and blending in the railway and structures and these are the options.

 

1. Do Nothing. (Listen, I have done business cases and you always have to have this one). 

For-- Nothing

Against-- Everything

 

2. Do not have a base but use card, plastikard, plaster to make roads, gardens etc.

For- Easier at start

Against- difficult, expensive, probably will not look right.

 

3. Cover the boards with cork

For- Probably easy to cut when in situ.

Against- Not sure of how compact the surface would be.

 

4. Cover the boards with polystyrene sheets

For- Thicker, easy to cut

Against- Flammable, messy when cutting

 

5. Cover the board with foam board

For, Up to 5mm thick

Against, probably messy to cut, shiny surface how would things stick to it.

 

6. Use PIR

For- shaped easily

Against-  Too thick as the area is fairly flat although it could do the hill at the back.

 

Comments please. Am I making life too difficult for myself.  The area is fairly flat but a little sloping would make things more interesting.

[ChrisN]

I will be at ExpoEM in Bracknell this Saturday morning.  If anyone is going to be there let me know and perhaps we could have a chat.

[Jaz]

I have not managed to do much this weekend, as we were busy yesterday and out today.  However, I did spend an hour painting 'Jaz'.  It was the fiddly bits on the coat.  I am a bit concerned that the primer appears to rub off quite easily and some bits were covered, and then not, covered again, and then not.  I think it is fine now but I was using a purple that I had mixed myself so if I have to go back over it I will never get the same colour again. 

 

I have looked for feet and have not quite drawn a blank but I shall continue in real shop not on the web.

 

I have thought about Jaz's question about contouring and blending in the railway and structures and these are the options.

 

1. Do Nothing. (Listen, I have done business cases and you always have to have this one). 

For-- Nothing

Against-- Everything

 

2. Do not have a base but use card, plastikard, plaster to make roads, gardens etc.

For- Easier at start

Against- difficult, expensive, probably will not look right.

 

3. Cover the boards with cork

For- Probably easy to cut when in situ.

Against- Not sure of how compact the surface would be.

 

4. Cover the boards with polystyrene sheets

For- Thicker, easy to cut

Against- Flammable, messy when cutting

 

5. Cover the board with foam board

For, Up to 5mm thick

Against, probably messy to cut, shiny surface how would things stick to it.

 

6. Use PIR

For- shaped easily

Against-  Too thick as the area is fairly flat although it could do the hill at the back.

 

Comments please. Am I making life too difficult for myself.  The area is fairly flat but a little sloping would make things more interesting.

Getting the same colour is not the be all, light effects cloth and a second tone often looks more realistic.