Steve-e Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Name :- Gotham City Gauge :- HO Size Approx 6 ft by 1 ft Background Having tinkered with an APA Box layout and then with a couple of modular boards during the past couple of years from which I've gained many an Idea I've decided to do something a bit different and that is something of a Fantasy Layout loosely based on the Character Batman and his area of Gotham City. I have been buying various DCC Sound American locos mainly from price and what I like the look of so it will be fully a fictitious layout. I've been thinking on this type of layout for a while as I often hear comments along the line of the modellers age range is getting older and there is no younger people coming into the hobby and we cannot compete with the Xbox and PlayStation games consoles. So I think that as an area this needs to be looked to bridge the gap between Thomas, Chuggington etc.. and the Hornby, Bachmann ranges providing the realistic models. There is plenty of interest within the teenage age range for Fantasy products if you look at Games Workshop, World of Warcraft and the Cosplay scene. So as Batman still seems very popular with the "Gaming community" and with many movies and Games I thought "what if" There is the excellent Hobbiton End layout which does provide a layout in this gap and a few others I have come across on my travels so thought I'd have a go at seeing what I could do to help fill the "missing link". Baseboards Having had a look around Tim Horns baseboard site I found he has justproduced a new style photo/scenic plank http://www.timhorn.co.uk/new-products/ which looked just the right size for what I had in mind and also incorporates a pelmet for some lights which I had salvaged from my APA box layout. While browsing I also noticed that Tim did a Batman style depot plaque http://www.timhorn.co.uk/film-depot-plaque-style/ how cool is that so purchased one of those at the same time. At this present time I don't know if this would be worthy of exhibiting but will build it in 3 sections using techniques picked up from my modular boards so who knows in the future....... Progress to Date Purchasing the boards and plaque they arrived within a couple of days well packaged and are ready to assemble . They took a few hours to build but most of this was waiting for glue to dry. Once everything was dry I did a test run for connecting them together and also to gauge space required so I could size things up. I found a Gotham City wooden name plaque on Ebay so the layout was named and everything painted in a fetching Batman black. The lights as I say were from a previous APA box project and are of the IKEA Ledberg type so using two lengths these fitted underneath the top board.. So having taken advise from my Son who says the railway in Batman runs on the piers or is possibly a mono rail (I'll stick with 2 rails), I have had a think of what I am wanting to achieve. Basically I just want a simple plan possibly with any points been out of sight this would also show to the beginners that you don't need a complex track plan to achieve something. So at the moment what I'm looking at is a high rise station to the left box from which the track will travel along an elevated section before disappearing behind the goods building, while a low level goods line will travel under the elevated section to an off loading area in a warehouse this line would then disappear under the Station area. So in essence an X shape. Here is the Goods warehouse area being illuminated from above so I can get a feel for the size required. The building is a Walthers kit which I have weathered I do have some Wayne Enterprises signage which will be attached in due course. The elevated track will be using the Hornby track system which should look the part once weathered. These may show what I'm looking at for the track plan, the track been loosely placed .... The Depot plaque will be attached to the top of the front pelmet and is just standing against the back for now. So at the moment I have a picture in my mind of how it will all look and I am currently buying bits for what I need. So stay tuned for more updates "Same Bat time, Same Bat channel" Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al. Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 It'll be interesting to see this one develop Of course, you do mean this Batman & Robin.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Boco_D1 Posted March 12, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 12, 2016 Brilliant idea, with plenty of cameo scenes and Easter eggs I'm sure this will prove popular. I'm huge DC COMICS fan so will be keeping a close eye. As well as Wayne enterprises you have other fictional DC companies such Lexcorp, Queen consolidated, Palmer technologies and S.T.A.R labs and don't forget the daily planet newspaper. I had a similar idea to yours, of using some Star Wars revel kits to make a movie set as a cameo on a layout. Anyway I shall now stop geeking out. Keep up the good work Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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