Weekend projects

Glen Haasdyk

Active Member
After taking the summer off of modeling I went back into it this weekend. I started my DPM MT arms Hotel, getting the walls painted and adding the window glass. I'm waiting for some decals before I assemble the walls and start planning the lobby interior.
I started planning the interior of my City classics grocery store, figuring the floor size and the roof.
I also decalled a proto2000 SW1200 in CN colors.

I really should be getting at finishing my sawmill projectbut I guess I,m waiting for the right moment on that one!

Anyone else do anything this weekend?
 

RobertInOntario

Active Member
Sounds good, Glen. I hope it all goes well. I didn't do any work on my layout this summer until just the past week or so, but I still ran the trains a fair bit.

My main new projects on my layout are creating a new road/street & a few buildings. I also hope to add some sidewalks and a back lane behind my row of buildings. I also have a fair of ground/turf to do as well as some ballasting. Then I hope to keep finessing lots of the finer details (signs, telegraph poles, fences, etc.).

So far, I've pretty much added the new street and just put down a second coat of "Top Coat" (the product that I'm using).

Cheers, Rob
 

Gary S.

Senior Member
Glad to see you back at it, Glen. Post some pics of your progress on the buildings when you get a chance. As for me, I ballasted track and worked on some structures.
 

jimh

New Member
I have not made any progress on my layout since finishing clearing the debris from the old one thanks to a new batch of health problems. :cry:

Oh well.....hopefully one of these days I can something done.
 

FiatFan

Member
I started a project to couple two MDC "Critters" permanently in order to avoid the occasional stalls on turnouts. I plan to wire them so only one headlight lights in each direction. I need to find some small flexible wire to complete the project. I read a suggestion somewhere to use an old set of earphones a a source of wire. All I need to do is track down a set of those and I should be set to go.

As far as non-train related projects, the siding was finally finished on my house. It was a two week project that has lasted s weeks so far. Still a couple of minor projects to complete that should be done today or tomorrow.

Tom
 

HoosierDaddy

New Member
I started working this weekend on trying to make wood grade crossings. I have about four crossings that are all on curved sections, and I want several of them to be wooden crossings to reflect the late 40's time period. So far, all I have done is cutting the scale lumber from a wooden paint stir stick (available at a hardware store near you), using a sharp x-acto blade and a steel rule. I liked how easy it was to cut the soft pine they are made of, and there's really very little grain to the wood, so it cuts straight. Now I just have to stain them, glue them down and I'll be ready to built the approaches up to the crossings with drywall mud.

HD
 

w8jy

Member
Looking forward to seeing the finished buildings, Brakie. Please post pics when you get them finished.
 

Ralph

Remember...it's for fun!
Not during the weekend because I'll be on a vacation "Up North" (along the north shore of Lake Superior) but hopefully during week nights i can improve a scene that isn't photographing well.
Ralph
 

scottcn

New Member
I put up some fascia along a couple sides of my layout and carved some terrain out of foam. I'm also scratchbuilding a structure out of paper/cardboard and I did a little bit of gluing on that.
 

CNWman

CNW Fan
I went camping that weekend, so no modeling projects done. Getting the foam down or assembling Midtown Apliance Sales and Service is top priority, and should get done before the years end.
 

myltlpny

Member
I finished up two projects that have been sitting on my workbench since the spring. One was a Builders in Scale Lighthouse kit, and then I finally managed to get my Soundtraxx sound decoder installed in my Proto 2000 SD60.
I still have to finish the brass SD45 I picked up, paint and assemble a Walther's Cryo car, finish painting and detailing an Athearn GP50, and build at least four craftsman structures. I somehow managed to find two identical 89 foot double plug-door brass boxcars from different sources. The first one is painted and decaled awaiting weathering, the second is still raw brass. Then there's the thousand or so trees ....:rolleyes:
 

spitfire

Active Member
Glen, I have the MT Arms kit still in the box, so I'll be curious to see what you do with yours.

As for my weekend activities, I worked on a scratchbuilt version of part of the John Inglis factory complex. http://forum.zealot.com/t152768/

Inglis made consumer appliances and industrial boilers and is one of the major customers on my layout in progress.

Val
 

Glen Haasdyk

Active Member
Glen, I have the MT Arms kit still in the box, so I'll be curious to see what you do with yours.

The outside it going to be pretty much stock, except the model will be going against my backdrop so I'm subing a sheet of styrene for the back wall so I can use the back wall elsewhere as a background building. I am planning on building an interior on the first floor (lobby ect).
 

nkp174

Active Member
I'm going to hopefully be working on a few DSP&P freight cars...if my modeling guide arrives with its drawings for several cars.

I'm also going to be casting and fabricating detail parts for my DSP&P waycar.
 
I started working this weekend on trying to make wood grade crossings. I have about four crossings that are all on curved sections, and I want several of them to be wooden crossings to reflect the late 40's time period. So far, all I have done is cutting the scale lumber from a wooden paint stir stick (available at a hardware store near you), using a sharp x-acto blade and a steel rule. I liked how easy it was to cut the soft pine they are made of, and there's really very little grain to the wood, so it cuts straight. Now I just have to stain them, glue them down and I'll be ready to built the approaches up to the crossings with drywall mud.

HD

I'd be interested to know more about this, as I have a curved crossing to deal with. Did you somehow get the grain to follow the curve, like with built-up pieces (like the prototype) or did you just cut a curved piece out of the flat wood?

I've been spending as much time as I can (with a full time job and three kids) on the layout in evenings and on weekends. Right now, I am running the wiring, and it's a mess of (carefully color-coded and labelled) spaghetti. When I'm done, it will be complicated and wonderful, and I will have lost of leftover hookup wire and shrink tubing for anyone else tackling a similar effort.

I need to update the web site with my progress, but that has taken a back seat to progress on the layout.
 

HoosierDaddy

New Member
I'd be interested to know more about this, as I have a curved crossing to deal with. Did you somehow get the grain to follow the curve, like with built-up pieces (like the prototype) or did you just cut a curved piece out of the flat wood?

I've been spending as much time as I can (with a full time job and three kids) on the layout in evenings and on weekends. Right now, I am running the wiring, and it's a mess of (carefully color-coded and labelled) spaghetti. When I'm done, it will be complicated and wonderful, and I will have lost of leftover hookup wire and shrink tubing for anyone else tackling a similar effort.

I need to update the web site with my progress, but that has taken a back seat to progress on the layout.

I cut the pieces out straight, and because of the size, and softness of the wood, they are pretty easy to bend to conform to the curve. I pushed the pieces against the tie plate detail to give a consistant gap and used CA glue to attach them, and held/pinned them in place while the glue set. After that, I scribed a line across each long piece to make it look like two pieces butted end to end. I staggered the joints on adjacent boards, and I also used the point of the x-acto to make two small indentations on the end of each piece to make it look like bolts. I've only done one so far, and I should have stained/painted the wood first, because now I have to do it in place, which will be harder. Live and learn. (I've got the three kids and little time to model problem too.)

HD
 
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