Walther's Powerplant

FrankG

FrankG

Member
Nov 19, 2004
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I'm building the Walther's Northern Light and Power structure in N scale and scratch-building a complete interior since all of the windows are so large. (Walthers has an HO interior, but not N)

I have one problem with it and need some advice.

I have a floor in it, which prevents access from below. I glued this in place, fully expecting to not glue the roof, which I would use to access lighting/bulb changes.

The problem is that the roof does not sit well on the molded guides. If I glued it, it would be fine. Without the glue, it pops up slightly, as there's not enough weight to hold it down into proper alignment.

So....how do I get the roof to stay in place, but still be removable? Some kind of weight on the bottom side? Weight ON the roof by some clever roof detail? Scratch a new roof that fits better? Not sure which way to go.
 
Z

zedob

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Dec 26, 2004
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Can you post a few pics of the roof and how it's sitting? Take the roof off also and take some pics inside.


Also, is there any chance that the "ceiling will be seen from the windows?
 
ezdays

ezdays

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Feb 3, 2003
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Yeah, a picture or two would help, but to add to the suggestions, could you fashion a block of something like wood that would fit inside the walls kinda tight, then glue the block to the roof. You could then force fit the roof on. Freelancer's suggestion of magnets could work, but using Velcro would be tricky getting a good fit. Velcro has a tendecy to "bounce" back from the position you'd like it to stay in. I've used it to hold some structures in place that I'd like not to be permanent, and sure enough, when I pull the structure up, the Velcro holds so good to itself that both pieces come up as well.
 
Z

zedob

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I vote magnets.

If you mount the magnets so there is a small gap at full closure it should hold the roof down and won't be so rough on the rest of the structure when you open it up. Fabricate a heavy duty vent and screw it to the roof as a grab.

Do any of the Modular RR's use magnets for building placement? Seems like it could be usefull.
 
FrankG

FrankG

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Nov 19, 2004
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WOW....magnets! Great idea.

A photo of the roof probably wouldn't help. It would be very difficult to photograph and actually show anything.

Essentially, it's an A-frame roof line that does not overhang the walls. The walls actually continue up a bit, creating a false front on the structure. So is actually completely contained inside of the boundaries of the walls.

There are small supports on the walls that keep the roof from dropping down into the structure. The problem is just that the N scale roof is so light that the weight isn't enough to hold it down to all of the supports.

So, while the fit of the roof is generally good, and resting on some of the supports, others have a gap. The gaps happen to be on the ends. So they actually pop up off the support just enough to line up with the top of the wall.

It's hard to explain....but I'm going to try the magnets and see what happens.
 
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