Engine Shed Build

[simon1966]

I'll try an get a photo knocked out later of the sign, but getting the white glue onto the tissue paper and handling it was not all that easy.  I messed up a few before getting it onto the wall.  The ink bleeds through the tissue so it really looks like it is painted onto the surface.

[cnw1995]

 What a great ides - to print on tissue taped to paper.

[Brutus]

Great job - looks great, it's obviously very functional, and you did wonderful work - thanks for sharing!

[simon1966]

I am glad you enjoyed the thread.

Well a bit of an update, but no pics to go with the update.  I put a nice UP Herald on the back of the shed.  I got a nice tip about photo-shopping an image to fade it out, and then printing it onto tissue paper that I had taped to the front of regular paper in the ink-jet.  It worked great and now looks like a painted on sign on the wall. 

I also installed the LED lighting over the shed doors.  Using a diode bridge and appropriate resistors, the LED's illuminate as track power is applied to each of the tracks.  The shed tracks are isolated with plastic joiners with power being fed via a DTDP knife switch.  This allows Crispy to kill power to both tracks with the Knife in vertical position and then route power to which ever track he wants, with the appropriate LED lighting up to show the powered track.

[rtraincollector]

just got done rereading this whole thing picking up more tips for the future still say ctt should do articles like these and have it where others can give some ideas or tips also to the articles.

 

[Hudson#685]

Simon,

You and Crispy did a fantastic job not only on the engine shed but building a stronger bond between father and son. It is something he will look back in years to come.

John

[simon1966]

So I thought we were finished!!  Ha!  Funny how project grow and keep on going.

Lighting, details, and possibly some exterior signs are a coming!

 

Thanks for the additional feedback.

[Ole Timer]

Simon ... had to stop by again to check out the rescent work .... lookin good guys .... are you going to add any work benches or anything to the inside .... maybe a pot bellied stove ? You can grab a handful of engine parts off of midwinterauctions on Ebay to put inside for a couple of dollars ... makes them look like a real working repair area .... maybe even a few around the building too . Just an idea ....   you and your son are doing a fabulous job ! 

 RT ... open to only subscribers  ????  All man let it be open to everyone ...   ..... think about it ... why ?

[fifedog]

Nicely done.

[dwiemer]

Exterior lights over the bay doors would work well.  Size wise, the HO lights with the green shades would probably look impressive.

Dennis

[simon1966]

Thanks for the tip Dennis, that is a good idea.  Since I am going to allow each of the shed tracks to be powered independently, and since, at least in the short term, the shed is going to be moved around a fair amount as it is not going onto a permanent layout any time soon, I will look into keeping any wiring self contained.  Perhaps a pair of exterior lamps over the doors?

[dwiemer]

When you make those insulated track sections, you could also have a light that is on in a nearby structure to indicate that the track inside has power.  One of the tips and tricks books has a similar idea where they have a orange light inside a local switch tower that comes on when power is on in the local rails.  You could have it light say red for right track and grean for left.  Another idea would be to have a light over each door that will light if the track for that door is powered.

Great results.  Fine work and ideas.  Thanks for sharing.
Dennis

[simon1966]

Thanks Kurt, good point.  The currents are certainly quite a bit bigger than in my normal HO so I will be sure to select an appropriate switch.

[kpolak]

Great work Simon annd Crispy!

Make sure the switch is rated to handle your maximum fuse value.

Kurt

[simon1966]

I am glad you enjoyed it.  I too really like to see projects shown in a step by step sequence.  There are so many great ideas out there that I almost always learn something. 

 One thing I really need to do with the engine shed is to put insulating pins on the rails leading into the shed and then wire up a double pole, double throw switch (with a center off position) so that Crispy can park his engines and not have them take off on him when he is running the rest of his layout. 

[rtraincollector]

Its detail instruction like this that Intrest me and would love to se on a regular basis in ctt mag or subscribers only area

 

[Demay]

Thanks Simon.  I'll follow your picture trail and see where it leads me.

 Joe

[simon1966]

Thanks Joe,

I think all the key materials and steps are detailed above in the thread.  If there is any step that is not clear and you would like additional information, let me know.

You can also follow it on my picture trail location  http://www.PictureTrail.com/gid22884416  I just added some text to make sure the materials are described.

[Demay]

Simon and Crispy,

Your engine shed looks fantastic.  Did you write down or document the process and materials used?  A beginner like me could certainly benefit from some easy to follow instructions.

Once again, great job, and thanks for posting the photos. 

 Joe

[simon1966]

It has been a very busy weekend, but we did manage to get some finishing touches done to the engine shed.

First of all some washes really helped to blend in the roof.

It has a very pleasing effect and I am rather happy with our tin foil roof.  It sure cut down on the cost and I think is a fine stand in.

As you can see, all the windows and doors have been painted in Crispy's chosen color scheme.

The engine shed doors were a bit of a pain, but I think I have a working solution.  The hinges have wire pivots that are then placed into cut opening in the wooden door trim.  I fabricated some fairly crude styrene fake hinge plates to cover the wire and hold everything in place.

They open and shut and seem to be somewhat sturdy.

Now, of course we could go on with this, do some interior work, detail it out, maybe even scenic the surround? But a certain young lad seems more keen to get it into service and start playing with it.  So we will have to content ourselves with a few beauty shots.

It has been a fun project, one that I think will stick in Crispy's memory for some time to come.  It was not all that intense, an hour here, an hour there.  I feel like I learned a few things along the way, so thank-you to any and all that made suggestions and comments.

So we end this build with a mood shot or two.

I could not resist getting the camera in close and personal, to try and give that being part of the model feel.

[simon1966]

strogey

What is the maximum thickness and lenth of the material that can be cut on this cutter?

I guess there is really no limit to length, in the sense that the sides are open so there is nothing to stop you putting something really long on the cutter as long as you could manage the practical aspect of supporting the piece.

As for thickness, it would depend on the density of the material.  1/2" of a softer balsa would probably work, but I suspect that this would be too much in styrene, or higher density of wood.  The hard wood Popsicle sticks required quite a bit of force for example. My main application is in HO where I use it to cut fairly thin strip wood.

The cutter uses a single edge razor blade, and I have noticed that on thicker stock, there tends to be a slight angle to the cut.  I know that many modellers will rotate the piece and cut partially from each side to minimize the impact of this.  If you want a really true cut, for a precision modeling project then the best thing is to cut with the chopper and then true up the cut with another tool called the True Sander.  This ensures a perfect cut.

[strogey]

simon1966

It is a Northwest Shortline Chopper 2

http://www.nwsl.com/tools/cutting-tools-the-choppers-i-ii-iii

 

Lots of places carry them on the web.  I happen to find it invaluable when repeated cuts are needed.

  What is the maximum thickness and lenth of the material that can be cut on this cutter?

Thanks in advance!

[simon1966]

I made it back safe from Fargo.  It was 22 degree F here in Illinois today, positively balmy after the -7 that I endured when leaving my hotel yesterday morning!

A small amount accomplished this evening, using cheap acrylics and some dry brush

these are real quick snaps with a cheapy camera, so not that great, but give you some idea of the effect I am after.

A roof that is in basically sound condition with some surface rusting.  No holes in the roof or major damage.

[kpolak]

Simon & Crispy:  Looks great!

[simon1966]

Well thank you Brent, that is a compliment indeed.  I certainly have taken a lot of photos, not sure if they are really magazine quality, but what ever, we certainly are having fun with this.  Having been a long time subscriber to Model Railroader, I am looking at getting a subscription to CTT.

[Anonymous]

Simon this is simply AMAZING! Makes me want to get into the basement and start building some buildings!

I certainly hope you took enough photos and notes so you can submit this as a project to CTT!

[simon1966]

We have made a fair amount of progress, much of which is not evident in the following photos.  The windows and doors have arrived from Grandt line, and have been painted and are waiting glazing.  I am pleased to say that they fit the holes created for them, based on the dimensions from the web site. I was a bit nervous about that!

The entire roof is now adorned with heavy duty embossed foil using the advice and tips from others  Note that we failed to follow one piece of advice to paint the foil before installation.  This was not an oversight but a conscious decision largely driven by a lack of a suitable place to spray anything, it being too cold in the garage right now.

Scale foil sections were embossed on a section from an AMB HO scale depot kit.  Would you believe that I had a hard time finding a big enough piece of plain clapboard handy!

Crispy has had quite a bit of homework this weekend, so I set about painting the roof.

Basic craft paints, left to cure overnight, building the effect from 2 different grey paints.

Here it is now after an alcohol and ink wash of the siding.

Once the roof has fully cured, rust colors will follow to really pick out the individual panels.

I am heading to Fargo ND, for some business meetings today.  I know, what idiot goes to ND in January!! So it will have plenty of drying time until we can do anything else.

[kpolak]

Pre-cut the sheets, and weather before you burnish.

Also, try pressing the foil between the 2-matching pieces of styrene.

I've heard good things about this doodle too.

 . . .

.   .   .   .

 Well...done yet???  Where's the pics?

[simon1966]

Thanks all for the ongoing input and suggestions.  It looks like you are having a party without me!!

 Windows and doors showed up yesterday and got a lick of paint in the evening.  Nothing to show yet as they were drying over night.  It is always a relief to find that the holes I cut were the right size!

A neat suggestion I got from a friend was that by burnishing heavy duty kitchen foil onto HO scale clapboard siding a decent looking corrugated effect can be achieved.  Sounds like a decent idea, so I experiment with that.  Plus is should be something that Christopher can try his hand at as well.