I am in the planning phase of an 8' x 20' approx. layout that could have 3 vertical levels (a bit like a layered cake I guess)
I would like to build a 1/4 scale mock up to check things like grades & clearances etc.
Any suggestions for suitable economical materials for the mock up & in particular, scratching my head as to what I could use to represent the tracks?.
I don't want to draw the tracks on as I want to be able to shift them around while I sort clearances & so on.. Ideally something that will bend easily & hold a smooth curve without having to be tacked down.
Thanks
Tanked
Since you don't want to draw the tracks, I would use thin pieces of cardboard or some cardstock to represent the track. Rather than demanding the material bend like flex track, pre-cut some 45 and 90 degree curves in a variety of radii. Make more in your minimum radius than any other for you experimenting.
My thoughts, your choices
Fred W
Go to this site and print out track templates. You can adjust the size before printing.
http://www.handlaidtrack.com/document_general_info.php?products_id=2237
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Chart tape is your friend, if all you want is centerlines or if you decide to use a smaller scale. 1:4 will result in a mockup bigger than most Japanese layouts!
If I was doing it, I'd put down paper overlays and use a nice soft pencil. After the erasures start getting messy, just change the paper. By the second paper change, you should have it just about set...except:
No smaller-scale track plan ever survives first contact between roadbed and track unchanged .
After planning and building a number of layouts, from sub-mini to huge, I have yet to see any exception to the above.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - in a double garage, on several levels)