Coming up on my project list - I'll be assembling the HO Heljan Roundhouse (kit 802) with the 3 stall addition (803). The directions included in each kit consist of an exploded view on a single sheet, which generally shows what part goes where, but is otherwise lacking when it comes to the best assembly sequence or other handy advice. I enjoy a modeling challenge, so I'm not complaining, but I've grown smart enough to tap into the MRR community experience for advice.
I have two specific questions:
1. On the sprue with the front and back stall walls, there are two plain rectangular pieces, both appear to serve as the rear keeper plates for the door hinges; so, as far as I can tell...
Correct?
2. Thick clear plastic window glazing is included with the kit, are there any thoughts on using these vs. thinner clear plastic?
I'll be using this roundhouse with the Walthers Built-Up Structure 90' Turntable with DCC (933-2860).
Other tips and suggestions are welcome, and please include pic's of your finished models!
Jim
For the window glass, I used microscope cover slides. Wanting to have a finished interior I knew the camera would pick up that chunky plastic. Here is an end view, plastic on the left, glass on the right.
I put my feeders to the RH tracks inside at the far end from the TT.
I also weathered the RH floor before adding anything else.
This is how it looks after the rest was added.
If you are putting in lights, think about what and how as it may be easier to do as you build.
I also added stick-on brick as the CPR roundhouses had painted white brick on the inside to lighten up the joint to help see.
Have fun.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
hardcoalcase...I have two specific questions: 1. On the sprue with the front and back stall walls, there are two plain rectangular pieces, both appear to serve as the rear keeper plates for the door hinges; so, as far as I can tell... the narrow piece is for the outer sides of the far right and far left doors, the wider angled piece appears to serve the hinge keeper for all other doors plus reinforcement for joining the front wall sections. The tabs go on top. Correct?
Without a picture, it's hard to tell how "two rectangular pieces" as keeper plates for door hinges will serve for three, let alone six sets of double doors. Do those two rectangular pieces have cast-in indentations indicating their use as cut-lines?
hardcoalcase 2. Thick clear plastic window glazing is included with the kit, are there any thoughts on using these vs. thinner clear plastic?
If you're planning to follow Brent's lead by installing lighting, thinner "glass" will give a clearer view of the interior. That can be real glass, like Brent uses, but clear styrene sheet material, in various thicknesses, is available from Evergreen.
My first roundhouse kit was from Vollmer, and, not yet having a layout, I went ahead and built it as a three stall roundhouse. When I finally got around to building the layout, I discovered that my planned site was big enough for a scratchbuilt 89' turntable (like 99-and-a-half, 90' just won't do...or fit), but there was no room for a three stall roundhouse.
I ended-up dismantling the roundhouse and turned it into a sorta square house, which better fit into the available space...
...and a view from the rear...
When I added a partial upper level to my layout, I did have room for a roundhouse. I used a 3-stall kit from Korber, with an additional two bays, which just fit. The Korber kit was quite a bit more involved than the one from Vollmer, and I modified it quite severely. It's served (sorta) by a Walthers non-powered turntable...that's another issue altogether.
...and the rear...
Don't be afraid to alter the kit to better suit North American practices and appearances. If you have enough space, it's also easy to make additions to the basic structure, like a lunchroom or changehouse for the employees, or maybe a boilerhouse, for so-called "direct steaming"...that's if you're running steam locomotives, of course.
Wayne
Brent,
Your floor weathering is impressive, I'm thinking in terms of a verticle grain wooden floor over concrete, but not quite sure how to approach that yet.
I also liked the use of copper strip for the interior lighting circuits - very neat! As for the kits window glass pieces, they'll find a new career as ice blocks on my layout's iceing platform.
Thanks for the reply.
Wayne,
That is one interesting kit-bash! I've seen this photo before in these forums and it did not occur to me it was from the Heljan roundhouse.
Thanks for your reply!
Thanks, Jim. My no-longer-roundhouse was a kit from Vollmer, and as a roundhouse, it wouldn't fit into the available real estate. The issue was more with its shape , rather than the available space.
Oops, so it is! The round-top doors threw me off.
On my layout I did a Vollmer. I used frosted plastic for the interior windows and left the glass off the doors. You don't tend to notice the missing glass on the doors, your eyes kinda trick you. On mine the whole structure can lift up but if I did again I would have had some removable roof panels, proubly held in place with super magnets.
My re-worked Vollmer roundhouse has a removeable roof, and at one time, also had interior lighting, along with a not-moveable overhead crane. When I realised that I didn't want to do "night-time" operations, as it would require lighting in a lot of structures, the lights were removed.
The roundhouse at Mount Forest, a modified kit from Korber, has a completely scratchbuilt roof and roof support structure, and comes off as a one-piece unit...
I was tempted to install LED lighting, but the need to do so many of the other structures convinced me that it wasn't worthwhile.
A guy did a step by step complete with automating the doors on that kit. Look for Marklinofsweden on youtube. He is a budget railroad guy too.
shane
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
Nice work everyone! I assembled the Walthers 3 stall kit. Getting the doors to simply open and close was a bit of a nightmare... I was successful in the end but who knows how long these little plastic hinges will last. I basically always leave them open - my guess is that if I open and close them regularly, they will break off.
I did not glue the roof on, but I glued a small piece of plastic in one of the corners, just above the roof, to hold it on by simple friction. I basically slide the roof under this small piece of plastic. Works great!
The only thing I would really have done differently in the assembly is this: I would not have glued the walls on the base. Because the tracks are integrated, I cannot easily remove the roundhouse for maintenance. Assembly whould have been tricky (a few additional braces would be required), but it would have paid off in the long run. I am about to do some scenery work, and now I'm thinking about how I will protect that building when I apply the gooey stuff...
Simon
If you look at the photo you can see the roof is bowed up in the centre. If you look along under the front edge of the roof you can see some foam canopy tape. I stuck this along the front and rear edge of the roof and it holds the roof firmly in place with a friction fit. I had just forgotten to push the middle down when I took this photo as I had been putting the roof on and off a lot while doing the lighting.
This is how I did the installation of the RH/TT. If I ever move I can take it off as a unit. I also found lifting it off and taking it to the desk made it easier to work on. Once done ground cover hides the cracks with painters tape stopping the flow of ballast and weeds from flowing into the abyss.
I have an Atlas 3-stall roundhouse. I don't have a lot of space, and this one fits in, and the stall spacing matches the fixed spacing of my Atlas turntable. The entire scene, turntable included, sits on a single piece of two inch foam.
I built mine from the ground up as well. This roundhouse has no detail in the interior, so I printed a cinder block pattern on my computer and used that to cover the inside walls.
I wired each stall track separately so a simple toggle switch can control each track. I run DCC, but I like to keep the engines, particularly the sound engines, off when they're inside.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
MisterBeasleyI wired each stall track separately so a simple toggle switch can control each track. I run DCC, but I like to keep the engines, particularly the sound engines, off when they're inside.
I will be doing this as well,l once I have the facia up and decide where the switches will go. Having all these engines come to life can be annoying sometimes.