Hey, ya'll!
I just recently moved a temporary (as in you can move the stuff off it and rearrange) layout and am turning it into a permanet layout. I own a previously bought (as of december 2006) bachmann e-z command with no accessories. I have two lighted layout fixtures and 23 models. I've got 3 dcc equipted locos and about 50 trian cars. I've got lots of figures and model cars and I don't know how to make the layout permanet!!!
can you please help me?????
PS: how do i get small figures and animals to stick to the ground?
You've asked a broad question. I suggest you go to you local library and check out a basic book on model railroading.
Now if you are just asking how to make the track stay down, that's another question. Most people set the track with latex caulk. IF you are setting directly on plywodd, there are nail holes in the EZ track. Just don't hit the track or ties with the hammer and don't set the nail too deep or you will take the track out of guage.
As for the people, a little white glue will do the trick.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
No, getting track to stick to the ground was just a small part of it, but thanks.
up4
unionpacific4 wrote: ... I've got lots of figures and model cars and I don't know how to make the layout permanet!!! PS: how do i get small figures and animals to stick to the ground?
... I've got lots of figures and model cars and I don't know how to make the layout permanet!!!
Last question answered first...as Chip has said, pour a small drop of white glue on the "ground" where you want the item to be, let it dry for about 15 minutes, and then place the item in the position desired. You may have to prop it with a couple of toothpicks for about 15 more minutes until the glue sets up more. The white glue will all but disappear in time, and can be easily hidden with paint or ground foam.
Now, for the first question: No layout is permanent, so your question, I am afraid, is a bit ambiguous. You merely want to render it immobile? Then fasten it to bracing or to a wall. Add more benchwork and table-top if you want it heavier and larger.
You mean you want something purposeful, a planned surface with a good track plan? Then you'll have to do as Chip suggests; read up on how model railroads are designed, built, and maintained.
I don't want to come across as flip or disinterested, but this is such a personal series of choices, all of us in our train rooms around the globe, that each of us eventually accepts that it is incumbent upon ourselves to learn and to make our own choices. In that respect, you must do some reading and figure out what you want your layout for, what it should look like, and what performance characteristics you'll need from the design so that you will still be proud, happy, and interested in the layout in 24 months.
So, what do you really mean by making it permanent?
not only sticking track to the ground, but like sticking buildings, people, cars, and small stuff like superdetailing trucks.
Basically, few things are "stuck" to a layout. A place is prepared for them (all planned, of course), and they are set in place. Then comes scenery around them to make them look as if they belong, and are not just plunked down on plywood.
Trees and hydro poles are set in holes made with an awl, a tiny phillips screwdriver, or a drill bit. The bit should match the item's thickness. But, it all depends on what you are awling or drilling into. Will it be wood, foam, ground goop, ...?
And so on...
We always urge folks who are new to the hobby to read several how-to books, most available from our forum's host, Kalmbach Publishing, or at a hobby shop that deals with trains. It really is time well spent, and will help to narrow your questions.
selector wrote:Did we not tell you that white or yellow glue would adhere your figures and fixtures to the plywood? That is what works for us, and what we do. It will also work for foam, and for real earth, and for a mix of plaster and vermiculite and dyes.
Perhaps we need to be more clear than the book, Crandell.
selector wrote:I think that someone might be pulling our leg.
Or maybe you offended him when you intended an answer...
settle down, guys. Do you understand that this is a model railroading forum?
sorry selector.
First off, you don't normally just glue figures to just the ply. Once the layout is sceniced, roads, sidewalks, contoured ground, hills etc, then the figures would be placed. If for now you want to have these figures placed, glue them to a small round or square piece of clear styrene. This will give you the option of moving them about and removing to continue with your scenery until they can be more permanantly attached. Some use white glue, CA or even Walther's Goo. Whatever seems to work for you.
In this pic, all the structures are set on locating pins or blocks for any removal for cleaning, repair or change lighting, the cars are placed loose to be able to change the scene as well as all the figures. Some figures need to be glued and others are on the clear base.
It appears to me that worrying about these figures at this stage should be your least concern, These are some of the last things that get placed on a layout. The styrene base may be the best option if you still plan to do so.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org