OzRoscoe wrote: Hi Chad (not Vader, I hope ), how wide should the ribbon be? I guess it would rule out blending rocks, but would be ok especially for a mass of puff ball trees.Thanks,Ross
Hi Chad (not Vader, I hope ), how wide should the ribbon be? I guess it would rule out blending rocks, but would be ok especially for a mass of puff ball trees.
Thanks,
Ross
The ribbon I use is 1.5" wide brown ribbon. I get a flat brown ribbon so any bare spots don't stick out. To use it I glue the ribbon to the liftout section with about half overhanging. Then After the liftout and the area around it on the layout are sceniced to match I place the liftout on the layout and cover the seam between the ribbon and layout with matching scenery material which is adhered with hairspray. Here's some pics of an area where I did this with static grass.
First with the liftout in place...
And with the liftout lifted out...
Static grass is hard to use to disguise the joint because the material is so fine. Ground foam would be better and puffball trees would make the joint nearly invisible with minimum effort.I
I hope it goes well,
Chad
tomikawaTT wrote: To hide the lift-out joints (if you go that route) take advantage of natural 'breaks' in the scenery - fence lines (especially ones grown up in weeds,) roadside ditches, the edge of the ballast on visible track... If there are obvious gaps, a few crumbs of ground foam and a spritz of hairspray will do wonders.I have designed two major staging yard throats for easy removal as units. After removing the anchor bolts, one can be raised about 15mm and slid out endwise. The other is designed to drop straight down. The reason for that is my preference for working on the electricals and trackwork at the workbench. Standing on my head under the layout is not one of my favorite things, so I will do almost anything to avoid it.Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
To hide the lift-out joints (if you go that route) take advantage of natural 'breaks' in the scenery - fence lines (especially ones grown up in weeds,) roadside ditches, the edge of the ballast on visible track... If there are obvious gaps, a few crumbs of ground foam and a spritz of hairspray will do wonders.
I have designed two major staging yard throats for easy removal as units. After removing the anchor bolts, one can be raised about 15mm and slid out endwise. The other is designed to drop straight down. The reason for that is my preference for working on the electricals and trackwork at the workbench. Standing on my head under the layout is not one of my favorite things, so I will do almost anything to avoid it.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Thanks Chuck, great tips! I guess one of the golden rules is to make it blend as naturally as possible i.e. no straight edges!
chadw wrote: A liftout or a dropout section would help alot for access. On my layout there are a couple removeable scenery sections but they aren't for access so I don't have experience in building a liftout, but I do have a suggestion for hiding joints. You can use ribbon glued to the edges of the liftout with scenery materials glued to it. The ribbon lies on the scenery on the layout to hide the space between the layout and liftout but lifts up with the liftout. One thing to watch out for is wrinkles in the ribbon. They will leave air spaces under your scenery which doesn't look to good. If they are minor they can be hidden with some brush, (clump foliage, lichen) if they are larger just cut the ribbon in the middle of the wrinkle and over-lap and glue together the ribbon to remove the wrinkle.Good luck on your layout,Chad
A liftout or a dropout section would help alot for access. On my layout there are a couple removeable scenery sections but they aren't for access so I don't have experience in building a liftout, but I do have a suggestion for hiding joints. You can use ribbon glued to the edges of the liftout with scenery materials glued to it. The ribbon lies on the scenery on the layout to hide the space between the layout and liftout but lifts up with the liftout. One thing to watch out for is wrinkles in the ribbon. They will leave air spaces under your scenery which doesn't look to good. If they are minor they can be hidden with some brush, (clump foliage, lichen) if they are larger just cut the ribbon in the middle of the wrinkle and over-lap and glue together the ribbon to remove the wrinkle.
Good luck on your layout,
selector wrote: Hello, Ross. I can see and understand your "issue". If it were up to me, I would make an access hole either in the very corner (outboard of the curve) or a reach up (a fairly long one) just inside that same curve. The access is a must, trust me, but another thing comes to mind, and that is safety for rolling stock and engines if/when you get a derailment for some weird reason. You would be well advised, if you have an opening adjacent to the hidden trackage, to provide a "fence" of some kind, high and strong enough to contain the heavier engines if they happen to want to tumble off the rails entirely.
Hello, Ross. I can see and understand your "issue". If it were up to me, I would make an access hole either in the very corner (outboard of the curve) or a reach up (a fairly long one) just inside that same curve. The access is a must, trust me, but another thing comes to mind, and that is safety for rolling stock and engines if/when you get a derailment for some weird reason. You would be well advised, if you have an opening adjacent to the hidden trackage, to provide a "fence" of some kind, high and strong enough to contain the heavier engines if they happen to want to tumble off the rails entirely.
hi Selector, wise words indeed. My first attempt on the 5 x 12 module resulted in a UP going off the rails and off the layout! I learnt my lesson quickly and scrapped the tight-n-twisty-wedding-cake approach for a zero grade double mainline layout with large curves for long(ish) trains - except for this return loop that ducks under the mainline. So yes, I plan to install low "fences" around the hidden track.
Great point!
ARTHILL wrote:If you make your scenery out of styrofoam you can make all the scenery removible . I have a 4x8 mountain scene and it all removes for access and construction.
Wow, I will check it out!
Cheers,
dehusman wrote: Curve the backdrop along the dark line and just make every thing behind it open.Dave H.
Curve the backdrop along the dark line and just make every thing behind it open.
Dave H.
Thanks dave. My backdrops are already in place and are over 2.5 foot high above the hidden track. So I think I'll need to rule that out. However, this approach could work for a hillside ridge, if I keep it relatively low. Instead of taking the landscape up high to meet the backdrop, I could form a ridgeline and the backslope could finish with enough room for access to the lower track so that it will be hidden (unless you look from directly above - which the guest/viewer will not do).
The throat to the staging yard will have to be accessed from underneath.
Thanks again,
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Hello, Ross. I can see and understand your "issue". If it were up to me, I would make an access hole either in the very corner (outboard of the curve) or a reach up (a fairly long one) just inside that same curve. The access is a must, trust me, but another thing comes to mind, and that is safety for rolling stock and engines if/when you get a derailment for some weird reason. You would be well advised, if you have an opening adjacent to the hidden trackage, to provide a "fence" of some kind, high and strong enough to contain the heavier engines if they happen to want to tumble off the rails entirely. That can be accomplished by some thin risers screwed to the sides of the sub-roadbed, to which 2 cm wide long and flexible strips of 6mm thick MDF are screwed. Ideally, the tops of these strips, curve-matching the roadbed, would be near 4 cm above the rails.
I wasn't very successful with scenery that was meant to look properly installed when in fact it was meant to be removed for handy access. Some have done it extremely well, and you may pull it off. A good trick is to place a row of puff-ball trees right at the verge...they can be removed quickly, and then restored to their position once you have corrected a fault and then replaced a hollow mountain.
G'day everyone,
This is a great forum full of amazing help and ideas...so I am hopeful of getting some assistance myself.
I have an L-shaped HO layout with a BNSF theme in a garage, max 4 foot wide for return loops. The base module (5 x 12 foot) has a double mainline but will extend to form a much bigger loop via future temporary modules forming a 16x12 foot layout. The latest module is a 4 x 10 foot section extends along the entire wall of the garage to form the L.
You can see the plan here:
if not, try: http://ldsig.org/wiki/index.php/Image:Return4.jpg
I'm looking for advice to access the hidden track along the back of the layout and a throat to hidden staging underneath the layout. Should I consider a liftout section of scenery or reach up from underneath? The frame has open sections large enough to reach up and recover (if required).
I'm concerned about the look of removable scenery and how to hide the joins. Any thoughts?
Many thanks,