Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
loathar wrote: I'm in the same boat with my Atlas round house. I don't want to use the base that came with it. I was thinking about 1/8" Masonite. Any thoughts on that?
I'm in the same boat with my Atlas round house. I don't want to use the base that came with it. I was thinking about 1/8" Masonite. Any thoughts on that?
The base that usually comes with the plastic kits is usually the floor of the building and is not a mounting base per se, unless there is something I am not seeing here.
Picture a "base" as a plywood sheet that is a couple of inches larger all around the building, that the building is mounted to. This base, with the building, is then set in a opening in the "table" or scenic layout base suitable to receive it. The "base" can be made of any sturdy material, usually 1/2 in plywood that has been pre painted. The "base" can be secured to the bench work with screws. Once it is in place, the cracks are filled and covered with scenery material so that it blends into the layout. If you use a material that is flexable, the structure may break loose.
By doing this, you can save many or all of your structures when you have to move or decide you want to start a new layout.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
I think there was a trend some years ago, and maybe it is still done today, to build your model buildings on a base of plywood. Probably 1/2 inch, scenic and detail them right on the base. Then just cut out the plywood on the layout and install them. If your roundhouse is in HO, I would consider using 1/2 inch plywood. But you will have to remove the 2 inch foam and brace the opening for the roundhouse to set in that opening. Any material less than 1/2 ply will lead to warping later on. Or, just cut out the 2 inch foam and use that as the base for building it on. If you have glued the foam down to a table top, cut it out as best you can, then use a new piece of foam that has been cut to fit the cut out for your roundhouse base. The ultimate would be to build the roundhouse AND turntable on the same removable base. Then you only have one or two tracks to connect to the layout.
There are a number of possible options here. .060" styrene, foamboard/gatorboard, or even model aircraft plywood should provide a good base.
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
73
Bruce in the Peg