HO 1950s/60s NYC-ish 7x17 Layout

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Inspired by that mountain of mess on my workbench in the previous photo, I spent the last 6 innings cleaning  



Which was a good thing (surprise!) as I found a bunch of detail parts and even whole projects I was missing (surprise!).
Bad news: Giants losing 5-3 going into 7th  

Back to the (superclean) workbench!

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Thanks for the kind words.
Am definitely getting heavy (happens every World Cup: more beer than exercise!) so time to hit the gym.

My futbol fanaticism was fouling my modeling time, so I finally got a TV in the garage over my workbench:



So at least I can listen to matches while working.
[Workbench is somewhere under those piles of projects]

The trestle shown above was installed on the branch to the industrial district:



Looks a bit odd with the sheer stone wall right behind it, but I plan on filling the gulch with trees & bushes so it won't look like such the dramatic drop.

Also laid the track for the Industrial District:



The curved Walthers turnout is the only non-Peco on the layout, and will have an N-scale Caboose groundthrow that'll toggle the frog polarity.

The white shapes are outlines for the two rail-served industries, with the larger one on the right probably being a cut-away on the inside aisle.
Will probably "pave" the area with 1/8" styrene, which comes almost up to railhead-height, and with thinner stuff inside the rails.

Also finished (minus signs) Leland's Fuel, which sat at the end of the coal dump trestle:



This is the structure the Flying Diesel Corps' FT smashed through before their 150' flight:





And after I finish the layout, the client's welcome to recreate that famous event should he so desire.
(Though he'll have to really get the loco going, as the structure is pretty solid  )

No soccer today   but S.F. Giants have a rare 9am (PDT) game against the Marlins, so it's off to the workbench!
(Love Kruk & Kuip on TV, but will probably listen to Jon Miller on the radio. Or both!)
Thanks for looking.

 

 

[HO-Velo]

M.C. You are generous and one of the heavy hitters of layout creation and construction.

Thanks for sharing and Regards,  Peter

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Thanks for the kind words, Dan.
Yes, that fiberglass tape has a stickiness on one side, but it's not strong enough to hold awkward shapes for long. A dab of hot glue can tack it down.
Most fiberglass drywall tape just has a vertical & horizontal threads that create a square mesh. The tape I found at Lowe's has additional diagonal threads, which, while pure plaster will still fall through, will keep sculptamold firmly on the surface.

Easy bushes, underbrush, & background forest filler:



Tease out polyfill (old pillow fluff) to a thin blob.
Place on wax paper (important!), then spray paint dark grey / brown on both sides.



Spray with hair spray, sprinkle layers of coarse ground foam (I used WS dark green, then medium green) with a sprinkle of fine WS green blend.
Spray again with hair spray.
When dry you can rip/pull apart into long strips or sections that will add depth by filling in forests behind a thin line of trees:





As you can see in the above photo, I had to slap on & shape some sculptamold to provide some even ground for a few of the bungalows.
After it dried I scenicked it and installed the bungalows:



The bungalows are two kits of AMB's "Old Man Dan's House" expanded with some styrene backing into three structures.
There are 2 LEDs in the right bungalow as well, but need to wait until I install a third LED on "Slatkin's Bungalow Colony" sign at entrance to right.

3 LEDs + Resistor circuit connected to 12V wallwart = happy lights, as in this little shack:



Will try putting some gels / paint on some LEDs to get some color "variation.

"Poured" a road of lightweight spackle tinted with grey craft paint & a little water:



When it was totally cured I used sanding sponges to smooth the surface:





Then installed the depot, with 1 internal & 2 external LEDs"



Final step before the weekend: cleared off the industrial area, filled countersunk screwholes with spackle, and sealed fascia seams with caulk:



This weekend:
More trees (need about 200-300 more)
Build fuel dealer & industrial warehouses/factories (including one Downtown Deco plaster structure)
Start painting figures  

Back to the workbench!
Thanks for looking.

 

[Southgate]

I just caught this project today. I'm at the scenery stage now and am just making foam hills and such. This is good stuff to be seeing right now!  Man, you do make progress fast. great work on everything.

One question:, is that cross wove fiberglas tape self adhesive? Dan

 

[HO-Velo]

M.C., Nice work, as always, and your build threads are chock full O great tips!

Thanks and regards,  Peter

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Finished up the scenery forms at the far side of the layout, where the tracks "disappear" under a highway overpass.
Used blocks of pink foam to carve concrete block abutments:





Started scenicking the Monticello background blob (which, being 3"+ back, I made removable just for this very purpose!):



Painted & ground foamed Polyfiber bushes, static grass, mix of super & store-bought trees.
Mr. T-pins are holding the polyfill bushes down while the Aileen's clear Tacky Glue cures.



More static grass.
Non-prototypical-yet-highly-practical tunnel portal fixture can be pulled straight up and removed for access.
Compromise.

Used WS 2mm light green for the foreground park (will have a lit gazebo):





But am thinking it's too light, so will probably rip out & go medium or dark green short grass.
Or skip static grass for the park grass and stick with coarse ground foam.
We'll see how it looks tomorrow.

Also installed the Walthers truss bridge:



Tracks are usually on 3" centers, but the bridge forces 2 1/4" centers, thus the funkey-monkey curve on the approach.
Hoping all trains and cars still run well on the curves and no banging occurs.
If there are any issues, I can rip up approach tracks and begin closing curve radius farther back.

Back to the workbench!
Thanks for looking.

[Carnegie Falls]

Looking great; thanks for the update.

[mcfunkeymonkey]

After filling in track gaps with replacement ties (probably my least favorite aspect of model railroading), I spraybombed the track with Valspar "Blindfold" (a poor man's "Grimy Black"):



On sidings I spritz with light grey and rusty red:



Will look better when cindered/ballasted.

Fitted & caulked together the layers of pink foam that will hold the trees behind the town of Monticello:



The large piece isn't caulked down to the town board yet so I can paint & ground cover it easily on the ground instead of trying to lean all the way over.

While there are access holes under the table to reach the track under the town, I'm also making the tunnel portals removable so dude can reach in if necessary:





The plastic wrap allows the sculptamold to fit close yet not stick to the portal.
I'l probably use some small velcro tabs to keep the portal in place.

Then started in on the basic ground cover (dirt, various grouts & ground foams, ground leaves):







Miles is almost done with Monticello, so I gotta get my butt in gear on the other structures.
Back to the workbench!
Thanks for looking.

[HO-Velo]

M.C.  

I can see you're not letting any grass grow under your feet as you rock on.  Thanks for the update and photos.

Regards,  Peter

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Thanks for the DIY tip.
Unfortunately I have neither shredder nor old food chopper (& wife would not appreciate me using the one we do have for paper shredding & paste making, no matter how well I cleaned it after!)

Been building the depot & installing LEDs:



That's an LED over each freight door and one to light the interior on the left.
(3 LEDs & a resistor = 12V happiness)

In a classic case of hot dogs & buns, the sheet of shingles is 1/2" too short:



Which made shingling the roof even more funner.

On the layout itself, I've installed rock castings (plaster tinted grey with craft paint) using tinted sculptamold as "glue" then painted/stained the rocks/sculptamold with grey washes and painted the pink foam tan latex found for $3 on the mis-tint shelf at HD:











And I removed the temp bridge, test-fitted the truss bridge, then built up the rocks & water scene:







Will be getting the town of Monticello from Miles on Monday (awesome alliteration!) so will be able to install and build up the other lobe next week.
But now it's back to the workbench!
(Well, right after watching the Champions League final   )
Thanks for looking.

[Schuylkill and Susquehanna]

The layout is looking great!

To save money, I make my own Sculptamold.  I run newspapers through a shredder, then put the "shreddings" into an old rotatry food chopper with some water.  I mash it into a nice lumpy paste, and then I add 1/2 to 2/3 as much Hydrocal as there is paper paste.  The result is strong and bonds well to almost all surfaces.  The only real cost is the Hydrocal.  It also has a slight greyish tint, although it looks much darker when wet.

S&S

[Geared Steam]

mcfunkeymonkey

Now that we've survived the apostrophe catastrophe, back to the trains!

 

LOL Thanks MC

Always enjoy your threads, here and over at MRH

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Thanks for the tip, Peter.

Finished carving & sculpting the slopes, so time to fill the gaps between ply & foam.

Tried to "brush" plaster on the fiberglass tape, but it fell through (despite the added cross-weave).
So, to not waste the plaster, I slapped some paper towels on there:



Then tried tinted lightweight spackle:



Didn't fall through, but too easily pushed through, and would use a lot of spackle.

So here's what 4 lbs. of tinted Sculptamold can do:





Meanwhile, client's dog left me a sample of his own landscaping:



Reminds me of "The Critic" in History of the World, Part I:

Just glad the dog is only about 1/2 lbs., & not a Great Dane.

[HO-Velo]

M.C. & Dave,  Check out Ngineering.com, in their Other Cool Tool section is an LED/wire holder and a really nice tutorial about soldering leads to those tiny SMDs. Lots of other neat lighting products and info too.

Regards,  Peter

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Thank for the tip, Dave.
I was using double-sided tape to hold the LEDs in place, but those spring-loaded reverse forceps (sprungceps?) look handy.

Cheers!

[hon30critter]

M.C.:

I found that the biggest challenge to soldering leads on to the 0603 LEDs was just holding them still. I use these and they work great. They are sprung to stay closed and they grip the LEDs nicely while still leaving the solder pads clear (one at a time):

Here is a picture with an 0603 in the jaws:

I will confess that I just broke down and bought a few pre-wired 0402s in order to eliminate the same frustrations you were experiencing.

Dave

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Using 24 AWG magnet wire on the larger LEDs, 30 AWG magnet wire on the small LEDs.

But will mix & match as needed!

Big issue is that the metal tabs on the LEDs pop off easier than solder joints fail.

So lots of quick touches :)

Looking forward to getting plastered tomorrow.
Hopefully some on the layout as well :)

[HO-Velo]

M.C.,

Thanks for the project update.  You're going to town alright, lookin' good!  Were you soldering magnet wire to the smaller size LEDs?  Have fun getting plastered.

Regards,  Peter 

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Started building interiors for buildings:



And installing lighting:



I've about given up soldering the small LEDs and will just use the larger ones from now on:



You can see (or imagine) the small LED below the larger on and between the wires.
The small LEDs just don't give out enough light for the layout room to justify me going nuts trying to solder the little buggers.
Small ones better for some N scale buildings anyway.

On the layout, started filling in some gaps with cardboard strips hot glued to fascia & ply:



Then covering with some extra-wide & cross-wove fiberglass tape I found at Lowes:







Gonna get plastered tomorrow!
Woot!

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Started in on carving the foam.
Thought I'd try the Mark Watson technique of using a wire wheel in a driver to speed up the carving.

 

I may be dumb, but I'm not stoopid: I wore a mask & safety goggles, got a thin plastic paint drop and covered myself and the section I was going to wire wheel.
It did protect the room from the pink fuzz, but not me & my driver:



Imagine my t-shirt, arms, & head coated with pink fuzz just like that driver.  

Tried to hold just the driver under the plastic, but the wire wheel just got up and whipped the plastic into a pile.  

I'm sure I could construct a simple framework that would hold the plastic up & away from the drill:



But I'll just go back to hacking away with the utility knife & forming tool.

Started filling in a lot of gaps with foam, with the idea of plastering on some Sculptamold later to patch any cracks:







As you can see, I've also painted the fascia an initial coat of flat black primer:







After the layout is done I'll go back and paint an eggshell black to make cleaning easier.

Miles is continuing to rock the Monticello main drag:



While I build other structures.
Thanks for looking.
Back to the workbench!

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Finished installing the fascia:



Had to replace a support with a longer one and with the end cut at a more acute angle.
Groovy thing about open-grid benchwork: easy to adjust as you go!

More foam, more woodputty:







Will sand down & paint when I get back from watching USWNT vs Mexico down in La La Land on Sunday.

Have also found that it's a good idea to caulk & seal around any area that will have a water scene, as the Magic Water seems to find every seam and spill onto the floor:



Thanks for looking.
Back to the workbench!

[mcfunkeymonkey]

The little LEDs are these, while the larger ones are these.
Darn those little ones are little!

Today finished up most of the fascia:







Only section left is about 3' but hardboard needed to be spliced together, so will install when woodglue cures:



And caulked some more foam down:



Gaps will be filled with hybrid of pink foam and cardboard/tape/plaster.

Here's the layout in relation to the room, opposite the drop-down home theater and sandwiched between video bowling, race car, and pinball:



Back to the workbench!

[HO-Velo]

M.C.,  Nice lighting effects, what size LEDs?  Yeah, the Rustoleum Dark Grey Automobile primer says fast drying on the can, three days later still degassing, thanks for the Valspar tip.

Regards, Peter

 

 

[UPinCT]

Thanks for the grimey black tip MC

Derek 

[mcfunkeymonkey]

My favorite go-to spray paint was Floquil's Grimy Black: it was dark, grey, warm, and thin enough for detail to pop through.
I didn't like that it was an expensive little can.

I found a similar dark grey auto primer (Rustoleum) but it was too thick, and it never seem to fully dry.

But I'm happy to announce the Second Coming of Grimy Black:

About $5 a can at Lowes.
Careful when selecting from the rack: it looks like a flat black but it's called "Blindfold":

Might be a touch lighter than Grimy Black, but, readily available for $5, close enough!

I use this to paint track, as a base coat for buildings, trim, windows, you name it.

I've found limiting the palate and having a common base for many aspects on the layout helps tie it all together, even if only subliminally.

So on this Walthers warehouse:

I sprayed the backs of the walls "Blindfold" and then the fronts:

Notice it doesn't have to be a thick all-covering layer.
Then, when dry in 5 minutes, spray over with Krylon Khaki:

A light sanding here & there will immediately add dark grey colored bricks, and there's already a darker color in the cracks.

Later will add mortar & grime washes.

Gave the Monticello base foam/styrene to Miles for him to do the streets and most of the main Broadway drag:

[photo courtesy of Miles The Weathering Man]

Me, I've got about 6 different structure projects littering the workbench:

On the layout itself, I've started installing the 1/8" Masonite fascia:

Hopefully tomorrow will finish the rest off, patch the holes, then can prime on Friday and have it dry over the weekend.

Back to the workbench!

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Cut a large piece of 1/16" styrene to act as road / building base (outlined in Sharpie), then secured to the top piece of 1" pink foam:





I used Loctite Foamboard PL300, because it says that it's "foam safe" and caulk takes a week to cure under a surface as spread out as this.
After a day, however, it seemed that the Loctite didn't have enough "oomph" to securely secure the styrene to the pink foam, so I squirted some caulk around the edges (filling in about 1"-2").  After a day it seems pretty secure.

This piece needs to be removable so I can transport to Miles' workshop in Oakland, as he'll be building and detailing most of the structures and street textures along Broadway, and then we'll transport it over to the layout.
The three of us create an equilateral triangle of 30 minute drives (traffic depending).

I'm doing a few structures myself, including the Walthers truss bridge kit:



Which should fit around here:



And will have some slow red flashers on top.
(Dude likes lights)

I initially had all the track at 3" spacing, but will have to rip up and re-lay to have the inner track come out to cross the bridge at 2 1/4":



Which will help ease the tight curves near the turnout above it to the left.

As you can see, I've been test-fitting chunks o' foam into place to get the landforms shaped:







The Monticello Styrene Slab will go home with me tomorrow for city building after I shape some other foam around it.

Also successfully completed my first LED installation of a larger LED for interior lighting and two small LEDs on either side as porch / security lights:





Only took me about 5 hours and destroying 5 small LEDs to figure out how to solder & install the little dudes  

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Dwight's layout is on hold for a bit while I build some structure kits and refurbish/bash a 90' turntable.
Almost done, so should be back to finish it up before summer.

[HO-Velo]

M.C.,

You're a busy man.  Thanks for sharing another interesting build thread.  LEDs are fun, unless given too much juice, then some really stinky smoke comes out of em'.  Is the layout you were building for Dwight's family complete?

Regards,  Peter

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Started in on some structure kits:



Will be modeling only the main street in Monticello (Broadway).
The grocer will be one corner of the strip.
The warehouse flats will be on a semi-street behind to give illusion of a larger town.

All those windows are real pane in the glass.

Experimented with acrylic / spray combo on the back of the Downtown Deco warehouse kit:



Wash, spray, more wash while spray still wet creates that splotched effect.
Might try it on the front of a smaller warehouse flat later.

Sanded down the start of the ramp for the coal trestle:



Started blocking out the Industrial Nub:



A large garment factory will be on the right, with the back cut away to a detailed interior.

Started filling in the scenery blocks:





Top sheet came home with me: will secure a long piece of 1/16" styrene for the street and base for buildings.
Easy to take over to Miles' workshop and we can layout all the buildings for the main strip.

Built up the big hill on the other blob, but forgot to take photos  
More kits this weekend, and will experiment with LEDs (a first for me).
Woot!