Lessons learned

The guys at the CEE club have been providing me with some great advice, but there's nothing like hands on experience to really understand the nuances of a particular project. My first platform is complete, but there are some mistakes that I made along the way.

I mentioned the first mistake in the previous entry by being impatient and not waiting long enough for the plastic pieces to harden at the joint. The instructions recommend 20 minutes, but that is dependent on the amount of solvent you apply, which led to my second mistake. I applied too much solvent in some places and it literally melted some of the plastic. The instructions on the bottle said to apply sparingly, but until you try it yourself, it's difficult to know how much to use. Just be aware that the solvent is quite viscous and it does get into joints through capillary action. I'm definitely wiser now. The third mistake was applying too much pressure to a joint. As I said, the solvent literally melts the plastic so if you clamp too tightly, you will get some deformation in your joints. Fortunately, the mistakes with my first platform are difficult to see in poor lighting and most are confined to the base, which will be obscured by the trains.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the results. The platform looks a little plain so I am considering adding some architectural detail to give it more depth. However, once the arched ceiling is installed, the focal point will change, but that will have to wait. I have five more platforms to finish building.