I picked up some more Kato unitrack last week and finally managed to find some time to put the track together for a test run with my InterCity. Unfortunately the floor is uneven in some areas so it looks more like a roller coaster ride.
14.3.09
8.3.09
Station status
I thought I'd give a quick update on the railway station module. Slow. I've completed two thirds of the across track ceiling trusses. Only 20 more to go. Ugh. I would have been finished, but the trees for the club's layout took higher priority due to the impending show in April. Hopefully I can get back to my own layout soon. I am considering not building the along track trusses, but I'll have to see how it looks without them. In principle, I just want to give the impression that this is a station. I think that can be achieved without going nuts. I mean without me going nuts.
1.3.09
Trees
The Supertrain 2009 show is less than two months away. I volunteered to help the club with the landscape. My task is to build trees for the layout so I'm constructing coniferous trees. Al described how to create them and it's not really difficult. It's just time consuming.
You need to get your hands on some natural fiber air filters. These are becoming more and more difficult to acquire as most vendors are moving towards synthetic materials. Fortunately you can still get the filters from Rona Revy. They're priced $5.53 for a 20" x 25" x 1" pad. It's manufactured by American Air Filters and the model is called Cut-N-Fit. Canadian Tire sells something similar, but it's unsuitable because the fibers are too densely packed. You want the fibers to be loose.
Taking the air filter, you'll need to cut it in half length wise so you'll have two 10" x 25" x 1" pad. Now cut 2" x 10" strips. Then take those strips and cut triangles so the base is 2". You'll want to take the triangle and cut circles out of the pads. Now apply glue on the skewer and push the circular pads you cut from the air filter onto the skewer. Biggest circle first, smallest last.
Before you can assemble everything together you need wooden skewers you need to stain them black or brown. I used acrylic paint and thinned it down with some water before applying it onto the skewers. The length of skewers depend on your scale. The club's layout is HO.
It's recommended that you make trees of varying height. Al described to me about perspective and placing shorter trees in the background gives the impression of distance. I never realized this until he explained it to me. I've got a lot to learn still and a bunch more of trees to make before the next step. About 50 more trees to go. Once the white glue dries, it will turn clear. Then I can paint and sprinkle some Woodland Scenic green fine particles to make the trees look more realistic. Although, I'm considering using some form of clear lacquer or shellac and thinning it down to a very viscous liquid and dipping the trees instead of spray painting. The paint is only used to cause the Woodland Scenic material to adhere to the fibers.
You need to get your hands on some natural fiber air filters. These are becoming more and more difficult to acquire as most vendors are moving towards synthetic materials. Fortunately you can still get the filters from Rona Revy. They're priced $5.53 for a 20" x 25" x 1" pad. It's manufactured by American Air Filters and the model is called Cut-N-Fit. Canadian Tire sells something similar, but it's unsuitable because the fibers are too densely packed. You want the fibers to be loose.
Taking the air filter, you'll need to cut it in half length wise so you'll have two 10" x 25" x 1" pad. Now cut 2" x 10" strips. Then take those strips and cut triangles so the base is 2". You'll want to take the triangle and cut circles out of the pads. Now apply glue on the skewer and push the circular pads you cut from the air filter onto the skewer. Biggest circle first, smallest last.
Before you can assemble everything together you need wooden skewers you need to stain them black or brown. I used acrylic paint and thinned it down with some water before applying it onto the skewers. The length of skewers depend on your scale. The club's layout is HO.
It's recommended that you make trees of varying height. Al described to me about perspective and placing shorter trees in the background gives the impression of distance. I never realized this until he explained it to me. I've got a lot to learn still and a bunch more of trees to make before the next step. About 50 more trees to go. Once the white glue dries, it will turn clear. Then I can paint and sprinkle some Woodland Scenic green fine particles to make the trees look more realistic. Although, I'm considering using some form of clear lacquer or shellac and thinning it down to a very viscous liquid and dipping the trees instead of spray painting. The paint is only used to cause the Woodland Scenic material to adhere to the fibers.
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