My first build

[TimWay4]

A few weeks ago the model railway club I belong to had it's open day, I had decided a while back that I wanted to build something and that it would be ready to take down if there was space and they wanted me to display it. The picture attached is what I ended up with, it's nothing much and despite wanting to start something in January I actually only really started two weeks before the show. To start with I was sure I wouldn't need 8 months to build something, so for a long while I put it off, then about 2 months before the show I started to work on a track plan, after a few attempts I came up with something I was (moderately) happy with and could afford to make. 

 

Not long after the track plan was done i painted the board I wanted to use, then I lost a chunk of time because I became so afraid that what I was going to make would be terrible and a disappointment to the club and the people attending the show. As it got to 2 weeks before the show, I decided that I had promised something and most definitely couldn't not show up, especially since my partner had finished her T gauge layout and was definitely going to attend. So I got together everything I thought I would need, remembering that this is literally the first layout build of any kind that I have ever done. 

 

So compared to my vision, the "cliff" doesn't come far enough over, but that's kind of OK, but i didn't get enough rocks to cover the front edge or between the tracks, apart from that, I was actually ok with how it looked scenically, the only problem i have is that the curves are to tight for the coaches i have and to be honest are a little too tight for James and on top of that the points furthest to the right have a really bad habit of derailing everything. 

 

Sorry for the ramble, hope you find it interesting/like what i built. 

[cteno4]

Hey it's a good start! Glad the train show got you going.

 

jeff

[Rod.H]

If those curves are less than R240, that's probably what's upsetting James & causing the derailments at that point. If you'd more width an R249-R282 curve would work better. Otherwise a drybrush on the cliff, a tunnelmouth & some trees & you've a little tram layout.

[TimWay4]

@cteno4Thanks :)

@Rod.H yeah the curves are from the CV1 compact oval so I understand why I would have problems on the curves, but I don't understand why it would/is cause problems at the points? 

 

The cliff definitely still needs a dry brush on top, the grass area still has some bald spots, turns out it wasn't as glued down as that picture makes it look. The front edge, the area at the base of the cliff and between the tracks all needs some small gravel put down, for between the tracks I was going to try and get a bag of Kato ballast so it looks the same. 

 

 

[kvp]

30 minutes ago, TimWay4 said:

yeah the curves are from the CV1 compact oval so I understand why I would have problems on the curves, but I don't understand why it would/is cause problems at the points? 

The Kato #4 turnouts have a tendency to derail cars if there isn't a straight section before the blade tips. It should be at least half a car's length or in your case with the short Thomas cars, a full car long. The reason is that the wheels coming from the curve are not aligned straight and could pick the points.

 

Btw. imho the hidden part could use some straight tracks...

 

ps: Do you have some links to the T gauge layout you mentioned or to a site with photos of the show?

[IST]

This is a nice little first layout that can be easily upgraded if you would like to continue it.

[TimWay4]

@kvp I've attached the pictures of her layout that we have, though it isn't finished, it is in a much better state than mine. The member that took photos hasn't been around for me to get the ones he took of everything else, but there was British OO, British N, American Z and  her Japanese T layout. That makes sense about the points, I'd never realized that and yes on my list of jobs is some kind of fiddle yard in the hidden part :) trains standing on bare board wasn't something I was happy about, but I had ran out of time, track and money by the point I had realized -_-

 

@IST I am looking into getting a second board and extending it, the only problems I have are, I have no experience in joining boards together and second, we live in a small flat so space is already at a premium :( but we'll see what i can do with it. Beyond adding the second board and the odd jobs i've listed previously, i'm a little at a loss on what to do with it. Having used the CV1 curves on this board I think I've a little bit backed myself into a corner as I can only really run 0-6-0s or stuff with bogies really spaced out, I know that I want to add some buildings and possibly some trees on the board I have, but i'm not super creative so I'm not sure what to put down. I'm also not particularly keen on kits as I can never make them as well as I want them to look and I can't paint to save my life, so i'm fairly open to suggestions on what to put down, though I am tempted to keep it as a Thomas layout and convert some chassis/toys for some of the other smaller engines.

[cteno4]

Much easier to do a Godzilla layout in T scale!

 

jeff

[TimWay4]

5 minutes ago, cteno4 said:

Much easier to do a Godzilla layout in T scale!

 

jeff

 

apparently the research was done and the Godzilla used was also to scale :P as was the space crab thing in the bottom right. My partner likes trains, but doesn't like doing super realistic stuff, she likes the idea of doing something like that which is more action packed, thought parents saying "hey look, it's a dinosaur" made her a little sad as they didn't know it was Godzilla :(

[cteno4]

Yes Godzilla scale is tough in n scale. Goji size also grew over the years! Our guy is about right for the original. I need to seriously update our goji page!

 

http://japanrailmodelers.org/photos/_goji/index.html

 

it is sad, we have to do a lot of goji education at shows...

 

hey it gets her into doing trains!

 

jeff

[TimWay4]

Yeah I was impressed when it was declared a T scale one had been found.  Over the day we had a lot of people come and look and I think only 1 person knew it was Godzilla and he turned his kid to see and went "Hey!! there's godzilla!! I have to teach you about him" it was fun because his kid was still in nappies and couldn't talk yet, but he was adamant he was going to teach him all about Godzilla one day :)

 

Yeah I genuinely don't really mind what people model, I just like people being into the hobby and it's amazing that she likes trains and wanted to do something too ^_^

[IST]

7 hours ago, TimWay4 said:

 

@IST I am looking into getting a second board and extending it, the only problems I have are, I have no experience in joining boards together and second, we live in a small flat so space is already at a premium :( but we'll see what i can do with it. Beyond adding the second board and the odd jobs i've listed previously, i'm a little at a loss on what to do with it. Having used the CV1 curves on this board I think I've a little bit backed myself into a corner as I can only really run 0-6-0s or stuff with bogies really spaced out, I know that I want to add some buildings and possibly some trees on the board I have, but i'm not super creative so I'm not sure what to put down. I'm also not particularly keen on kits as I can never make them as well as I want them to look and I can't paint to save my life, so i'm fairly open to suggestions on what to put down, though I am tempted to keep it as a Thomas layout and convert some chassis/toys for some of the other smaller engines.

 

 

I think you misunderstood me a little bit. I meant to upgrade the current layout, not to attach another one to it. :-)  I would install some trees and bushes on the green area as you mentioned it also. Just do it first without glueing them and you will see that you like it or not. As you live in the UK, maybe you can found some cool looking Bachmann Scene Scapes trees somewhere, like these:

http://m.blog.hu/vo/vonatmagazin/image/modell/Ttrak/DSC_0139.jpg

http://m.blog.hu/vo/vonatmagazin/image/modell/Ttrak/DSC_0145.jpg

It can be a little bit pricey, but looks good on a layout.

http://m.cdn.blog.hu/vo/vonatmagazin/image/modell/Ttrak/DSC_0819.jpg

Edited September 6, 2017 by IST

[TimWay4]

I see what you mean IST, I meant i was looking to upgrade my current board as well as add a second. Those trees do look nice, I know (and think I have) want to add some different shades into the grass because at the moment it is very one colour. Those ones you linked look really nice, I'll have a look into them later and see what I can get/do. I also like the tip on placing them without glue, I have a habit of doing things, then realizing i don't actually like what I've done, but because I've already glued it in place it kind of becomes too late -_- 

 

Thanks for the links ^_^ 

[cteno4]

Tim,

 

thats the cycle! Do it and then learn you like it better another way! 

 

One great way to learn scenery is to do little bits at a time on pieces of chipboard or styrene. This way you try techniques out in small bits and if things screw up no biggie just start over and figure out how to make it work for you wirh nothing much lost in time, resources and money. You can then plunk them down in different spots to see how things might look with other things. You can do temp layouts like this or incorporate the small bits into larger scenes later with other scenery more permanently. The technique comes from wargamming scenery. Great article by a guy who does scenery stuff professionally on the jrm site.

 

http://japanrailmodelers.org/pages/modelingjapan/tempoary.html

 

I love it as a quick way to learn a new technique and also adapt it to how I like to work or materials I prefer. Then they become great swatches to use to think of how you want to design a scene. Also try to leave notes on the bottom of them if I used any different materials or the name of the technique or other adaptations.

cheers

 

jeff