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On My Workbench


marknewton

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On 2/17/2020 at 1:36 AM, cteno4 said:

Renato started talking about doing a out of the usual box Ttrak set of modules to do a certain scene so with lots of talking about it I finally thought it might be good to mock it up so he can play wirh some of the details of depth, height, etc on it and plop some buildings done to get an idea of it’s going to do what he wants. Fun hour whacking away on corrugated cardboard to miles Davis.

 

cheers

 

jeff

 

 

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Nice. Is it a trainline crossing a river?

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Well I’ll let Renato let that cat out of the bag! It’s a dramatic scene so needs the depth that we can only get letting it drop below table height between two tables.

 

jeff

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Yep but the one with the drawers was $10 cheaper for the same size without the drawers! I figured if I don’t like the drawers I’ll just pull out 6 screws and it’s back to the drawerless. For the equipment bench the drawers are fine as I never sit at that and want it high or I sit in my high stool with legs not under the bench much. My cutting bench (first use for this) I usually sit higher at with high stool and without legs under much or standing to chop up big sheets of foamcore, styrene, chipboard, etc.

 

also the drawer unit was in stock at my local home despot so immediate satisfaction.

 

drawerless comes in a few different sizes

 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-52-in-Adjustable-Height-Work-Table-HOLT52XDB12/301809830

 

jeff

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For what you get it’s not bad at $229, a little more than the cost of a train set these days. It’s very heavy duty. The big thing is the height adjustability which is not there in all my recycled furniture workbenches I have for the trains and woodshop. Height adjustability is something that’s very hard to make yourself and get heavy duty and not end up very clunky.

 

as I noted earlier all my workbenches up to now are either recycled furniture (kitchen roll arounds, kitchen side counters, computer desks futon sofa drawers, etc) or scratch built. It was nice to just screw this together and have something really nice for a very decent price for what it does.

 

cheers

 

jeff

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On 2/18/2020 at 5:22 PM, marknewton said:

That looks very neat and elegant Jeff. Would it be strong enough to use for a module as is?

 

Mark.


mark,

 

no just built as a mock up for him to place buildings and scenery bits into to see if his idea will work and see if the dimensions work. It will be an odd one to construct so I wanted to make sure Renato was happy with how it would look before we started construction. It’s an exotic drop between tables module and also ultra deep and would be backed by a thin passing track station platforms modules in the back that would bolt together and could span the table gap.

 

You can definitely build ultra sturdy stuff out of corrugated cardboard and foamcore. I use to build full scale exhibit mockups out of just corrugated cardboard. I would go thru bundles of 25 3’x6’ sheets of the stuff and hundreds of sticks of hot glue! i built one Ttrak module way back out of foam core to just see how it might work. It was very stable and thought was to glue wood veneer on the front. Only issue is dinging the ends up when popping modules apart. If you do the rock technique it can ding the corners of the foram core ends agains the next wood module. Screw driver between the tracks of course just won’t work with foamcore ends. Screwdriver between the tracks is my preferred method as it’s fast and seems to pop the track apart with the least stress on the track/module joint as it’s pulling straight out on the tracks and not wracking them around and laterally the way the module rocking technique does. I’ve never had a track come loose using the screwdriver technique. I’ve wanted to play with the ultraboard (styrene faced styrene foamcore to see how it might hold up but I don’t think it will work.

 

my holy grail is to come up with a new Ttrak module design that is lighter (for shipping) and simpler to construct for newbies. Also ultra inexpensive for materials, manufacturer, and shipping. I still see Ttrak as a really the best way these days to get new modelers in the hobby younger. Many of the older modelers here have given up on younger modelers and think it’s the 40 somethings that are ready to invents lots of money and time and do serious work are the ones to focus on. I view that as myopic focusing on such a small pool and it sort of keeps a cycle of only the high and mighty in the hobby.

 

cheers

 

jeff

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I picked up a pair of secondhand Tomix Ohane17 sleeping cars from Yahoo Auctions. Now that things have calmed down at home I've got them layout ready. They're older models that aren't as refined as more recent Tomix offerings. The holes in the roof that locate the Garland vents need to be opened up with a reamer, and the bogies need to have stops added to prevent them over-rotating. Once I'd done that I attached the detail parts and applied the lettering, which went on without any problems. They'll look good in a consist with my other 10 series passenger cars.

 

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Mark.

 

 

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On 2/24/2020 at 9:37 PM, Martijn Meerts said:

That method is where you apply glue, lay the track in the glue, and then immediately add the ballast?


Yes, that's the one Martijn. I did the same thing on my photo plank, which looks like this:

 

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Mark.

 

Edited by marknewton
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Martijn Meerts

That looks really good.. When I last tried it, it looked like the track was sitting on top of the ballast, so it looked totally off.. Probably did something wrong.

 

I do wonder how this method works when doing large sections of track, or doing complicated stations for example. You'd have to lay all the track pretty much perfectly since you can't really adjust anything afterwards to make things fit better 🙂

 

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That's right Martijn, you have to trial cut and fit all your track beforehand to ensure it's where you want it. But I still prefer to ballast this way than endure hours of mind numbing tedium the conventional way.

 

I've finally got the appliance repair shop to the point where I can paint it. All of the awnings and storm shutters are attached, and I've trial fitted some doors and windows to see how they look with curtains and blinds added. Tomorrow's weather forecast is for fine and 29 degrees, so it's time to load up the airbrush and start spraying.

 

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Cheers,

 

Mark.

 

 

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The last package I received from JAUCE before EMS was suspended contained three secondhand Tomix passenger cars, an Ohanefu12 and two Ohane17s. I've finished attaching the details and applying the lettering, so here's what they look like finished. The loco is a Tomix ED76, also secondhand. I've had it for a while, but it needed some serious work to replace almost all of the external detail parts that were missing, as well as fitting two new pantographs. The mechanism also needed a thorough clean and lubrication. Now it runs beautifully, and looks good as well.

 

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Ohane17


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Ohanefu12

 

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ED76 1018

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

 

 

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I'm waiting for the first coat of paint on the appliance shop to harden and cure, so tonight's project involves these - SeRa1 hopper wagons from One Mile. I'm using Steam Era wheels 11mm wheels, Kadee No.58s, and numbers and administration bureau affiliation marks from Revolution Factory. They are nice little models which remind me of the similar wagons we had here in NSW.

 

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Cheers,

 

Mark.

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The base colour - Model Master Light Ivory - went on without any dramas and is curing nicely. When it's completely cured I'll paint the tops of the awnings the same colour as the roof. I was originally going to have a dull oxide red roof, but I'm thinking that I might go for that mid blue that's commonly seen on houses with standing seam roofs. The blue should compliment the ivory nicely. There's still other detail painting to be finished before the windows are permanently attached.

 

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Mark.

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Thanks, Kamome. It probably seems counterintuitive but I'm putting a lot of effort into making this structure one that doesn't stand out. 
 

All the best,

 

Mark.

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marknewton

I finished both Ohane17s, so they had their photos taken on the plank with my ED60 and DD16.

 

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Cheers,

 

Mark.

Edited by marknewton
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Martijn Meerts

Looking good 🙂

 

I really need to start making a photo plank like this too...

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marknewton

And since I had the plank out, I thought I'd change the battery for the porch light on the rice warehouse, and take some dusk/night photos. The train is a JNR 115 outer suburban EMU, the model is made by a small company called Dentetsu Workshop. 


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Cheers,

 

Mark.

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marknewton

Tonight I took some more dusk/night photos, this time with diesel cars and no overhead wire. The DC is a Tramway KiHa30.

 

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Cheers,

 

Mark.

 

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Tony Galiani

Great pictures and set up - very atmospheric and inspirational.  I can see I have a long way to go with my modelling efforts!

 

Cheers,

Tony Galiani

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As I currently have no ED78 to detail, I turned my attention to painting the annoying blue plastic moulded seats in the Kato OHA 12 coaches. I used a combination of Tamiya acrylic, enamel and Vallejo acrylic to give them a little more life. As they’re lit, the solid blue seats and flooring looked very plasticky.  I toned down the blue with Tamiya flat blue, painted the seat frames with a light grey and added the hand rails with some silver enamel. The floor was painted with a light sand colour which I matched with the existing coach floor by adding more white. It’s not exact, but unnoticeable outside of the coach. Arm rests also painted in off white.  It was a relatively tedious, unenjoyable task but the results were worth the effort I think.66A9946A-8858-49C2-8E2F-997078EF0B54.thumb.jpeg.f863e8173ea8124a7106ab1877b6a534.jpeg
 

My Kato EF81 also had a quick stop at the paint shop and had its shunting steps and air hoses painted as well as a permanent driver.6C21F21D-1303-4085-AF14-473FCE00FACA.thumb.jpeg.03a6499fdeba19905b60260849edbd13.jpeg

Edited by Kamome
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marknewton
On 5/10/2020 at 1:36 AM, Tony Galiani said:

Great pictures and set up - very atmospheric and inspirational.  I can see I have a long way to go with my modelling efforts!

 
Thanks Tony. It's like any art or craft, it's all about practice. I built this diorama/plank because I'd never built scenery before, so I had to start somewhere. I think if I can do it, anyone can.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

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marknewton
On 5/8/2020 at 4:10 AM, inobu said:

How did you do the water

 


It's very simple. I sanded the surface of the plywood base until it was very smooth, then painted it with two slightly different shades of green acrylic paint. Once the paint dried I stippled on a layer of Mod Podge to make the gentle surface ripples. Once that had dried and hardened I painted over that with a coat of acrylic gloss varnish. The best part is that if the varnish gets a bit dusty you can wipe it clean with a damp cloth and the shiny surface looks like new.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

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