# New Layout



## lyrics 51

My wife told me to get a hobby so this is it! It's an HO layout 12 feet long and up to 4 1/2 feet wide. As you will see I am taking it very slowly. But it has been a lot of fun. This is the first layout I've built since I was in high school and that was an 027 system.


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## Gramps

Shaping up very nicely. Looking forward to more photos.


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## jlc41

Very nice, the lake effect is very realistic good job.


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## lyrics 51

Here is the finished lake. I have added another layer of resin.


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## Magic

The lake looks great as dose the rest of the layout.
Very nice workmanship.

Magic


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## jlc41

How does adding another layer of resin effect the looks of the lake?? It looks great.


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## lyrics 51

jlc41 said:


> How does adding another layer of resin effect the looks of the lake?? It looks great.


In this case the raft was to high off the water. So I added more resin to make it look closer. It also gave the shore line a more rounded look. 
Thanks for the comments! This is a great site!


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## jlc41

Well it sure looks great. When I was a kid we had a swimming hole very similar to what you depict, raft and all, good times. Thanks for bring that memory back.


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## mopac

Great job on your layout. Very impressive !!! You have a talent. Your lake water
looks as good as I have seen. The changing depth of the lake really shows. When
you say resin, are you talking resin that goes over fiberglass cloth?


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## lyrics 51

mopac said:


> Great job on your layout. Very impressive !!! You have a talent. Your lake water
> looks as good as I have seen. The changing depth of the lake really shows. When
> you say resin, are you talking resin that goes over fiberglass cloth?


Its an epoxy resin called Glaze Coat. You can get it at hobby stores or at Home Depot or Lowes in bigger sizes I think there are different varieties and the stuff I got was called "Crystal Clear." It takes some time to mix, but it comes out really nicely. There are some sites and maybe this forum where you can find out how to do ripples and waves, but I was too lazy to do that.


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## lyrics 51

Here's my next project on the layout. It was actually fun painting the figures, although a little rough on the eyes!
[/ATTACH]


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## lyrics 51

Got this from my son for Christmas and am finally getting it posted along with a few more additions.


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## lyrics 51




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## lyrics 51

This is the whole layout. Obviously have to a lot of work left.


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## lyrics 51




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## lyrics 51

three recent additions


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## lyrics 51

View attachment 327033

A repurposed KFC


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## Magic

Very nice looking layout. 
Great workmanship.

Magic


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## Gramps

My first time seeing this, great work!:appl:


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## flyboy2610

Looks great! Well done!


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## Spence

Very nice looking layout. :thumbsup:


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## Nikola

I am very impressed. The lake might be the best I've ever seen. You really did a good job of laying out the roads and structures.


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## lyrics 51

Thank you everyone for the comments. Its always encouraging to hear from other modelers.


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## lyrics 51

Here's an update from my layout


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## lyrics 51

Here's couple more. I was looking for an old timey train as a "special" novelty, but the grandkids really liked Thomas. I've seen a lot of real Thomas's around so I thought I'd add it.







And one more


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## SantaFeJim

Very nice work. :appl:


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## PoppetFlatsRR

Great looking layout. Time well spent for sure.


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## Chops

:appl:Very nice!


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## PoppetFlatsRR

Fantastic work. The lake is just what I am looking for, thanks for the tips. Will stop buy Home Depot tomorrow as I have a large lake that I made from styrofoam. Went a little crazy on depth and size. Want to one with merky dirty wate as it is a saw mill. Have a beautiful small late at the top of one of my mountains that I want the clear deep look, that you have captured so fantastically. May have to bug you about it down the road.

Again great work!!!!!


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## PoppetFlatsRR

The lake looks fantastic, need to learn how to do that, I have several in my layout


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## NorfolkSouthernguy

I really like the lake and how the mountains comes together. Where did you pick up your foam board from if you don’t mind me asking? 

Regards,

Mark


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## MichaelE

Great job on your layout. Looks very nice.


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## Chops

Wow, amazing work. The lake is a center piece, and that 
Amtrak makes me want to shrink to 1/87 and climb into 
it. Also, I noted that you kept the essential design 
fairly simple, which is a good thing. So often new modelers,
like myself decades later, try to fit in too much and end 
up with a lot of reliability issues. Good foresight on your part, 
if I may say. Look forward to more pics. Any chance you 
could shoot some up close video?

I can't quite tell from the distance, but it looks like some of 
your rolling stock is Old School (which I love, BTW). What 
are you running on there?

Your great looking, clean, professional control panel seems to 
be using an older Model Power transformer. Is that right? 

Keep it coming. Great stuff on many different levels!


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## TheSleeper

Very nice. I particularly like the golf course. I also incorporated a course on my layout as well.


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## lyrics 51

Its been a while since I posted anything, but I have finally added some lights to the layout and thought you might like to see the result. For the inside of the buildings I used plain old LED Christmas lights. Hid them in the ceilings of the buildings. Then I added 6 incandescent light poles I got on sale at Entertrainment Junction off I 75 in Southern Ohio. I ordered off ebay 20 LED street lights and a set of 10 LED strips with 3 LEDS per strip. I connected two sets of 6 light poles each in series to get the necessary 18 volts. I connected them and the strips to the DC side of an old transformer so I can keep the brightness at a level I like. Here are a few shots of the layout as it now exists.


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## lyrics 51

PS. That is a Thomas the Train loco there. I've seen several of them in real life and since I have grand kids I use it as a "holiday special" railroad. Also some late answers to some questions. Yes I am using older equipment and power packs. Finances being the main reason. The foam board I got at Lowes. They have it in 4X8 and 4X4 sheets at various thicknesses. I glued them together with Glidden Gripper white primer. I got that idea from another member of this forum, I believe, but I don't remember her name. Also for the lighting I had to do a lot of black painting on the inside walls of the buildings to keep the light from leaking out the sides of the buildings!


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## jlc41

Nice work, the detail is superb.


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