# so i have a layout now! (Tankist Part 1)



## tankist

well, sort off layout. however it has power to it and i was running some trains last night  actually the very first run took place on friday but that was on the floor (couldn't wait). on satursday i put together a quick oval to demonstrate what it is that i got to some friends that came over.
sunday morning as in-laws crushed for an unexpected visit i demonstrated that as well and that went pretty surprising. father inlaw always wowed to buy his grandchild a railroad when he grows up (11.5 month at the moment) so at first he was "euwww, but i wanted to get it." i took him to garage and explained how much things cost for him to realize that he still has pleeeenty of opportunity to chip in in the future  , did couple laps around oval with Conrail GP38, showed some layout plans (i have PC in garage as well) and showed some model RR youtubes. surprising was the reaction. i think he always wanted to do that as well. long story short, i think i just might have set a spark into otherwise one of the most dull people i ever known (no hobbies, no interests, just sits at home stares at TV). he actually wants to come over now and help out with the building. interesting to see if anything other then talk going to develop.

anywho, sunday night.
built and hung 2 4 feet rolling stock shelves onto the wall the table attaches to. i guess i under estimated car length, hoped more will go in there, will put 2 more shelves bit later. raised the table, finally settled for 38' height, and cut legs to length. apparently my garage is sloped down so while both 7 feet sides and 4feet side against wall is perfectly level (according to level bubble), the other 4 feet side is sloped down a bit. shimmed the downhill leg, will cut another one to be bit longer. 

it was getting quite late but i just had to run it. got the GP-35 of Great northern , couple cars and did several laps.


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## Boston&Maine

:ttiwwop:

I want pictures!


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## tankist

the room i'm working with. excuse the mess in the garage. i'll clean up, someday 











i know, i know, yet another GP-something. but somehow i like this pic a lot  










put the foam on the plywood tonight (only 5 $ for "as is" sheet). it is not permanently atached just yet.
but it is already much nicer to work with. chief inspector there checking that everything coupled well










hope the pics are not to big. i guess if i to make lots of pics i probably should clean up a bit...


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## Boston&Maine

tankist said:


> hope the pics are not to big. i guess if i to make lots of pics i probably should clean up a bit...


Nope, they are a great size for the forum... Everything is looking good, just do not let your cat knock your trains off the table! LOL


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## T-Man

I see you did place the hinge in to lift it up. Is the foam going to crimp your height of table decor when raised? Otherwise it looks just great!!:thumbsup:
Appreciate the pictures.


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## tankist

yeah, when folded the foam is stealing 2 inches of vertical clearance which leaves 6 inches for possible scenery height which is enough and then some for an 3.5 inch overpass (i also can always dig into the foam). as far as tall scenery i have couple of ideas, i will post as they come to life (or not, if i screw up).

my dad stopped by yesterday to take a look at my contraption. received lots of criticism but he agreed it works. at the moment 2 people required to raise an lower the table, simply because it needs to be level when sliding up and down the rails otherwise it gets stuck. while it is ok for now, later on we will build a winch to pull on both sides together. my rolling stock shelf will need to go somewhere.

he is very interested in this project as he is long time ship modeller himself (over there modeller always meant scratch builder) and at a day he also had a dream of making a layout out of our set back in Ukraine. last night we also looked back at us planning our foldaway-to-the-wall construction 20 years ago. the idea back then was to make the board hang slightly angled to give grade and perseption of elevation to otherwise nothing special oval with R15 and 1 straight section to fit ~ 32x40 inch board. we never overcame the crampiness of our apartment then. so today he is super enthusiastic about and going to be great help with this. 

as far as cat, i think it is going to be quite an issue. she did try to see what happens when she gives a nudge to the last car of passing by train. knocked it over obviously, lol


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## tankist

allrighty, i'm not sure which is the proper progress report thread any more so this one will do for tonight.

got nice chunk of time to work on things tonight and here is what i have so far (after vacuuming)


Upper yard. track is just laying there for now.











ground is taking shape. still a lot of foam cutting to do










rocky climb.












almost made it to the yard











Overpasses simulated with plywood inserts


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## tankist

some more earth shaping happened.



industry X area (not sure what kind just yet)










lookin back on descending line










the climb route










the granary valley


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## DreamingTree1027

Better save some space on that work bench, your going to need it.

Great Start Looks good so far.


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## tankist

what do you mean save *some* space on workbench? its either all or nothing :lol:
but that's why that "to be yard" piece is removable  it probably would have been better to have stationary yard and some other module removable but thats what i'm working with.

i will probably take it out for now to free up some working space as it is the main area that i'm working on at the moment.


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## tankist

very modest progress as we were busy celebrating B day of our now 1 year old and VERY busy preparing the entire thing. but i managed to squeeze in couple hours, mainly from my most personal time pool - sleep 


several coats of joint compound to smooth things out. sanded in between coats. 











my first try at casting rock faces with plaster of paris. actually this is the third face that i made but you get the point. when people said this plaster is hard i thought "well, how hard can it be". very hard allright. and it does set VERY quick. i coldn't believe it. love working with that thing


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## tankist

seems like this plastering is going to take some time.
fragment of northern rock wall. pulled the foil to soon on the second go. will need to work on that patience part.










here i completley ran out of patience, and this is what i got. tried to fix it somehow while it was still workable but just looks like pile of crap 
huuuh... i guess i cannot cheat out of waiting the proper amount of time...


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## B.C.RAIL

tankist said:


> i know, i know, yet another GP-something. but somehow i like this pic a lot


It's a GP35.  I love my Geep's


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## tankist

oh i know it is a 35, that's what is written on it's box. by "something" i was meaning more in lines of "yet another one of those geep #'s". however later i learned that modelers tend to be very specific and take even mild differences very seriously. 


i can't wait to start laying rails already.


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## B.C.RAIL

I'm quite specific with my models. When ever I buy an engine, I search it up (if It doesn't say what it is) and look into it well enough that I will know it when I see it.
In other words, I have to know all the details so I can easily identify them...

300th post.


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## tankist

started the evening with somewhat of left foot. the moral of the story is to make nice flowing mix as it will be sour-creamy fast enough. to fast in this case. by the time it was time to adhere the foil to foam it was to late. i guess i culd try and glue this wall sowhere or breakup into small stones, or combination of both.










but then i had some nice progress nevertheless:



















couldn't help but put some rail in for the picture










54 foot covered hopper cleared the path without a scratch every time but with no room to spare. will need to adjust placement.










SLEEEEEP!!!


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## tankist

some more plaster today










i was quite happy with progress and then it bit me, decided to try an "pour" concrete retaining walls at couple places and before i know it its 1AM again 

to bad that plaster will not stay in this color, looks like perfect concrete like this


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## B.C.RAIL

Nice work so far. It makes me want a proper layout.


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## T-Man

It's coming along Great. Keep it up!:thumbsup:


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## tankist

thanks guys.
i almost done plastering surfaces i wanted plastered but i am not completely satisfied with how those rocks look for now. i completely failed to distinguish between natural rocks and rock faces that were formed when the path for RR was "cut through". i'm really thinking if to get those scenic forms for rock casting. perhaps after i glue and blend in some precast ones it will look better. i also have to figure out how i'm going to paint and stain those.
boy , do i want to be done with casting and paint the terrain dirt already... 

but i'm really enjoyed doing the walls 
tonight i'm going to make retaining wall for that "valley" section of the climb. i want it to be bit higher then rails to create sort of barrier so i'll probably reinforce it with wire hanger or "rebar" so the top portion doesn't break off. 
i'm also considering casting those with real cement so it keeps the natural color and any cracking that might happen will just add realizm. main problem is that i'm not really in need of 50lb bag they sell in home depot.

cant wait to get at it tonight. if i don't crash sleeping that is.


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## tankist

not pictured yet but i mostly worked on bridges last night (while the brown was drying). cast end support for the climb bridge. angle the rail comes up to it is very shallow so the support overhangs a bit. used hanger wire as "rebar" so i think it shoud withstand me handling it less then gently by mistake and not breaking off. really enjoyed making foam form to hold the "concrete" as it dries. 
tried different options and decided to stay with plywood bridge to minimize vertical space taken from under passing train. the nice thing it is exactly the same thikness as cork roadbed so transition to bridge will be smooth. cut a slot in the middle so bridges are see through. the longer bridge is actually couple of slots so not to completely separate the plywood into two strips. later on i plan on detailing the bridge a bit with matchstick "handrails" and perhaps maintenance walkway near the track.
started getting a bit frustrated with track placement on and right after departing bridge but i think i got it working - took that same diamond saw to the cast rocks and widened enough path for 54 foot test hopper to pass (i guess i'll have some abatement walls there instead of rock faces, not to bad). now that i think about it i probably will need to widen it quite more for the 8-44 to pass. it is less then perfect curve as i just couldn't do a proper flex, so for now it will be a R22 section for easement, R18 section and only then flexi as the curve is somewhere between 22 and 18 values. i understand r18 will make some cringe, oh well, i think i avoided it as much as i can.

after several passes of joint compound+sanding decided to paint areas i think i'm done shaping. IMO looking better already 










found some "old fashioned peach" (who on earth came up with this name for a color???) paint i used last year for the bathrooms. mixed it with grey flat and i think i got good result for fresher concrete.










another retaining wall. got carried away carving it, will need to rethink how to give it proper shape.











i'm not sure anymore how to color those rocks. tried grey on test piece and it is not looking very good. will try to use that peach again and dirting it up with just a ted grey. i have some yellow to will try that.


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## mr_x_ite_ment

Hey Tank...

Looking good so far...keep up the good work!


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## T-Man

Denny Todd used chalk and some type of adhesive. He is stopbath777 on You Tube and has a demo. I looked the video may have been removed. I kave neem collecting acrylic paints in 3 oz. An AC Moore had a clearance on one brand got a lot for 20 cents a piece.

See his vids


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## tankist

T-Man said:


> Denny Todd used chalk and some type of adhesive. He is stopbath777 on You Tube and has a demo. I looked the video may have been removed.


hmmm, i was actually thinking about using pastels and/or crayons (if i can get the latter in shades of gray) and kinda smear them on prepainted surface. will need to try that. and then spraying some sort of base coat.

the thing is i really want to start laying rails alreay. while ground detail can be added later on, i think rocks need to be finalized before rail is in so it is a bit frustrating that i not 100% sure yet how to proseed. 
was thinking to just take the sunday evening "off", put the oval back and just run couple laps, but reason prevailed and progress was made

EDIT:
did some house cleaning in pictures folder. some of the older pics were removed so they will no longer show up here


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## tankist

ok, here is my first wack at coloring those rocks.
something hit me today and i decided to skip test pieces altogether, thought worst case i'll just coat with base color again and start over.

painted some pieces with peach base and some with yellow/peach/dub of grey. used textured grey, flat gray black and at places white (to lighten up the to much black) spray cans. next time i do that i'll definetly open the garage door early and use face mask, 

kinda uniformish grey on the output.










black spots visible. will let it dry and try to lighten those up later









that one i actually like and could almost leave like that , what do you think?
although it does IMHO look better on picture










another ok'ish area.









al in all i'm ok with results so far, a lot of places i will still need to pass again. thinking to get yellowish and reddish spray can to ad to the mix.


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## DreamingTree1027

It does look pretty uniform and maybe little dark but the one where you said you might leave looks good on the right side of the photo.


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## tankist

thanks for the input. 
I worked some more on the color, already made all the sections look more consistent with one another. tried to keep different angles while spraying from different cans. then I mopped everything with thinned out brown/yellow mix of latex. painted adjacent areas earth brown so almost no more white spots it doesn't look completely bad from afar, even my skeptic wife who kept criticizing the first attempt (it is VERY good to have very critical critic at a times  ) agreed it looks much better. i was to tired to take more pictures that night.

decided to take break from the rocks and do something quick and fun so i started gluing the roadbed on the other half of the layout. well it does take time as well all right!
glued inner portions of road bed for both lines last night, glued the outer ones the night before. made a pad for one of the turnouts. scrubbed the pink foam with fine wire brush a bit and i really like how adhesive caulk holds the thing (tried to pull it off quite forcefully but not enough to tear anything off)

no pics again - the contents of my pantry is pressing down on the new batch of drying roadbed and the view is not scenic at all.


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## tankist

didn't have much chance to work a lot on layout on weekend. one would think that weekend is the train time but no  
i also started on long overdue drill press bench project. finished cutting joints in the lumber, will be assembling it later this week.

i still managet to squise in couple sessions here and there. 
cut and glued down wooden shims for the height transition from the mainline to spurs (no roadbed on those)
cast rocks on the last missing wall.
cast "concrete" overhanging supports for the bridges. drilled holes in the "rock" foundation and used hanger wire to serve as armature for the supports.shaped plywood strip is resting on those supports and has a cast "bracket" (for the lack of better word) around it to keep it in place laterally and serve as transition from cork roadbed to the plywood bridge. 
i will still need to figure out and build another support somewhere in the middle of the longer climb bridge, it holds its own weight but since it is curved the center of gravity will be shifting sideways when train passes and it will capsize. 

took some pictures but windows crapped out on my main PC and the rest of the evening i spent bringing it back to life. will be uploading tonight


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## vulcanccit

what is used for the core mountains? is that all styrofoam? curious where you buy that? I see styrofoam sheets for the base where the track is, but the mounds that you have for the mountains and terrain is cool! I have stacked stryofoam sheets and filled it in sections with the woodland sceneics plaster tape sheets but yours looks carved somehow?


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## tankist

vulcanccit said:


> what is used for the core mountains? is that all styrofoam? curious where you buy that? I see styrofoam sheets for the base where the track is, but the mounds that you have for the mountains and terrain is cool! I have stacked stryofoam sheets and filled it in sections with the woodland sceneics plaster tape sheets but yours looks carved somehow?


thank you for the comment. however i'm still in process of learning so things can be done in not the most optimal way.

yep, its all foam. bought 3 4x8 2" thick sheets from home depot "as is" section. used liquid nails, locktite foam cement and elmers to glue the pieces together (was experimenting  ). drying time can take several days but usually after ~48 hours it holds good enough to carve. i used those retractible knifes with break-off blades. used the wide one for rough cuts , the thin one for more precice cuts. i really like how blades are super flexible and VERY sharp so cuts are smooth and you can really dig in if say you want to "excavate" a trench. i also found that diamond hack saw blade i had laying from last years tile project was working really nice to level my up and down grades although small dust will be everywhere. everything on the top is made of smaller foam pieces. as the thigns geot shaped up you can see i really started gluing even smaller bits and pieces everywhere.
once i got shape close to what i wanted i used joint compound to fill in cracks and dents (already had half bucket from last year). i think it would be cheaper then woodland scenic stuff.

i think posts 7 and 8 pretty much explain how everything works.
here i keep pics of the entire thing for refference. you can really see exactly what i did - http://public.fotki.com/tankist/ho-1/progress/

EDIT: and obviously i don't claim this is the best way to do things. but i really enjoyed shaping the "terrain" like this and i'm not fully done yet. i want to have as little of flat surface as i can but for now i really want to put down track already.


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## vulcanccit

I am not certain what you mean about the knives... are they like big xacto knifes? where do you get them?

I have tried to do the same but I used that hydrocal cloth to do the shapping, I think I like the carving idea better. So you do not hydrocal anything? just put your grass, rock, etc over the foam directly? I will check out your link. Thank you!


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## tankist

i got myself exacto knife and i don't find it usefull at all so far.
i use mostly what we called "Japanese knives" in israel. i guess proper name here would be snap-off knives. they available everywhere- wallmart, home dep, hek even my "saving amazing" dollar store. blades are cheap as well. before snapping off the blade bends quite a bit. IMO one of the best tools ever for modeling and in general. i don't get why those "utility" knives are so popular here. beware - VERY sharp

here is what i'm talking about









it alo comes in narrow (9mm i think) blade - 









i was thinking if to go the cardboard lattice way but decided on foam carving and so far couldn't be happier. as i said i really like working it into shap to the point i'm getting carried away at a times.
BIG garbage bag and shop vac are nice to have when dealing with foam however.

once i got rough shape by cutting and gluing i used joint compound (leftover) to smooth things out. took several coats. probably not the best thing as it shrinks quite a bit and takes hours to dry but after several coats its all good.

for my rocks i used idea i got on another forum - poured plaster of paris mixture onto somewhat crumbled aluminum foil (very thick) and slapped it onto a foam that was roughen up. took couple tries to figure out timing, quantity and consistency of the mix, how to keep bubbles out and how not to spill to much. i really liked to work with this once i got better, was frustrating at first. 

but for the best results i was told to use rock molds with hydrocal as you said. i will do that nest time perhaps but for now 10$ a mold does not excite me to much.


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## stream4ever

Hey that looks like the same one im building i got the track down but i dont know what to for senery?


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## vulcanccit

I tried to click on your link and it didnt work is it down maybe? and that knife looks cool! Its like a regular carpet knife but with disposable blades as they dull, I will have to check them out. I am just waiting for my wife to approve the redeployment of the "trains" and then I hope to start building!


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## stream4ever

So tankist what were you plaining on doing for scenery.


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## tankist

My main PC is shot so i can't get to prosess pictures... grrr.
but vista lived for record 9 month untouched which is not half bad. time to move to Win7 i guess

vulc, i'm not sure why, link is working for me.
let try it this way - Linky to my pics although i did notice slowdown in service just now.

stream, 
for scenery i plan to have trees, bushes and grass and some other stuff. but you probably wanted to ask more specific question, didn't you? i think you need to put little... no, a lot more effort in asking questions properly. want to try again?


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## T-Man

I can sympathize with the computer problem. I have been away and couldn't get a good computer connection.
Those break off blade knives are found at dollar stores. Some 3 to a package I like mine. 
It is good to see your making progress. Keep it up.


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## stream4ever

Yea sorry for that I was short on time I had to go. Um it looks like you are building the same layout I am or it is vary simular I am stuck on what to do for the scenery I dont know what to do and I dont have any ideas I was thinking if someone else was doing the same one or close I could get an idea on what to do for mine.


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## tankist

i have this feeling it is not the OS that gives me trouble. restored good image and thought i'm done. instead i have this annoying intermittent 1-1.5 sec pause when working. HDD light is always on and at this point, given the way things started i'm suspecting its either HDD going south or worse the on board controller. both units on warranty but i so don't want to mess with that right now sending stuff and ripping my PC appart. grrr , and i thought that the extra i invested in what supposed to be quality stuff would help to prevent that. 
what is this world coming to, second best model from arguably best manufacturer is acting up in less then years time. 



stream4ever said:


> Yea sorry for that I was short on time I had to go. Um it looks like you are building the same layout I am or it is vary simular I am stuck on what to do for the scenery I dont know what to do and I dont have any ideas I was thinking if someone else was doing the same one or close I could get an idea on what to do for mine.


so use my idea, stick some trees, bushes and ground cover.

but seriously, i think you missed my point. i searched through your posts and i seen no track plan discussion, no pictures, nothing. how am i supposed to give you ideas if i don't know what is your goal, where are you at, what are you working with. similar, in what way similar? you question should not be "what should i do for scenery". but "hey, here is what i'm working with and here is my [idea_here], but i also would like to have [another_idea] and the [some_factor] bothers me. your input is welcome"

i'm sure youve seen tons of pics and youtubes of model railroads. if you really have no idea of what to do just pic components that you like from other layouts. do your homework and look around, no one will do it for you
and you always just go with premade track plan by some MRR guru


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## lanceh5

Nice work with the foam. The grades have a very uniform slope. How did you cut the foam for the grades?


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## tankist

lanceh5 said:


> Nice work with the foam. The grades have a very uniform slope. How did you cut the foam for the grades?


thank you.
the initial rough "excavation" was done with the thin snap-off knife blade. to uniformly smooth the slope i used diamond tile cutting blade for hack saw (had it laying around from bathroom tiling job) as if it was a file. it is long and flexed around the curve nicley. however if more then minimal pressure applied to it, it just starts ripping chunks out of the foam for some reason(needed to fill couple holes as a result).
i applied more caulk then usual when gluing the roadbed and as a result it sort of "floated" on the adhesive layer (made sure the roadbed is perfectly flat with flexible ruler). that took care of any residual bumpiness. 

the climb slope however is not uniform although close. it's pretty damn hard to make the 3 segments (initial climb, bridge span, and finish climb) match perfecly. grade increases somewhat when getting on to the bridge and starts to level off right after. perhaps its even better as it creates sort off grade transition. 

bottom line my Geep was able to pull 8 cars, grunting but without wheel slip. so i'm happy


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## Reckers

tankist said:


> yeah, when folded the foam is stealing 2 inches of vertical clearance which leaves 6 inches for possible scenery height which is enough and then some for an 3.5 inch overpass (i also can always dig into the foam). as far as tall scenery i have couple of ideas, i will post as they come to life (or not, if i screw up).
> 
> my dad stopped by yesterday to take a look at my contraption. received lots of criticism but he agreed it works. at the moment 2 people required to raise an lower the table, simply because it needs to be level when sliding up and down the rails otherwise it gets stuck. while it is ok for now, later on we will build a winch to pull on both sides together. my rolling stock shelf will need to go somewhere.
> 
> he is very interested in this project as he is long time ship modeller himself (over there modeller always meant scratch builder) and at a day he also had a dream of making a layout out of our set back in Ukraine. last night we also looked back at us planning our foldaway-to-the-wall construction 20 years ago. the idea back then was to make the board hang slightly angled to give grade and perseption of elevation to otherwise nothing special oval with R15 and 1 straight section to fit ~ 32x40 inch board. we never overcame the crampiness of our apartment then. so today he is super enthusiastic about and going to be great help with this.
> 
> as far as cat, i think it is going to be quite an issue. she did try to see what happens when she gives a nudge to the last car of passing by train. knocked it over obviously, lol


looking at the foam, I can see what you meant in an earlier post when I asked why you used it. looks like a great start.


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## Reckers

tankist,

A question about your layout: how thick were the sheets of foam you used, and how many sheets did you have to stack to make your mountains? Also, how did you end up attaching your tracks to all that foam sheeting? I've been mulling over how to build an S scale (next summer, if I can find a house to rent with a decent basement). I'm going to use that 1950's vintage track, so getting it to stick to the foam will be a consideration. Neither nails nor screws seem likely to work. What would you suggest?


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## tankist

1 2" foam sheet as base. 
the highest "mountain" is 2 slices of foam high (on top of base one) + some cut off pieces to make relatively non flat top.

i glued cork roadbed down to the foam with adhesive caulk. before gluing i roughened the foam surface up with wire brush. used those atlas nails to tack the rail in since it is not permanent for now (will need to remove to add switch machines). 
i did not attach rail to bare foam yet. when the time comes i will use adhecive caulk again. seemed to work fine on my test piece

hope this helps


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## Reckers

Thanks, I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience. It'll probably be summer before I have a chance to try my hand at it, but that leaves plenty of time to ponder.


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## HesTNTonPMS

Wow, I am so into this now , looking @ these pics . . 
It looks extremely labor intensive but it is something my son and I could work on for a long time .

My only problem is going to be cleaning out the garage which is full to the ceiling with STUFF!
Garage sale time , I think because I can see I am going to need a lot of room . . 
I agree with the statement " It is either all or nothing "


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## tworail

Definitely have a garage sale and get rid of the cruft. Use the proceeds to but trains 

As far as labor intensive.. It's usually pretty enjoyable no matter what aspect you are doing


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## tankist

i know what you mean about stuff. and some of it is hard to throw away! i'm holding onto a lot of junk. but perhaps you can organize things better? i'll snap some pictures of my storage solutions as i believe not many managed to stuff that much into single car garage and keep it usable.that said i could do a better job cleaning it up.

yep, it might look like a lot of work but mostly it is relaxing one. i'm definetly having a blast working on this. probably even more then running a train. it looks labor incentive perhaps but then one doesn't need to rush it really.


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## Newguy95

looks great. i havea question, how do you make your mountain?


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## Reckers

Looks might fine, tankist! I'll bet your Dad is proud of you, too.


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## tankist

Newguy95 said:


> looks great. i havea question, how do you make your mountain?


take a look here:
http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?p=16162


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## Newguy95

tankist said:


> take a look here:
> http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?p=16162


thank you


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## Reckers

Hey, tankist....you've go so much stuff on there, I think I can see my house!:laugh:


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## tankist

not sure what exactly you meant but i guess i can be more neater person  . pictures don't do justice, when i work i have pile-ups of tools and materials and it takes serious effort to work around the mess. and then to hang them back to their place. the most upsetting part is that i can put down a tool to get something else and then spend time looking for that tool. this is why i have double the screwdriver set, 3 tapes, bunch of pliers,etc - if i don't find the one i held a second ago, i might find some other one while diggin, lol


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## Reckers

Nah....I meant I was impressed with all the buildings you were working into your layout. It doesn't look messy---just looks like you're in the middle of working on it. I flipped onto the first pic and it reminded me of using Google-earth to look at where I live.:thumbsup:


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## protron

hey tankist, what are you building on top of? i hope your not using the foam as the baseboard.. i would hate to see you lift it and the plaster of paris cracks!! that stuff is like chalk!!

and for painting the rocks/mountains.

http://www.ehow.com/video_4459624_landscaping-model-train-village.html


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## tankist

base is frame with chipboard sheet and 2" foam glued on top.
when the surface is prepared plaster adheres to it very well. plaster of paris is not like a chalk, more like a rock. carving it after it cured is almost impossible . without much sweat that is.

at some point i decided to remove already made piece to make way for expansion line and let me tell you , that thing did not want to go without healthy dose of hammer to it.




as far as this guy. perhaps it i a way but i noticed he builds his stuff on styrofoam. everywhere i read only advices against that. 
his painting how-to is "open the can, spread the paint, drop some groundcover" thats it.
and watching the rest of his series i can only think that i've seen significantly better work (both local clubs come to mind).


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## billroetter

nice cant wait to see it done


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