# Tower interior



## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

Most of my N scale shelf railroad is only 16" deep. Therefore most of the structures are very visible from the aisle. While I use flats, and less detailed structures to fill the background, some of the foreground ones have interior detail. Since I want people to be able to see the interior of these structures; they have roofs that open. An example is this interlocking tower at Black River Jct.
The tower is a plastic commercial structure that's been around forever. I just dressed it up a bit with an interior, and working lights inside and out. Sorry the photo is so blurred, but this stuff is quite tiny.

Traction Fan


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## Overkast (Jan 16, 2015)

Great idea and detail traction fan. I just constructed and painted a forklift kit in N Scale so I can respect how hard it is to get detail into this structure of yours. Nice job.

Do the lights actually work or are they just decor?


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

Nice job. I could not do N scale. I fumble around enough in HO.

I am just starting on my structures. I am leaving most of the roofs loose (and painting the inside walls and floors) in anticipation of detailing the insides at some time in the future. I think this kind of stuff adds lots of interest to a layout.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Better picture*

I took another photo of the same tower interior. It's difficult to get good focus when you have to be very close to the model. I think this photo gives a little better view than the last one. I also included a dime to show just how small everything inside the tower is.

Traction Fan


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Lights*



Overkast said:


> Great idea and detail traction fan. I just constructed and painted a forklift kit in N Scale so I can respect how hard it is to get detail into this structure of yours. Nice job.
> 
> Do the lights actually work or are they just decor?


Overkast;

Yes, all the lights work. They are "Grain of rice" bulbs made by Circuit Concepts. I removed the factory wire leads, and soldered the lamp's own tiny wires to a PC tie for the outside stairway lamps. They look huge in the photo! Maybe next time I'll use Macro, or surface-mount LEDs to get the size down. 

Traction Fan


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

PC ties make a great way to mount those SMT LED's. You file a notch and place the LED across the notch and solder it in place.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Seriously small LEDs*



Lemonhawk said:


> PC ties make a great way to mount those SMT LED's. You file a notch and place the LED across the notch and solder it in place.
> View attachment 195441


 Hokey smoke, lemonhawk, that is one very small LED, shown in your photo! It looks to be just what I'm looking for. Where can I get them?

Traction Fan


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I buy them on Digikey. However, here's a really small one on eBay, and they're cheap: SMD 0402 Size Warm White LED. The size is .5mm x 1mm, should be small enough.


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

I got an assortment off Ebay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/500PCS-SMD-...4751292?ssPageName=STRK:MERWX:ACTPNL:LNLK:ITM
I'll probably never use all the colors, but then their cheap and I'll have them when I need them. There are smaller and larger versions, this is about as small as I can work with. It also forces me to improve my soldering! GRJ has been a lot of help!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

The 0805 packages are at least twice the size in every dimension as the 0402 packages. My personal limit for me soldering stuff is 0603 package sizes and 1.25mm lead spacing. When I've tried smaller stuff, it's just been too difficult and time consuming to solder. I have done repairs with smaller packages, but it's a PITA.

The smallest components on this board are 0603, and the other components have at least 1.25mm lead spacing.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Scale perceptions*



MtRR75 said:


> Nice job. I could not do N scale. I fumble around enough in HO.
> 
> I am just starting on my structures. I am leaving most of the roofs loose (and painting the inside walls and floors) in anticipation of detailing the insides at some time in the future. I think this kind of stuff adds lots of interest to a layout.


MtRR75;

Whatever scale you like is right for you; and fine by me. The ingrained "normal size" perception works both ways. Recently, I've been working with an HO-scale turnout for a side project I have going on. Now I haven't modeled in HO for at least thirty years. As a long-time N-scale modeler, I was quite surprised at how positively HUGE HO-scale track looked to me now, when once it was normal to me. I guess it's all in what we're used to, as well as what we're physically comfortable with. 

Regards;

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


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