Curved Fascia Progress Pictures

Chugman, You are right about a brown color being a much better match than black to go with your carpeting. It is always a challenge figuring out if dust on dark colors  or dirt on light colors will be better or worst in any particular environment. 

 

Seeing your photo of the lowered girder bridge area reaffirms my belief that the 20 inch masonite will look better than drapes in that area. Looks like it would be 10 inches of masonite and 10 inches of drapes...which would look strange to me. The transition between that area and the two higher bench work sides could be radiused like your viaduct openings or with a wider leg. I assume the inside curves will follow the cliff / valley terrain to the tracks, roadway, and river below.

 

Radiusing the inside curves at the control panel area following the curve of the tracks will look great. That one outside curve....well one straight bend in the fascia isn't something terrible especially since it is a 10 inch fascia with drapes below. Plus a building or other item of visual interest on the bench work above the joint will draw the eye away from the joint.

 

All  in all you have this layout very well planned out and it is going to be beautiful.

 

Paul Goodness

That is excellent craftsmanship....just beautiful looking!

- Greg

Art,

 

Some nice progress on the layout.  I have seen both hard skirting and cloth, I think on some curves the hard can look better.

 

Thanks for posting.

 

 

Thanks for the comments and suggestions.

 

Brian - I will take some pictures that give you a better reference as t where they are in the grand scheme of things. 

 

Paul - I like your ideas very much and is most likely the direction I will take.

 

Art

Does anyone has any experience buying skirting fabric in bulk?  I will probably need over 200 yards and that can get pretty pricey.  I was looking at bolts of fabric online and it looks like there is a lot to choose from.  Do you know if local fabric stores ever have closeouts?  I am looking for a plain fabric in probably a medium brown color.

 

Thanks, Art

WOW!  That's awesome Art! This is my first look on this tread. Very cool.

Art,

 

I used black landscaping cloth that I got at home depot.

 

Here is a link

 

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Sco...ric-204133/203074617

 

Here is an earlier image of my layout where you can see the skirt  It is just stapled to the indie of my fascia. 

 

I realize it is more black than brown, but is good quality, and very inexpensive.

 

 

Here's a source I use. Probably not exactly what your thinking, but worth shopping around their website for ideas. One tip: Since your after something other than black, find the fabric first, than pick the paint color to match.

 

http://www.rosebrand.com/produ...on%2bCloth%252c%2bFR

You can do curved trim boards.

Art i don't know what to say about what you are doing. i think you should STOP IMMEDIATELY on this. get in your car and head to Ohio where i will let you get "some much needed practice on my layout" before going ahead with yours. Seriously i would just go ahead just the way you are doing this as this has to be one of the neatest layouts posted on the forum. Rich and company should use what you are doing as a series in the magazine as it would be neat to see from a different perspective than what Jim Barrett is currently doing. i think seeing two layouts being built might be more motivating than just see layouts that are done.

They do Art,

If they have enough for your needs in a particular color would be the question. What I fat fingered out in error earlier was we had looked at beige-ish?, blue-ish? and the green was what our local store had in stock. Blending with the floor is great as it flows up. Of course as we all know about our grand plans! You will want a 100% polyester fabric to hang without wrinkles is my guess. And like ladies dresses, transparency is most likely not ideal.

My wife is a home fashions fabricator and made a skirt for a 4x8 slot car table I have out of checkered flag fabric I got at Hobby Lobby for $5.99 a yard. Bolts are usually 54" wide and I need the skirt to be about 24" high below the fascia so I was able to cut the fabric down the middle. She hemmed it on the bottom and added velcro on the top which I attached to the front of the fascia. I can pull it off anytime to access the bottom. 

 

JoAnne Fabric or similar stores often sell closeout or clearance fabrics for less than $6 per yard in solid colors and you only need something thin to act as a cover. Just food for thought. 

Brian - Here a few more pictures that you requested that hopefully will give you a better perspective on the areas we have talked about.

 

This first picture is a longer shot down my center aisle.  I think that you can see where there are angled corners on both sides of the aisle and I want to make all of these curved.

 

 

The next picture shows the difference between the 10" fascia on the left and the 20" under the bridge on the right.  My transition areas will be where I blend the two together.  You can also see the river valley area that will have to be transitioned.

 

 

 

These next pictures I have tried to better show where the transition between the two lengths will be on the right side of the curved bridge area.

 

 

 

Art

Looks good Art!

 

Anthony

Art, That is looking real nice!

Looks magnificent, Art.  Thanks for sharing the additional photos.

Thanks guys.  I need to keep going but I like to saw wood in the driveway and with our new snow, below zero temperatures, and blowing snow, that isn't likely to happen right away.

 

Art

Nice work!

Man that is looking good Art.

That is outstanding workmanship Art. Thanks for posting photos. Looking forward to seeing the finished layout.

Art,

You are on the right track with the dark brown colored skirting. You can see from Rich's photo that the dark color skirting draws the viewer's eye to the layout. That also will work with the other colors in the room, but black will also work. Sometimes too many earth tones will blend everything together. Stay open to the black and sample a piece of both colors.

 

I like the description for the transition piece like the side of the E or F unit pilot. A curved edge from 20" to 10" would look nice. Better than a straight line like an immediate 20"\10" right angle or a 45° angle.

 

The skirts will be a job almost as large as the fascia. I have a small layout and fabric is expensive!...even polyester. Velcro would work.(more sewing) I would suggest just bunching it, rather than having pleats sewn into it. Most of us just staple it, but your room and layout need a nicer touch. Heck, who's gonna know, power staple it. A 1" furring strip and another set of hands.

 

 

My sweetheart did nice job on the skirts.   Click to access a slideshow.

Additional skirting was added to the last section to be completed.

Art,very nice! Thanks for keeping us informed.

 

Brad

Those pictures helped a lot. I have been trying to place the exact location for the bridge and now I have it. This is going to be a prenominal feature on your layout. The curved bridge was a wonderful idea and I like the way you are treating it. 

We have 2 different heights of fascia through the center aisle with a nice curve to blend the two. Basically so we could keep the skirt the same height all the way around the layout.

 

Art,

 

You are doing great work and the end result is sure to be outstanding.

 

As far as the material for skirting . . .

 

I had made doors for the front and angle corners of the layout, but needed skirting beyond that. After much looking and a couple of false starts, Judy finally found and settled on black or very dark grey material from Hobby Lobby. It was very inexpensive, is easy to work with and hangs well. She sewed the tops so they could be fitted over a Ø1/2” curtain rod, and I really like how they look and work.

 

 

 

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

Alex

Alex - That looks great.  Thanks for the good ideas.

 

Art

Art, first, Your layout room is really nice, clean, and looks warm and cozy. I like the benchwork, the curved facia boards, and the track work. I sent you a picture of my 18 inch dark green skirting that is attached 6 inchs back of the table front. If I knew how to put it on this thread I would attach a picture here.

Your work is Outstanding. Keep up the Excellent Work. Happy Railroading

Very, very nice, Alex.