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I'm pretty new at detail work, but I've always wanted an ice rink on my layout.  I decided to start with a small rink to try out an idea I had with using gloss paint and matte finish to simulate the zamboni resurfacing the ice.  The effect isn't as dramatic as I hoped, but this is the first attempt.  The straight lines were easy of course, but I'm stumped on how to get the circular stripes on the ice for my next attempt.  Ultimately I'd like to have a larger (not quite scale) covered outdoor rink, complete with boards and "glass",  lighted with players, but I also cannot find any O scale hockey figures.  Closest I could get was painting a Habs jersey on my zamboni driver.  Any comments or ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,  Nick

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Last edited by Nick R.
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That rink is cool! (pun intended)...for circles (and sponsors)  I think you will have to go with decals made on your printer.  I have searched for O size hockey players, with no luck.  If the ice is being resurfaced, they would be on the bench or in the locker room.  You could modify sitting O scale drivers for the players on the bench.  Dept 56 makes a small, animated skating pond w/ 2 hockey players, but is around $50. Good luck and keep me posted!  John A

I think your resurfacing effect is great. Not every feature of a layout needs to be "dramatic". IMO, some of the best work involves subtleties that are only noticed on a second or third look. These are hidden treasures that maintain interest over time and make your layout worthy of careful study.

As best I can judge from your photos, I think your effect is perfect.

Last edited by Avanti

Thanks for the kind words!  I'm going to play around with it some more and start the permanent rink soon.  I like the idea of scratching the rough surface for skate marks.  And John A,  yes the players would be off the ice so that solves that.  But players on the bench would be cool.

This is turning out to be a fun project.

Nick

My suggestion would be to take an Xacto blade and scribe the surface to represent the skate marks as suggested above. I would go deep on some and lighter on others. Then seal the entire surface with a dull coat and then mask and apply Future floor finish to the gloss areas that the Zamboni has done. Using Future (or what ever name it is now) is commonly used in the plastic modeling world for high gloss finish prior to laying down decals or weathering and the such. Obviously make sure the various layers don't react with one another. As far as players go, how about the refs and linesmen in the corner discussing all the missed calls they made or the pretty girls that some teams use nowadays the move the net around and shovel shaved ice out of the way? Very cool idea. 

TimDude posted:

My suggestion would be to take an Xacto blade and scribe the surface to represent the skate marks as suggested above. I would go deep on some and lighter on others. Then seal the entire surface with a dull coat and then mask and apply Future floor finish to the gloss areas that the Zamboni has done. Using Future (or what ever name it is now) is commonly used in the plastic modeling world for high gloss finish prior to laying down decals or weathering and the such. Obviously make sure the various layers don't react with one another. As far as players go, how about the refs and linesmen in the corner discussing all the missed calls they made or the pretty girls that some teams use nowadays the move the net around and shovel shaved ice out of the way? Very cool idea. 

This comment is a 10 bell save! 

George

Excellent work, I love it!  For the faceoff circles you could trace them using a margarine tub lid or a similar round plastic lid.  Then apply the red paint.  As Mike mentioned above, add the goal crease, and also the referee half circle along the boards at center ice.  You could also print and cut out your favorite team logo to put at the center ice faceoff circle.  (Just don't use the Rangers or the Penguins!)

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Heres the start to the bigger rink.  I wanted to do a scale rink (200'×85') until I did the math  (50" × 21-1/4")  too big for my layout!   So I went with 100' × 42-1/2' and scaled that down to O scale.  Its going to be similar to an outdoor rink in Missoula, MT that my son played at this spring which basically just has a roof over it.  Not sure whether I'll try to come up with players or do the zamboni effect.  We'll see!

And the only way it won't be a HABS rink is if my son convinces me to go with the Blackhawks!  

Thanks for looking

Nick

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Last edited by Nick R.

Looks great! Please post as you continue.

There is a former forum member that has a rink. He used a Rangers static-cling (I think) decal from eBay for center ice. It's not the exact one from NYC's Madison Square Garden, but looked great. He did a lot of work with paint and coatings on the rink, to make the decal blend into the rink's surface. Came out pretty good.

He had sitting players on two benches. He bought O scale figures that are in a sitting position .... workers, passengers, etc. Painting them up, and made hockey sticks out of different materials. From a modest distance, it looked very, very good.

Good luck with your rink, and have fun.

 

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So here is my idea for the boards and glass for the rink.  Im trying .050 plexiglass and painting the bottom half for the boards.  When this dries I'll paint the yellow bottom line.  Not sure about the corners, though.  Would heating it up with a hair dryer help?  The plexiglass will bend ok, but Im not sure how well it'll stay bent.  And what is the best glue for plexiglass?

IMG_20170731_203033405_HDR Thanks again for the tips and encouragement!

Nick

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I spent some time on this last night and Im toying with the idea of using plexiglass for the whole thing.  That way I can glue the boards to the "ice".  Also the boards and glass are one piece that way.  I made a form out of a 2x4 and used a heat gun to soften the plexiglass which worked pretty well.  Still a lot of bugs to work out, though.  I'll try to post more pics tonight.

Nick

Here are a couple of (terrible) pics of my progress:

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This is the hastily thrown together "mold" for my heated plexiglas to make the corners for the boards.  After it cools it stays bent I have it here:

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Just taped to my sheet of "ice".  Still on the fence for using the wood or plexiglas ice. 

And to keep this thread train related:

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Thanks for looking and have a great night everyone!  Im off to the real ice rink to watch my son practice.  What better place to be on a 95 degree day!

Nick

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Nick-

Would you consider a laser scored ice rink? We have done this for track diagrams. Basically, the lines are all engraved on the back/bottom. You mask the entire surface and then knife along the score line to remove the tape for the first color. You paint the first color and mask it out. Then you knife each suceeeding color. When all the lines are painted, you would then paint white. Give me a call to chat it through.

That sounds like a great idea, Doug!  I havent had time to work on this for the last couple days, but plan on picking it back up this weekend.  The boards and glass will be the death of me!  I've found a thinner plastic that is perfect for the glass, but the right plastic for the boards eludes me.  I may very well be in touch about the laser cut ice, though.  Thanks again!

Nick

Nick-

We would use acrylic plastic for the boards, most likely 1/16" thick. It can be laser scored or scribed at intervals to represent the individual panels and to locate where the red and blue lines would be painted and then masked (there would be a total of 3 colors). Then we would take 1/16" thick styrene or acrylic tube in the correct diameter to create the corners. A bit of a challenge since you have to mount the tube on a sliding table so that when you run it through the table saw up against the fence it stays secure and safe. What diameter are your corners? Once all of the pieces are cut, you could get real fancy  and use styrene strip to simulate the framing on the back of the boards. What is the overall length by width of the rink? 

I've tabled the hockey rink for now, but am still plugging away at some detail items like the benches and I've got one player ready to go.  I ended up using photo paper for the boards on the small rink (one with the zamboni).  And no glass.  I forgot to take a picture of it, but I'll add one soon.  This little guy is my son #13.  I need to get some more seated figures.   Eventually I would like to finish the big rink and incorporate it into a Christmas village if not my layout.  This has been fun, yet frustrating project.

Nick

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Nick,  Really nice.  An idea I thought of for the resurfaced ice behind your Zamboni is perhaps a clear packing tape and then mask it in some way and although it may be a frustrating undertaking, you could use an X-acto knife to cut curves and all for when the Zamboni is turning at the end of a pass.  Just a thought.  Also, sometimes bakeries might have plastic hockey players for decorating cakes and such.  they wouldn't be very well detailed at all but depending on what you do they might work out somethin'.  Happy Trainin'!  

OSD 

 

         

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So the small rink has photo paper boards which is ok for now, but I came across this wonderful stuff called Kydex which I used for the boards on the big rink.  Its really perfect for this,  just heat it up and its easily moldable.  Using Banjoflyer's idea (thank you) I made the boards pretty quickly.  Now I just need to trim them up and attach them to the "ice".  But first I need to paint the lines and glue down the circles I cut out for the face off zones.  Last will be the glass.  Progress!

Nick

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