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CHRIS A, your kit bash came out great. Wish you lived closer you could do mine for me LOL. But no beer till done. Tonight I got my little pull out shelf in. Still have to paint bare wood. At least now I have somewhere to work on kits and engines. I was going to start working on the building flats but decided to call it a night. Still thinking about how Brian has a whole house for a layout. Pics.................Paul

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Chris A- the building looks great. I like the dock and how you notched the posts to take the beams. Very nice little detail.

Brian- do you have a big roulette wheel with all of the RR road names on it to pick what you are going to run each day????

Paul- With two layouts in your house I think you are running a close second to Brian. The shelf looks good.

Bob

Pat thanks for the kind words....

Bob,  thanks for the positive feedback on the loading dock construction... It took longer notch the legs, but it made it easier to assemble and keep the legs straight while the Gorilla Super glue Gel cured and the joint is a lot stronger.    I made a small jig (1/4 inch luan and some 3/4 inch pine which I can push through with the miter gauge on the table saw) to cut them and make the notch cut safely on the table saw, so once I got going it didn't take too long.   Just made the one blade-width cut for the notch and then clamped them 3 at a time in the vise and used a utility knife blade to remove the rest of the material... 

In a prior post, I mentioned that for cutting all these small pieces of wood and styrene plastic parts, I changed out the 10 inch table saw blade for a 7 1/4 - inch 60 tooth Freud blade.  It slows the blade speed down and the kerf on the Freud blade is really thin less than 1/16".  Removes less material and feels much easier to control the material during cutting.  

Mike, I am not really sure about the ratio any more.  I made up two olive jars of the wash, one is very diluted and not too dark, the other is probably 2 to 3 times as dark.  Some jobs and materials get too dark and I didn't want to keep changing the strength, so I figured better to have two different strengths..... I make them up in small Olive jars.   I switched over to using the stronger 91% alcohol about 6 months ago, it dries faster, and then I have from time to time had to replenish it, so I just kind of "wing it".....   I think if you do a google search, you'll find some recommended ratios to get you in the ballpark....

Last edited by chris a

Some good progress on the layout as of late, I’ve been derelict in my duties posting updates.  Most of the work has been focused on "invisible" things making mock-ups more permanent or wiring under the table:

  • Applied Appalachian Mountain Backdrop from Backdrop Warehouse
  • Glued down elevated table supports to Homasote using LiquidNails
  • Added a second AIU to the layout
  • Wired all 16 Fastrack switches to MTH DCS AIUs so they can be controlled via the DCS Wifi App (I got tired of having to pull out my 90s-era CAB-1 remote every time I wanted to throw a turnout and I like the ability to set up routes)
  • Ensured track power drops are all connected correctly (with track shifting during adjustments, the spade connectors often disconnect)
  • Painted remaining BridgeBoss supports as well as scratch-built truss bridge supports flat black
  • Mocked up locations for buildings

Next steps are as follows::

  • Begin ballasting using Brennan's Better Ballast
  • Build tunnel and mountain structure, likely using the method outlined by @ericstrains.com in his videos

Here are some photos of the layout as it is today:

Mark Boyce posted:

What did I do today on the layout!  Made some space for the new layout.

After 2018-06-07 19.27.55

Slow and steady win the race!  

Mark;

Allow me to offer you some sage advice from a former boss... if you haven’t looked at it in 6 months, you probably don’t need it, throw it out. If you haven’t looked at it in a year, you definitely don’t need it, don’t even look at it, throw it out   

Full disclosure... her desk was always totally clear and she had a closet in the office that Imelda Marcos would have envied.

Thank you Mike!!  ;-)  Actually, we don’t need that television.  It’s another refuse from my mother-in-law, just like the furniture!  That’s what we get for buying the house from her.  She left all kinds of stuff there and it’s taken 7 years for my wife to finally say we’re getting rid of stuff.  Mum says here take this stuff, but you can’t get rid of it!  Coo coo!  LOL

Mark Boyce posted:

So the former boss was a closet hoarder?

Oh no... no... no... hoarder would never apply. If you opened the left side of the closet, you would assume you had strayed into the storeroom of a shoe store. There was a four foot high by three foot wide VERY neatly stacked collection shoe boxes (unlike many on this Forum, she would never throw out the box...). If she came in wearing a chartreuse outfit one day, I am sure that she could have picked a perfectly matched pair of shoes!!! I believe the proper description would be collector.

Today after a trip to the grocery store then some yard work I set up a painting table and spray painted a bunch of building flats out under the car port. I'll let them dry and see how they came out. Tonight the wife will be tied up with her Cavs game and I can adjourn to the basement and do the rest of the building flats getting them ready for paint...........Paul 

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