A hole in the wall X4 - a liftout bridge (page 12) - Printable Version

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Re: A hole in the wall X4 - Industrial scene (page 9) - TrainNut - 09-27-2010

I worked a bit more on the backdrop building over the last couple of days. As I got it used, it was missing quite a few windows. There was also a big gap in between the two halves the way it finally ended up getting placed. Sooo, I thought, let's throw it on the printer and make a color copy of the facade. This I did several times...
[Image: xcopier.jpg]

I then cut out the windows and taped them to the inside of the structure to replace those that were missing. I also cut out a large section of the facade and placed it in between the two halves to tie it all together.
[Image: xleft.jpg]

[Image: xleftleft.jpg]

[Image: xright.jpg]

I think that's gonna do it for a while. I need to add some sort of a road in front, ballast the track, add some shrubbery etc. All in good time now.

Re: A hole in the wall X4 - Industrial scene (page 9) - tetters - 09-27-2010

At first I was like, "Oh great, first the chop saw and now the mechanical press to squash the poor building! Do you not have a shred of decency in you SIR!"

Then I realized it was a scanner... Misngth

Re: A hole in the wall X4 - Industrial scene (page 9) - Gary S - 09-27-2010

:o Just Xerox the buildings??? What will they think of next? TN, love the ideas! Thumbsup

Re: A hole in the wall X4 - Industrial scene (page 9) - nachoman - 09-27-2010

I like creative approaches! If you look at Ralph's layout improvement blog, he built some background buildings using plexiglas - a very useful technique to get cheap and quick buildings.

Re: A hole in the wall X4 - Industrial scene (page 9) - P5se Camelback - 09-27-2010

Splendid!

I just love creative solutions ... and that one definitely qualifies!

KUDOS!


Re: A hole in the wall X4 - Industrial scene (page 9) - Ralph - 09-28-2010

Connecting the building halves with a scan of the building? Brilliant!!! Thumbsup

Re: A hole in the wall X4 - Industrial scene (page 9) - Herc Driver - 09-28-2010

That's a great idea! Another one of those "why didn't I think of that" ideas. Big Grin

Great progress too! Thumbsup

Re: A hole in the wall X4 - Industrial scene (page 9) - TrainNut - 09-28-2010

Thanks guys. On the one hand I think of it as a pretty creative solution and on the other hand it's just a down and dirty quick fix. Still, at the rate I get things done, down and dirty happens a lot sooner than trying to kitbash a connecting piece from styrene and having it look at all decent.

Tetters, I'll see if I can't get the creative juices figured out to shock you some more with another crude but yet innovative approach to model railroading!

Re: A hole in the wall X4 - Industrial scene (page 9) - TrainNut - 09-30-2010

Time to change gears...

So I'm roughing out my waterfront scene and my initial depth of the harbor (from water line to top of dock) was 1-1/8" or 15 scale feet.
[Image: ztug.jpg]

With some further thought, I decided to reduce that depth to 5/8" or 8.3 scale feet. I did this by adding two layers of cardboard (picture only shows one) and a layer of hardboard on top of that. I used hardboard for the top layer as I'm still uncertain as to which method I will use to replicate the surface of water and did not want the cardboard to warp if it were to get "wet" in any way shape or form. Thus, I figured the hardboard would be more workable surface.
[Image: zlayers.jpg]

The captain of the ship "dropped in" to give his approval as well as the local law enforcement and the contractor responsible for building the harbor wall.
[Image: zpeopleapprove.jpg]

Now that the water level has been determined, the fascia needs to be removed and "modified".
[Image: zfasciamod.jpg]

Sometime during the night, the pilings arrived and unloading has begun.
[Image: zshipmentarrives.jpg]

Re: A hole in the wall X4 - a liftout bridge (page 12) - TrainNut - 11-09-2010

Allrighty then. When I designed my layout, I designed an aisleway that needed a bridge of some sort to cross a gap 27 1/2" wide. As the layout evolved, the bridge did not and while I'd had a ton of elaborate ideas, none had actually come to fruition. The plan...
[Image: updatedyard09-30-10-1.jpg]

The gap...
[Image: November007.jpg]

Then one day I realized that you could attach the double line Kato bridges...
[Image: November011.jpg]

... end to end and that if I put three of them together,
[Image: November013.jpg]

... the distance came out to 29-5/16"... a near perfect fit for my 27 1/2" gap.
[Image: November014.jpg]

They are also structurally sound and do not need any additional support. I truly lucked out and came up with the perfect lift out solution to cross the gap.
[Image: November015.jpg]

Re: A hole in the wall X4 - a liftout bridge (page 12) - Gary S - 11-09-2010

TN, I was having trouble viewing the photos, but my net seems a bit sluggish tonight. Anyway, good to see that you are making progress! The bridge across my door is similar to yours.

Re: A hole in the wall X4 - a liftout bridge (page 12) - TrainNut - 11-09-2010

Gary S Wrote:TN, I was having trouble viewing the photos, but my net seems a bit sluggish tonight. Anyway, good to see that you are making progress!
Hmmm, anyone else having problems seeing the pictures? I originally screwed up and attached them as url links instead of img links but I fixed that within 10 minutes of posting. I can see them now but that doesn't always mean everybody else can. Perhaps Photobucket had a hiccup.
Thank you Gary for the comments. I hope you try again a little later on if you weren't able to see them all.

Re: A hole in the wall X4 - a liftout bridge (page 12) - Gary S - 11-09-2010

I see them now. I was looking at them when they were just links. The photos appear in the thread now. Thanks!

It looks like there may be a bit of sag in the middle? If so, maybe a piece of aluminum DIN rail on the bottom would help?

Re: A hole in the wall X4 - a liftout bridge (page 12) - nachoman - 11-09-2010

Hey TN, I haven't been browsing this site as much lately and just now saw the harbor scene you are putting together. Things are looking quite good there! I also like the bridge - is it a lift-out (removable) or is it hinged at one end? Are you having problems getting the tracks to line up on either end of the bridge?

Re: A hole in the wall X4 - a liftout bridge (page 12) - TrainNut - 11-09-2010

Gary, there is just a hint of sag between the three pieces. I never noticed it until I took that one closeup photo. It does not cause any uncoupling issues and so I'm inclined to ignore it for now.

Nacho, the bridge is completely removeable. When I put it in place, I actually slide one end into rail joiners and just drop the other end down in between some T pens I have in place to guarantee alignment. I've run plenty of trains across and so far no derailments from mis aligned rails.