Thanks Wayne, I’d trust most of the friends she has at the moment, but I hear you loud 'n clear.
Old stock until proven safe!
Cheers
N
At a swap show a couple of years ago the local HO had a module set up and they handed the controls over to my granddaughter and with some supervision they had her running a string of cars through some switches and out onto the main line, she had a blast
Got the window & door stickers on this evening. Not as good a result as I wanted (the ink rubs off the paper very easily, and my cricut cutting was not always that accurate).
But it’s done. And all I have to do to feel better about it is turn that crank that lowers the bar, haha!
Next steps: touchup / detail painting, weathering, clear coat(s).
4 Likes
Really coming to life Cliff 
1 Like
The problem is you are looking really close to it, and the viewers will be farther away.
When I did my first open house to view my layout I could se every fault and every little thing that needed attention, no one else saw them.
Looks great and can’t wait to see the finished product
Thanks Pete, much appreciated. I’m sure you’re right, but it was initially a little bit of let down. The good news is that I’m only 2 beers away from being over it. 
https://www.instagram.com/p/CrmJT3fvqqS/?img_index=1
You owe me a 6 pack bitch ! I don’t even like ale !!!
Except for another flat clear coat in a couple days, the buildings are finally done. Touchup and detail painting took all yesterday; and today I used washes of Army Painter products, and some pastel powders, for some weathering. Not great, but I gotta move on.
Next will be gobs of electrical, starting with a bunch of lasering. I have to do this next because the installation of lights and boards will be rough on the main model, so I need to do final scenic after that’s all done.
CJ
Now that the buildings are done, I can get to bigger stuff, like painting the consoles. I’d done 3 coats of black primer spray, but it wouldn’t seal the exposed masonite ends in the finger joints. So I wet sanded the primer, and hit the edges with sealing-primer (which I should have used in the first place).
Also during the week, after or between work, I lasered the remaining components for the interactive displays which mount within the consoles, and the “circuit boards” which distribute juice within each model section (at the far left).
Yep, complicated. This is due to needing to maintain the thing from the other side of the country. The outer box (upper left) remains permanently installed within the console, and it allows the inner box (near right) to be swapped with the spare I’m providing. All they need to do is Priority Mail me the failing unit for repair, I send it back, and it becomes the spare.
OK, call me Captain Overthink…
Anyway, the goal this weekend is to assemble those two boxes comprising the display units, finish the console painting, and hopefully start wiring.
Cheers,
Cliff
1 Like
Sorry for the very tardy reply Hollywood! I was just looking through the thread and saw that I missed your post.
Very nice of you to say, thank you!
Modeling-wise, I doubt I’ll push the bar on manual execution / technique… But to your point, it was really fun to find an automated way to translate that topo map into a scaled physical reality. And that remains one of the most enjoyable aspects of this entire project.
Cliff
Never a problem Cliff 
Yesterday and today I put the display boxes together and just finished sanding them. Here’s the stack:
Each of the 4 consoles has two display panels, inner and outer.
This shows the two nested:
I’ll probably shoot them with a sealer coat or two tomorrow, and move on to circuit boards or LED’s, not sure which.
Thanks for following along,
Cliff
1 Like
I decided to do some pre-assembly on the circuit boards today. The big near ones are essentially power distribution boards to all the LED’s on the models from buttons in each interactive display panel.
The little ones are for each display panel.
Much of this “complexity” is the need to make all display panels & consoles interchangeable, so that a spare unit can be swapped in by folks on site.
Same applies to all the model LED’s, which they’ll have spares for when one croaks. All having the same pigtail length and connector. It’s the “circuit board’s” job to get the connectors where they need to be, and handle all the which-circuit-fires-up-which-LED.
Cliff
3 Likes
Really liking how this is coming together Cliff.
Cheers
N
Gosh Cliff;
Most museum displays are done by professionals, who only build that sort of thing. Your efforts are really superb! You have created something to be proud of.
Best, David Meashey
1 Like
This thing is going to be just such a cool piece for the museum.
Thanks Neil, Dave & Devon, very kind words! I can’t say this is a professional job (I keep finding screwups but have to move one), but I appreciate you’re saying it’s near.
After work today I assembled at least one instance of every subassembly, to be sure things went together, and that I had the right hardware (and enough of it).
Here’s a partially assembled console, with 2 display panels. And sure enough, I’d miss a type of screw.
So I started the McMaster order. And you know how that goes: if I’m going to pay the flat rate shipping, I want to include everything I’ll need.
That meant assembly of the model sections, which involved feet, circuit board mounting, etc.
Here’s the main center section. And dang, I felt like painting over those excess glue tracks… but that would be just plain vanity, no one but me and y’all will ever see this underbelly. Still, it bugs me…
Through this exercise I found a few more hardware items needed, and now the McMaster order is in. Amazing company, McMaster: it’ll be here tomorrow morning. Way before I get off work.
Cheers,
Cliff
1 Like
I get it , sometimes the details only you will see bother you the most! While I will never be one that gets to your level of craftsmanship, I totally understand and get why that bugs you.
1 Like
What Pete said…
Cheers
N
1 Like
Thanks for understanding that, Pete.
I still have a 35-year-old ship model I built of the HMS Victory, with all 104 cannon (wheels, carriages, etc) carefully painted, and secured with lines to eyebolts, upon grained deck. You can only see the muzzles poking out; but I know all the detail is in there… How anal is that? Something I can only share with God I guess!
