well, me and my bragging… i promised to prepare a small layout for the local hobby-exhibition in mid october. (this year, i fear) so i have to do something. it has to be transported, and it has to be expanionable for years to come. so a modular layout. i choosed 80 by 80 cm (80 cm = 2’ 8") with four modules just enough for a R1 circle. (in the future it may become an oval by additional moduls) the general idea is to model the local fauna and flora. (not just because it is easier to build a landscape flat as a pancake!) maybe in the future it will evolve into a more or less correct model of a former narrowgauge line we had in our area. i think, i will put up the pics of my missdeeds, as they come. because i am lazy and i got wifey’s permission (if it’s for the community and there is so little time…) i had the local carpenter make me the four modules. (here seen upside down.
i glued some styrofoam plates on the moduls (makes grassplanting easier)
the roadbed is from styropor as well.
after screwing down the track i wired everything. one connection per modul, cables connected between modules with plugs. (it wouldn’t be me, if i hadn’t mixed up wires and plugs - so, when i went for a test run, i had to re solder one connection to get rid of the short-out)
the messy part: a mixture of clayish sand, crackfiller and some squirts of toner for wallcolor for forming the earthen roadbed they used here. i decided not to use just white filler, because there evolve always spots, where the landscape cracks. and white cracks are worse to repair, than earthcolored ones.
trying to get the slightly washed out form by stroking the mixture with wet fingers.
being cautious, and to get a feeling for the material i started out with the two moduls, that will be at the back.
well, now i will wait, to see if i can go on in this way, or if i have to tear it up again. (and i can’t even fill between the rails today, because i ran out of crackfiller) to get the trees more or less like the local flora, i decided to make them from copperwire. the bush on the left is a remnant from a former layout. but as the very fine copperwire i used then is bending too easy, i decided to try thicker wire.
as is clearly seen, that gives me another problem. not enough twigs, to glue the green upon.
the solution - splicing additional twigs into the branches:
i think, i have to get yet another copperwire. thinner, than the thick one, and thicker than the one i used before. will be continued…
:lol:
