I've moved the blog over to another site. I'll talk about that later when it's ready for folks to view.
Sean,
sean@twinimaging.com
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Saturday, September 23, 2006
I bought even more stuff. . .
It's been a little quite lately on the railroad. The girls have started school again, and Twin Imaging has a couple of new contracts so no work on the railroad for now. However, I do need some foam cutting tools. I find that any job goes much more simple when you have the correct tools for the job. If you try to get by with what you have it will take longer and the end result of your work is usally sub-standard.
Here is my order from InternetTrains.com
Product 1Code: HOT-K16Name: Hot Wire Foam Factory AC Powered 2-in-1 Starter Kit w/Hot Knife Tool Price/Ea.: $67.46Option 1: (Availability): (Available)Quantity: 1SubTotal: $67.46Shipping, Taxes & Other ChargesShipping: Flat Rate $7.99 - UPS Ground - Continental U.S. Street Address Only: $7.99Sales Tax: $5.23Order Total: $80.68
Peace,
Sean, sean@twinimaging.com
Here is my order from InternetTrains.com
Product 1Code: HOT-K16Name: Hot Wire Foam Factory AC Powered 2-in-1 Starter Kit w/Hot Knife Tool Price/Ea.: $67.46Option 1: (Availability): (Available)Quantity: 1SubTotal: $67.46Shipping, Taxes & Other ChargesShipping: Flat Rate $7.99 - UPS Ground - Continental U.S. Street Address Only: $7.99Sales Tax: $5.23Order Total: $80.68
Peace,
Sean, sean@twinimaging.com
Thursday, August 17, 2006
I found a foam source. . .
I found a source for foam. It’s not pink foam but the same type of high density foam that Woodland Scenics uses for it’s foam material.
Sean, sean@twinimaging.com
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Sub Roadbed and Grades. . .
Lot's of photos for this posting! We have added the sub-roadbed and grades. Because we used the Woodland Scenics Subterrain products, what would have taken a week or two to complete, took two evenings (or 4 hours total)! It almost feels like construction is going too fast. "I spent all this money for 4 hours worth of work." On the other hand, this makes building a layout for appealing for Jasmine and Megan. If the work was long and progress was slow, they would lose interest. I can also see running trains in the very near future which is an exciting prospect.
I had to make a run to Reeds Hobby Shop in La Mesa to pick up 8 feet of 4 inch foam risers. I realized that I did not account for these sections so I was off to La Mesa.
Because there are so many photos for this post, I will include captions for each photo. . .
Peace,
Sean, sean@twinimaging.com
Pictured here are the ends of two 1inch riser sections. To enhance flexibility, I glued each two of the 2 foot sections together. I wanted to maintain the "Z" pattern for maximum flexibility. The "Z" pattern is broken so I did not glue the ends together with this configuration. The next photo shows the continuation of the "Z" configuration. . .
As you can see, the "Z" configuration is maintained for maximum flexibility. . .
I used Woodland Scenics low temp glue-sticks to glue the riser sections together. . .
Here is an example of a low temp glue-stick bead on the end of a 1 inch riser. After applying the low temp glue, hold the sections together for 15 seconds for a secure bond. . .
Pictured above are a number of 1 inch risers glued together to form 4 foot sections for greater flexibility. . .
We used Liquid Nails to glue the foam risers to the plywood base. We chose Liquid Nails because it was inexpensive ($2.27 per tube at Lowe's) and recommended by many modelers as a great choice for gluing foam to wood. . .
Pictured above is a layer of Liquid Nails smoothed out over the mainline path. I used a piece of card stock to spread the bead of Liquid Nails to flat pattern. . .
As you can see, the path is about 1/2 as wide as the foam riser. Using smoothed Liquid Nails bead about half the width of the foam riser is more than enough to adhere the foam riser.
To ensure that foam riser sections are straight, I used a 4 foot level as an edge guide. I used the penciled in mainline as a guide to lay the foam risers around curves. The flexibility of the 4 foot risers sections made laying much more simpler around curves. Additionally, the Liquid nails dried relatively slowly compared to the glue stick which allowed adjustments to the foam riser alignment. . .
Pictured above is a section of the layout with the 1 inch foam risers secured to the plywood. . .
Pictured above is the mainline completed with 1 in foam risers. . .
The next evening, Jasmine and I secured the 3% foam risers to the 1 inch risers using low temp glue-sticks. I tried using the liquid nails but the low temp glue stick material seemed to work better. You have to glue and place the riser quickly because the low temp glue-stick material hardends within 15 to 20 seconds. . .
Here is another section of 3% riser that Jasmine is gluing. . .
This photos helps to illustrate the difference between 1 inch and 4 inch foam risers. . .
The raised sections required 4 inch risers. . .
I tried an experiment. I wanted to heat the foam cutting blade, using my wife's hot air craft gun, to make cutting through foam much simpler. However, the hot air gun did not make the blade hot enough. I think I'll run into the kitchen quickly to heat the blade on the stove. . .
I used the foam knife to cut out the crossing section. The lower tracks will be hidden in a tunnel. . .
I used my tallest car to determine the car roof clearance.
Rather than use a piece of foam to "bridge the gap", I'm having my friend Doug mill down a pice of wood to 1/2 inch to make a more sturdy overpass. A 1/2 foam piece could have work but probably would have sagged over time. . .
I need to add a 1/2 inch section at the top of the 4 inch riser to match the height of the end of the 3% riser foam section. I should have bought 1/2 inch risers when I was at the Reeds Hobbies today but I just cut sections from one of the 1/2 inch foam sheets. It should also be noted that the transition from 3% grade to level was not abrupt. I placed a piece of track over this section and ran a car over the transition and there was no problem or noticeable change in angle. . .
I did notice that there were height mis-matches between sections of the 3% riser. This is no bid deal; putty or other thick material can be used to fill and even out the gap. . .
This is what we have completed so far. We'll be using foam risers to raise the center section of the loop area on the right. This area will have a couple of spur tracks for businesses. We'll be working on that tomorrow. . .
I had to make a run to Reeds Hobby Shop in La Mesa to pick up 8 feet of 4 inch foam risers. I realized that I did not account for these sections so I was off to La Mesa.
Because there are so many photos for this post, I will include captions for each photo. . .
Peace,
Sean, sean@twinimaging.com
Pictured here are the ends of two 1inch riser sections. To enhance flexibility, I glued each two of the 2 foot sections together. I wanted to maintain the "Z" pattern for maximum flexibility. The "Z" pattern is broken so I did not glue the ends together with this configuration. The next photo shows the continuation of the "Z" configuration. . .
As you can see, the "Z" configuration is maintained for maximum flexibility. . .
I used Woodland Scenics low temp glue-sticks to glue the riser sections together. . .
Here is an example of a low temp glue-stick bead on the end of a 1 inch riser. After applying the low temp glue, hold the sections together for 15 seconds for a secure bond. . .
Pictured above are a number of 1 inch risers glued together to form 4 foot sections for greater flexibility. . .
We used Liquid Nails to glue the foam risers to the plywood base. We chose Liquid Nails because it was inexpensive ($2.27 per tube at Lowe's) and recommended by many modelers as a great choice for gluing foam to wood. . .
Pictured above is a layer of Liquid Nails smoothed out over the mainline path. I used a piece of card stock to spread the bead of Liquid Nails to flat pattern. . .
As you can see, the path is about 1/2 as wide as the foam riser. Using smoothed Liquid Nails bead about half the width of the foam riser is more than enough to adhere the foam riser.
To ensure that foam riser sections are straight, I used a 4 foot level as an edge guide. I used the penciled in mainline as a guide to lay the foam risers around curves. The flexibility of the 4 foot risers sections made laying much more simpler around curves. Additionally, the Liquid nails dried relatively slowly compared to the glue stick which allowed adjustments to the foam riser alignment. . .
Pictured above is a section of the layout with the 1 inch foam risers secured to the plywood. . .
Pictured above is the mainline completed with 1 in foam risers. . .
The next evening, Jasmine and I secured the 3% foam risers to the 1 inch risers using low temp glue-sticks. I tried using the liquid nails but the low temp glue stick material seemed to work better. You have to glue and place the riser quickly because the low temp glue-stick material hardends within 15 to 20 seconds. . .
Here is another section of 3% riser that Jasmine is gluing. . .
This photos helps to illustrate the difference between 1 inch and 4 inch foam risers. . .
The raised sections required 4 inch risers. . .
I tried an experiment. I wanted to heat the foam cutting blade, using my wife's hot air craft gun, to make cutting through foam much simpler. However, the hot air gun did not make the blade hot enough. I think I'll run into the kitchen quickly to heat the blade on the stove. . .
I used the foam knife to cut out the crossing section. The lower tracks will be hidden in a tunnel. . .
I used my tallest car to determine the car roof clearance.
Rather than use a piece of foam to "bridge the gap", I'm having my friend Doug mill down a pice of wood to 1/2 inch to make a more sturdy overpass. A 1/2 foam piece could have work but probably would have sagged over time. . .
I need to add a 1/2 inch section at the top of the 4 inch riser to match the height of the end of the 3% riser foam section. I should have bought 1/2 inch risers when I was at the Reeds Hobbies today but I just cut sections from one of the 1/2 inch foam sheets. It should also be noted that the transition from 3% grade to level was not abrupt. I placed a piece of track over this section and ran a car over the transition and there was no problem or noticeable change in angle. . .
I did notice that there were height mis-matches between sections of the 3% riser. This is no bid deal; putty or other thick material can be used to fill and even out the gap. . .
This is what we have completed so far. We'll be using foam risers to raise the center section of the loop area on the right. This area will have a couple of spur tracks for businesses. We'll be working on that tomorrow. . .
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Foam - FOam - FOAm - FOAM!!!
I got my "foam stuff" today! The girls and I can get back to building the layout.
I'm going to watch the Woodland Scenics video first so I can get a better understanding of how to implement foam for a model railroad. I know some of the "old school" guys out there will scoff at foam; "It's not stable", "I heard about a guy who used foam and it turned out bad", "The whether will effect it", "I haven't heard anything bad yet, but give it time", "Foam is just a fad - The tried and true Lynn Wescott "L" girder is the way to go." I look at it this way. . . If the Wright Brothers listened to the scoffers, they probably would have never got off the ground.
Have a "foamy" day
Sean, sean@twinimaging.com
Harry the cat is inspecting the boxes from InternetTrains.com
Here's all of the foam materials on the layout.
Here is a 3% grade using foam risers.
Here is the same 3% grade but placed on top of the 1 inch standard risers.
I'm going to watch the Woodland Scenics video first so I can get a better understanding of how to implement foam for a model railroad. I know some of the "old school" guys out there will scoff at foam; "It's not stable", "I heard about a guy who used foam and it turned out bad", "The whether will effect it", "I haven't heard anything bad yet, but give it time", "Foam is just a fad - The tried and true Lynn Wescott "L" girder is the way to go." I look at it this way. . . If the Wright Brothers listened to the scoffers, they probably would have never got off the ground.
Have a "foamy" day
Sean, sean@twinimaging.com
Harry the cat is inspecting the boxes from InternetTrains.com
Here's all of the foam materials on the layout.
Here is a 3% grade using foam risers.
Here is the same 3% grade but placed on top of the 1 inch standard risers.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Crisp and clean with no caffeine. . .
If you remember "Big Daddy Kane" from the late 80's - early 90's you'll remember the line, "Crisp and clean with no caffeine", from his song, "I get the job done."
Well, I found out today that if you want to run DCC, you'll need to keep clean track and wheels. I took my SD40 over to the club today. I have run it a few times before but found out today that the wheels need cleaning. I kept loosing the DCC signal so the engine kept starting and stopping. I took a look at the wheels and they were quite dirty. I did get to hang out with Bob Grech and run the mainline so that was fun. You can see the photos of the run below. Bob was kind enough to weather a steam era boxcar for me. He did a great job - you can see the boxcar in the second photo.
I still haven't received my materials from InternetTrains.com so I'm on hold right now for my layout.
Have a great weekend!
Peace,
Sean, sean@twinimaging.com
Well, I found out today that if you want to run DCC, you'll need to keep clean track and wheels. I took my SD40 over to the club today. I have run it a few times before but found out today that the wheels need cleaning. I kept loosing the DCC signal so the engine kept starting and stopping. I took a look at the wheels and they were quite dirty. I did get to hang out with Bob Grech and run the mainline so that was fun. You can see the photos of the run below. Bob was kind enough to weather a steam era boxcar for me. He did a great job - you can see the boxcar in the second photo.
I still haven't received my materials from InternetTrains.com so I'm on hold right now for my layout.
Have a great weekend!
Peace,
Sean, sean@twinimaging.com
Monday, July 31, 2006
Layout design block - I need some help. . .
I have the basic design of the layout down but I wanted to add some areas for switching and I can't seem to come up with ideas. If any of you have any ideas for the layout, please let me know.
The layout is a "L" shapped 5' x 12' x 5' design. The main line minimum radius is 28". The area where the main line crosses over itself will have the lower main line in a tunnel.
Peace,
Sean, sean@twinimaging.com
The layout is a "L" shapped 5' x 12' x 5' design. The main line minimum radius is 28". The area where the main line crosses over itself will have the lower main line in a tunnel.
Peace,
Sean, sean@twinimaging.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
