Wrightsville Port: N-Scale Waterfront Layout

Nimo Nov 20, 2010

  1. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Now the bridge does sit well, and brings back the old charm to the docks!

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    And after covering up the Screws, bolts and lever access holes:

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  2. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Now some video to see how the running is on the bridge :)

    [video=youtube;aZGGAz1gQuE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZGGAz1gQuE[/video]

    [video=youtube;IblOQ_zbEfo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IblOQ_zbEfo[/video]
     
  3. Packers#1

    Packers#1 TrainBoard Member

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    now THAT is one insane bridge! your layout is really coming along well; I lvoe the theme etc
     
  4. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    I couldn't resist any more... Yes, I thought of touching scenery after being done with the work on the port - the port wall, concrete streets etc. But this weekend, I kind of g 'driven' towards the tunnel.

    First, the tunnel portals. I used styrene stone texture sheets with plain, white, 1mm X 3mm styrene braces for the entrance.

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    Oh! by this time I also took the liberty of doing some ballasting. :p


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  5. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Coming back to the tunnel, I then added the retaining walls...

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  6. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Then the paper mache and the road... This road is going to lead to the Lighthouse. It's a thin service road to handle small and medium vehicles, with very tight clearance for vehicles going in opposite directions. Honestly, I personally would never likely drive, or even ride a car on that piece of @#$*&!

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  7. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    To make things more 'dramatic' there is the spare span of plate girder bridge I saved from the ME Trestle kit. And those black 'n' red wires are to put a couple of ratty street lamps- oh yeah! I have civic sense... :p


    And here is a small dedication to my tree loving wifey! 'Temporary' tree installations (that have since been removed)​
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    Couple of things if you are wondering about them: 1. the derailed tank cars were noticed after the photos were taken and I REALLY didn't have the patience to go back, put them 'back on track' and take the snap again - Oh! common... 2. the Mache is still wet in the pictures - they are supposed to dry up and become rock solid. So far the transformation looks good, and they kind of look like 'white' volcanic rocks - isn't that precious? :p
     
  8. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Scenery: Background Hill

    I continued with scenery for this weekend as well. First I finished the road and made the thermocol/foam base for the hill. I also installed all the street lamps before I put more paper mache in the hill. The testing of the lamps:

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    Then the paper mache... still wet as you can understand from the photos.

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    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 8, 2011
  9. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Now, after I finished the hill and went for testing the lights, I discovered that there is something wrong in the connection! Isn't it precious the way defects are discovered AFTER the installation is complete, despite of all the testing and everything that you do!

    Anyway, I had to spend another couple of hours to adjust the phases. I also discovered for Model Power lights, it's better to keep just three lamps in one phase, more than that, It doesn't work properly irrespective of the capacity of the power sources.

    Also, I brought down the voltage to 6V DC than the prescribed 14V AC. At 14V AC just these 9 lights were enough to light up the whole port! Which is very unrealistic. In reality, street lamps are to light just the streets and diffuse significantly over small distances. 6V serves the purpose perfectly.

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    Well, I also spent some time making the railings on that tiny bridge...

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    Next step: rock formations, shades and N scale vehicles with operating headlights!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 8, 2011
  10. PW&NJ

    PW&NJ TrainBoard Member

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    Man, this is turning out great! Can't wait to see what's up next.
     
  11. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks so much, :D progress is still not as fast as I like, but I'm getting there... slooooowwlyy... :p
     
  12. PW&NJ

    PW&NJ TrainBoard Member

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    Hey, you're wayyy ahead of me. :)
     
  13. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    [h=3]Scenery: First Attempt on Trees, More Paper Mache[/h]

    I was always searching for a better ways to make cheaper trees. The only set of tress that I bought so far are 4 Bachmann trees for around $4, and that's as cheap as it can get for off the shelf, ready trees - unless they are second hand. So I knew for a long time that I would have to make my own. But I didn't really want to go down the traditional road of twisting wires. As usual I wanted faster results, so I took out some dead basil plants from my mother's garden that I collected a few months back... cut the branches to make the trunk. Here is a couple of test pictures to show how the trunks look:



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    The only tress with leaves in these photos are Bachmann ones.

    For leaves I took out the year-old stock of PVC dust that I collected while making my 3" telescope. I colored them green and let dry for about 6 hours.
     
  14. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Then I took the dead basil branches, put glue on them and then dip in this stock...


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    Honestly, I myself didn't like the appearance of the trees that much - actally the trucks looked more realistic than how it looks with leaf on it. The problem is, these leaves stick to only those branches, it cannot spread out in thin layer from the main branches. I need to device something for that and then try again...

    Well, now I have to prepare for shifting... so no railroading for quite some time... Here is a small video to look at for next few days...
     
  15. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    [video=youtube_share;dVjwtptXlg4]http://youtu.be/dVjwtptXlg4[/video]
     
  16. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Well, this is actually a late update that I couldn't post 2 week's back because I was shifting my apartment and all. I was not at all happy and satisfied how the basil branches looked with the foliage. clearly it was weird! The problem was, an N scale tree of that size (around 3 inches tall) must have more branches, more leaves and thicker trunk - it should not look like "some green stuff stuck to small, dead branches!" Overall the very structure of these trees were wrong. So I threw them away, and when I was about to throw the rest of the branches, I had an idea, and it worked far better...

    All I had to do was to add more branches, right - both thick and thin? So I took some electrical wires - think single strand and thin multi-strand. I wrapped them around the basil in different shapes, and twisted them like branches.

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    Once set, I applied glue all over the tree and then dip it in the pvc foliage I had already prepared. Once dried, I had a decent looking tree - that looked like... well, a tree...

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    The copper wires would eventually lose the glossy effect in due time during weathering and the deep brown hue would look perfect for tree branches.

    Now, this might not be the best model tree around, but at least the effort wasn't all in-vein and it did work to a satisfactory level (and not to mention they literally come free-not even a single penny was invested behind the tree, well, except time), so I am more or less happy. After all, what's a project without some failed experiments and goof-ups!
     
  17. PW&NJ

    PW&NJ TrainBoard Member

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    Excellent save, Nimo! That came out great! I was thinking that stranded wire might come in handy for scenicking. :)
     
  18. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Thank you! it's always fun to make something out of nothing... and yes, wires always come in handy... :D :p
     
  19. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Well, it's been an uncomfortable two months where I didn't really get any time to spend on the layout - absolutely none! Crazy work pressure, new home (and problems that come with it as a package), festive season... it's never been worse since the time I stated building the layout. So, yes, I was absent... for a long time...

    But that doesn't mean that nothing really happened in the past two months! :) I got a new loco (Bachmann SD45) which changed my perception toward Bachmann to a good extent. This $25 loco has unbelievable detailing - trust me you can buy it for 25 dollars even as a dummy! it runs pretty well too... initially the noise was a little concern, but, it became far far better just with half an hour of breaking session. But was there nothing in this that reminds you that it's a 'Bachmann?' indeed... there is... the headlights are WHITE LED... yes, you read it right - white... and I am still trying to figure out on what consideration Bachmann could ruin such a great loco by installing white LED. But hey, the rest of things are so good, I have started ignoring the LED within 24 hours.

    Along with the loco I had some flat cars and a covered hopper, plus some other supplies to make street lights and signals - planning to start on those soon.

    Coming to the layout itself, there is some serious upgradation there as well. I was planning to put the empty space below the layout to spme good use for a long time, and just before Durga Puja, I asked a professional carpentar to take my woden stands and make top open cupboards. As of now, it stands just with a coat of wood primer, but you can get a feel of it from the below photos.

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    Once painted, I am hoping, this will look really good...​

     
  20. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Now coming to the actual modeling, today I took some light approach to get back to the workbench, and that is making the rock faces on the hills, while my wife paints the bridges.​

    As a material I used simple modeling clay on top of the paper mache hill and used a piece of wood to carve the clay when it's still soft. This is an air hardening material, so I took one section of the hill at a time, finish the carving and carry on to the next part:​


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    By this time my wife finished coloring the small plate girder bridge:

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    And after that, the road was painted a first coat of glossy black...​

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