Well, being inspired by Torsja's work last christmas, John Cubbins' work this last year, John's shadow box layouts, Lajos, Lorens and others small layouts, I decided to give it a go. Mine is and 18 inch circle of wood. You can get them at hardware stores for about 7 bucks. Well, I used Micro track 195mm. Painted, weathered and ballasted lightly with ground cover. Yes, ground cover! It really works well. Although it takes several applications. The Barn is GClaser, the Grain elevators are scratch built, (my 3rd version). The road is noch foam tape, tree's are woodlan scenics, static grass is noch. The telephone poles are atlas N cut down to size and the crossing signals are sctrach built. The controller is the Ztheck snail speed controller. Altogether, it took a good 40-48 hours of labor from start to finish. Enjoy! I really liked the way it came out.
Good lord, don't let my wife see this. I'll never get my room-size layout! Very nice job. I, too, would like to see some closeups and different angles!
Neat little layout, room for lots of detail. Here is a small pizza I found a while back: http://www.zen98812.zen.co.uk/pizza.html
Very Nice! Your structure building and scratchbuilding skills are top notch too! You had scenery down from the start!
Joe, Super job! Looks great. Perhaps you could share with us your technique for the ground cover. It looks so subtle. Certainly more realistic than just ballast. As pizzas go I love it, but Uncle Guido would probably want anchovies and garlic on it! lvdonna
I appreciate the kind words. I will try and get a few close ups. As for the process for the track the best way I can describe it is like this. First I paint the track. I used a mix of asphalt and earth. Then I brushed glue on the sides and worked in the ground cover. I used my fingers to press it to give it a conformed slope. I added layers as the glue dried. Then, with a base down, I added more foam, and dribbled glue water mix. Again I worked in several applications and worked it with my fingers to get a uniform slope. Well I repeated that process until it was at the hight of the ties and then I added a bit between the ties and glued. Time consumming, but easy to fix with alcohol mist.
Really nice Joe, I have to admit I love the small layouts done well. John Ztrains: Z Scale (1:220) Model Railroading Information
Thanks all! Here is a close up as best I can do. I think it shows the ability to mask the micro track.
Very neat. Small, simple and well executed. It can be even dropped into the middle of a Z-Bend Track module.
Thanks Lajos, funny you should mention it can be dropped into something. I just dropped it into a display case with the controller on the outside. Makes for a neat little display.
Ahhh, funny you should notice that. Those are my N scale loco's. My wife found a retail display case over christmas for 100 bucks. Sure we had to repaint, refinish, and clean the glass, but it was neat. So since I still have my N scale layout for the boys, I displayed all the trains on my half of the display. So what you see is SD70 and SD 90 in CSX along with CNW and PC in N scale on the top shelf. On the bottom is O and HO from my childhood days. I put this Z in the middle. From where I grew up, I was a PC, Chessie, and CNW fan. No suprise in N I modeled these...until N got good running steam! Then the Z bug bit with the moguls, (my favorite loco period) and the rest is Historzzzz.
Now that's just perfect! A beautiful little layout in a beautiful display case. NOW I WANT ONE TOO! Enjoy your little jewel Joe. Bill Mock
Yes the road! I originally thought about it stopping but it ruined the visual so I just bent it down on the edge. Plus it hid the wires for the controller as I didn't want to drill all the way through the board.
Actually you could return to the edge not only the road, but every part of the landscape. It's very common on paintings, the theme continues at the edge of canvas.
Lajos, I thought about continuing the cover but was worried that handling the layout might disrupt it. However, now that you mentioned it, I might give that idea a try this weekend since, I have a place to keep it and not get touched. I know this much, I think I am having more fun trying to make something small look respectable than a large layout.
