I like messing around with my layout but want to achieve the highest standard possible whilst keeping all my purchases movable and reusable.are there any tips for achieving this eg laying and ballasting track without glue, introducing inclines and viaducts with temporary fixings , fixng trees and shrubs etc.
I use sheets of gaugemaster grass and tarmac but cant fix it down well without glue.
Ps im a newbie with limited modelling skills
Hello Norfolkrover,
My layouts are semi permanent, the track and scenery are fixed but the buildings, vehicles and people are moveable.
I think you could attach Peco track with track pins as opposed to glue to make it easier to change but I wouldn't advise loose ballast as it could get into the loco wheels and gears and cause problems. Loose scatter material would do the same. It would be better to go for track with moulded ballast like Kato or Fleischmann or leave out ballast altogether.
On my home layout the buildings are loose because I like to change my mind and move them around and I take them off the layout to clean them. I also have a few portable modular layout sections that go into a club layout, they have detachable buildings that are kept in a box for transport because they would probably get damaged if attached to the module.
For semi permanent attachment of foliage and small scenic details I would recommend Scenic Accents Glue made by Woodland Scenics. It is a white glue that comes in a small bottle with a brush in the lid. It dries clear and tacky and has enough grip to hold small items in position but allows them to be moved.
It's also very useful dabbed on the inside of troublesome couplings to prevent wagons detaching themselves from the train.
My home layout will have to be dismantled quite soon and I'm hoping to salvage everything except the plaster scenery, scatter materials and the baseboard.
Regards
Veronica.
Some thoughts . . .
The landscape on my layout is removable - just. It is made from Jablite insulation foam (from B and Q) and also Spaceboard (also from B & Q but harder to track down). I use cocktail sticks to align it to the baseboard - which is foam too.
If you have a permanent baseboard, you could stick some sheets of Spaceboard or Jablite on the top and then use the cocktail stick principle to hold it in place
My track is Kato and it is ballasted. Painting it helps to cover the unijoiners
Link to my layout (which has undergone several changes and will shortly be transformed into 'urban by the sea' as I am not happy with the trees
http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=3678.msg41700#msg41700 (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=3678.msg41700#msg41700)
I think it's a great advantage to be able to move and change various elements of your layout around especially at the start of the project. If you are modelling a real place and have a track plan and map to work from there is very little guesswork but if your layout is freelance then experimentation is needed.
You may have a railway trackplan to work from but there are lots of other things to consider, there's usually a fair amount of town planning involved. My home layout has quite a few mistakes that I hope to eliminate from the next one. For instance, I have a station with virtually no parking facilities for cars, a couple of roads that lead nowhere, and some sections of the layout that none of the miniature inhabitants could get to. The layout doesn't look terrible but I should have spent more time making it work a bit more logically. My problem was that I wanted to fit too many elements into it.
Leaving buildings and scenery loose allows you to re position them so they not only work logically but look pleasing too.
Regards
Veronica
:NGaugeForum:
I've just joined this forum and posted details of my layout Pendas Whin http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=media;sa=album;in=448 (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=media;sa=album;in=448)
As I live in a small flat, this board has to be moved at short notice, so no detailed bits attached that could be swiped off due to a moment's inattention.
Track is Fleischmann Piccolo, ready-ballasted, only pinned down, track changes have been implemented quite easily.
The station platform is glued down, but with Evostik contact adhesive, so it could be carefully lifted away and surplus glue cleaned off for reuse.
The Noch green matting is only glued down with the same brand of glue but much of that could be reused. However the pavements are painted card so wouldn't survive a dismantling operation.
I own several Lyddle End buildings which can be fitted at will. However, due to a recent flat move, they're all boxed away and I haven't yet had time to unwarp, unpack and photograph them in situ.
If space was too restricted I could dismantle this layout and reuse all except the card pavements and some of the greenery for a future project (about 90-95%)
Thanks guys may try the evostick contact adhesive. When you see all the exhibition layouts am i right to think they are permanent ie everything glued down and not reusable ? Some fairly high spec layouts go on ebay for peanuts yet second hand components seem expensive. I like the noch range yet am loath to paint and glue my bridges etc as i often think about resale value for the mistaken purchases ive made as i learn.
Quote from: Norfolkrover on June 02, 2013, 09:58:39 PM
When you see all the exhibition layouts am i right to think they are permanent ie everything glued down and not reusable?
In most cases yes ;) I know some such as 'Cragmill' by the Chester NGS Area Group has removable modules on small boards that slot in, making working on them easier and also allowing them to be swapped to change the scenery between exhibitions. Other than that everything is usually stuck down otherwise they'd never survive being transported around :thumbsup:
Paul
Quite a few exhibition layouts have all the buildings and tall stuff removable so the boards can be stacked and moved. The key is primarily in arranging the baseboard so that the buildings do not sit on the board but in shallow pockets, and they positively locate.
That ranges from some of the model builders who have a good inch below ground level to people putting 1mm of card+scatter around the edge of where RTR buildings fit into place.
Providing things sit in pockets they don't appear to be flying and you don't get strange views under walls.
For stuff this is hard to do (like pylons) amazing things can be done with bits of scrap metal and magnets in the board.
Alan