Exhibition layouts, general question not a criticism!

[petercharlesfagg]

Friends,

I have only ever attended 3 model railway shows in my life, one in Southampton and two TINGS shows.

Overall I am impressed by the patience and the dedication to details.

One thing that I find merely a tad distracting and irritating is where the constructors go to enormous lengths to produce some thing that is almost true to life BUT do little to disguise the joins in the baseboards!

Are removable walls or hedges, for example, or perhaps buildings etc. that bridge and conceal too difficult to envisage?

Your comments, good, bad or indifferent are welcome.

Regards, Peter. 

[MJKERR]

Trying to disguise the joins between baseboards is always a compromise
You also need to take into account the transportation of each baseboard, so in many cases you will also note there is less scenery within the three inches of the edge of a baseboard
Sadly layouts are typically designed around a track plan and the baseboard join is that compromise

Even my own layouts have suffered this issue

However, I have to agree some owners have attempted to disguise the edges using removable scenery, such as hedges, but this is not always possible

The best join I have seen was at Kings Park (regular layout at the TNGS)
One of these is partially disguised by the catenary, and only noticeable on closer inspection

[Dorsetmike]

You mean like this

[smg id=6571]

OK the rest of it's not brill where I added a second cottage, but you can't see the join, Chinese Ebay trees taken apart and laid horizontally

[Sprintex]

Baseboard joins are one of those things I think most of us just accept and almost ignore, but there will always be a few that get irked by it

Personally they don't bother me so sorry Peter, but if my layout ever makes it to a show you're not gonna be happy with it


Paul

[GScaleBruce]

Interesting one. My eye "forgives" the gap because I know why it's there, but Mrs GScaleBruce was particularly impressed by a layout where the joins were less visible than normal.

[Skyline2uk]

You know what, I didn't give it a thought at the time, but have just checked some photo's of my personal fav layout at TINGS this year and I can now spot the join.

In this case its because the join is in a (prototypical) large field, so very hard indeed to hide completely.

I believe (though only through discussing such things with owners / operators) that with an exhibition layout running qualities and reliability are high up the list of what is important, so keeping the rails absolutely aligned at joints is key.

Good topic though, interested in what has been tried by others to minimise impact....

Skyline2uk

[bridgiesimon]

There was one layout in particular on which the size of the gaps were noticeable tiny - cannot remember the name but it was American - suddenly thought , twas Santa Barbara or something similar. We were impressed, a great layout in all though!

Simon

[Bealman]

It is an interesting topic... but I am sometimes so impressed by the sheer size of some of the exhibits, I am amazed they even get there and set up at all, so my eyes and brain tend to forget about the joins.

Mind you, these days my mind forgets a lot of things, and me eyes don't work real well either 

[Michael Shillabeer]

Hello

For Royal Wootton Bassett I've opted for the longest boards I can get in my car (6 feet) and made them narrow (18 inches) so there are no visible joins across the rails.

My join however is 6 feet long running left to right between two boards to give 3 feet of depth. My theory is that this will be much easier to hide than a join that runs back to front.

Just theory at the moment...

Best regards
Michael

[Bealman]

I'm not sure I can visualise that... we're talking end-to-end then?

[Bealman]

To certain extent, ignore my post above, because I just looked at the plan. Still not sure I understand the joins, though.

[Michael Shillabeer]

6 feet is the visible section. The joints at each end of this are off stage and hidden by road bridges.
Is this a bit clearer?
Best regards
Michael

[Sprintex]

Think of a 6x3 layout, then instead of sawing it across the middle into two 3x3's you saw it lengthwise into two 6x1.5's


Paul

[Bealman]

Thanks guys. Bealman brain bubble. Understand now. 

Might just get a roadie in before dinner.

George