I installed the motor, set up the front door vignette, and have all the lights working. It’s done for now…
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Category Archives: Scenery
Road Foam Update
Well, my original idea of foam for the roads in town didn’t work out too well…
The arrows (click for a larger version) show the problem.
And Done
The Pola windmill is now complete. Lights added and the whole thing put together, here it is on the workbench.
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I expect it to make a big impression on the layout.
All that’s left is to motorize the blades and it’ll be ready to go outside.
Windmill Nearing Completion
Good progress today… Here’s the mill test-fitted together and a view of it inverted so you can see the detail of the woodwork. This is pretty neat, though it will be out of sight to most observers.
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More Windmill Progress
New Structure for the Layout
I bought this a few weeks ago:
Continue reading New Structure for the Layout
Sail Fail
Well, the best laid plans of mice and men gang oft agley, as Bobby Burns said.
Here’s the outcome of my earlier plan for a fixed-position floating sailboat
Logs by the Sawmill
Here are those KaDee logs, all painted up and in an acrylic “holder” (I love my laser cutter!) near the sawmill
Another Car for the Layout
Here’s another eBay find. These Danbury Mint cars sold for ridiculous prices when new, but now can be bought for around $20. I’d never put one out on the layout at full price ($100)–but this eBay find will go out later this week.
Some Kadee Logs for the Sawmill
More Pond Progress
I was able to make some more progress today. I got the rest of the liner-hiding rock-on-a-roll installed on the front and mostly filled the pond with water.
I need to get some additional plants, line the bottom of the pond with rock-on-a-roll and finish up. But I think it will look good.
Kitbashed Crane
I think this came out pretty good.
I’ve been working on my logging scene, which is a lumber mill, lumber warehouse, and small wooded area for the last few weeks. One thing I thought it needed was a work crane–but I wasn’t thinking I’d actually spend money on one at the moment. Shoestring budget and other priorities.
Continue reading Kitbashed Crane
Sawmill and Lumber Warehouse
Here are the “finished” buildings for the sawmill and trackside warehouse scene.
This is the Mill and warehouse together
Here’s the sawmill interior
Continue reading Sawmill and Lumber Warehouse
Refurbishing / Upgrading Buildings
I really should have done it this winter, but I was busy building new buildings and finishing up the track work. So it’s time to drag in a few buildings that sat outside all winter and work on them. First up was my kitbashed CMS main street building. While the front windows still look good and the lights in them are fine, I realized that I’d put no lights on the loading doc. This turned out to be a mistake, since that’s the side that faces the house. So I added three LED lights to the loading doc which really added to the look of the town at night.
New Cars
Will be adding these to the layout in the next day or two
New Buildings in Progress
I’m working on a couple of new buildings for the layout. The first is the Pola lumber mill
The second is the Piko BayWa warehouse
Continue reading New Buildings in Progress
Sailboat Idea
Here in Kansas, the wind is a constant problem in the garden. Gusts up to 40mph regularly move things around (including buildings) and wreck havoc.
I’ve been thinking about putting a boat in my pond when it’s done, but with the wind it would need to be anchored somehow. Add to that the possibility of water-level fluctuations, and there’s a problem–if the water gets low and the wind blows, the boat could possibly wind up on shore.
Cheap Ambient Sound
I bought several of these
to use to make the layout more interesting. I found these tiny MP3 players and speakers on eBay. About $6 for the set. I had micro SD cards on hand, but if you had to buy those you’d need to add that to the cost.
Continue reading Cheap Ambient Sound
Laser cut houses
One really nice thing about laser cutting styrene structures is that once the file is created, you can cut as many as you want with (almost) no additional effort. This one has a different roof (made from a CMS shingle pattern section) and I tried out some laser cut windows and doors. But the walls are cut from the same file as the other one.
So I built this house for around $10 in materials: half of a $4 sheet of 6mm sintra, $3 worth of Plastruct strips, $4 for the roof panel, and some paint. And (IMO) it looks as good as a more expensive kit-built structure–for sure from 10 feet away.
Continue reading Laser cut houses
Sidewalk cafe outside
Here are the cafe tables on the street. I think I need to turn the bases 90° so the people aren’t sitting with their backs to the street. But I’m happy with how these came out.