At age 72 with limited space and color printing capability, I was able to relive a part of my youth when a 4′ x 8′ sheet of 3/4″ plywood was acres and acres.
So with computer images, balsa wood, a color printer, a couple of car kits, and purchased landscaping and a few spots of glue, this is what I came up with.
Thanks for your great email links and photos.
Sincerely,
Joe”
There’s quite a few dioramas on the blog now, here are a few more:
There’s more on the blog, but that’s enough for now!
Henry’s up next, with his annual update on his layout:
“Hello Alastair
It is the 4th of January 2025, so let me wish you and all your readers a very happy 2025.
It has become tradition that every year on the 4th of January, I do an annual layout update, and this year is no exception, it is now 8 years since I have started my current layout.
I include a link to the youtube video, plus a few random photos.
Don’s been in touch with his HO scale steel mill buildings:
“Hi again Al,
First of all love this website, completely enjoy viewing all of the displays that people post. There is a ton of talent, patience, that go into each display you let us look at.
This is my 2nd attempt at my steel mill display. I don’t have much to say other than this is a FANTASTIC hobby.
When you can create your own environment and display how you feel and to have family and friends come over and view your display is a great feeling. I have gone thru local steel mills around Pittsburgh, Pa and other surrounding states many times. Some very scary compared to others. Some no longer in existence.
Until you are standing beside some of this equipment you don’t realize how massive and dangerous these places are.
I have always been fascinated by these mills.
This will be up for a couple of months then I will dismantle and rebuild another layout. This display is not perfect.
Thanks everyone for your great ideas and for sharing them with us.
Don”
HO scale steel mill buildings:
A huge big thanks to Don for sharing his HO scale steel mill buildings, you all know how much I love a theme.
I thought Don has the mood and feel of the mills just right – loved the ‘smoke’!
There are some real howlers in it – have a look at the left hand side of the second scene – the bridge just ends.
But overall, I’m pleased with it, because when we create a layout, in our heads, it’s a living breathing thing, and I do think a vid like this does bring it to life.
Anyhow, let me know what you think in the comments below, and whether you’d like me to do some more.
Dean has been in touch with is N scale fire station construction:
“Al,
Recently I put together an N-scale cardstock Fire Station from one of your printouts.
Rather than cut the parts by hand, I used a commercial cutting machine, the Cameo 4 Plus that I had purchased from Silhouette America awhile back. Current price is around $180. Such machines are available from at least one other company. Note, I have no connection with Silhouette America.
I put together the walls of the fire station in four layers to give the model a 3-dimensional effect John has described in his excellent videos.
Cutting the small parts in N-scale is tedious and almost impossible for someone as old as me (I’m 83). But the machine is easy to use and it is easy to manipulate the printout parts within the software.
I use their software (which is free) to do lots of other things, such as designing and printing small signs. The software comes with references to a help manual and numerous instructional videos.
I started by importing each wall into the software, then dropping the size down to N scale. The four edges of each wall were then sliced within the software to give a final part.
In the final printout below you can see there are two copies of each wall. One copy (which is the outside one) has the windows and doors covered with black boxes.
Although you can’t see it, all the rectangular boxes are lined with fine red lines. These lines tell the machine where to cut during the cutting process. The edges of the walls also have these red lines. The window openings ended up with dimension of 5.56 mm by 10.15 mm to give you an example of the precision of the cutting machine.
The screen shot below shows the final printout of the sheet containing copies of the four walls, two copies each. The inside wall has the details in the windows, the outside has the cut-out holes.
The top left black square and the L’s at the top right and bottom left corners are printed out by the software and are used by a detector in the cutting head to locate the position of the paper.
The paper is held on a sticky mat in the machine during cutting. The cutting process is shown in my YouTube video referenced below.
A photo of the cutting machine in action is shown below. The parts were printed on a sheet of photo paper (0.25 mm)
Here I’m pulling up the excess paper from the mat.
And now I’m pulling up one of the wall pieces showing how the cut rectangles stay on the mat.
This shows how the pieces fit together perfectly.
At this point I decided to add a third internal piece to increase the thickness of the wall. This was cut out from 0.25 mm cardstock and was placed between the two wall parts.
I glued the three parts together using my glueing jig that I have previously described. I used Loctite Super Glue “Ultra Liquid Control” for this. If you print out your parts on cardstock, you can use white glue, but this doesn’t dry properly with photo paper.
Below is one of the walls after glueing of the three layers.
I cut 3/16” balsa pieces to hold the walls together glued with white glue. Also held together with small magnets while the glue dried in my gluing jig. The wax paper kept the glue off the sides of the jig
I blacked the tops of the walls since I wanted a parapet to show. Then I glued more balsa strips to the hold the roof.
I printed out the roof to size, then glued it to a sheet of balsa, then to the internal supports.
At this point, I realized the corners were pretty ugly. So, I made four strips (45 x6 mm) with a score line down the middle. I used a piece of the top wall to copy the color. The score line was made by using the cutting machine at a lower setting. You can see one of these in the photo below. The pin in an eraser end was used to manipulate the delicate part.
Here the piece is glued on to the corner.
Another view of the model
I made a PVA base for the model with my 3-D printer since the base had to be stable and waterproof. I could have used sheet styrene for this, but didn’t have it on hand.
I took the image of the roof, lightened it in the software, then added thin lines to represent joints in the concrete. After sizing and printing it, I glued it to the PVA base.
Finally, here is the final model after I glued it to the base
In the video there is a reference to an earlier one that talked about the first steps of making this model and a second reference to one that shows how I made my glueing jig.
In previous comments on cutting machines, people have said that they can’t afford something like this. But, I find it so useful, in printing out model walls, signs, or even roads; in cutting out complex cardstock pieces; or constructing diagrams for my videos.
So, I’ve had one of these for several years and find it well worth the price. Its price is comparable to a new locomotive.
Cheers to all and Happy New Year,
Dean in New Mexico”
A huge big thanks to Dean for sharing his N scale fire station.
Here’s another one:
“Hi Al,
Had a go at your firestation pleased with the way it came out
Bob”
And I also got this in from Daniel, which is very timely:
“Just spent a few minutes with crazy John while I had morning coffee on the porch. Big weekend for us Yanks, ya know. Haha. Video was very enjoyable.
The firehouse was certainly well done, but tell John that the tower is not a lookout, but a very important part of the firehouse….it is where they hang the hoses after use so they dry.
Modern hose materials may not require it as much, but that was the real intended use of the tower.
All the best to you.
Mn Dan
Dan”
When it comes to the printable buildings I’m woefully behind in getting them into the new store.
For the moment, you can still grab this cracking deal though.
