Model railroad layouts plans

Paul’s been in touch with a very interesting HO scale project:

“Hi Al

I am sharing a new project I started.

The idea came from an article in a recent Model Railroader magazine.

In it the author mentions that many folks, including myself, install a fascia around the perimeter of their layouts which creates a barrier between the real world and the modeling world.

By removing this barrier and softening the edge the two worlds can come together.

I started making the change about 3 weeks ago and like the way it looks. It’s a simple HO scale project too.

In the photos I show how I did this and what the outcome looks like.

Some existing fascia on part of my layout which I plan to change.

The new look with the softened edge and no barrier.

The plywood structure attached just below where the top edge of the fascia was removed. I used 1/2″ plywood and some wedges I made and screwed to the layout to hold it on. On my first attempt I used metal brackets but since Covid-19 I wasn’t able to get anymore so I made wooden wedges which cost zero.

Shows bunched up newspaper being stapled onto the plywood to provide shape for the plaster cloth to follow.

Shows plaster cloth being applied.

Shows spackle being applied over the paster cloth to fill voids and add texture of soil and rocks.

Paint with tans and grays to simulate soil and rocks —I normally paint the convex areas to look like rocks and the concave areas to hold soil.

The finished result with ground cover applied and plants such as bushes and trees.

Close up of the area —decorate to your taste.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed doing it.

Paul”

A huge thanks to Paul for sharing his HO scale project – I think it looks fab.

I thought it would be fun to make a video of it:

Now on to Ben:

“For me, in addition to the planning and building of the layout, I enjoy creating different scenes that the trains run through. And although I’ve been into the hobby for 15 years, I still feel like a beginner. There is so much to learn and so much to share. Which brings me to the “Thank You” part of this note.

I want to thank you, Al, for publishing everyone’s comments, ideas, suggestions and questions. I have learned SO MUCH from these postings! I also really enjoy the videos that people share, so I thought I would share one of my own.

Ben from Chicago.”

You can see all of Ben’s HO scale model railroad here.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming – and don’t forget the The Beginner’s Guide is here if you want to stop dreaming and start doing.

Best

Al

PS More HO scale train layouts here if that’s your thing.

Peter’s been in touch with a great post: How to make decals for model trains.

Just scroll down to if you want to jump straight to it because I’m going to start with something odd(ish).

Then some train stuff (obviously).

So let’s start with the odd.

I have no idea whether the following is a prank, or Bert is indeed flying around in space.

Not long ago Ben posted a wonderful video on his layout (it’s at the bottom of this post).

Now some of you would have missed it, but one of the comments left was from:

“BERT aka “BULLDAWG 1”
NASA ASTRONAUT
CURRENTLY ON ORBIT 261 MILES ABOVE PLANET EARTH TRAVELING AT A SPEED OF 17,500 MPH WHICH TRANSLATES TO TRAVELING AT 5 MILES PER SECOND.🇺🇸🚀🚀
ABOARD THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION”

To be brutally honest, I didn’t take it too seriously.

But then Ben got in touch – he wanted to see know if Bert was indeed an astronaut, before he told his grandson.

So I mailed Bert.

Here’s his reply:

“Re: You really on the space station, Bert?

Yes, got pretty busy up here the last 18 hours.

We had a change of arriving Russian crew members that were changed at the last minute as the both of them had been in a different kind of quarantine for a later mission but worldwide situation it was decided to send them instead of the 2 scheduled cosmonauts who were in a shorter duration quarantine.

I have received further information yesterday on a possible extension of my time on the station due to the fact that I am a military M. D. & Having an M. D. On the station is a needed safety decision that was made in good judgement.

My military flight nickname is Bert aka BULLDAWG 1 Another nickname is DREW THAT my family and close friends call me most of the time.

One of the cosmonauts here is fasinated with the train video and in fact is viewing it at this very moment.

We are in one of our dark night cycles and will be back in daytime here in less than an hour, as we see a sunrise and sunset every 90 minutes

Wishing you the best and stay healthy &,Safe.

Andrew (DREW ) Morgan

Bert aka BULLDAWG 1”

Well – the first thing that struck me was that it didn’t read like the reply of a prankster.

So then I asked for a pic and have not heard from Bert since. Then again, he’s probably got better things to do with his time.

What do you think folks?

I know Bert’s wiki page says he is in space right now – but whether that really is from Bert, we’ll never know.

Leave a comment below and let me know. Have I been had?

Now on to some train stuff – Peter and his step by step: How to make decals for model trains

You may remember Peter from his last post, which is here.

“Al

Further to the last article on transfers for locomotives etc..

When I used transparent A4 vinyl self adhesive paper…printed on the ink jet printer..

But this paper was too thick to follow the ribbed contours on the loco side…and just went across them.

There were a couple of people in Germany who were using proper decal paper..

And their results were exceptional…

I made contact with them and managed to get some information on how to do these transfers..–

I had to obtain the decal paper from a source in Germany who gave the thickness of the paper [12 microns] [7 micron paper is too thin and not easily manageable]..

No one I approached in the UK was able to give this information, out of dozens of companies I approached..

This decal paper follows the ribbed lines on the side of the loco..[Swiss re 460/465 loco’s]

The decal paper I purchased was for laser jet printing…hence the inks do not run when placed in water…

It takes a lot of practice and I am still on a learning curve..

The original logo’s on the loco’s have to be air brushed out, first with a grey primer and then white..

All the art work was done in Coral Draw..

Attached some pictures along with the real live loco’s

Regards

Peter”

A big thanks to Peter for sharing his model train decals.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get started on your layout, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

Kaustav has been back in touch with another excellent ‘how-to’ on HO scale railroad signs.

I do love how he does his detailing – looks fantastic.

“Hi Al,

Hope you and your family are doing well. All your updates are now extremely useful for everyone who subscribe to your blog. It definitely helps me maintain my sanity in this crazy time for sure!

Sorry, I couldn’t email in last few months – it was a wild start to the decade as I am sure it is for many people. I am glad to see that the blog is up and running and the hiccup at the end of last year is a thing of history for your website.

I kept myself busy doing little projects rather than big ones, for various factors, one of which is that I am trying to figure out how to build authentic models /dioramas /layouts of Indian Railways.

Here is my first attempt – a little 22 X 15 inch diorama for a friend who designs custom locos and rolling stock that can be 3D printed.

Most of the things are scratchbuilt, and I intend to share how I achieved some great results with very easy techniques.

Here is the first of the video series – making the unique HO scale railroad signs.

Will send more photos and videos soon.

Take care and stay safe everyone.

Cheers!

Kaustav”

Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

A huge thank you to Kaustav for sharing his HO scale railroad signs – I do love his stuff. Who can forget his barge weathering ‘how to’?

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get stop dreaming and start doing, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

PPS More HO scale layouts here if that’s your thing.