Model railroad layouts plans

Keith’s been in touch with a post to add to the model railroad photography backdrops:

“Hi Al.

Thank you so much for creating and maintaining this site. It is a wonderful spot to rub elbows with those so very talented modelers out there.

I have found what I consider a very good but inexpensive to get a good backdrop.

I have noticed all sorts of modelers’ approaches to creating the background look on their layout. Some folks are talented enough to paint their own – not me.

I found a really good solution on line. I sent a banner company a photo I wanted to use, and they printed it on a 4′ x 15′ banner (no grommets or border roping) for $22.

I asked them, after I had seen the quality of their work, if they could flip the photo so I could butt them and have 30′ of exquisite mountains. I got it. They even cropped the photo according to my instructions.

Here are a couple of photos that show some of the banners – sorry but I am not landscaped as yet. Those are the Alaskan Rockies

Keith G”

Keith’s post reminded me of a few others:

model train backdrops

model railroad backdrop

Painting model railroad backdrops

Paint clouds on model railroad backdrop

N scale backdrop

There are lots more too.

Now on to Dave:

“HI Al, just downloaded part 6 of the re build, I show on this how using Copper tape as a BUS line for your Lighting and also for the track Bus ..and of course a few more tips , re adding rust to the tracks also…

Regards

Dave”

Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

A huge thanks to Keith and Dangerous Dave.

It’s wonderful to see how Dave his stuff. And as Keith says, there are lot so of banner / printing companies out there that can sort your backdrop.

Don’t forget you can get the new backdrop for just $7 at the me:

(Click to enlarge)

Just like all the other backdrops, it’s 18″ x 144″. To print it, just download on to a CD or memory stick, take it to any office stationers (Kinko / Office Max) and print it out on a smooth, self adhesive, vinyl with UV inks and a matte finish.

If you’d like to grab this back drop before it goes in the store at full price, you can grab it here for just $7.

A big thanks to Keith for adding to the model railroad photography backdrops.

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.

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

Peter’s been in touch with his O scale roundhouse:

“Hi Al, wondering if you could post these progress and finished pics of a roundhouse I built from ‘Kitwood models’ located in the UK.

Thanks,

Peter”

A huge thanks to Peter for sharing his O scale roundhouse. I absoulutely love his layout – it has so much character and charm. I can’t wait to see the roundhouse on the layout.

If you want to see Peter’s last post, it’s here.

Peter’s post reminded me of Lawrence’s roundhouse scratch build.

I’ve seen some ambitious scratch builds, but I think most people would shy away from a roundhouse, which is perhaps why I liked it so much:

Scratchbuilt roundhouse building.

Now on to something completely different – another backdrop. It’s the third in the series, hope you like it. Here’s a pic of it:

(Click to enlarge)

Just like all the other backdrops, it’s 18″ x 144″. To print it, just download on to a CD or memory stick, take it to any office stationers (Kinko / Office Max) and print it out on a smooth, self adhesive, vinyl with UV inks and a matte finish. Job done.

If you’d like to grab this back drop before it goes in the store at full price, you can grab it here for just $7.

Please do leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts on the back drop. Always trying to improve – same goes for the ebay cheat sheet too.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming because it’s getting a bit thin on the ground this end.

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.

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

Jim’s been in touch again with his rock molds for model railroads.

If you missed his last post, it’s here.

“Starrpoint Mountain Part Two…..

Hello fellow model railroaders, here is an update on the mountain plus a little extra.

As you can see, the mountain is taking shape nicely. I have started to place the rock formations on the mountain to give it some texture. I looked at a number of mountain pictures, in order to get a close representation of how it should look and this is what I came up with.

The colour of the rocks will closely match the ones in the middle of the mountain. These were salvaged from the original mountain.

Placing the rocks is like doing a jig saw puzzle without any sort of representation. There are approximately120 rocks on now. It took some time to place them all here, since I did not want the fresh ones to become dislodged as the new ones were being placed.

I estimate there will be a total of 300 pieces placed to complete the mountain. It is going to take some time for this, since I can only make 40 castings at a time. I try to make a total of 80 in a day and then install them.

On the lower part of the mountain, I placed a piece of Styrofoam, coated it with the same material used on the mountain, and will plant, trees, some shrubs, and some people relaxing.

Now for the extra! I have six bridge supports holding up the bridge. I purchased one of them from Walthers for $13.00. Now the cost of 6 of them would have cost me a total of $78.00. NO WAY! So I took the original one, made a duplicate rubber mold copy of it and proceeded to make all of the piers for the incredible price of TAH DAH $28.50 and the mold is re-useable again and again. I even made some for the Train Club I belong to.

Can you tell which one below is the original one and which one is the copy? I think NOT! Not all rock molds for model railroads are the same.

To make the rubber mold, I went to the local craft store, picked up the mold kit for $25.00. The mold kit is from ALUMINITE RUBBER MOLD KIT. Comes with everything you need to make any kind of mold you wish. After the mold was made, I then mixed up a batch of Hydrocal, poured it into the mold, let it set and the rest is history. The only problem, you can only make one at a time but since the Hydrocal sets up fairly quickly, I completed all the castings in two days. I then painted the castings with grey paint, to match the original.

Well that’s all for now. It will be some time before I send the next part on the mountain. Want to place the rest of the rock castings, stain them, plant the trees, decorate, set up the radar station etc.

And yes I will have a new project for you to see.

Happy Modeling

Jim”

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“Hi Al, just uploaded part 5 of the new layout, a few tips on here, also shows using the new Peco Static Grass Aplicator, its smaller but it works very well and handy to reach some parts as its smaller, starting to take shape now, but a long way to go yet…

Regards

Dave”

Latest ebay cheat sheet is here. (Thanks for all the comments – please tell me what I should add)

A huge thanks to Jim for sharing his rock molds for model railroads and to Dave – A double bill of updates!

I do love seeing all these layouts slowly take shape. It’s wonderful to see the variety too.

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.

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