London-Flat-Friendly Mini-Layout

[Dad-1]

That was a long 'Tea Break' ..............

I tend to be rather lazy regarding roads, the easiest is using just the plywood
surface sanded a few times and then painted with Humbrol Matt 140 a couple
of times. I use masking tape to do the edges of my white lines and paint on
with again matt white enamel paint.
I've always used the same paint, but at different times used Mounting Board,
and wall plaster, but trying to get a good flat surface with plaster is a pain !!

Geoff T.

[Harringay Dave]

Thanks both. I'm new to modelling and I'm not really fussed if it looks a bit rubbish first time, so simpler is better. I'd like to have pavements though.

Would one base mounting board, with lengths of it built up on top for pavements work? This looks pretty similar to a tutorial I saw elsewhere here. Presumably this also gives me the freedom to hack out parts for ironworks, etc...

Equally sanding the baseboard and painting directly to it works for me.

[Bufferstop]

Hi the surface of your board isn't quite rough enough, try laying your road in sandpaper. Well not quite sandpaper, Wet and dry" abrasive sheet is the stuff. 600 grade looks ok especially if it comes in a light grey. Your little layout has an advantage here, you shouldn't need a join in the sheet. Use masking tape and either thick white paint or correcting fluid to mark out the lines. Iron work, manhole covers etc can be cut into the surface. Theres a dark strio where the wheels run, I simulate it by rubbing my Peco track cleaner along the surface. Often theres a lighter patch where vehicles have pulled out of yards, fields etc. Discovered how to get the effect by painful accident, hold the rubber much further down, or dispense with it completely, just rub with your finger tips. The biggest advantage to this method is if you mess up completely you can peel it off and try something else.

[Harringay Dave]

I guess this is still planning, but I've been making some creative solutions!

My viaduct is finished, as I said. The arches were formed of two flaps which formed the pier sidewalls, and a superfluous bit of card which has come in very useful, as you can see.

I've been raiding the coffee shop at work.

I'm being ambitious and am going to scratch build the level crossing, so I've decided to use coffee stirrers. Unfortunately I work for HM Government, so they only have the super cheap, super narrow sort (140x5x1.2). As you can see three of those are too wide for the 4 foot, so I'm going to go to more affluent coffee houses which might have the more expensive 140x7x2 type. The rail is just over 2mm high, so that would work nicely, both in the four foot and on the outside. I'd paint the stirrers the colour of the road, of course, although I'd expect a slight difference, but I reckon that's prototypical to the real world.

With more success comes my plan to block up 3 of the 4 viaduct piers as businesses, as the viaduct is to sit at the back of this (and may well be at the back of any future larger layout that this might be a part of). I used some spare brick pattern from the viaduct for one arch, but I wanted corrugated metal for the other two... Here comes the cardboard sleeve that goes around your cup to save your poor hands. I've backed the waste card arch with this material, which I again will paint. It's likely it's out of scale but I think it works quite nicely and will do for now - it's not beyond the realms that another manufacturer's ridges will be closer together!!!

I've also got some mount board which I will be using liberally, so things are moving forward and the creative juices are flowing...!

20170313_233200.jpg (428.07 KiB) Viewed 1984 times

[Dad-1]

Don't forget matchsticks can make good infill for crossings. stuck togethere and sanded lightly
they make good foot crossings at the end of platforms as well. Look here :-

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=32187&start=30#p411616

Very expensive modelling materials .... you may also venture to buy some cooks matches which
are thicker and longer. no self respecting modeller should be without them !! With fine nylon
fishing line those matchsticks also make great fence posts with cooks matches for gate posts.

You're doing just fine .........

Geoff T

[RAF96]

I have used black foam-board from your local Range or other craft shop for modern-ish roads.

Cut to shape then crush down the edges to produce a camber. Rub on a bit of talcum powder to soften the satin black and make it a bit more grey like roads often are.

I also use a Tippex tape correction device to apply white lines to roads and platform edges. The tape line often cracks up on application adding to the realism (in my opinion anyhow).

Toothpicks with one end trimmed for fence posts, bags of matchsticks and planks from your hobby shop. The list goes on...
Rob

[Harringay Dave]

Been a week - apologies!

I've tested a range of dark paint and I'm happiest with Geoff's suggestion, so ta!

Now I'm asking the age old question about loading gauge. I've read elsewhere which suggests the centre to centre of two tracks should be 67mm for the purpose of curves.

However, the viaduct I've built is marketed as a double track viaduct and is only 105mm wide. That doesn't allow for the 67mm width, but is about 50mm.

Per my plan, I want to run a double track through one of the arches, which is slightly wider than 105mm, but still not enough for the 67mm width. I've lined two wagons next to each other under the arch and have established that 50mm is ample room for both tracks.

From experience, could a member please advise on the classic gap between two tracks question?

Thanks!

[IanM558]

If I remember the measurements correctly, Setrack spacing is 67mm and Peco Streamline is 50mm.

You'll need a spacing greater than 50mm for the curves though to allow for carriages to pass.

[Harringay Dave]

Thanks Ian, I have done it by eye in the end, I've achieved a gap of about 55mm from centre to centre. Pretty pleased with that.

Now I've nailed some track down, and a bit more... I suppose I'm officially under construction, so I'll start a thread over the way in a bit!