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Model Railway Layout: Backdrop Making

March 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Backdrop is very important when you have a wall-hugging type layout and shelf type layout because it will create a proper environment and enhance your layout’s scenery.

backdrop

Backdrop is also used by others even if they have a tabletop or freestanding layout. Backdrop creates an illusion of scenery that extends in an infinite environment.

Making a backdrop is not really difficult as you think, but not too easy. It will take you a tiny effort and a little time to make a perfect one.

backdrop2

If you have a wall-hugging layout, you may want to hide the corners of the room because the corners of the room are not realistic to be used as a scene. You can use hardboard and attach it to the walls that extend from the layout to the ceiling. Make sure that you use hardboard that is flexible enough to make a good rounded area. After you placed the hardboards, use a spackling compound and drywall tape to cover the seams. Sand the seams once the compound dries to make a nice flat surface.

backdrop3

After sanding the seams, next is painting your backdrop with any scenery you desire. It may be clouds, ocean, forest and etc. If you don’t want to paint because it is messy, then you can have printed scenery using your own photographs or you can mix the painting and the printed scenery.

Filed Under: Backdrop, Model Railway Layout Ideas Tagged With: , ,

Model Railroad Benchwork Building

March 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Building a Model Railroad Benchwork basically requires the following elements:

- Supporting structure

- Grid or Platform

- Subroadbed

benchwork3

Supporting structure

If you are a total beginner in this hobby, It is suggested that you will first start with a small layout. Your benchwork may comprise of a 4×8 feet piece of plywood, or a solid 3×6 door that you can inexpensively purchase at a building store, supported on old kitchen table made of wood or folding table that you are no longer using. You can also use your old ping pong table.

Platform

After you built the model railroad benchwork frame or main supporting structure, you can use 1/2 inch to 3/8 inch thick platform made of plywood where you can construct your layout. Make sure that the plywood extends beyond the support’s front edge by a couple of inches.

If you are always on the go or want a portable layout, you can build it like a lego so you can easily dismantle your layout and assemble it again when you reach your destination.

Subroadbed

Most of the layout builder’s subroadbed use homosote for their platform or subroadbed on top of the plywood. The major disadvantage of it is the dust that can enter your lungs when you are cutting it. Be sure that you are wearing a protective mask when you are working with it.

benchwork4

 

For more detailed instruction in building a Model Railroad Benchwork, visit here.

Filed Under: Benchwork, Do-It-Yoursef Tagged With: , ,

Planning Model Railroad Benchwork

March 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Building and designing benchwork for your model railroad is a must after you have the knowledge about your trackplan and theme. Before you continue, you should have a blueprint in mind.

Benchwork

Model railroad benchwork planning

In designing your model railroad benchwork, you may use grid paper in scaling your plan or use computer to virtually plan your benchwork instead. To check if the tracks really fit your general plan, you can lightly lay out several tracks on the floor to check if it really fits. If it will not fit, then you can change or resize your trackplan.

Benchwork2

Even if you already checked and completed your benchwork carefully for many times, you will still encounter some minor problems like misfits. Planning ahead of time however, will help you prevent from encountering major problems.

Some people use different techniques in planning their benchwork. They use the available space they have and figure out the size of their plan based on it. By the way, there is no rule of building the benchwork.

Filed Under: Benchwork, Model Railway Layout Ideas, Software, Theme Tagged With: ,

Theme For Model Railway Layout Design

March 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

To have a very good Model Railway Layout Design, you need to plan on what theme you want to use regardless of what size your model will be.

Here are some examples that you may want to use:

- A logging layout with freight locos moving small chunks of wood to lumber distributors, paper mills, or furniture stores and shay locomotives carrying logs to sawmills from the camp of forest logging.

theme

- Coal mining trains that carries coal through the Mountains from the mines to steel mills and power companies to power industrial and residential areas.

theme2

- A train that transport eggs and milk from farms to local market.

- Passenger trains that transport people from their house to the workplace, shopping areas, towns and cities.

theme3

- Trains that carry wheat, corns, and rice to the mills and stores.

- Trains that carry cars or motorcycles to the local automotive distributors.

Themes give your model a sense of reality and purpose so that you will not get bored.

Filed Under: Model Railway Layout Ideas, Theme Tagged With: ,

Software For Model Railroad

March 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There are many brands of commercial model railroad software available that can be used to help plan your layout. There are fundamentally two types of software, the Computer simulation programs and the Model railroad track planning software.

software

Choosing which type of model railroad software to use depends on what are your ultimate goals and how much time you want to spend on your computer. Planning your railroad layout on your computer gives you a techie feeling and makes your planning organized and easy. You can even exactly determine the cost and quantity of the materials to use. A lot of these software programs let you simulate your layout by displaying virtual trains and railway operating on the screen helping you redesign the layout if you encounter problems.

software2

Use the planning software if you don’t have the space or time to actually build your model layout. You will also save a lot of money since the cost for errors in designing will only happen on the virtual world.

Some of the software is very powerful in designing railroad layouts but complicated for beginners. Other softwares are easy to use but not that powerful in designing complicated layouts. Once you master the software, you will enjoy designing complicated layouts.

If you want to download Model Railroad Softwares, visit this site. The site provides some free and paid softwares.

Filed Under: Do-It-Yoursef, Model Railway Layout Ideas, Software Tagged With: ,

Do-It-Yourself Model Railway Signal

March 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 

Buying a ready-made model railway signal for your model railway layout is quite expensive especially if the layout is big. You need to purchase a lot of these. Some of these are very poor in detail and not accurate to the scale. Why not build your own railway signal?! It is not only cheap, you can even design how you want it to look like and you will also enjoy making it.

my-signal-and-switch

Materials:

  • Black and Metallic Grey paint
  • PVA Glue
  • 1 straw
  • 1 millimeter thick card
  • Electrical wire (long enough to reach froM the location to the power source and the switch)
  • 1 on-on switch
  • 1 Green LED (Light Emitting Diode)
  • 1 Red LED

LED's-all-colours Wire Slide Switch

Tools:

  • Wire Cutter
  • Clamp
  • Hole punch
  • Scissors
  • Craft knife
  • Soldering solder and iron

Diagram:

home-made-signal 

For the complete steps and details in making a Model Railway Signal, visit here:

The link shows a total of four step by step instructions.

Filed Under: Do-It-Yoursef, Railway Signals Tagged With: , ,