Free-moN: At Home & On The Road

[M.C. Fujiwara]

As the modules will disappear to their real home soon, I thought it'd be prudent to take a few more sunlit stacking shots:





On to the rockslide shed & quarry scene modules!

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Moved on to the Mountain/Gorge seciton of the Wye Knot module.
Added more trees, took more stacked shots:





Nothing like working on trains to procrastinate making the presentations for the Iron Horse Express clinics 
Back to work.

[Scottl]

Hawtness!  If I could produce 1% of what you do, I would be more productive than I am!

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Thanks, Scott.
Lettuce see some of your produce soon 

On the less-glamorous side of things, I removed all the Bullfrog control rods from the Effett Yard modules.
It looked like this mess:



Which was messy and the rods got in the way of clamping.
And, really, when you have only a 16"-wide module, you can easily reach under and finger-flip the Bullfrogs from either side.

So to aid in the fingering, I glued the wooden sprocket "wrenches" (that come with the Bullfrog kits) onto the throwing plate itself to add some grippiness:





So now the whole thing looks much cleaner:



And the modules should be a little lighter and easier to clamp.
We'll see how it works next week at the Iron Horse Express convention.

[Nilmadic]

I like it. You just finger the frog? Does that sound bad??    Any way, should work well. Being at +50" it works out well to just reach under and manipulate the switch. I'm gonna use bluepoints, but using the same principal of the reach under.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Been a busy week at the NMRA / PCR Iron Horse Express Convention in Dublin, CA.
Lots of groovy presentations and layout tours by lots of master modelers.
We, the Silicon Valley Free-moN anarcho-collective, were lucky that the convention gave us a 17'x32' room to set up in for the week:





A bit tight, and of course we had to leave out a bunch of modules like the Bridge O' Wonder, Alviso and others.
But a decent 150' of mainline circuit.

We had to share the room with Tom Knapp (MMR #101)'s amazing little Nn3 module of 1920's San Luis Obispo:





Not only does he bash together his own Nn3 locos from Marklin & other mechs, but installs DCC decoders and SOUND in some of them 
The dude rocks.
And makes our layout look big and clumsy next to his.

Nils forgot to bring the Wood Mill building mock-up (a lovely large industry chunk) but has been busy scenicking some sections and wiring up a bunch of lights, including a flasher on top of the log grabber.
I thought lights wouldn't really stand out on modules but his LEDs look great and add a lot of "life" to the modules, so now it looks like I need to learn how to install and wire LEDs 

Here's the video:

Spuds, who doesn't have a module yet, makes up for it by finding his way into almost every shot.
So feel free to play "Where's Waldo" / "Spottin' Spuds" and/or a drinking game (which would make the video look really good by the end  )

Well, it's back down to Dublin for the last day of the Convention, then it's cramming all this back in the car
Stop by the Dublin Holiday Inn before 5ish if you get the chance.

Thanks for looking.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Wow.
Five months and no Free-moN Fun.
Nothing like the deadline of an upcoming show to get the ol' a$$hat moving.

A month ago we had a "work party", and member Eric-of-the-well-stocked-workshop brought 10 (TEN) 45-deg basic modules already constructed:
https://www.facebook.com/SiliconValleyFreeMoN#!/photo.php?fbid=626095107414924&set=a.237976662893439.69715.182415681782871&type=1&theater
To which we added bus wires and cab connections (we use our phones to operate the trains but sometimes we need the ProCabs, thus the telephone wires).

I optimistically took 4 modules for scenicking, thinking it'd kick my a$$hat in gear to finally getting some modeling done.
So a few days ago (a week before the GTE show in Santa Clara, CA 9/7 & 9/8: http://www.greattrainexpo.com/shows/2013SanJose.html) I started in on a 180 degrees of North California Slough / Wetland Wonderland.

Someday I want to build the Wingo Bridge bascule bridge http://goo.gl/maps/UPQ7Z, so why not make some of the approaching slough trackage?

Somehow I forgot that scratching trestles is one of the more time-consuming project 

But here's the report since Labor Day weekend:



My 4 modules: blank canvasses awaiting wreckage.
They're made of 2" purple foam sitting on top of a frame of the requisite 3/4" birch ply endplates as well as some wood Eric found in his garage when he moved.
They're pretty light.



Used clear caulk over the foam surface, but several applications of woodglue the endplate.
Soaking the cork makes it rock hard--important for module ends that get banged a lot.

Instead of Gorilla Gluing individual PC board ties, I used some of the fab pre-fab "GapMaster" units from American Tie and Timber http://americantieandtimber.com/4.html:



Very easy to glue and they're the same height as the plastic flextrack ties.

I wanted two of the modules to have long, low trestles over slough / wetland, much like the Sacramento Northern's Lisbon Trestle http://people.virginia.edu/~ggg9y/wreck.html before it dropped out from under a train of steel coils.

So I traced the curve of the cork on the other modules, and started the tedious process of building a two long trestles:



I use woodglue applied with a toothpick for the stripwood ties and CA or GG for the PC board ties at 1"-1.5" intervals.
Originally I intended to spray paint the whole structure when done, which is why I didn't stain all the wood pieces before assembly.

Thank goodness it was Saturday and 6 hours of English, Italian and Spanish soccer were on (Juventus' fab victory over Lazio featured in the photo) along with the appropriate adult beverage(s).

For the bents the jig is up!
In the past I've made jigs on pieces of masonite, but the woodglue that seeps down usually ends up thrashing the surface over time, so this time I tried CAing wood blocks to a piece of plexiglass:



Crossbeams are basswood, while the vertical pieces are bamboo skewer pieces.
(The skewers do not take stain well, but I was going to blast the black "creosote" out of them so wasn't worried)



Small dabs of woodglue set in about 10 minutes.
Pop out of jig, add diagonal braces while starting another.
Repeat while working on other aspects of project and by the end of the day you have a few bents:



I needed a few longer bents for the waterway which I did after finishing all the "short" ones.

[cont.]

[M.C. Fujiwara]

After carving foam in a very warm and sultry garage, I caulked the seams and spackled the water bed:





2" foam, minus 1" to grassbed, minus 1/2" to water level leaves very little underneath for support (and allowed the pre-scored lines to show through), so I caulked some scrap styrene under the waterways:



And caulked up and possibility of a hole on top (later spackled over the caulk to take the paint).

More bents!



Long ones, this time.

Painted the whole surface a thick tan latex, laying it on thick at the seems and along the waterbed.
Then painted the waterways a dark muddy grey:



While that dried, I abandoned my idea of spraypainting the trestle and instead tried staining the deck and all the bents with "pure" india ink:



A bit better creosote color than my previous attempts.
Will weather with some whites and rusts on some NBW details later.

Used woodglue to attach bents to decks:



Bents are spaced about 17' apart: a fine balance between looks and getting tired of making bents 
Later will add horizontal supports.

[cont.]

[M.C. Fujiwara]

All the vertical supports are not of equal length due to rapid Chopper II-ing, so I placed a piece of skewer in my Dremel to ream out holes:



Gently pressing the structure into the foam produces the guideholes.
Fitted:



But you can't install the trestle first if you want natural-looking ground-cover under it (too hard to sift the grout and get the static grass under there  ), so today I applied a basic ground cover of dirt, various grouts, sifted gravel, ground foams and some static grass:



The wet paper towel helps keep the static grass out of the waterway with all the diluted whiteglue seeping everywhere.
Used mostly 2mm & 4mm grasses-- tomorrow when dry will go back and apply some 5-6mm stuff along the water edge.

Place modules out in sunlight for about 20 minutes (hot day, don't want things warping / melting!) and then applied caulk to bent pile bottoms and installed the trestles:



Wanted to use caulk especially on the bent piles in the waterways as the Magic Water will find every crack & hole and seep down.

After dinner I mixed up a batch of Magic Water tinted with Floquil BNSF Heritage Green and Grimy Black and painted a THIN layer over the waterway surface:





[Sidenote: that A-frame bridge is the first structure I ever scratchbuilt and has been sitting around my workbench for 4-5 years, so though it was time for it to find a home on a throwaway 45]

Hopefully that will cure overnight and seal any holes, as well as help prevent major seepage and spreading when I do the big pour tomorrow (have to tomorrow, as it takes at least a day to cure and the show is on Saturday!).

Tomorrow will install & paint the track, wire, ballast, add bushes and trees, with the final pour of water last.
Fingers crossed I actually mix the Magic Water in the correct ratio so it cures in time for the show 

Thanks for looking.

[basementcalling]

Thanks for looking.

Looking, how about drooling. Mind blowing work, M. C.

How do you like the manual turnout controls you are using. Trying to decide between those and the Blue Point machine for my non mainline turnouts.

[Philip H]

A timely post, as I need to do two small bridges to cover what will become Bufkin's Bayou.  I had thought of the skewers but not the stain issues.  So that helps.  Can't wait to see the rest!

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Thanks, guys.
Peter: I like the Bullfrogs quite a bit.
Very well designed, study, throws handlaid turnouts, includes a switch to power the frog, relatively inexpensive ($5 each in bulk pack).
Need to factor in the hour it takes to assemble 4-5 as well.

Some dudes in our Free-moN anarcho-collective use Blue Points and they look nice, easy to install.
But at least twice the price.

So the ol' time vs money thing again.

Phil: glad you dig the beginnings of the trestles.
The bamboo skewers work fine.
They just don't take stain the same as "the rest" of the stripwood.

I used them for an earlier trestle as well:



And you can see how light they showed up compared to some other wood.

Since I got razzed on that one for how light it was, I went uber-dark on this one.
Dipped the bents directly into the India Ink.
Worked out okie dokie, especially when I touch up with some white paint and color pencil.

You do have to plan ahead with the trestles and you can't get the track laid as quick and run trains like normal 

Alrighty!
Laid down the track and soldered the rails to the pc board ties on the trestle deck:



Laided down the caulk then started at one end soldering the rails to the endplate, then used two 3-point gauges to hold the rails while soldering along the trestle deck.
Not the most accurate job (turns out I installed the trestles a wee bit too "inside" the curve) but worked out fine.

NOTE TO SELF #513:  Gap the PC board ties BEFORE installing onto the bridge deck!!!
This is probably the 7.5th time I've glued the pc board ties in and THEN remembered I should have gapped them ahead of time to avoid nicking the neighboring wood ties.
D'oh! 

Before I've spraypainted the rails before soldering them onto a deck, but this time I tried Neo-Lubing the rails with a microbrush afterwards:



Turned out ok and stained.
We'll see how it holds up.

I painted the pc board ties with Floquil Grimy Black, which matched pretty well.

This morning (midday?) I had to glue in the water-side plants, as I couldn't pour the "big pour" of Magic Water until they were in and the glue cured:



Yes, the tufts look uberGREEN.
Will mellow out after all the scenery is in (and the first layer of dust settles  )
No, I'm going to use a toothbrush to rub dirt into everything: mutes the harshness and ties everything together.
But need to wait for things to dry.
(So will probably happen at the show or after)

The brush is touching the grasstops with whiteglue so I can sprinkle some AMSI ground foam http://amsistuff.com/ on top to make miner's lettuce and other small leafy plants that blanket the grounds around water sources.
Just sprinkle it on a little heavy, wait 15 minutes or so, and then vacuum up the excess.

Spraybombing the track after scenery takes more blue tape and paper towels, but do-able:



And this is why you do the final water pour LAST:



All the scenery stuff gets sucked onto the semi-sticky surface.
Good thing this is just the initial layer to coat the bottom and plug the holes.

Also started experimenting with weathering the stained bents:



Had good luck on other wood projects using a white color pencil, and it seems to be alrighty here, though I probably should have thrown it on before I glued all the bents together.
Might also try a white paint wash or dry brushing here or there.
But that can happen after the show.

Also ballasted the track, with a cinders layer under the mixed grey topping:



Still need a bunch o' bushes and a few low trees.
Thought about making an abandoned fishing hut on piles decaying into the wetland here but will save for after the show.

When all scenery and ballasting reached the "meh" level of acceptability (and when it was certain the SF Giants had blown another game before the 7th), I went ahead and mixed up a big batch of tinted Magic Water and poured a healthy amount into each waterway:



I use a old brush trimmed short to push and pull the water into place.
Part of the fun of Magic Water is that it really doesn't set until the next day, so you really have to make sure that your module is FLAT.



In fact, I usually pour only half of the concoction first and carefully observe if there's any "flow" in one direction or another.
In both of the photos above you can see shims of various materials (the bent jig, a metal plate, a piece of stripwood, etc.) positioned to counted the uneven waterway surface.
20-30 minutes after pouring, I go back and check to see if there was any slow slide to one side or another.



But I intentionally left the sides high, so worse comes to worse there's a shallow patch somewhere.
Easily fixed with another pour after the show.

Many small details left to do (horizontal supports? weathering? bushes? walkways / pathes? etc.) but the track is set, wired and ready for operation, and the scenery is okie dokie for now.
Really want to work on making realistic reeds and brownish watergrass (as opposed to sticking tufts in magic water), but that will be part of the project for the next show in November.

Tomorrow is unbolting all the seats in my car and hauling most of this stuff the hours or so down to the show for setup and then trying to make it back before the Friday rushhour!

Thanks for looking.

[Chris333]

Holy bridge building batman 

[Philip H]

MC,
This, along with carving bald cypress, is on my agenda:

Really want to work on making realistic reeds and brownish watergrass (as opposed to sticking tufts in magic water), but that will be part of the project for the next show in November.

Down south you don't see reed-like grasses until you get to actual, salt water influences Marsh - most of our swaps are cypress and other water tolerant hardwoods combined with water lily, reed, cattail, milfoil and errant land grasses (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Bayou.jpg.  Which means your static grass in the layer cake of the pour is actually sort of prototypical.

As to your washes, have you considered drawing from Tom Mann's stack of trick cards and doing white oil paint thinned down?  I'd imagine it would work really well.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Holy bridge building batman 

Been listening to Public Enemy's "Can't Truss it" 

Phil: haven't used oils since high school (always been more of a water-soluble guy), so that's a good trick I'll try out.
Thought about a white acrylic wash (dunking the whole trestle in a thinned solution), but probably should have done whatever washes before installing.
Will give it a try on some spare bents and then certain areas on the structure.
The white color pencil, however, does a good fake job.
I'm thinking some weathering powders applied with a stub-brush to reduce splatter and scatter might help too.

For your scene, after you pour or brush the water, let 1/2 dry, then gently sprinkle some fine ground foam like WS "weed" so it sticks to the surface.
When totally cured (and the "surface weeds" set), pour/brush a thin final layer to set the green on the water's surface.

I'm sure DKS has some fab just-under-the-surface veggie tips   

The good news is that we will have at least 6 modules that are over 10' (some 12' some 16' some 24') so we'll probably have 400-500 ft. of mainline running all squeezed into a 35'x40' space