T-TRAK: PRR MG Interlocking

[wm3798]

I assume the brick sheet was supplied with the kit, and was pre-cut with little thought to the finished product.  I can understand your frustration.

The first thing I notice right away is that bricks supplied are way out of scale, and they look like sausages.  Not sure who the vendor was that supplied them, but they started with a bad base material, then made it worse by not cutting them with enough excess to properly model the corners.

In your previous posts showing the build, I see they provided all the details of the insets and the lintels, which is pretty cool, and adds a lot to the level of finish you would expect.  Then they throw in all out the window with the ham handed cuts.

Maybe, if you used an adhesive you can undo, you can carefully pull the brick sheet off, and replace it with Plastruct sheet brick, which they offer in 1:200 scale, and is a more proportional representation of 8" brick in N scale.  That's what I used on Cumberland Station.  It is a very thin sheet to start with, and while the bricks still look a bit round under close scrutiny, at 1:200, it's far less prominent.



Anyway, you could carefully scribe out what you need to in order to install the insets and lintels, then trim the actual wall panels to a better fit at the corners.  If the kit was designed with more attention to the finishes, you wouldn't even have to miter the wood walls, because a properly fitted "skin" would cover all the sins of the structure.  (One of the reasons I'll never own a house with vinyl siding).

The core of the model seems to be really nice, and of course, the original architecture it models is extraordinary.  But those bricks just ruin the finished job.

Lee

[peteski]

One thing I don't like about the Plastruct 1:200 brick is the pattern. Not  many buildings are constructed that way.  I like the look of staggered courses better.   Best brick material I have used was from the (long gone) Holgate & Reynolds. It was oversize, but looked great!  Then David from Cache Junction made great laser-etched brick.

I believe Josh's kit uses N Scale Architect brick.  Yes, it is "sausagey".

[chicken45]

Yep, NSA kit and brick. 
I was actually horrified looking at it though a loupe.  They weren’t square at all!
Anyways, I’m over it.
I’m not reskinning the kit.  Maybe I’ll look into Bondic. 

[wm3798]

If that's the way you're going to be, you might as well move one of those second story windows down 4 feet.

[peteski]

If that's the way you're going to be, you might as well move one of those second story windows down 4 feet.

Wow!
I'm supposed to be the snarky one around here! 

[chicken45]

Getting back on track, I’m not sure what all this means for DCC.
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Obviously I will be running DCC, but is this suggesting to power the frogs or not?

[Dave V]

Not sure if any of these help:

As for the tower...  Jeebus.  It looks good to me.  Remember that the naked eye is also much more forgiving than close-up photography.  Hell, everything I've ever built ever has visible flaws when photographed close-up, and I don't exactly consider myself a failure.  Josh, you could beat the crap out of yourself sanding this and filing that, but at some point it stops being fun.  You'll never be able to fully overcome the shortcoming of the kit, yet this would be a very, very difficult scratchbuild.

It's going to look way better and way more prototypical than the vast majority of modules it'll be connected to as it is.  So...find the intersection between the realism curve and the fun curve and that's when you're done.

[wm3798]

Considering my present ethos of large flanges and shiny plastic, I can't say I disagree with you, @Dave V , and in the context of a TTrak set up, yes, it will far exceed its neighbors.  You can also see by the close up detail image of Cumberland I accompanied to my post, my fine work leaves much to be desired.

All that said, what percentage of our audience is standing in the aisle looking from 3 feet away, and what percentage is sipping coffee in the den looking at macro photography?  I suspect that, especially now, the lion's share of the consumers of our work fall in the latter category.

Yes, we all cut corners here and there, and of course, there's always the old carpenter's mantra "A little putty, a little paint, make it something that it ain't" to carry just about any project across the finish line.

I'm probably being overly particular, recognizing that once Josh has finished modeling the scene, with all the necessary surroundings, from the color of the ballast to the tops of the trees, it will be a museum piece regardless of the shortcomings of the kit.  I know this because my model of Cumberland looks a whole lot better in its setting than in a macro lens.  I guess given the attention he gives to detailing and weathering a gondola load or a flat car deck, which I have tried to learn from, I thought I might impart some experience on how his structure might look better.  But for the second time, now, those considerations are secondary to the goal.  It's all good.

Of course, if you model the late PC/CR era, you could fill those corners with ivy... just a thought!
Lee

[Dave V]

@wm3798 , I'm thinking "over the horizon."  This is a T-Trak module and so it will very likely hold its own and then some under the normal lighting and viewing conditions at a train show.

I know there's no way I could have done any better with that NSA kit.  Likely I couldn't have done nearly as well. 

If ever a man were truly incompetent with modeling putty, I am he...so except in those cases such as filling a perfectly round hole on a flat plane, I totally get the reluctance for fear of making things worse.

[wm3798]

Clearly the problem is in the kit's design, not in the execution.  That's why I suggested replacing the flawed material with something that can be fitted to resolve the problem.  If that horse has left the barn, then that's where it is.  I'm more used to working with less expensive kits, so I can completely understand Josh's hesitance to start over a THIRD time.

Lee

[chicken45]

Yep. That horse left the barn.
I lot of it too, is anger on principle. I shouldn't have the replace the ******** brick on an $80 kit, or let alone rethink it's assembly.
This is as good as it gets without redoing the brick. Honestly, something like this isn't something I want to invest time in to. There's likely no perfect brick solution, anyways.

Anyways, I do model for macro photography, but even then, I'm limited by my skill, budget, and what's available. Especially after spending $17,000 on unitrack and copper gutters!

[arbomambo]

In relation to the Kato no. 4 turnout and these no.4 crossovers -
  They are really perfect for DCC...
Set the screws so the frog is powered and set the other screw so the turnouts are NON-power routing.
This way ALL tracks are powered; always. No need to use insulated unijoiners anywhere as the turnouts all already gapped/isolated.
   
 The way you have your track plan suggests that, for it to be used in a T-TRAK set up, that the foremost line will be red track and the next will be yellow... therefore the two rearmost tracks will also be part of the yellow line as far as power goes.
Remember that, in order to be able to actually use these crossovers between red and yellow, the yellow line power must be reversed so that both lines are the same polarity. Of course, I’m making an assumption that you will power
the module with standard T-TRAK wiring, using the BWWB (blue-white-white-blue) Kato-referenced wire drops as it refers to red and yellow tracks.

[Chris333]

I shouldn't have the replace the ******** brick on an $80 kit

Preach on brother Beavis.

[wm3798]

Yep. That horse left the barn.
I lot of it too, is anger on principle. I shouldn't have the replace the ******** brick on an $80 kit, or let alone rethink it's assembly.

Heh.  Wait till you remodel your kitchen and find you need to shim $3,000 worth of granite countertops...  There are times when one does what one must do!

Lee

[Point353]

Include a model of the rooftop antenna as an attention diverter: