The New Northern Central

[Ed Kapuscinski]

It is about 16' long.

[basementcalling]

It is about 16' long.

That AIN'T what she said.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

That AIN'T what she said.

You know it is. You've seen it.

[crrcoal]

Thanks Ed!

[OldEastRR]

Absolutely, and the couple things I have tackled so far haven't met my expectations, so I'm taking my time.

Honestly, I struggle with buildings for some reason.

You gotta do a city scene bit by bit -- if you concentrate on one building (or even a empty lot) at a time, and mix it up with other model projects, you can avoid stressing out.
Here's my "old part of town" miniscene. I didn't even put each building together all at once, much less the whole thing. Little house was done first (over time), then the gas station (behind the gray building), then the gray building and ... well I assembled the raw parts of the false front store, and the scratchbuilt house in the background has all the parts to build it, stuck on w/ tape, waiting for "someday" completion...
But even partly unfinished, the place gives the sense of a solid scene mostly done. And this way you don't get apprehensive about even starting the job. And shaping the foam base, putting in the lawns, alley, sidewalks, etc can be done piecemeal.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

That's a really good point. Maybe I should start from the track and move out from there.

I know how to do right of way. Kinda. Lol.

[wazzou]

That's a really good point. Maybe I should start from the track and move out from there.

I know how to do right of way. Kinda. Lol.

I’d actually advocate for the opposite.
I think, in my experience you want to do the things in the back first for a couple of reasons;
You want to establish a level of detail you feel is requisite and increase it as it moves forward…and you don’t want to try to detail scenes in the rear while working over completed foreground scenes.

[dem34]

I just build a jumble of buildings to completion and decide by vibe what should go where.
Which works if modelling a ruralish township but a little less effective when its a more defined Town or City.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Working on some stuff "below the fascia".

First, I figured out an issue with my frog juicer. For some reason, after months of working fine being fed from track power it just stopped. I did the research and I think my regular circuit breaker was tripping before it did. Wiring it into the main DCC bus, you know, like the instructions said, fixed it.

I didn't take any pictures of that problem solving.

But I DID take pictures of my turnout tags. 3D printed and using the old school Dymo embossed labels (big thanks to @DeltaBravo ) for that old school 70s feel.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[DirtyD79]

Them embossed labels definitely help create that late 70s vibe. Still remember when I was kid my mom had one of those label makers and it printed them on the wood grain strips.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Oh man. Wood grain ones would've been awesome.

I truly love the ironic combination of antiquated labeling and modern 3D printing.

[NorthWestGN]

You can still buy the Woodgrain Dymo label tape! And knockoff label Makers on the Temu and Alibaba websites.

https://www.123ink.ca/p-372419-dymo-520101-dymo-520101-lt-embossing-labels-38-x-98-white-on-clear?from_pla=google&sku=385887&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxO24nuipiQMV9yOtBh2lihrsEAQYBCABEgLWNPD_BwE#sku385887

The turnout tags look great by the way, is the file available?

Brent

[Cory Rothlisberger]

Working on some stuff "below the fascia".

First, I figured out an issue with my frog juicer. For some reason, after months of working fine being fed from track power it just stopped. I did the research and I think my regular circuit breaker was tripping before it did. Wiring it into the main DCC bus, you know, like the instructions said, fixed it.

I didn't take any pictures of that problem solving.

But I DID take pictures of my turnout tags. 3D printed and using the old school Dymo embossed labels (big thanks to @DeltaBravo ) for that old school 70s feel.

(Attachment Link)

(Attachment Link)

Totally stealing this idea...

[Ed Kapuscinski]

You can still buy the Woodgrain Dymo label tape! And knockoff label Makers on the Temu and Alibaba websites.

https://www.123ink.ca/p-372419-dymo-520101-dymo-520101-lt-embossing-labels-38-x-98-white-on-clear?from_pla=google&sku=385887&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxO24nuipiQMV9yOtBh2lihrsEAQYBCABEgLWNPD_BwE#sku385887

The turnout tags look great by the way, is the file available?

Brent

Shoot, it isn't, but I'll share it soon.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Gearing up for more progress. I wanted to make sure I had authentic forest floor so I dragged Terri and Sadie up to the NCR trail to fill up a bag with raw materials.

I'm a little concerned that they're from further south on the line than where I'm modeling, but I'll get over it, lol.