Summer Shunting Shelf Project

[lashedup]

Very, very nice MC. That's great that you got the kids in on the act. You're making me want to get back into the modeling room again and work on stuff!

Nice work. 

-  jamie

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Jamie: you should get back into the modeling room and do stuff!

Even if its only a couple minutes / 1/2 hour a day.

Up until today, the only modeling I'd done all week was planting ONE tree on the other layout.
But it was something

Today I got a little more done, but not much.

It's a good 90 deg outside, so the kids disappeared to the swimming pool with friends, leaving me in a garage that's getting close to 100.

That's with the door open.

But I did get my 0-8-0 back together and weathered a little for some photo ops, rolling back the layout to Alameda in the late 1940s:
 




Hope to get more done when things cool down.
Thanks for looking.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Whoa, can't believe it's been a month and a half since the last post for this project!
I've been warned again that "this topic has not been posted in for at least 30 days."  What have I been doing?

Been working on it here & there, but I guess the boxcab took over.
Well, got some stuff to show.
 
Started extending the scenery to the right section which, up until now, had only the carfloat and dock done.
Built the receiving building for the brewery, as well as the two removable structures -- the small oil tanks and the brick building that started as a power house but now is part of the brewery -- that hide the hinges:
 


There'll be a Traincat quanset hut somewhere in that front area, too.
 The oil tanks are far from done: still waiting on some industrial ladders, railing & walkways to come in the mail to finish them.
 Yes, they still look like the ABS caps that they are right now, but after I add the details & weather I think they'll look pretty good.
 
Still need to disguise the concrete berm a bit, but that, plus the larger brick structure across the tracks, are removeable, as they disguise the hinges of this "Alameda-in-a-Box" layout:
 




If my daughter & I had taken more care constructing the benchwork, you wouldn't be able to see the left joint line.
 (It's difficult to see the right one, yes?)
 Remember, the hinges, because they're mounted above the boards, lifts the sections out & up, so track & scenery can be nearly seemless when flat.
 But the static grass & bushes I put in help disguise the crack when photographing down at track level.
 
I also built two Traincat tankcar loading platforms & stuck them together:



And soon will install the pipes & pump house.
 I highly recommend Traincat's brass kits: he ships fast and they're high quality, relatively simple to build, and look great (the detail really sells the rest of the layout!)
http://www.traincat2.com/
 
Anyway, trying to finish this one up before the Layout Design SIG meet in January (http://www.pcrnmra.org/sigs/) down in Mt. View, CA (you're all invited! great clinics & layout visits!), so will be putting the pedal to the metal for the next couple weeks.
 (Though I also want to build the cannery for the Mt. Coffin layout, too, so we'll see how things go)
 Thanks for looking.

[Scottl]

M.C., this layout is fantastic.  I love how you do your scenery work- it all blends so well and the colors are convincing.  I did not realize this was a fold-up design until today's post.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Thanks, Scott.
I appreciate that, coming from a dude with very kick-a$$hat scenery himself.

Yeah, I keep the layout open on the workbench in the garage, so I forget myself that it folds up into this:



Gotta remember that before I put in too much scenery & structures & they "Crunch" when folded up!
(so far so good, though)

[pwnj]

Man that's looking fantastic, MC.  What a cool little layout.  One thing you might try to fix that one seam is to take some sticker release paper (that slippery-on-one-side stuff) and put it in the crack, then put some plaster or lightweight spackling compound in there.  Fold it up a little to get it down in there nicely, then open it all the way to squeeze it flat and flush.  Once it dries, open it up and peel off the backing.  Should get it close enough to let the scenery fill it in.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Good idea!
I have a sneaking suspicion that if I tightened up the adjustible feet under that side, that the crack would diminish greatly.
But it would be nice to have something flexible in the space: I was thinking maybe liquid electrical tape or something that dries slightly elastic so when the sections lift out & up it doesn't rip off.

Otherwise: this is California.  We have more fault lines than we do McDonalds (https://www.llnl.gov/str/Sep06/gifs/Rodgers5.jpg).
(And those are just the major ones).

There's a prototype for... [ACCKKGWHHWY!!! as Ed strangles me] 

[pwnj]

Well, if you want it flexible, why not use the same trick, but use polyurethane foam?  Just use it VERY sparingly or it'll be the RETURN OF THE BLOB!

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Crazy thought: if I folded the layout back into the box, and then "scenicked" the inside of the gap (with paint and a little groundfoam / dirt), I don't think it'd be as visible.
Right now it "gapes" because you see the lighter color of the baseboard.
Basically if I "shim" one side, and then extend the gravel a little over, it'd look as seemless as the other crack.
Hmm....

Or, next time I could just build the thing right!
Have end "L" metal plates (the L being sides & under) on each section with the tops flush with the baseboards, I could do the same scenicking, and the "out & up" hinge action would keep the cover from being crushed...

Ah, the eternal learning process!

[pwnj]

As we used to say in the sticks, "that might could do".  I was also just thinking that you could take a piece of double-sided foam tape (the 3M stuff) and stick it on one side, then put some clear tape on the other sticky side, to keep it from, well, sticking.  That ought to fill it right up, nice and easy.  Then scenick over the top edge and you're done.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

"Pragmatism!  Is that all you have to offer?"  --Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead

Sounds good to me.
If I can't get the legs tweeeked, I'll try sticking some stuff in the snark and see how it scenicks.
Should have thought of the foamy tape to protect the ends at the beginning.
(MDF turns "poof!" to powder at the slightest contact)

In there like swimwear.

[pwnj]

Rockin' like Dokken (or is it Stinkin' like Lincoln?)

[Bremner]

Rockin' like Dokken (or is it Stinkin' like Lincoln?)

I've seen Dokken...they really are not rockin'

[nscalemike]

Looking good!  I sure didn't see that second seam in the layout until you mentioned it.  Even the 'visible' seam doesn't look bad or take away from the scene much.   Keep up to good work mc and family!

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Slowly expanding the scenery to the right (east).
 Put together the Flotsam Brewery main structure:
 


[slogan: "First you flotsam, then you jetsam!"]
[It's funnier after you've had a few  ]
 
And here it is installed on the layout:
 


Still need to come up with a sign, weather the roof shingles a bit, throw some dirt underneath, and I'm still debating about adding posts under the dock or leave it cantilevered.
 
Here's a wider shot to show how it fits into the section:
 


Just got a dockside warehouse to build and then the background flats are done.
 
Thanks for looking.