MRH 120 day challenge, Progress report #2

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Wed, 2012-06-27 15:14 — noah_count

Personal journal (editorial or commentary)

Well, it took a lot of of figuring and a bit of trial and error but I made significant progress on the valance for the new layout. Pictured is one piece of what will be a two piece design. For those of you who were worried about clearance issues when building scenery and working on track, that was a good call and I designed the valance over the main portion of the layout in a two piece removable design. The framework which holds it is permanent but it's high enough that I can work under it without ducking. Just the curved valance pieces themselves will be removable and that will probably be just during the layout construction. I will most likely "permanently" attach them to the framework at some point. I'm quite pleased with how it's looking and how things are coming along.

Also got the yard tracks laid so here is a pic of that although you can't tell too much. I have some time off from work on and off over the next month so hopefully progress will continue at a good steady pace. Thanks for everyone's interest and comments are welcome.

Michael

Comments

Painting Rail

Wed, 2012-06-27 20:31 — arthurhouston

If this the close to final resting place for your track now is a good time to spray paint it. Over spry will not affect anything.
Great looking railroad.

Art Houston

Grande Pacific RR

ahouston3@charter.net

Fascia/Valance

Thu, 2012-06-28 08:57 — JohnnyUBoat

Could you shed some light on your technique for hanging your fascia and valance? I don't see a single screw hole so I'm wondering how you managed to attach it from behind while bending it to fit the contours of your layout.

Looks great!

-Johnny

Freelancing the Plainville, Pequabuck and New London Railroad

Finishing nails and glue

Thu, 2012-06-28 15:34 — noah_count

Could you shed some light on your technique for hanging your fascia and valance? I don't see a single screw hole so I'm wondering how you managed to attach it from behind while bending it to fit the contours of your layout.

I used plain old yellow wood glue and finishing nails and attached it from the front. It's sometimes a pain to get the nails started in the hardboard so I drilled small pilot holes along the top edge and wherever else I wanted to attach it. I ran a bead of glue on the plywood edge and then my son and I held it up there and I started nailing it. Some of the fascia is formed along the curve of the plywood sub roadbed. Other places and for the valance I cut a separate plywood "former" to attach the hardboard to and form the curves. One of my pet peeves is those guady screws and washers that the guys at MR and others use to attach fascia with. IMO they look horrible and spoil the looks of otherwise fine work. I like for my fascia and valance work to be smooth. My color preference for painting it is flat black. The nail holes don't show or barely show in the pics but what I do is come back with a spot of joint compound on my finger a give them a little swipe before painting. I've also used countersunk screws to hold fascia before. Once I'm sure everything is exactly like I want it I fill over them with joint compound or wood putty and paint. Lately I've found that the nails work just fine and are less hassle to cover. Thanks for the compliment. BTW...on tight curves, I wet the backside of the hardboard with a sprayer to avoid breakage while bending it.