APA Micro Layout (Part 1) MIBA Contest layout

For the APA Project layout that we presented at the 5th US Convention in Rodgau last October, I had several more APA Boxes from IKEA left.
These came in handy for the upcoming Micro Layout contest organized by MIBA, one of Germany's best Modelrailroading Magazines. The rules state that for HO, the layout shall not be larger than 70 cm x 30 cm. The same size may be used for a fiddle yard. The APA box measures L70 x W39 x H29.
I use the box sideways, so that I have a height of 39 cm and a depth of 29 cm. The MDF sheets for the sides are arranged in a slightly different way as I don't need the bottom sheet because there will be a 10 mm plywood subroadbed. The MDF is cut to yield a small valance and fascia to hide the light fixture on top and the gap between the subroadbed and the bottom of the box. The separate lid will be attached with hinges to fold down when the layout is not in use.

There is not much room in the box for a lot of track. On the other hand I want a layout that offers at least a minimum of operational possibilities. After browsing through the excellent Micro Layout site of the late Carl Arendt (www.carendt.com) I quickly set on a theme representing a Car Shop with an Inglenook track arrangement.

I test fitted some tracks and turnouts in the box to see what could be done and my enthusiasm faded for the first time. None of my usually used turnouts satisfied me. They were all too long. My son has a PECO Starter set with Setrack turnouts and sectional track. Although these turnouts have really tight diverging radii they would fit the bill. I would use a small switcher anyway, so this would not be a major problem. This way I could build a condensed 3-2-2 Inglenook like Carl Arendt proposed some years ago as an alternative to the standard 5-3-3 version.
 

It was also clear that I had to scratchbuild or at least kitbash all the structures used. Fortunately I have an extensive spare parts box(es) with all kinds of leftover bits and pieces ranging from windows to entire wall sections. The modular walls from Walthers and DPM will also be used to create some background buildings.

Luckily I had a leftover from the Walthers Car Shop that I could use as the main building on the layout. Two tracks lead to the inside and even the spacing of the short turnouts matches with the spacing of the track in the building. The DPM wall sections make it very easy to adapt the length of the building to the available space.

The exit/entrance of the box needs to be concealed. The most common scenic elements are either a tunnel portal, which in my case would not be appropriate, or a bridge with abutments which frame the hole in the side backdrop. I choose the RIX highway bridge. It has nice concrete abutments or legs with the lower part being almost 6 cm high. They hide the hole quite well.

The bridge deck has two lanes, but I will use them as a double lane highway and probably use a second bridge on the fiddle yard box for the opposite direction.

Before I started to fit the structures I painted the backdrop with a sky blue color.

Finally a first setup of the main structures to give a feel of the finished scene. The hole is well covered under the bridge.

Stay tuned for the next installment.

APA-rama Project. The APA-lachia Box

For my second APA box I wanted to try some mountain scenery. A simple cut or tunnel seemed too easy and boring to look at. I searched the internet for photos about trains in the mountains and found several showing a snow shed or avalanche shed. These structures protected the railroad tracks from downslides of snow and ice. Back in time they were build from wood, today they are mostly concrete.

For this box I did not have to take care of a curved backdrop. I filled the rear of the box with pieces of extruded foam.

But first things first.

From the photos found on the internet and a article in Model Railroader Magazine I adapted the size and measurements to our HOn3 needs.

I figured out that I would need at least 22 bents for my snowshed. To make sure all were identical, I built a jig, the same time I assembled the first bent.

 Above is the finished jig after the first bent had been removed. I noted the different length for the scale lumber that I needed.

I cut the strip wood to size using my NWSL chopper and stained them in a mixture of 70% IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) and a few drops of black India ink. I let the lumber dry overnight.

Then I labelled a compartment box with the different sizes and filled the lumber parts in. This made it very easy to find the right piece during the assembly stage.

I did the final sanding and trimming before assembling the different pieces to make sure that everything fitted tight. I also used some reversed clothes pins to hold the pieces in the jig until the glue had dried. To the right is a finished bent.

I test fitted the snowshed to mark the location of the footings.

I glued the footings to the baseboard. Then I covered the styrofoam with layers of plaster gauze to give a first shape to the rock face.

In the next step I ballasted the track and the surrounding areas including the footings

From rubber molds I cast different rocks and attached them to the plaster gauze base before they set completely. After a couple of minutes I removed the rubber molds. 

After the molds had dried for a couple of days, I filled the cracks between the different castings with wet plaster.

I carved out the footings, were the snowshed would touch the hillside.

The rock faces start to look realistic.

After the plaster had dried again for a couple of days, I started to apply different washes. Ocre, burnt umber and black.

The black wash really brought out the cracks and crevices.

Still some work to do until you'll see it at the US-Convention in Rodgau/Germany on October 24/25, 2015. See you there!

APA-rama Project. The APA-looza Box

Two years ago, a bunch of modelers decided to attend the bi-annual US-Convention in Rodgau/Germany with an HOn3 layout, composed of some kind of shadow boxes with each having a different scene. The modelers should build a scene of their liking without having a direct relationship to the other scenes. The initiator of this idea, Alexander Lösch (www.frankenmodell.de) suggested that the scenes should fit into a box, manufactured by IKEA, for kids to to store their toys away. This little box (L70 x W36 x H29 cm) called APA, should frame the scene. The box is put up on the side, so we have a depth of 29 cm. How the box is modified for our purpose is described on Alex' homepage (APA-Box construction)

Above you see my partly finished southwestern scene, called APA-looza. We tried to include the word "APA" in the naming of our boxes.

An obvious drawback with boxes is their squared appearance. I've cut a large sheet of styrene to fit into the box and curved it around the two rear corners. Then I tried my first hand on painting the backdrop. It should show some "mesas" in the distance to suit my adobe buildings and to give a southwestern atmosphere. In the picture above, I fiddled around with some of my finished models to see where they would fit best. I drew the outlines of the buildings on the base and added a foundation made from strip wood. This made the application of ground and scenery material easier.

Every box has its own light fixture, with a switch to turn it on or off. The power cord exits behind the backdrop. The roadbed is lifted 10 cm to leave enough space underneath for the feeder wires and track power. I need to attach the lid to the box with two hinges. It folds down for protection between show hours and for storing it at home or during transport.

For the trees I used sea weed and pieces of tree roots. The tree roots yield many nice looking, unique shaped tree armatures.

I sprayed the tree armatures with a coat of strong hairspray and sprinkled them with green flock. The medium green flock suggests that we're in Spring.

The adobe structures are all scratchbuilt with basswood and tile grout applied for the stucco finish. The Ice House is a lasercut kit from Fos Scale Models.

The following pictures show the almost finished scene. Power and Telegraph lines are missing, as well as some more small trees. 

See this scene and another 12 in Rodgau on October 24/25, 2015

Clothes Pins into modelers clamps

Here's a short tutorial on how to turn an ordinary wooden clothes pin into a handy flat clamp.

Although this ordinary type of clamp may be used in many situations to hold two parts together, we sometimes need a clamp for a larger, even surface, like when glueing two pieces of styrene sheet together.

First we disassemble the pin. It consists of two shaped wooden parts and one metal spring.

Then we open the spring and insert one wooden part upside down into the spring and slide the second part also reversed under the spring, like seen in the photograph. This is the most difficult part of the assembly because you might brake off one of your finger nails :(

The finished result looks like this. This type of clamp is not opening as wide as the original clothes pin but for holding flat surfaces together it works just fine.

The picture above shows one of its many uses when assembling two or three layered structure parts like billboards or laminated wall sections.

Have fun with my little conversion project. Take care of your fingernails and remember that these clamps will not hold wet clothes on the line for drying anymore. :)