Into August folks and no volunteers as yet for this monthly project. Still not too late you know and there's no limit to the subject matter as long as it relates to model railways.

Hi   Robert,  

Well i  have got a project on the go at the moment away  from  the other items on the bench   as it wont go on the layouts,  as  to   whether it gets finished this month i'm  not sure  though :roll: 


I  was looking around my local   Tescos   &   saw they had some boxfiles at a very reasonable price so  one went in with  the shopping as i've always  thought about doing a file layout /  dioramma.  
A  project such  as this gives me  scope to try   different techniques on  a  smaller scale but  still  making it  successful   enough to envisage how it  could be applied to a layout  enviroment.
First off was to remove the  spring clip   of the file i  drilled off the rivet ends on the inside of the box  but retained the heads  gluing them   back in later once i'd checked they where flush with the inside.



The plastic  ring  on the spine of the file was removed carefully, the hole that was left came in handy allowing me to   put a 3mm small  bolt with  a  nyloc nut through to the inside  holding on  a  piece of  80thou plasticard   that  would  support the lid when open.  
Next i cut  equally down  each side of the  front  to allow the  side to  fall   away  revealing the interior the  covering of the file  is enough to  provide a hinge   i  did  put  some  parcel  tape  before cutting both side but it didnt  work  out this doesnt matter as the tape will  be covered later,  a piar of  very thin  hinges could be let into the  base/front with  contact adhesive applied to glue them in for a stronger join.
Now i wanted to provide for  the electrics of the scene even  though its   a  small  area  it  would be nice to  have something to run, with this in mind i   drilled two  holes towards the back  left  edge  & fitted two   gromits to  neaten things a little.



Fitting  wire in the box  while concealing it was an objective  & at the same time it  tried an  option  to wiring under the boards if  foam  was used on a layout,   a  6mm thick piece  of foamboard was cut for  the base & two  insides & glued in,  on  a layout this could be  deeper  insulation foam  used in  construction of  houses.

A simple plan of track  was  decided upon  with  the points / flexi track i used code 55 laid on  Woodland Scenics  foam  trackbed  both glued down with Copydex,  the loco   cant move from  one track to the other  using the points within the box  but  the tunnel   could  be extended to another file at a later date ?
Wiring for either DC  or DCC    applies to this  set up  & i   placed  insulated  joiners  on the frogs,  the droppers  where soldered as usual  to the underside of the rails  & a path was cut for them to sit in the foamboard exiting  out  of the box   on  the left.  



Here can be seen  the wires sunk in the foamboard  base layer.



Better view of things along with  the three  rods  for points  temporarily in place.  



Looking towards the plaster tunnel

After a trip into town a couple of months ago i   came home with a couple of tins of   Colron woodstains  which   where on  half price offer at Wilkinsons  :D i decided to  try these on the plaster castings for colouring as a change to paint apart from the smell   i'm  pretty pleased with how they  turned out after only one application  by  brush, they   fit well  &  provide a   3D   background something i  always like to see if possible ………..  the wall at an angle  i'm  thinking  of possbily a road  overlooking the railway ?  

Point control   is another area i  want to  change when   doing a layout & although   the length of rods  is small   with this i still  used the same materials,  namely aircraft control  rods  which   being plastic wont  rust when they've been  put  on the points  on  anywhere near moisture  with scenics,  



Here you can see the  inner yellow  rod  with a  piece of brass wire glued in  which   fits in the point  activating bar hole,  the outer red  rod  &  the rings which  where made up  from  floral wire for the opposite end   to allow  a hook to  operate the  points manually.


The  rods concealed  in the foamboard,  following several  dry runs  /checks the outer tubing was  roughened up with  wet &  dry paper  to give a key for the glue.  
Where the sleepers had been   removed to  allow soldering i  replaced them with  special   sleepers from  Peco a  little plasticard for packing was needed, to   prepare the track for  weathering  a light  drybrushing  was done  here you can see the rear  point has  been   weathered &  rusted already  from a section of track i've lifted.



Covering the  cut  outs for the wires & points came next  the method   i   chose was  thick mounting  card which   wouldnt warp   hopefully,  i   had made a start on  ballasting when  i  took  the picture why my  trusty  dental   pick   is  in  the box i've no  idea     ….    something always worth asking when you go to the dentist if they havbe any  tools they  dont need that are  past their best for their work  but still   plenty of life in them for modelling,my  dentist provided me with  a fistful   to tools on  one visit & sent his nurse  to look in a drawer for  some burrs a rep   had left he  hadnt taken to …..  i  was suprised  when  i  got home to find in the box he gave me around a hundred new burrs which   will  keep  me going for a while.  




Thats a   start on things   now the track has been ballasted &  a wash  of black /green   pigments   applied more pictures &  progress soon  ;-)

Thanks a lot for volunteering Nick. This has all the makings of a great monthly project.

G'day upnick

I use the same method for point control as yourself, the only difference is that I use thin welding rods, used for welding stainless steel. These rods are approximately 1mm in diameter and 1000mm (40") long, very flexible and they don't rust.

Cheers, Gary.

Hi  Gary,   

Sounds a good idea i'll  have to look  some of the rods out & try them   ;-)

It's been a hectic month for me & so  no  progress has been made  (best laid plans etc)  i  can assure you i  will finish this project but not within the month of course &   chart  progress soon  hopefully.  

Part of my  modelling is i   start  new projects before the end  of the last :roll:  mind it keeps me  busy.