Project X

[lesmond]

I've been thinking about this one for years, and have now, finally, got around to it.

There isn't going to be a whole lot until the big reveal, as I'm hoping for maximum visual impact, but so far its an upside down box baseboard with a 9mm marine ply top (cos I had a bit that size spare), sides from timber off an old bed I found in an entry and a couple of offcuts, total size 4' x 18", 1:24 scale, using 9mm track.

I've just finished the wiring (a first in itself ) which looks like this:





The speakers are from two dead HP PCs, and are powered by a small amplifier (a Chinese Ebay buy) which will provide ambient sound.

The interface looks like this upside down:



and is to my standard design - 5 pin is power in, 4 pin is connection to the controller, the knob is amplifier volume, and the two phono sockets are left and right audio from an mp3 player.

That'll be it until I get it finished

Les

[docnjoj]

Good for you. G9 is what I need to move on, and maybe this will give me some incentive to get going.
Thanks lesmond

[Jon Randall]

Looking forward to the big reveal

[lesmond]

Foam carving for the landscape continues apace, but I have more or less finished the control panel:



Les

[lesmond]

It isn't finished yet (by a long way) but the foam carving is complete, and I've just had confirmation of an exhibition booking for April (first time exhibiting anything on my own account), so I thought the assembled brethren might like to see what I've been working at for the last while.

May I present.... ridiculous pause for effect.... "Road Runner"







The phone handset is for balance - there will be wire armatures holding the more delicate "rocks" in place as well as glue. I recently found some dumped wire coathangers in a neighbours bin, so all expense spared as usual. The yellow foam came from a variety of skips.

The hole at the lower level is to be a mine entrance (Wile E Coyote's HQ) with a low wooden platform beside the track for delivery and storage of various Acme items, giant magnets, dynamite etc.

The one and only locomotive is to be our hero on a rocket powered device of his own construction. In reality this is a Kato 11-103 with a 3D printed chassis (cheers, Tom ), with a modified keyring (Wile E sitting on a golf ball firing machine) at the front, with a copper pipe rocket lashed to a cradle on the back. All hopefully suitably ludicrous.

An early trial involving blu-tack to hold some of it together is here:

https://youtu.be/XEKpwpta8XA

As its basically an animated cartoon, the track is Tomix N gauge settrack, which with a scale of 1:24 makes it 8.5" gauge in 1:1 scale.

I've still to glue it all together, paint it, fix the track down, make the "locomotive", and design and make all the traps, failed devices and odds and ends that exist in the Road Runner universe. I've 4 months and four days to do this .

All being well the whole thing will be suitably cartoon-ish and hopefully out of the ordinary. I'm not aware of anything similar, although there is bound to have been somewhere in the world. The research has certainly been hilarious.

Tin hat on - ready for any and all reaction

Les

[nu2ng]

It's looking good Les

Beep beep!


Andi

[Bilco]

Don't forget the large stick of 'Acme' dynamite!

[lesmond]

Cheers, Andi - long way to go yet.

Bill - I've a large quantity of plastic rod & fuse wire in for mass production

1:24 scale anvils are hard to come by, though...

[rue_d_etropal]

nice one. Might be fun transporting it, based on experience. I suppose a purpose built box(on wheels) to put it in might be the answer.

[lesmond]

Thanks Simon.

Transport has been on my mind, even though I've a van to move it in it will still be vunerable. You've given me an idea for a cover, though, which I'll get a start at over the Christmas holidays. All suitably silly to keep with the theme.

Les

[rue_d_etropal]

It is just that I have found my 3ft long modules difficult to move, and with all that height. I am sure there are examples of crates used in the cartoons.Diamite is transported in crates, but given where you are living, that might be a bit sensitive.

[lesmond]

Even in its diminished state this is a difficult lift for one person due to length. Damage is certain without some sort of covering.

I'm thinking of a two part cover, both sides and the back as one piece, bolted to the sides and back with captive nuts on the inside, and a one piece front and top to bolt to the front and screw to the sides / back. When the front piece comes off I'm thinking of an add-able front facia to display the layout name / scale etc.

Provided B&Q are cutting ply this week I'll get the basics of it made. I've a week off so should get a good bit done.

We all supposedly love each other here now, so mysterious crates aren't the panic they once were, thankfully

[lesmond]

Work is ongoing, and I'm very conscious that time is short.

I've the cover planned but haven't had time yet to get the plywood cut for it. This needs to be done fairly soon as the base will need drilled for securing bolts before too much else is added.

In the meantime, the ever resourceful mrs has mentioned that small Christmas tree balls would make excellent cartoon bombs (the ones with a hissing fuse) so clearance sales provided a few packets of various sizes for literally pence. These await a light rub down and a few coats of dark grey paint.

I've made a start on the low platform for the front of the scene. This is 13" long x 2 1/2" deep, and so far looks like this (upside down):



It will have individual "planks" on top, cut from coffee stirrers stained to look like they've been outside for a bit:



I've also cut, distressed and stained the timbers for the mine entrance.

Progress, but slow.

Les

[lesmond]

Platform finished, and the first of the delivered crates loosely in place:



This one will contain Acme springs carefully packed in "straw".

There are a few more crates of various sizes under construction, as well as some remains of older ones opened, taken apart and generally destroyed.

Les

[lesmond]

Trial fit:

[More_Cats_Than_Sense]

This is looking very interesting Les, it will certainly be a hit at exhibitions

I used Tomix track on my Gnine layout 'PG Wood House' and found that after a couple of years I started to have connection problems between the sections caused by corrosion by the water based glue that I had used around the track. In trying to fix the issues I discovered that the fishplates do not take solder very readily, although the rails do. I've ended up soldering some extra feeds to the rails at regular intervals around the loop.

[lesmond]

Thanks Barry.

That's good to know about the Tomix track - I'll take action now rather when its mostly in bits rather than later.

Its booked for the NDMRS show in April, so I've suddenly become very aware of the passage of time...

Les

[Steve Holland]

Les,

You may already have one, but I just spotted this on the Hannants website https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MPC720

[lesmond]

Hi Steve,

That's a new one to me - thanks for the link. There will be one arriving at work fairly shortly.

Les

[lesmond]

There has been steady progress since my last big post.

I've made a containing "crate" to protect the layout in transit / storage. This bolts on to the lower edges of the baseboard, and is in two parts. The front and top are one section, the back and sides the other.





I've yet to make and fit the straps on the top and back.

I've also been working at the first piece of foam scenery which has the mine entrance and tunnel and is made of three pieces of foam glued together. There are obvious joint lines, which I've been filling with thin layers of Polyfilla. An experimental piece has shown that this works well, and that the filled joint is invisible when painted.

So far it looks like this:



All being well this will be finished through the week, and I can think about fixing it in place.

Les

[lesmond]

I've actually almost finished this, so as promised:

[backwaterscotland]

I like it - you've captured the feel of the cartoons well.

Andy

[Jon Randall]

Superb

[PeterH]

[lesmond]

Thank you