The wife's HO Atlas layout...


Hi Tony -

Looking good!

Do you have a preferred method for "planting" structures so they look like they are embedded in the earth? I'm just getting to this point on my layout, and I don't want my buildings to appear like they are simply resting on top of the ground.

I've read that some modelers wrap a building in plastic wrap, set it in place, then build up terrain and ground cover around the wrapped building. The building and plastic wrap can then be removed, leaving behind an "excavation" of sorts where the building can be placed later when the layout nears completion. The plastic wrap keeps terrain materials and ground cover from sticking to the building. The benefits of this method:

1. The building can be removed at any time for easy access to the layout area around the building, or to repair the building, add lighting to it, etc.
2. The structure appears to be embedded in the ground rather than simply resting on the surface.
3. The build-up of terrain and ground cover around the perimeter of the building keeps the building in place without additional fastening or adhesive, although some users of this method install posts in the layout at each inside corner of the building to locate it.

Just wondering how you approach this.

- Jeff
 
Hawkesburytrain said:
You are definitely moving along, nice.
My town is only in stage 3 of my planned layout, so in a few years..lol

But I might change a few things and make one in my first stage. It really puts life in the layout and besides, my wife as been asking me "where's the winter town?", "you need a Christmas town". So it's not just a case of planning ahead, but also adjusting to changes. I'm already learning about making changes.

Later
Click to expand...

Changes are inevitable. When I did my layout and town plan months ago, I thought it looked good and would work, THEN, I started putting that plan down and all of a sudden what looked good on paper, didn't work (or look good) on the layout. A lot of times you don't have the space for what you plan OR, end up with more space than you thought you had, as was my case. As such, things get changed around to fit the layout.

I also discovered that there were better ways of doing some things from looking at other peoples 'towns'. All I can say now is that what I have now will stay .. got to the point where I simply can't change it :)

jdetray said:
Hi Tony -

Looking good!

Do you have a preferred method for "planting" structures so they look like they are embedded in the earth? I'm just getting to this point on my layout, and I don't want my buildings to appear like they are simply resting on top of the ground.

I've read that some modelers wrap a building in plastic wrap, set it in place, then build up terrain and ground cover around the wrapped building. The building and plastic wrap can then be removed, leaving behind an "excavation" of sorts where the building can be placed later when the layout nears completion. The plastic wrap keeps terrain materials and ground cover from sticking to the building. The benefits of this method:

1. The building can be removed at any time for easy access to the layout area around the building, or to repair the building, add lighting to it, etc.
2. The structure appears to be embedded in the ground rather than simply resting on the surface.
3. The build-up of terrain and ground cover around the perimeter of the building keeps the building in place without additional fastening or adhesive, although some users of this method install posts in the layout at each inside corner of the building to locate it.

Just wondering how you approach this.

- Jeff
Click to expand...

Jeff, thank you.

When I situate my buildings I have normally just sat them on the layout then built the surrounding terrain and ground cover up around them as they will not generally be sitting on flat or level ground.

The town foundations are flat and level, or will be when completed, so any structure will sit cleanly on the layout. I then have two options of how to keep the buildings in place. The first is to building a raised plaster area, that is the shape as the foot print of the building, and slip the building over that there by holding it in place while still allowing it to be removed if needed.

The other option is to place the building then lay a thin line of plaster around the outside of it to hold it in place. There are a few draw backs to that method though.

At this point, I am going to use the 'raised base' method for the following reasons:

1. The structure will look better and externally cleaner,
2. If I have to remove any of the structures I will know exactly where they go back, and
3. It just sounds lie the better idea :)

Some people will also just sit their buildings on the layout without them being attached in anyway. That will also work if there is no chance of them being knocked or moved. That last sentance excludes me from using that method.
 
Usually when I make a "mistake" I just modify the idea a bit.:eek:
Your lucky you have your honey involved with the layout, it makes it so make easier to get permits for extentions of realestate.
 
Video with effects of Town Region...

Morning Guys,

Put together this 3 minute video of the Town Region. I'm hoping it will give you guys a better perspective of things that are going on in this part of the layout.

In the Video, you will notice houses on the rear mountain and a partially built bridge in the same area. As we all know, nothing remains the same when building a layout and my layout is no different. With the amount of models I have, both kit and built up, I had to find room for them. The only thing I could think of was to have the houses on the mountain over looking the town and (Jim Cuda's) road leaving the layout to the left via a single lane trestle bridge.

I don't know if this is going to work but, if it doesn't, I can always rebuild the mountain.

All I ask when watching the video is not to laugh (too much) :)

https://vimeo.com/115093621

For those who do, thanks for watching.
 
Looks good and blends in well Tony, you have some nice details on your buildings. I like the thunder and rain in the background!

Steve


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Bummer couldn't find anything to laugh at.The setup of the town has some really nice character, I can only imagine when you start detailing the yards and area. The building really look good ,what type of manufacturers are they? What are you going to do for walkways in front of the buildings?
 
steveparkinson said:
Looks good and blends in well Tony, you have some nice details on your buildings. I like the thunder and rain in the background!

Steve


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Steve, thank you and I thought the thunder gave it a "gloomy" feel, which is how it looks at the moment - old and run down.

Lynnb said:
Bummer couldn't find anything to laugh at.The setup of the town has some really nice character, I can only imagine when you start detailing the yards and area. The building really look good ,what type of manufacturers are they? What are you going to do for walkways in front of the buildings?
Click to expand...

I have another 5 structures to go into the town, and am waiting for two of them turn up and to build (oh yeah - can't wait for that) the other 3. Those buildings will go down the main street to the left and right so long as I have the room for them that is. So once they are in, at least the two built ups, I will start doing the yard detail work. Wont give anything away at the moment with respect to what I am going to do but suffice to say, it will (hopefully) meet the character of the town.

All of my structures are Woodlands Built Ups (Ready Built) hence the detail of them. There is no way in hell that I could come anywhere close to the way they have been done. That statement will be proven when I have to build the kits I have.

The walkways aren't truly in yet, I have to put in the expansion thingy's and cracks. Once that is done, I will be putting in Brawa Street Lights which are also in character with town. I am using their period gas type lights as follows:

Streetlights_zps4605efa9.png


They will go up and down both streets, I got 12 of them from Reynaulds. The ring road (raised section) will have a few things on the sidewalk, possibly some benches and so forth and the Town Hall/Police Station came with a Flag Pole and Cannon, so they will sit out front of it.

Johne230 said:
Tony nothing to laugh at I like what you have done so far with the town,it has charactor.
Click to expand...

John,

Thank you. It seems you all like the character of the town and that is a good thing from my point of view. While I am not sure what sort of character you guys are thinking of, I'm glad you think there is a character and, perhaps, something different to the normal town.
 
Tony the video is great! I really like the blend of the colors of the buildings very much! Also the spatial planning looks very nice.
 
Couldn't get the vid to go past 12sec's last night, worked OK today. Got some very wise townsfolk there Tony. They've all rushed inside 'cause when she comes down it'll be in bucket loads.
 
Thanks Toot'n - yeah a typical Darwin or Cairns monsoon rain. Clear as clear one second and gettin' hit by lightning bolts and buckets of rain the next. Hell I miss that - NOT! :)

Not ALL of the towns people are wise - the cops are still outside yackin' an eatin' donuts!

Thanks for looking Toot'n and glad the video worked for you today. The next one will show more progress on the town and the mountain behind it, which I am working on at the moment. Almost forgot about it actually :rolleyes:
 
Video was great and the town looks awesome. Really like the layout and flows nice.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Resqnu,

Thank you. It will look better when and if any of my new built ups arrive and I can get the main part finished, detailed and landscaped.
 
Hi Tony, just finished watching your video, does a great job of showing your work!!

The way things are going you will be the next ho explorer!! Keep it up, lasm
 
lasm,

Thank you and that is one heck of a compliment I must say, although I think Ken might have thoughts about that too :)

I must admit that I am starting to get a little impatient about finishing the town area, to see the end result. Having to wait for parts to arrive is a real pain in the posterior :(
 
Hey Tony,

Very nice video, had to watch it twice to make sure I didn't miss anything
I just started and can't wait to be finished...... in 5 years...lol
Nice work
 
Thank you Hawke, and 5 years is a pretty reasonable time frame too, well until the 5 years is up and your still working on your layout :) I thought I'd finished mine 6 or 7 times so far and have only been working on it for a little shy of 12 months.
 
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