American Model Builders Laser Art 85' Wood Roundhouse

Started by Oldguy, July 24, 2019, 10:19:55 PM

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Oldguy

Since I needed to set the rail. the roundhouse board (1/2" homasote on top of 3/4" plywood) was reinserted into the yard.  I had laid everything out before I even cut out for the turntable, so there was no issue for where the building and tracks were to go.  The "foundation" was previous glued down and the two outer door sills were glued and colored.  Then the track was cut and added.  I do spike down the track to hold it in place, but thick super glue (the dark spots) is used as the main adhesive to keep it in place until ballasted.  I got the center stall door frame assembly glued down.  Once set, I can then add the center track.  Now I have to remember and add the track feeders before adding any walls.
As an aside, I found that operate my Walthers T/T using a 15.6 volt battery from a Sears drill.
Bob Dye
Livin large on a pond

jerryrbeach

Bob,

You've made great progress.  I really like the way the wall coloring came out both inside and out.  I'm staying on board with this one, it has been a great ride thus far.  Thanks for all the pics and detailed explanations.
Jerry

MAP

Looking really good Bob!  Keep those progress pics coming.
Mark

postalkarl


Oldguy

Well, this sucks.  My last update didn't make it.  So, I'll do a quick recap.
I added all the tracks and cut gaps along the lift off, but aligned with the ties.  Feeders were added and rail sides painted.  One side wall glued into place.
Bob Dye
Livin large on a pond

Oldguy

With the one sidewall firmly in place, the two back wall sections were added along with the a front wall section.  These should give me some working room to add the ballast floor.  I temporarily added one main beam and two support columns jut to see what the interior is going to look like.
So, I went through my ballast stash and found a bunch of John's Lab and Campbell Scale Models ballast.  Mostly all gray.  Okay, that's good to go.  IPA, hmmmm, down to about a third cup.  But sufficient.   Note to self - make sure that you screw the cap down on volatile liquids.  Glue.  Glue?  What the  . . . . .  How can I not have Elmer's white glue?  Need to make a stop by Dollar General tomorrow am.
So, being glueless, I'll work on the roof.  Somehow I need to make it removable.  This could be a real trick since there are 24 ceiling joists per bay and the roof deck pieces are warped.  Those pieces maybe not get installed.  Step 1 was to add the "eaves".  Okay, I found them but had no idea if the go on flat or on edge.  Since there is a bias cut that reflects the corner angles, I installed them flat.  I got the two end pieces done, but then noticed that the "eaves" for the center stall were all too long.  SIGH  Why am I not surprised.  And oh BTW, one has to pay attention regarding the end stall decking.  There is a left and right section.  Of course, they aren't labeled.  Just make sure that the smoke jack opening  is centered over the stall rails.

The front window sections still don't any sense and even less now, since I added the 3x12 that go in front of the windows.  These pieces go on top of the framing but come up short of the underside of the roof deck and the support that is located between the windows.  It looks like that if I add another 3x12 on top of what is installed, then the height would be correct. 






Bob Dye
Livin large on a pond

PRR Modeler

Curt Webb
The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad
Freelanced PRR Bellevue Subdivision

jerryrbeach

Bob,

Looks great!  I have to say it seems to me that adding the extra stall to the roundhouse has made it closer to a scratch building project than a kit.  I admire your ability to work through the issues with both fit and finish.
Jerry

deemery

Interesting!  Building the walls in-place, like the prototype.  (My roundhouse was constructed as a single piece on the workbench, with multiple test-fits on the layout.)


dave
Modeling the Northeast in the 1890s - because the little voices told me to

ACL1504

Bob,

Great job, I really like how the interior walls turned out. I can smell the grease, oil and coal smoke!

Tom ;D
"If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed."
Thomas Jefferson

Tom Langford
telsr1@aol.com

Oldguy

Quote from: jerryrbeach on September 16, 2019, 08:43:53 AM
Bob,

Looks great!  I have to say it seems to me that adding the extra stall to the roundhouse has made it closer to a scratch building project than a kit.  I admire your ability to work through the issues with both fit and finish.
Yeah, pretty much.  And remember, the kit I bought was for six stalls!  I am using half here and will use the other half on another roundhouse, albeit with brick sidewalls.
Bob Dye
Livin large on a pond

Oldguy

Quote from: ACL1504 on September 16, 2019, 03:46:29 PM
Bob,

Great job, I really like how the interior walls turned out. I can smell the grease, oil and coal smoke!

Tom ;D
Glad you liked it,  it means mission accomplished.
Bob Dye
Livin large on a pond

Oldguy

Now it was time to add the ballast floor.
With the sidewall and end stall installed, I could lay down the material even with the rails.  I used a 6" plastic ruler as a screed.  A spritz of alcohol/water followed by a mixture of elmers and water applied with a pipette.  Once that was died, I need to add the first of the two sets of support columns.  Those had to dry, before the next round of ballast.  Let that dry, add the next set of columns, rinse and repeat, adding end stand walls as I went. 

I should mention that I didn't add any ballast to the first set of tracks as I couldn't find my old pizza-cutter trucks.  I went my local train store to get some cast-off trucks.  It is a little weird that south of me, there is a train store in a town of 3,500.  Not a hobby shop, but a train store.  And yes, he had a couple of drawers of old wheel sets.  What I do, is once the ballast has been laid down between the tracks, I used these deep flanged trucks to clear out the loose ballast.  Once the glue had been applied, I run the trucks down the tracks again.  It works for limited applications like this, I would never do this for routinely operated track.
So with the addition of the last sidewall, I was able to get the first round of ballast down.  There will be a topping layer of fine material yet to be applied.   And with the last side wall added and ballast laid down, I can add the last front stall window.  I do have to add some angle supports and ledgers to the front.
I should mention that this little vacuum does a credible job of picking up loose ballast material.  It runs off a cord attached to a USB port or jack.
Bob Dye
Livin large on a pond

Oldguy

While waiting for glued rock particles to dry, I worked on the rood deck.  I made the decision to forgo add the roof rafters in order to make the roof removable and make interior access more a priority.  I had to do this primarily because the roof deck cards were warped.
I found out that I can use 3x16"s that will sit on top of each of the 4 roof support beams.  In between the beams I'll add 1/8" bracing for each side card.  For the middle card, I'll add the bracing transversely, to connect all three cards. 

Remember that I mentioned that the two side roof decks cards are unique and one needs to pay attention to orientation for the smoke stacks?  Yep, I blew it and got one upside down.  The paint brush handle shows this painfully.  It is an easy fix as I just enlarged the hole.  The kit provides a cool looking roof material.  It is cut/lased with lines for the rolled roofing.  Sad to say, they made the same mistake that I did and included matching side stall roof cards, so these were going to be unusable anyway.
While the roof decking bracing glue is drying, I decided to start on the smoke stacks.  Each is made up of 39 parts.  36 of these are on adhesive backed material.  There are 11 parts just to get to the photo.   Another 8 parts get added just to get to the step of adding the stack from the underneath of the roof deck. 
Bob Dye
Livin large on a pond

jerryrbeach

Bob,

It looks like the finish line is getting closer with the roof panels coming alone nicely.  I am curious why you chose to use stone rather than cinder ballast. 
Jerry

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