The Atlantic and Southern Build Thread Continued, Part 2

[ACL1504]

Tom, how did you drill the holes that precisely?


dave

Dave,

Great question. I think about 95% of the holes are spot on. The ones that aren't will be used on the back side of the fuel platform.

Here is how I did it.

I used my 40+ year old Dremmel and Dremel press.



When the post is laying flat, the curved/top portion of the fence is not level with the drill press table. This made it difficult to get a good drill spot on the brass. The drill bit wanted to "float" and grab where it wanted.



continued below -

[ACL1504]

You can see when I press the top flat, the post is at an angle. This is the angle the top portion was when the post was flat. Since the post is longer than the top, the angle is more pronounced.



I used small pliers to hold the piece flat in place to make the holes.



As I mentioned, not all the posts turned out perfect but they are usable.

Hope this explanation helps.

[ACL1504]

That is some fine detailed work you're doing Tom.  It's really going to make that scene pop!   Am I seeing things or is there a switch machine hidden in the large oil tank for that turnout?

Mark,

Hey, thanks for stopping by and for the compliment.

No, you are not seeing things. The purpose of the tank in that location is two fold. The first is obviously to hide the Tortoise Switch Machine.

When laying out the track and moving turnouts around, this location was chosen for the business end of the #8 left hand turnout. As mentioned, the tank hides the switch motor.

Secondly, I wanted the large tank there to take the viewers eyes from the corner of the wall. I wanted a smooth viewing transition from the tank to the trees.

The chain link fence and more scenery will also help blend the corner into the scenery. More on that later in the thread.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Donato,

You are very kind. "Tom Terrific" first aired on the Captain Kangaroo show in 1957. I watched it all the time. Manfred was his dog.

Tom

[ACL1504]

This afternoon I started working on the chain link fence posts. This project was more involved than I figured. However, anything worth doing is worth doing right.

I first tried to come up with an easy way to build the fence.

I first drew a base line and pencil post every 10 HO scale apart.




I placed the posts over the pencil line and taped them in place. I used the ruler to hold the posts flush on the line.



More in a few.

[ACL1504]

I then placed the horizontal rod on the top of the post under the bent portion.



This wasn't going to work as the bar is on the outside.

More in a few.

[ACL1504]

I then came up with the brilliant idea to place the horizontal bar on the inside. To do this I had to reverse the posts and let them hang over the edge so I could work with the posts.



The bar doesn't work this way either.



The brilliant idea that wasn't.

Continued in a few.

[ACL1504]

There just isn't any easy way to do this and make it look correctly. Well, there is one. This is the one I wanted to avoid.

Remember, anything worth doing is to do it right the first time.

I cut individual horizontal bars and fit them between the posts.



The first section I built was the section behind the large tank. I applied a little rosin to the brass posts and bars and soldered them in place.



Diet Pepsi time!

[ACL1504]

Prior to making the fence, I made sure I had the posts set back far enough to avoid any interference with rolling stock.





More in a few.

[ACL1504]

The next section I worked on required 22 posts. This was more labor intensive and took me a few hours to complete.






I think the time was well worth the effort.



More in a few.

[ACL1504]

Folks, I'm done for the day on this project. Tomorrow I'll finish the rest of the fence excluding the gates. I'm still thinking how I want to build those. Of course they need to open and close.

[Janbouli]

The fence is absolutely going to be worth the time spent, awesome Tom.

[deemery]

I can't wait to see how you put the barbs on the barbed wire.   


dave

[PRR Modeler]

Beautiful modeling Tom. The fence is going to look incredible when finished. I was thinking  (that's dangerous ) that if it is a electric fence you could use straight wire at the top. Just a thought.

[sdrees]

Hi Tom,

Great tutorial and a good looking fence.  The bar between the posts looks so much better than your other trials.