N scale Layout -Building the walls...-

 Here are some features-buildings and I test fit them in order to finalize their location.

 I can show here  the lower retaining wall made of stone   and the upper wall made of concrete . The Upper wall is made of 1mm styrene sheet  painted (as a primer with grey spray . It will need many adjustments in order to look like a concrete wall .

 Another view here.

A more closer photo .  I trully look forward to be ready to ballast the tracks and to grass  the area . I  will be happy then   !

N scale layout -more of the industrial area-

     Next step , yesterday , I fixed the final location of the industrial buildings . I had to be very careful to leave enough spacing between the tracks  in order  all, even bigger, wagons to be able to pass through.

 
     After that , I was able to  start building the fence out of polyesterine sheets .  All this will be painted to look like concrete .  My main idea  is  this area to look like a loading field . From the factory straight to the battlefield  !
  

       Another view of the yesterday additions .
I have not yet found out  what kind of doors will be hanged from the walls . Maybe , wooden doors .Three of them . One for the cars and trucks and two for the  trains . 
Note  that the putty I used , was layed not very accurately  on purpose in order to look like much used concrete.

N scale layout -The station and the industry area-

The station and the industrial area

Some hard work to do  was to arrange the road  from the town to the station. My  main  care is  to make everything in order to make sense . So the road has to show that it has some purpose adding to the dramatic show of the layout .

A better view here

The expansion of the station's peers were made of  thick paper  and  abs plastic sheet .

Cork sheet is also used to make the buildng's surrounding area

Here I  used some white putty  in order to make the concrete effect .

FW-190 by LRP my beloved warbird

I would like to review here  the LRP FW190 but I ma pretty sure that there is nothing more to write  about it.
Main  pros :
-Manuevering
-Easy to fly
-Very hard to stall
-Very good constuction

Main cons  :
-Flimsy  landing gear
-Only 3s  esc (not 4s capable)
-Awful painting

I have been flying it for more than a year . Most  attempts  were very funny  and  only two went bad .
One bad occasion was  when  I   was  taking off  and I lost one weel . I retracted  the gear  and belly  landed.
Another occasion was when I had to belly land due to battery lost power.

Here is  the official  website  :  press here

 

 Here is  the warbird  as it is factory painted

 

     Here is  my plane  custom painted . I also installed a   4s  esc    and  re-balanced it in order to  use a 4s battery . The flight  was even better  and the power  provided me   the ability to  handle the plane more freely . Thanks LRP !

N scale layout - Town Construction -

 The town base is ready . I have choosed the final position of the buildings  and I have glued the cobbled roman road. Then  I was able to start forming the surrounding walls . This , when completed will provide a nice show more dramatic.

 Another view here

 Thi sis the front view . One building still needs construction so I used it's plastic base  in order to arrange the position .

A more clear view  of the whole layout .The left hill is  primereed brown  in order  to be prepared for flocking . I would never want  , when grass flocking is ready  , to be able to see the newspaper under it...

My lost planes : Phoenix Classic

          Here is the final  view of  my first plane  the 46' Classic from Phoenix Models  . The photo was taken about 8-9 years ago . There was no chance to rebuild it  as the main body was severely damaged  and moreover  the wing was... cut in half...
The nitro 46 engine is  still  in my inventory  but it missed some cooling ribs  from it's head .

N scale layout -Constructing the hills-

 Here I have  installed the gradings  to shape the hill . I have chosen fine ones that can be cut with sharp scissors   and easily glued with white crafts glue .

 Another view of the same step

 Here I  make some tests in order to locate the middle hill (it will be shown next)  and to determine its height. The train station  and  industrial  buildings are already located in their final positions.
Station:
Faller N scale  No.212104
press the link to see the image

The middle hill that accomodates the "town" area is shaped . White glue and newspaper is used  to form the steep sides of it . I also made some tests trying to finalize the location off the towngate  and the church . Hard job to do , as  the church is the biggest building on the layout  and  has to be carefully placed.
1)Kibri church  No.37027
press here for the link
1)Kibri Towngate No.7103 (old model)
STADTTOR ALTSTADTTURM STADTMAUER

N scale layout

     Now , you will be  able to see the structural construction of the  left hill. It consists of  two tunnels  and it provides maintenance accecibility from the rear area. The tunnel entrances are made of blue foam   and the ribs are made of 4mm k-fix foam paper . After the ribs were  glued   , I attached  the fine gradings  that provide the downhill shape . 

     Lastly when the glue cured I was ready to glue layers of newspaper sheets  (3+ layers) . For all the above  , I used white wood glue  that  becomes transparent when ready. Thois whole structure provides  extremely lightweight result  and also gives full accesibility  for both  train stes or electric wires for future addons.

 Tunnel entrances  ready

Ribs  gued

Constant running cheques  were done   in order to locate  any mufanction   that may result average engine and wagon running. The curch in the middle  is placed just  to give me an idea of the volume .








Thanks a lot

N scale layout

     Here I  present  my newer attempt to construct  a train layout . The previous construction was a Ho  layout L shaped  and rather big  nearly 20 years ago. Since then  many things have changed , tool availablility  ,  construction efficiency  access to different materials  and of course  technical experience  in every aspect .
    As I trully love  scale  model making I will focus into this aspect of the construction  leaving  other matters aside . Even   the track  line  is  rather simple  , single way . Only 3 intersections are used and only one  end line is  created  so I have much space left   to  build my beloved scale parts . One  town  , one castel , rail station  and a small industrial field are in my plans . I will  keep  this thread updated  with all parts used (buildings etc )  from  wide variety of suppliers  (kibri , Faller , Vollmer , Woodland Scenics ) .


Here is the  basic board constructed by 4mm plywood   and  bluefoam . It is  very lightweigt  and trully  robust .  The inserted bluefoam  will provide me the ability  to carve it  and  adjust line  negative  height .
For such a small  layout   , this  construction is trully recommended . Only negative aspect?  That  carving the bluefoam is trully  dirty job to do . Big mess .

 

At the last photo  you can see  how  I easily raise the  track using blue foam parts  .  The small  engine  with a series of waggons are used for line testing . Line  bedding  was done with  cork sheet 3mm  high . Easy to cut   and  also   sound proof . 

 

HO scale Models

      HO or H0 is the most popular scale of model railway in the world.
According to the NMRA standard S-1.2 predominantly used in North America, in HO scale, 3.5 mm (0.1378 in) represents 1 real foot (304.8 mm); this ratio works out to about 1:87.1. According to the MOROP standard NEM 010 predominantly used in Europe, the scale is exactly 1:87. In HO, rails are usually spaced 16.5 mm (0.64961 in) apart which models the standard railroad gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in).
      The name HO is derived from the fact that its 1:87 scale is approximately half that of O scale which was the smallest of the series of older and larger 0, 1, 2 and 3 scales introduced by Märklin around 1900. In most English-speaking markets it is pronounced "aitch-oh" and written with the letters HO today, but in German it is pronounced "hah-null", and still written with the letter H and numeral 0.
      Currently, HO is the most popular model railroad scale in both continental Europe and North America, whereas OO scale (4 mm:foot or 1:76.2 with 16.5 mm track) is still dominant in Britain.
There are some modellers in Great Britain who use HO scale. For them, the British 1:87 Scale Society was formed in 1994; it publishes a quarterly journal with news, views, and practical advice for modellers and collectors. A magazine, Continental Modeller, focuses on the railways of other countries, including America and Europe, and has extensive coverage of HO scale layouts.
Today, HO locomotives, rolling stock (cars or carriages), buildings, and scenery are available from a large number of manufacturers in a variety of price brackets.

N scale models

     N scale is a popular model railway scale. Depending upon the manufacturer (or country), the scale ranges from 1:148 to 1:160. In all cases, the gauge (the distance between the rails) is 9 mm or 0.354 in. 
     The term N gauge refers to the track dimensions, but in the UK in particular N gauge refers to a 1:148 scale with 1:160 (9 mm or 0.354 in) track gauge modelling. The terms N scale and N gauge are often inaccurately used interchangeably, as scale is defined as ratio or proportion of the model, and gauge only as a distance between rails. To keep materiel exchange simple, the scale 1:148 defines the rail to rail gauge equal to 9mm or 0.354" exactly (at the cost of scale exactness). So when calculating the rail and/or track use 1:148 and for engines and car wheel base use 1:160.
     All rails are spaced at 9mm but are different in height. Height is a measurement of schedule; i.e. schedule 55 is 60 mil rail height and the ties are brown while schedule 80 the rails are 80 mils and the ties are black. Real railroad rails are a min of 6" tall and can be taller, wider on some roads. So in scale the rails should be about 40mils high to be accurate. Older N scale cars and Locos will not work on Schedule 55 because the flanges on the wheels are too big. Presumably all currently made cars and Locos have shorter flanges and will work on schedule 55 and up.
An advantage of N scale is that it allows hobbyists to build layouts that take up less space than HO scale, or put longer track runs into the same amount of space, because the models are smaller (by nearly a half) than they are in HO scale (1:87). While N scale is quite small, it is not the smallest commercially available scale, as Z scale is smaller yet at 1:220 and T scale is 1:450 or 1:480. N scale is considered generally compatible with 1:144 scale for miniature wargaming.