Finish layer on turntable steelwork

It was time to re-acquaint myself with my airbrush and other painting equipment. Frankly, I approach airbrushing with the same trepidation that most people feel for soldering, perhaps even public speaking. There is a lot on the line every time you get it out. First of all, there is a largely-complete model, on which I […]

More Thoughts on Roundhouse Doors

I’ve been pondering the roundhouse doors for a couple of days. Earlier this year, I came up with the idea to drive the doors with magnets beneath the layout. However, the tangle of rods and levers beneath the baseboard was hard to visualize. So today, I thought I would sketch it out. It still […]

Totally Unacceptable!

There is nothing quite like a coat of primer to show you where all the blemishes on a model are. I’d been trying to find time to get a coat of primer onto the turntable for several days, and Canada Day finally presented an opportunity some time between the parade and the fireworks. I had […]

On its wheels

I must admit I felt some trepidation when I went to add the wheel assemblies to the turntable this evening. They were inherently unstable, and I couldn’t think of a way to clamp them so the glue would have time to dry. I also haven’t come up with a way to pin them, which I […]

Starting to look more like a turntable!

There was a clear and present danger that no modelling would happen this evening. The Girl wanted to snuggle, and well, who can resist cuddling with their seven-year-old? There will come a day when I can only reminisce about having my children fall asleep beside me. Still, the race to see who falls asleep first […]

Levelling the Turntable

My friend Scott Calvert invited me to an operating session on Thursday (check out his new website!). Everyone (everyone!?) asked me how the turntable was coming along, and so, I guess it has been a while since the last update. The true story is that I have had a couple of killer weeks at work, […]

Turntable girders

I started on the cosmetic girders for the turntable a few weeks ago when I was away on business and couldn’t make progress on the main body anyway. I confess I didn’t make all that much progress in the hotel as there was too much to do during the day, and I spent most of […]

Two Down, Two to Go

[Note, I mis-published this to the wrong blog last weekend. I’ve since finished the remaining two wheels] Today I managed to assemble two of the four wheels for the turntable. I would have had all four, but two of the trucks broke before I could finish them. I considered throwing in the towel, but decided […]

Turntable Wheel Plan

It was a bit of a late start this evening, and all I had time for was some thinking about the turntable wheels. These are N-scale freight wheels with the flanges turned off. I had been thinking of using the needle bearings for one side, but couldn’t think how I would get the axles in […]

Ring rail replaced

I always find it interesting how much quicker it is to redo something than to do it the first time. So it is that it took only two evenings (about three hours) to remove the first ring rail and replace it. Of course, I reused all the parts. I scraped the ties down and pulled […]