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My Second Diorama - Wood Cutters Shack

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  • AlexR
    edited May 2020
    previously i mentioned using a really small end mill. For the lantern i needed a 1/32 end mill. I also thought this time i would take a couple photos of how i did the pocket for the LED. For the glass i got some 1/16 plastic round stock and used that. i thought it was about the right size. I put a yellow LED in the lantern on the car.


    i also had some other lanterns on hand and decided to put a red led in that one.



    Does the group think the red looks correct? Or, should i stick with yellow?


    BTW, this whole lighting the lantern that i thought i would follow Robert with.. This is no joke of a detail to do without causing yourself a lot more work. For others contemplating this, be VERY careful, also, cut the top of the lantern off first, then the bottom. This will minimize the chance of breaking the handle.

    I hope you enjoy the process below.

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  • Robert.GRobert.G
    Nice work, and indeed, one has to be extremely careful baring in mind that this is white metal and not brass. But as you can see, if there's a will, there is ...light :wink:
  • brownbr
    Show off.
  • KCSTrainsKCSTrains
    You are going way beyond anything I could even imagine. Great work. Who would have thought to put an actual lighted lamp on a flat bed. Wow!! Phil
  • AlexR
    KCSTrains said:

    You are going way beyond anything I could even imagine. Great work. Who would have thought to put an actual lighted lamp on a flat bed. Wow!! Phil

    i'm just copying you guys :smile:. it's easy to be creative when your following instructions or others.


    However, you did give me the idea to keep a lantern on the car.. i just set it there last night because the slits in the boards would hold it... I'll look into power options, i already have micro switches. Now i just need a small voltage source, maybe a watch battery.

  • JayNSmithJayNSmith
    Superb. I enjoyed seeing part of your workshop as well.
  • KKarnsKKarns
    Sweet detail Alex!...amazing work.
  • AlexR
    Now i just need to learn how to hand lay track (i've never done it before; on my first diorama i used HON3 flex track) and decide how i'm going to do the track in progress portion...


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  • brownbr
    You will love the look of hand laid track. The method I use goes like this:

    Put down glue where the ties will go. Lay out your ties. I use a guide from FastTracks which lets me lay down a bunch of ties at once. If you don't have this, don't worry, mark out where the track will go, glue a little bit at a time. Let the glue dry. Grain your ties with steel brush. Color ties...you can use chalks, IA, whatever at this point. Let dry. Ballast next...much easier before rails are in. Put ballast in and use a soft brush 1/2" wide or so and brush into place. Set ballast with matte medium, glue mix, whatever you use. Weather then place rail. You will want a rail gauge for this step and spike insertion pliers are very handy and make the spiking go smoothly. Touch up any nicks on the rail then start to weather the ballast area.

    This is not the only way, its just the way I do mine. I figured it out after handlaying all the track on a 15x18 layout.
  • AlexR
    Very cool,

    Bryan, i bought everything you listed the other day. i bought 2 rail gauges. i figured 2 would be easier to work with since there is a curve. i've got a couple larger brushes that will likely work very well as you describe using the 1/2 brush.

    i'll do a test on some scrap foam board i have.
  • AlexR
    i made a little progress this evening. I decided to do 2 lights on the work shed. I'm considering doing 2 lights in the cabin but am somewhat undecided right now.

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  • MountaingoatMountaingoat
    I love lighting. It adds a so much to a diorama. This looks fantastic. No idea where you ran the wires....Rick
  • Robert.GRobert.G
    Looks great!!
  • adminadmin
    Fantastic Alex, just right.
  • CarlLaskeyCarlLaskey
    Let there be light nice work.
  • KKarnsKKarns
    Can't beat hand laid, light rail, narrow gauge track...lots of work but worth it in the end. Nice electrical work...I envy all you guys who take the time and effort to do the lighting.
  • Joel
    Just beautiful, Love the extra detail on the lamp and lighting effects.
  • JohnM2104JohnM2104
    Alex, the Woodcutters is coming along fine and your skill-sets are excellent! I have this kit and will begin working on it sometime soon hopefully. Judging by the detail you applied to the marks on the floor where the door opens, I assume you have a place picked out at the front of the layout where viewers can appreciate this level of detail?
  • JohnM2104JohnM2104
    I have a friend who builds structures and his idea of the perfect layout is 200 craftsman kits and 2 feet of track!
  • JohnM2104JohnM2104
    You never know, try it you might like it? Speaking of Barbara reminds me of a circumstance with a guy in the club I used to belong to. He was with the O scale group next door and had a small layout in his extra bedroom in his 2 bedroom apartment. I guess he had been divorced for a while and he said one night he walked into the master bedroom and stated out loud "would anybody mind if I moved the train layout in here because space is much bigger?. When nobody objected he had his answer and was able to build an even bigger layout.
  • AlexR
    i got the wiring finished up this evening. Here are a couple of photos with all of the lights...

    Next will be laying the track. However, UPS has had some delays within the last couple days and that order has items that i need for the hand laying (learning as i go and buying what i figure out i didn't even know i needed :blush:).. So, i will be waiting for those items until i can proceed. I was thinking about it earlier. if i had everything on hand when i started this would have been a much quicker project.. However, that's part of the learning process.

    John, i dont have a layout. I will only be doing diorama's. However, i plan on incorporating more than 1 kit into each diorama moving forward.

    You may note that there is one random light in the back ground on a stump. This stump will be adjacent to the outhouse. So, this was planned and is not an oversight. Also, the fireplace is running on the sim card that it was in the youtube video. So, in the photo it's static, however, in real life it isn't. When i finish up i'll take another video.

    It will be interesting to see how the lighting is impacted when all the trees are added back into the diorama.

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  • brownbr
    I like it. It's going to look great with the light hitting the underside of the branches of the trees.
  • AlexR
    I derided to put the trees back on to see what it would look like :smile:.


    I think i'm going to need to assemble the roof next.....


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  • MountaingoatMountaingoat
    When you get the track laid and some scene base under the trees, this will be absolutely incredible. Then the final details...wow.....Rick
  • JohnM2104JohnM2104
    Alex, I love your work and can appreciate the time spent to create this amazing project. Your attention to detail is exquisite, especially the coal dust on the floor in front of the stove and the wood in the crate as well as the wood stack.
    I’ve done very little with lighting and all the structures built years ago have no lighting effects. Moving forward, I will be upgrading wherever I can and all new structures will be equipped with various stages of lighting.
    Dioramas are a great canvas to showcase such models also and I love what you’ve done with the lighting. I indeed noticed the light on the stump and I believe the fireplace is running on a Micro Lumina LED power distribution board? Is that Gatorfoam underneath the diorama? What a great idea to access the lighting and keep things neat and orderly.



  • AlexR
    John,

    This thread shows the wiring ect in more detail.

    http://www.craftsmankituniversity.com/vanforum/index.php?p=/discussion/1161/how-do-you-light-your-diorama#latest

    All of the lighting products were bought from the same source. The foam is pink foam insulation board from home depot.

    The recessed paths were the best way i could think of to keep the wiring safe while maintaining maximum mobility. At this stage i wind up moving the base multiple times a day it seems like...

    In the future i will probably do the lighting slightly different (like anything in life, improve off of the previous version..)..


    Glad you enjoyed the photos.
  • kebmokebmo
    Mountaingoat said:

    I like your placement as it is. I know the track is just laid there for ideas, but I would recommend a slight curvature in the track. Almost no straight track in these heavily wooded areas and more pleasing to the eye.

    Rick

    that's exactly what i was going to suggest. put a slight curve in the flex track.
  • JohnM2104JohnM2104
    Alex, I believe lighting is like everything else we do in this hobby as there are various ways to accomplish the same task. The former model railroad club I belonged to encounters similar challenges as they now have a modular layout that travels to shows in addition to the permanent layout. What applications work for one layout doesn't necessarily work for the other as modules that move need to be constructed differently, and employ other techniques for both durability and to keep the wiring safe as you mentioned. At this point, I'm just looking at different ways modelers handle lighting and will ultimately decide the easiest approach for me. LED's will be the way to go, however!

  • KKarnsKKarns
    Nice work Alex, lighting makes such a nice addition to an already top shelf project.
  • AlexR
    Thanks for the kind words everyone. i'm trying to do the best i can without screwing anything up too bad :smile:.

    I took Bryans advice and used templates for my ties, I also took his advice to get the ties down prior to laying the rail. As this is not only my first time hand laying rail, due to the nature of this diorama it has a curved rail and to make things more complicated for the first time why not incorporate a turnout (i did buy a couple turnouts at the train store last week and will be "borrowing" parts from those as needed)...... The second photo is as the diorama is right now. i just did a finishing leveling layer.. The one benefit to living in North Texas is.. it's super hot in the sun.. So, i was able to get all the track done this morning, then leave the diorama in the sun to dry and was able to finish the dirt this evening..


    I'm trying to emulate what you guys do with the dirt stuff the best i can.


    the toothpicks were so i didn't lose my tree holes.

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