I’m now wonderng if I really need to make many of the items removable.
No the way to do it is to glue a nail into the item pointy bit down having removed the head first. Then you have a point to make a mark for drilling on the layout. Having drilled the hole on the layout after a test fit you can remove the pointy bit from the nail (for safety) just leaving a stub for fitting.A bit more progress, but two steps forward and one step back.
If I decide to exhibit the layout, the height of the baseboards needs to be small so they can be stacked in my vehicle. Therefore I planned to make buildings, people etc removable. My plan was to glue a wire rod to each item and fix a bit of tube in the scenery. So the various items could be put in place and removed as necessary.
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My first attempt was a pair of platform seats. The first one worked fine, the second one was a failure. Gluing the wire onto the seats was simple (but would be far better if I simply drilled a hole in the leg). I drilled a hole in the platform, put a drop of glue in the hole, then inserted the brass tube. Unfortunatly some of the glue got drawn up the brass tube and set inside it so the rod would not go in. I then tried drilling out the tube, but the drill broke in it.
I’m now wonderng if I really need to make many of the items removable.
There is a third transport option too, buy a small waterproof trailer!
Good outbof the box thinking for removable scenic items. You can still use my Pin method to mark where they will go, but perhaps you have done that with this one?I’m now working on the opposite end to the station. It has three sidings in different places, although I hadn’t fully decided what each one would be for.. In one corner I decided to have a loading bank where a narrow gauge industrial line ended on a loading bank so tippers could be emptied into my hopper waggons. I made the shell of the loading bank from foamboard (ignore the holes in the side), but it looked too big and out of proportion with the rest of the layout.
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While I was at Arcadia Models at Shaw I noticed a coaling stage kit which I purchased as it would be good for the loco stabling area. More by good luck, it actually fitted in the loading bank space, so that track is now the loco spur. I actually cut the sides out of the part built loading dock to build up the coal stacking areas. Its not finished yet but looks OK to me.
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While doing a DIY job in the house I found some wooden dowels used in assembling flat pack furniture. I had a brain wave I thought these would be good for making buildings removable.
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