Scenery and Structures for the new Layout Design

Junior - good point. Right now I have a wire from the rod at the bottom of the hopper connected to the screen so I am assuming the grass is charged from behind and gets an extra boost at the screen?????

Watched the videos - the Woodland Scenics Applicator is designed with a copper conductor well behind the plastic discharge screen. IMO it does ok up to about 6mm. Seems to me the issue is with the voltage potential developed by the negative ion generator and to a certain extent the distance between the copper conductor and the positive ground. I've seen videos of the grass standing straight up as it hits the glue. In my experience with the WS applicator, the fibers first lay down and then stand up as additional fibers are deposited. 

@Joe Fauty....

My knowledge of electronics is pretty basic, so if someone finds what I'm posting here is incorrect feel free to correct my posting.

Having more than one positive side connection in the container "could" improve the charge given to the bowl contents; only because more of the contents might be subject to being charged (ie. a larger surface area for imparting a charge to the contents).

But if your talking about increasing the charge itself that's imparted to the contents....that's a whole 'nother animal. To do that requires higher voltage (NOT AMPS) coming out of the ion generator....which is a topic I have no real knowledge to speak safely about.

I make this statement because ion generators produce on average 7KV to as high as 20KV. A few go as high as 30KV. That's 7,000 Volts to 30,000 VOLTS !

A zap from a 7KV ion generator might smart, but one from a 30KV generator would definitely hurt! Thank God there's hardly any (as in minimal) amps behind these generators. Otherwise they could be very dangerous.

Hope this helps......

@ScoutingDad...

Your observations seem spot on . Please see my thoughts above regarding ion generator voltage increases.

@Joe Fauty posted:

Junior - good point. Right now I have a wire from the rod at the bottom of the hopper connected to the screen so I am assuming the grass is charged from behind and gets an extra boost at the screen?????

I did not use the correct word above. Saying 'boost' implied more voltage. I should have said the grass would stay charged at the same voltage going through the screen.

Since I am standardizing on a 12VDC wall wart for the Noch I made the barrel connect more permanent as can be seen below. It is now glued into the bottom of the applicator.

I tried adding a washer to the internal electrode. It is stainless - had no brass / copper washers. There was no noticeable effect at all. It's probable due to the metal content of the washer???? If I can find a brass or copper washer I will try that.

There is an applicator called the RTS 55KV Greenkeeper which puts out 55KV but it is beyond my checkbook. Check out Sarah - https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...er-static-grass?nc=1. There is a 35Kv and a 25Kv model but I have already wasted money on 2 applicators and am in the process of destroying one.
I am trying one last thing. There is a negative ion generator advertised on Ebay that puts out 15kv with a 12 volt supply. It is $20. I also bought the 'control box' that goes with it. I will build it and instead of a strainer I will attach the electrode wire to the Noch electrode and see what happens.

EBAY LINK removed per OGR terms of service.

Did a bunch of different stuff with the static grass.

I built the static grass box from the parts I bought from the Ebay supplier. I gutted the old Noch applicator, ran a wire from the control box to the electrode at the bottom of the hopper then a wire to the metal screen.

I had some success with the Noch but decided to build a special flat dispenser as shown in the videos  to test the machine. Not only did it not work as shown in the video but I ended up sparking the dispenser to the metal pan. The Noch performance degraded after that. So I must have done something to the generator. I ended up buying another generator and installed it into the box today. I won't be trying the flat dispener / baking pan trick again.

This time I built a tea leave strainer dispenser and tried it along with the Noch. I could not tell the difference in performance between the two but felt the tea strainer was much easier (and much less expensive) to use. If I needed more grass I simply added it the strainer while I was dispensing which one can't do with the Noch.

I started with 2mm grass then went over it with 7mm. It looked ok however after vacuuming off the excess grass I had to go over every thing with an powered empty strainer to lift the grass more than it was.

2mm grass

7mm grass added

This is it for me and static grass. Opinion - if you want to use static grass spend the money for the 55KV applicator or buy the above 12KV generator / box and supplies for about $40 and hope the manufacturer comes out with a new super duper 30KV generator in the near future. As for me it is back to good ol' ground foam. I will probably use the tea strainer in some small areas just to break up the scene.

That static grass seems to be very difficult to get desired results.

Joe, I really admire your perseverance during this endeavor. Also, thank you very much for sharing the details of your efforts. It is very helpful and educational.  Thank you, Jay

Don't give up on static grass. It takes time to learn how to apply. I use the Woodland Scenics applicator up to 6 mm anything longer does not have the charge to stand up. This is probably my best attempt to date.  I had to apply at least 3 times to get the density I was looking for. The sock at the end of the vacuum hose does work well and can be used sparingly to help the grass stand up. Most any 12vdc adapter will work as a power supply, but you have to make an adapter to cross + and - into the unit.

Very frustrating trying to get this to work early on, especially after watching others apply so successfully.

I won't. I figure a mix of 2mm and 6-7mm in the future

I just finished up building a Suncoast Yard Office. Suncoast Models is defunct but kits can still be bought through Ebay. Suncoast Models are not the the easiest kits to build but for some reason I like them.

The kit is a basic box. All window and door openings have to be cut out. Instead of the cardboard sub walls I used styrene. Instead of a "parts wall" I built a dock. I also used hydrocal block walls from New England Brownstone for the foundation instead of the wood shown on the box cover.

I still need to find people and more stuff for the dock. Next up is an open sided locomotive shed so I can complete scenery in this are of the rail road. After that I am designing and using a Cricut Maker 3 to cut walls for a feed mill down track from a grain elevator. Using the Cricut to cut basswood will hopefully be an upcoming OGR article.

I had to stop landscaping until I built an open air locomotive maintenance shed. This shed is typical of those used out west when there was no air conditioning.

My version will hold a Union Pacific steam locomotive.

I have it placed at the end of a spur. directly in front is a coal tower. There will be a MOW maintenance shed and tall water tower up track. Now that the shed is in place (still need to paint it) I can start thinking on landscaping this portion of the layout.

Milestone!

The ballast is done - long live the ballast. God save the knees!
Now I get to clean track and fix all the detectors and lights I Knocked around with my feet.

@Joe Fauty.....all I can say is.....HOLY CRAP! You've been bustin hump! The ballasting looks great and the parts of the layout that you've landscaped already look phenomenal . The layout really appears to be coming together nicely.

And yes.....work requiring you to be on your knees is a killer to say the least. I think I can tolerate maybe an hour or so before cramping starts.....not a pretty sight.

Joe, nice work.  The track plan looks good and the layout is progressing nicely and quickly.  It should be stunning when it's almost done.  Almost done because great layouts are never quite done.

Looks good, Joe - was the open-air maintenance shed a kit or scratch-built ?

Looking good, Joe!

Peter

Joe, wow you really have gotten a lot done. Looking great.

Tom

Nice work Joe.  What is the corrugated building in the corner, is that the maintenance shed?  Is that scratch built?

Rich / Richie:
The corrugated shed is accustom built open air locomotive shed popular in the Southwest during the early 1900's up to about 1950. The smaller lines like Magma Copper built these to keep the sun off the locomotive and the repair crews.

Joe,

The layout is looking good. Enjoy every minute of building it.

I haven't done much on the model RR in the last 2-3 weeks. First I got sick (Flu) then in the middle of that my left knee decided to go south. I had to wait till I was over being sick to get x-rays and see the Doc. Thank God no knee surgery as yet, just a cortisone shot. I am slowly getting back into action.

I'm writing a two part article for OGR on using the Cricut Maker 3 to various materials for signs, decals etc and cut basswood walls for buildings. I came up with a design for a feed mill based on an old model RR magazine article.  All the walls including door and window openings were cut with the machine. I just finished gluing everything together. I need to glue in some roof supports and this building will be ready for painting. I have a grain elevator and a feed and grain store. I needed the middleman.

Joe, building looking great. Looking forward to your OGR articles. I have always had trouble with bass wood structures. Any secret glue or tricks you use to keep it from warping?

Thanks.

Tom

Tom:

As you can see from the photo the most important aspect in preventing warping is internal bracing. I use either 3/8 or 1/4 inch sq. basswood strips. I have found that when using basswood that the manufacturer has patterned (scribed, clapboard, board and batten etc.) vertical bracing is good enough. If I use a blank piece of basswood for a wall I always brace it cross grain since if the wood warps it will do so with the grain.
I generally don't like using clamps when gluing walls together. I add super glue to the top, middle and bottom of the wall to be glued and fill in the rest with white wood glue. I hold the parts together until the super glue takes hold. I use a right angle at the bottom to make sure the parts are aligned correctly. The CA acts as the clamp until the wood glue dries.
As you can see I don't stain or paint before gluing a building together. This is because I always paint the entire structure inside and out with a base coat (usually dark gray) from a rattle can. I shy away from using acrylic paints as base coats since they are water based.
Some like to spray the wood with a sealer such as Dullcote before painting but I have this unnecessary since I use rattle cans.
Once the four walls are glued if I find a wall bowing in or out I will glue a brace between the two walls. You can see there are two braces glued to the two peaks of the angled roofs. The side walls did not bow but if they did I would have adding bracing between them also.

Joe,

Many thanks for your instructions on gluing basswood. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain it so clearly and completely. I have printed out your instructions and have them ready for my next basswood kit. I have to say that I have shied away from basswood kits and that wood in general. I was wondering if rattle can paints would make a difference and you answered that too.

Thank you.

Tom

I painted the building Rust-Oleum Gray primer then Dark Taupe. After this I dusted it with Satin Nutmeg. The lighting makes it difficult to discern the difference. Before I painted I used a wire brush to roughen up the wood a little. When brushing drag the brush in the parallel to the clapboard.

I will be cutting the trim and painting with Rust-Oleum Brown. The doors and windows will be the same brown color. The roof will be black conservation board with a rolled roof most likely which is the same as the yard office except I am going to try a dark tan this time.

Looking forward to your OGR articles Joe, and then maybe a Cricut 3 on my Christmas list...

Looks really nice with those paints Joe. how long do you wait between paints?

Tom

Tom:

Between coats about an hour. After final coat at least a day for wood but a couple of days for plastic.

@EmpireBuilderDave posted:

Looking forward to your OGR articles Joe, and then maybe a Cricut 3 on my Christmas list...

Dave:

If OGR accepts them there will be two articles. The first covers using the Maker 3 to make building signs, cut text, and make decals from photo paper, adhesive backed white vinyl and standard decal paper.
The second article covers designing and cutting basswood walls. I will submit this article as soon as the feed mill is complete.
Joe

Joe, I wasn't sure about the wood and just learned to let the paints dry a couple of days on plastic.

Thank you for the paint times.  

Tom

While I am building the feed mill I have been busy cleaning track since the ballasting is complete. I will now have to address issues with detectors and signals that I knocked around while kneeling and crawling around on top of the layout. While paying attention to what was in front of me I forgot about my legs and feet swinging around behind me.

I have just received a new 180W Powerbrick. I bought a 360W Powermaster a while back and was waiting on the brick to connect to it. The reason for this goes back a ways. To make a long story short I had a locomotive track that I loaded up with about 8 locomotives. This was connected to 180W 10 amp Powermaster. I can't remember if the the track would turn and starting one starting locomotive of a bunch and turn off or if it would not turn on at all. Once I started removing locomotives from the track everything went back to normal.
I need to re-route wires from the locomotive track back to the 360W power district and see what happens.

I had time today to move wires. I now have the locomotive track along with all the yard tracks on the 360W Powermaster. I loaded up the locomotive track, turned the power on and had no issues. Life is beautiful once again. Now on to the detectors and signals.

Joe, yard looking good.

tom

The feed mill is complete except for signage. I now have a grain elevator that delivers to the feed mill that delivers to a feed store in town.

The dock was scratched built with basswood and stained with MicroMark Gray Brown stain. I wanted to use New England Brownstone hydrocal  block walls for the foundation but did not have enough. Instead I used Plastruct RT29 rectangular tubing with a Plastruct block laminate. I painted the foundation black then over sprayed with Satin River Rock. Instead of mortar I simply coated the surface with an India ink / water wash which darkened it up considerably.

The figures are Woodland Scenics and Bachman Scene Scapes. The roof top air vents are Bar Mills 0438 Tall Roof Vents . The dust collector on the roof and the wall duct are part of the Bar Mills 04024 Industrial Vent Systems. The small black tank near the office door is a Bar Mills 04006 Heating Oil Tank.

The large brown barrels are actually very old Lionel parts from when I was a kid. Hopefully they look like flour barrels ready for shipment to the Feed Store.

The storage silos are made with Plastruct tubing.

I'm not sure where the bench came from.

The small attic fan is a Bar Mills 04034 Window Fan Assemblies kit. These are peel and stick assemblies

Once again Joe an impressive work of art. What is the foot print?

Nice! I had no idea so many O scale details are available.  I've been making due with HO stuff available at the hobby shops.  I guess I need to mail order more often.

Joe, feed mill is fantastic !!

Tom

@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:

Once again Joe an impressive work of art. What is the foot print?

Approx 16 wide by 14 deep