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| The base for the Community Gardens micro-layout* on the coffee table. |
It's very inspiring to have the workshop cleaned up and reorganized. Seeing all the open workspace I finally decided to create the base for a micro-layout* I've had in mind for a year or so.
Before getting into the construction details I need to backup a bit.
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| A portion of the walking path through the community gardens is on the left |
Not far from my house is the city's largest community garden located in a hydro field right of way, situated between two major roads. In it are four hundred or so garden plots the city rents out to residents where people grow all sorts of vegetables and flowers over the summer.
There's a road-to-road, 1 km long walking path through the gardens that's part of the city's larger multi-use pathway network that I use for my daily walks, so I enjoy the gardens just about everyday, in every season.
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| A portion of the road that runs parallel to the walking path. |
There's also a gravel road that runs parallel to the walking path so gardeners can drive their cars closer to their plots.
Now, me being me, I see that road and I start to wonder what it would be like if it were replaced by some sort of little narrow gauge trolley line. Its purpose being to carry gardening supplies, and maybe gardeners too, from the parking lots and bus stops at either end of the area closer to specific plots.
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| Walking path entrance at one end of the community gardens. |
For awhile I've being thinking about building a very small micro-layout* inspired by the community garden that would feature that imaginary narrow gauge trolley line through the plots.
All of the micro-layouts* I've built so far have been at the large end of what can be considered micro; that is, they've all had an area of 4 sq. ft.. In a way they aren't truly micro, and I've wanted to try my hand at building one where there is no question about its micro-ness.
I've also wanted to build a little micro-layout* that incorporated stylistic touches of mid-20th century furniture, and had a vibe that suggests it could have been purchased long ago at Radio Shack in the '70s, or maybe earlier from Clairtone. I also wanted the layout to incorporate lights and sound, which none of my micros so far have had. Overall, it would be a decorative item featuring a moving trolley or train, lights for nighttime scenes, and some ambient sounds recorded at the gardens playing on an endless loop.
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| A scene from last year where I experimented with building A4 sized loop layouts on stacks of styrofoam. |
Last year I did some experiments with a Community Gardens micro in mind where I used a commercial rail bender and stacked styrofoam to build some A4 sized bases for small loop layouts utilizing N-gauge track. I learned how to use the rail bender and was quite happy with it, but the stacked styrofoam bases, although functionally ok, demonstrated that I wasn't going to get the look I was after using them as bases.
So, the idea of building a truly micro-layout* inspired by the community garden has been on hold for awhile. However, a trip to Michaels back in December got me thinking again about this layout.
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Wooden storage box from Michaels.
The footprint measures 12-1/2" x 12-1/2" |
I stumbled across these wooden storage boxes and thought if I cut the scalloped edge off, along with the handle cutouts, and flipped it upside down there would be my layout base.
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| The bottom of the box, which will be the base of the layout. |
The price was not too expensive at $22, so if I bungled cutting it, no big loss. I don't know what kind of wood it's made out of, but it's nothing fancy, and a bit rough. The corner joints aren't super, but they are strong and fairly clean. Although, that being said, with a little sanding and some stain it should look quite presentable in a family room setting, and provide me with the style I'm after.
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| Immediately after finishing the cuts. |
I can't say if I cut the box the correct way, but it worked. I measured 8" down from the bottom of the box and marked a line on all four sides. Then I carefully cut a groove about half way through each side by clamping a steel bar against the line, using the bar as a fence to guide my back saw. Once the groove was cut all the way around I then methodically deepened the grooves, rotating the box and cutting a little more on each wall until the scalloped edge came free. A video would be more explanatory, but I just wanted to concentrate on making the cuts.
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| Old #78 from the Pennsylvania Saw Corporation came to my rescue. |
The only problem I encountered happened early on. I used my Stanley back saw and thought it had a little wobble in it as I made the first cuts. The backbone didn't seem to be holding the blade completely rigid and by the time I realized that I had mangled a corner a little. After some thought I took the back saw I had inherited from my father from the wall and decided I'd use it. It wasn't in the best condition, but strangely enough the blade seemed sharper than on my relatively new saw and it was far more rigid. So, I went ahead and used it and made all the remaining cuts just fine. I repaired the corner I bungled with the other saw with some wood filler and now it looks alright.
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| 'Warranted Superior', they're not kidding. |
My father's back saw has stamped on it that it was made by the Pennsylvania Saw Corporation and is product #78. The thing must be at least 70 years old as it seemed to be in our old house forever. My Stanley saw is around 25 and seems to be worse off than the old thing.
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| Comparing the new layout base to the experiment from last year. |
I decided to keep going and cut a foam insert for the top. This will be the actual base for the layout; the box provides the support 'cabinetry' and internal space for the power supply, sound unit and speakers, and lighting power and controls.
I cut a piece of 1" thick pink foam to fit snuggly inside the edge made by the side walls. Right now it's just friction fit; I'll glue it in later.
I find the foam's pink colour annoying so I went ahead and painted it with some acrylics. Scenic materials will eventually cover it up, but in the meantime it can't irritate me :-)
I think I'll keep the scalloped scrap piece around for awhile. It might come in handy for something.
So, there's the base. As I mentioned somewhere earlier on the blog, my projects are scattered all over the place so far this year, and nothing has gelled in my mind to devote all my efforts to, so the mishmash of post subjects continues. All I can say is I find all these dives into different projects interesting, which I think is the true goal of an avocation.
Stay tuned!
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Digressions
*I don't particularly like the term 'micro-layout', but I recognize it's an established term, so it isn't going to change anytime soon. But, if I could magically change it, I'd change it to something like 'dynamic diorama'. At the layout sizes we're talking about here, near 0 to 4 sq. ft., there isn't much difference between them and many dioramas I've seen at plastic model shows. Often the only difference is the micro-layout has a moving element (ie, dynamic element; ie, a train). In my reading and viewing I've seen micros at a wide range of scales, with many of the larger scale ones making use of modelling materials and kits from other modelling genres. I think there would be 'interesting synergies' as they say in business-speak that would arise if micros were thrown in the mix as dioramas, and vice versa.
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