Building A Modular Model Railway! - Episode Nine: Making A Tunnel
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- čas přidán 30. 06. 2024
- In episode nine of building a modular model railway, I'll be attempting to make a tunnel!
Hi everyone, I'm back again with another layout update from my portable model railway and it's another long episode! After all the excitement last time of finishing off the two final corner modules, today I'll be adding some scenery to one of those as I attempt to make a tunnel to hide the entrance to the fiddle yard.
I didn't really have a plan for this, more like a rough idea so you'll have to see how it all turned out but there's certainly a lot to pack into this episode. Alongside painting the Peco Modelscene tunnel portal there's also bit of ballasting, making the tunnel itself along with an interior and I even had a go at making a removable access panel too. All in all it's one of the most varied videos I've ever made for the channel so there should be something for everyone... enjoy!
Catch up on the previous layout updates: • Building A Modular Mod...
Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
02:10 - Painting The Track
03:55 - Ballasting
05:33 - Painting The PECO Tunnel
08:41 - Making A Tunnel Interior
12:07 - Building The Hill
14:47 - Plaster Bandage and Panel Plans!
16:59 - Cutting The Backboard
18:01 - A Magnetic Access Panel
19:49 - Adding Plaster Bandage
21:52 - Plans For The Future
Thanks For Watching!
I see a new upload from That Model Railway Guy, I click, I watch. :D
Ah thanks Rohan, you're certainly more than welcome here! Thanks for watching 😃
The brick interior to the tunnel, very good, like it a lot. Well done.
Thanks Christopher, it really does make a huge difference and carries the scene on even when you get down to look inside. Thanks for watching 😃
*”Once an engine attached to a train was afraid of a few drops of rain so he fled into a tunnel and breathe trough his funnel and wouldn’t come out again”*
Haha! I'll have to make sure I don't run any green engines, just in case 😂 Thanks for watching 👍
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy yea wood be a pain if the only track thow the tunle had to get bricked up becuse the train refused to come out
"there was once an engine attached to a train, who heard the whir of the Nazi plane.
He hid in the tunnel, squeaked through his funnel and waited until the bombs would stop again."
ofc a soviet train
Enjoyed the new update.
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching 😃
Really interesting and informative video as usual with some great ideas. Thanks again.
Thanks, glad you found it interesting! There certainly was a lot crammed into this update and even then there's still a long way to go with the tunnel. Thanks for watching 😃
I have learnt an enormous amount from this video. I admire the relative simplicity of your approach, while maintaining attention to detail. Your presentation style is very refreshing. Thank you. I will be watching all your videos in the coming days, and expect very high levels of learning and enjoyment from them.
That's really great to hear! I do try and keep my videos simple and engaging so that (even though I'm no expert) it's easy to understand and follow along. Glad you're looking forward to checking out more videos and thanks for watching! 😃
What a great idea for the back panel- really like this video it will be helpful as I progress on my layout thank you!
Thanks Mark! Yes I'm really happy with the back panel - the magnets are brilliant since it's so quick to get on/off. Best of luck with your own layout build and thanks for watching 😃
Great work. As a very inexperienced modeller 25 years ago I managed to build a tunnel using chicken wire and plaster of paris strip. It looked a treat when completed. Probably about time I built another for my little n gauge track...
Thanks, yes the chicken wire technique does seem to work quite well which is why I imagine it's stood the test of time. Go for it I say, every layout can have a tunnel in my opinion 😉 Thanks for watching 👍
I think that is really cool! I literally woke up checked my notifications but I just clicked this video and ignored the rest.
Ah that's very kind of you Oscar! Glad you're enjoying the modular layout updates - they do seem to be popular so, like I said at the end, I'm already working on the next one which will hopefully be ready in a few weeks time. Thanks for watching 😃
Great Vid! Good to see some detail inside a tunnel, one of my gripes as well.👍
Thanks! Yeah it does look a lot better than just seeing the bare plywood inside 😂 Hopefully when I get the side fascia on too that’ll make it a bit darker inside as well. Thanks for watching 👍
Favourite episode of the series.
Awesome! Next time I’ll have to make an entire layout that is made up of tunnels 😂 Thanks for watching 👍
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy Love how how you gave life to an inexpensive piece of plastic with a bit of paint, lovely results.
Great job on the tunnel month, the effect the paint had on the front of the tunnel looked really affective and the interior was really well done, it all came together really well, well done 👍🏻
Thanks Adam! Yes, it's amazing what a little bit of paint and a simple interior can do! I can't wait to get the rest of the scenery done now so we can see it properly embedded into the landscape. Thanks for watching 😃
You have given me inspiration to build my own tunnel when you made the how to make hills video and its coming together quite well
Awesome! Glad to hear the Model Railway Basics video inspired you to give it a go yourself. Best of luck with your own layout and thanks for watching! 😃
Gracias nuevamente
Fabulous!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching 😃
Great video mate, I painted up a model scene portal the other month, they can look very good with a little weathering and chopping. I can't wait to start the rest of the scenery and detail on mine.
Thanks David, yeah they're not bad at all. I was put off originally because I thought they looked a bit plastic and cheap but some of the moulded detail is really quite good and with a bit of paint I'm now really happy with mine. Best of luck with your layout, looking forward to seeing the scenery start to go down on it! Thanks for watching 😃
Clever use of the small magnets. Great job, thanks!
Thanks Barry, definitely makes getting inside to clean the track much easier! Thanks for watching 😃
Great video, thanks for sharing, Chris
My pleasure Chris! Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching 😃
Your tunnel looks fantastic, great job
Thanks James, yeah I'm really pleased with how it turned out too. It looks much better than I thought it would considering I was winging it! Thanks for watching 😃
What a great video to wake up to on a Sunday 👍🏻
Glad to hear that Leon - what a great comment to wake up to on a Sunday! Thanks for watching 😃
Very good ideas here! Thanks!!
Thanks, I didn't really have any idea on how to go about making a tunnel before this but sometimes winging it does seem to be the best approach! Thanks for watching 😃
Surprisingly, even very old mortar can be strikingly white depending on the specific chemical make up and exposure, so I like your tunnel!
Thanks, probably needs a bit of light weathering in the future but you're right, I can definitely get away with it for now. Thanks for watching 😃
Definitely food for thought thanks
Glad to hear it's got the gear whirring John! Thanks for watching 😃
Very insightful. I'm working on the plans for a layout atm and with the change to the facing of the inside siding I've got a bit more space that I could implement a tunnel instead of the original bridge coming in from off the layout and down into a small town.
Brilliant, sounds like an awesome plan to me! I recently completed doing the scenics on my tunnel so hopefully there will be a new update video about that soon as well. Thanks for watching 😃
I had a brain fart the other day and cut about 1/4th of a Pringles can away and, guess what!
It fits a double track N scale beautifully! With two trains able to pass in it.
Kind of gave myself a pat on the back.
YourConscience
Amazing! That is a great tip to know if I ever do something in N Gauge in the future. Thanks for watching 😃
With wire frame hills the method is normally weaving card strips in the wire so the paper mache or plaster cloth actually has something to stick to, WAY more surface area that way. Takes more time but its worth it I must say.
Used the same method on my own layout years ago and it worked really well. the area I did was massive aswell, a good four feet or so all the way back to the wall to create a hillside and tunnel.
Yep I've seen people do it that way too but for me I've found the paper mâché sunk down into the wire mesh and the glue bonded it all together really well. That was why I did this initial layer before the plaster bandage.
Of course you can also use a card lattice without chicken wire at all and just have card formers to shape it which is the really budget way of doing things 😆 Thanks for watching 👍
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy I gotta ask. What the smokebox do you use for your control system? I see you do it via your phone. Is that hornby or bachmann or something?
@@NathanielKempson It's the Roco Z21 - bit pricey but it's so easy to use and it just works which is great for an idiot like me. I really should do a video on it since people keep asking about it 😃
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy that would be great yeah!! Building my own layout in a few weeks, like my fifth one XD and cant decide what dcc system to use.
Proper job as usual great video
Thanks John, glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching 😃
Fantastic
Thanks Dan! Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for watching 😃
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy might have ago at rebuilding my tunnel on layout we got not done bad saying it's been up 8 half years will have to post video of the west country class engine running 😀😀😀
GENIOUS! I am a model maker, before a Model Railway enthusiast, but you have done EVERYTHING I would have thought of and more! Really excellent video! Keep up the good work! Regards, James.
Thanks James, that's really great to hear. I don't consider myself an expert modeller in any way, I just figure it out as I bumble along but it's always nice that others agree with the way I'm doing things. Thanks for watching 😃
For someone with an "O" level in English, my spelling is terrible; But either way; you are a gEniOSS, GeniUs, Geenieoos....a clever man...;-)
Like your clear informative videos...excellent
Glad you're enjoying them David! Thanks for watching 😃
Really good idea of the removeable penal and enjoyable to watch
Thanks Les! Yeah it is handy, perhaps overkill on a tunnel this short but potentially a useful idea for those with longer sections. Thanks for watching 😃
Fantastic job
Keep up the good work
Nick Australia
Really glad you enjoyed it Nick! Thanks for watching 😃
Great video like you that's what I am about to do to my layout
Thanks Dennis! Ah fantastic, good luck with it and thanks for watching 😃
Very informative
Glad you found it useful! Thanks for watching 😃
The use of masking tape around the sheet of bricks would hold it in place while the glue dries. It could also be utilized at the other end by using a piece about 2 inches wider than the bottom to keep it from spreading. Cheap and effective. Another idea would be to place a bead of hot glue at the joint between the tunnel and interior liner to hold in place while the glue sets and it does not require removal.
Masking tape wouldn't be enough to hold it, I believe I actually tried something similar originally and the sheets were just so springy that it came off straight away. Thanks for watching 👍
Great channel and tutorials dude. Subbed.
Amazing, always nice to know new people are continuing to discover the channel! Thanks for watching and subscribing 😃
I've used spackling compound to rub into the cracks between the bricks, wasn't as messy a white paint.
Interesting, I'd have thought that would actually be more messy. To be honest I generally use the white paint because I have plenty of it going spare. Thanks for watching 😃
Very nice job and video....
Philip
Thanks, it's a come a long wait since this episode! Thanks for watching 😃
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy I'll check out your progress. Thanks...
Great video! I enjoyed watching and subscribed to your channel 😀 very I formative and great work! 👍
Awesome! Really glad you enjoyed the video, I'm planning to release more on the construction of this layout very soon hopefully. Thanks for watching and subscribing 😃
Your welcome!
very good
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching 😃
I recently started doing a tunnel on my layout but I did decide not to line the tunnel but completely paint everything inside black. It's worked really effectively as you can hardly see the plywood inside. I also have to consider issues with mice on my layout as it is in a shed and have found that scenic structure made of paper mache attracts them as they use the old newspaper for nests, so polystyrene and wire mesh covered in plaster works well for me.
Hey Ben, yeah that was my original plan too which is why I painted all the plywood in that murky brown/black colour. As I had those brick sheets lying around though, I figured I'd have a go at making an interior too. Hopefully when the sides of the baseboard are closed off it'll be much darker in there so trains really will just disappear into the blackness.
I had no idea mice were attracted to paper mâché but it makes sense when you think about it. Thankfully I don't have to deal with that (touch wood!) but glad to hear the plaster and wire method is working well for you too.
Thanks for watching 😃
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy plus you have a new subscriber. It was a really enjoyable video to watch
Спасибо Вам.
Интересно.
We all like tunnels, don’t we? 😎 Very interesting video. 👍 I was a bit surprised you don’t own an airbrush, but I must admit I don’t own one either, I like painting with a fine brush, it’s a relaxing job
Thanks! Haha, yeah I think everyone assumes you can't be a proper modeller (whatever that is!) without having an airbrush but actually you can get by just fine without one. Like I said, I have nothing against them and there are others that use them to great effect but it's just not for me. Luckily I quite enjoy using a brush like you! Thanks for watching 😃
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy yea there was guy that got an air brush cause of his new 3d printer and i have no see them use it since only the paint
That was Brilliant i love how you made the tunnel interior. I also like the painting effects you used i will be doing something simmilar soon with some Woodland scenics tunnel portals i have.- Nicholas.
Thanks Nicholas, glad you enjoyed it! Yeah I'm really pleased with how the tunnel looks too - it just shows what a little bit of paint can do. Hope it works as well for you on your tunnel portals and thanks for watching 😃
PS; The one thing I was going to add, was that you should use an "off white" for the mortar, between the bricks; but you then said that! lol. Great job! Take care. James.
Haha, great minds clearly think alike! I do plan to weather the tunnel mouth eventually so fingers crossed that will dull down the mortar a bit🤞
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy yes; "Great minds think alike; fools never differ"! lol. Take care.
Just found your channel subbed 😀
Awesome, that's great to hear! Welcome aboard and thanks for watching 😃
Excellent video as always. I have a couple of questions.
What are your plans for the side of the hill, as at the end of the video they are still open?
And secondly, is the corkscrew what is going in on the station module?
Thanks John, glad you enjoyed it! The sides of the hills will eventually have a fascia running the full length of the curves on each side, made in a similar way to the backboard. Once I sort out the landscape on those bare bits of baseboard in front of the tunnel I'll add the fascias in as a single piece on each side.
As for what's going on in the station... well I'm afraid you'll have to tune in to the next episode to find out 😉 Luckily you won't have to wait long - it probably won't be next weekend but hopefully the week after! Thanks for watching 👍
What a marvellously entertaining video. Thank you. Thank you very much.
I fully expect to see you in Dragons Den in the future getting serious investment for your magnetic access panel. PATENT the idea now, while you can!
Minute 21 of your video is simply magic; where you slot your carefully made tunnel entrance into the landscape. Magic! You then fettle some plaster bandage around the top of the tunnel, because you need to know that it's there, but to be honest, once, you've "landscaped" the tunnel, a few hedges and bushes will come to your aid.
Something I couldn't quite work out. Maybe I didn't hear everything you said. Did you use humbrol enamels rather than acrylics to paint the Peco tunnel entrance? The paint seemed to give you some "working time". What was in the red topped can at the top of the video frame? Thinners for the enamel paints? Sorry I couldn't work it all out. If you have time I would appreciate some help. .....and yes! I have the very same Peco tunnel mouth here at home from about forty years ago!!!!....should I use enamel paints and any thinners to achieve the paint on/wipe off effect, please?
Looking forward to your next video productions....and Dragons Den, of course.
In the meantime, keep safe and well.
Thanks John, so glad to hear you enjoyed the video! The access panel is handy isn't it. Probably overkill for such a small tunnel but it was a fun idea I had so I wanted to include it anyway.
The paint used on the tunnel was humbrol enamels (apart from the white which was a cheap acrylic) although you don't have to use these - that's just what I happened to have lying around. I didn't do anything special either, the tan was slapped on then allowed to dry followed by the grey which was immediately dabbed off as you saw in the video. That was done in small sections at a time so the grey wouldn't dry to much.
Then white acrylic was used for the mortar courses and just wiped away with a tissue straight away. Depending on what acrylic you use you may want to water it down if it's too thick but I didn't need to in this case.
The red topped can was indeed paint thinners but I was just using it to clean the brushes after using them, not as part of the technique itself. It might be best to try it on a test piece first if you can and remember if it all goes horribly wrong, it's only paint. Just paint the whole thing tan again and start over.
Hopefully that helps with your own Peco tunnel mouth and thanks for watching 😃
Our layout is looking great and it's all down to you! I've just become a member also 🙂... question on the tunnel weathering as I know nothing about paint - what type of paint did you use to paint the tunnel portals? I know you used acrylic at the end but what types were the other two?
Amazing, so glad to hear you've found the videos helpful and thank you so much for supporting the channel by becoming a Member! All the paints used on the tunnel were acrylic paints - literally just the cheapest stuff I could find! I think the grey was actually just a mix of some spare white and black paint I had going spare. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 🤩
if you can't find or get the paint to the weather track or to paint the tunnel mouth, is it ok to use dollar store paint.
Hey there, yeah I don’t see why not as long as you get similar colours. In fact the white paint I used for the brick mortar was a cheap acrylic paint anyway. Just make sure everything is properly dry first before adding the next layer. Thanks for watching 😃
I forgot to mention my recognition of your skills too. Sorry.
I saw on the offical Hornby site, they put the balast down before the track, which is best?
It depends really... If you're using the more sawdust like scatter for ballast then you can do it either way. But if like me your ballast is more like little stones you'll want to put the track down first on a flat base then ballast over the top.
Personally I prefer this method as it makes the track look like it's embedded into the ballast (which is more realistic) and that's an effect you can't really get if you put the ballast down first. Thanks for watching 😃
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy I’m with you! Thanks for this brilliant video, it’s been very helpful.
Can you please tell me what paint is used for the tunnel
Hi there, the grey and tan paints were both Humbrol enamels. Off the top of my head they were 27 and 121. The white was just bog standard cheap acrylic. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 😃
What glue did you use and how did you get it to be able to spray it on
Hi Richard, I assume you're talking about the ballasting section? I'm not spraying the glue in, it's just water that is being added to the ballast from the spray bottle.
The glue is then put on with a syringe and is a 50/50 mix of PVA with a drop of washing up liquid in. I've actually done a whole video on this if you're interested: czcams.com/video/9uzOOMTzDAw/video.html
Thanks for watching 😃
What kind of PVA glue do you use?
Errm... the stuff I used is branded EverBuild but I didn’t go for that specifically, I just picked up whatever PVA glue looked decent in the shop 😂 Thanks for watching 👍
what paint did you use to paint the sides of the rails?
Hi there, I use Railmatch Sleeper Grime (although any dark brown colour would probably do!) Thanks for watching 😃
no smoke marking at the top of the tunnel ? , a very good tunnel
Hey Brian, it's one of the things I plan on doing once I start adding more detail to the scenery. Thanks for watching 😃
how long did it take to dry for the papiermachee
I leave it overnight to be safe and when I come back in the morning it’s always fully dried into a nice shell. Thanks for watching 😃
Does Slater's plastic cards have a website I can order from?
I tend to get their stuff through Amazon these days but I believe you can also see their range at slatersplastikard.com. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 😃
Do you remember what sort of paint you used?
Hi David, I usually just use cheap acrylics for painting the stone in this way. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 😃
Hi Philip here which is the best for me to do out of a big layout or a small layout let me know.
What do YOU want from your layout? If you want to have multiple long trains running on continuous loop then you’re looking at a larger layout but if you prefer shunting wagons around a yard then something smaller is better suited. Other limitations like the space you have available will play a part as well. Thanks for watching 👍
Is there a more efficient method other than plaster bandage? Seems overly tedious and time consuming. I'd be tempted to just go heavy on the paper mache and paint that.
I'm mean there's certainly lots of different ways to do it. I'd would say though that in my experience plaster bandage is a lot less tedious and much faster than paper mache. But like I said in the video, if you have a permanent layout that isn't going to be moved around you might not need something as strong as plaster bandage anyway. Thanks for watching 😃
can i also use glue spray?
Hi Daniel, I presume you're talking about sticking the polystyrene blocks down? If so, yes that should work, just be careful not to get it near the track. Thanks for watching 😃
Whens the next update coming out?
Hey George, contrary to what I said in this video it won't be for a while I'm afraid. I'm away at the moment but when I get back the plan is to really crack on with the layout and have a new update every couple of weeks instead of once a month or so. Thanks for watching 😃
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy awesome, I have lots of my late grandfather's locos and stock and I just got my first job as well so I figured it's perfect timing to start a little layout to run them on, the modular idea is perfect as I'm low on space.
I watched all your episodes back to back in one go and now I wish I drew them out a bit😅 but keep up the good work.
Ah brilliant, yes the modular setup has definitely worked for me as I have limited space for a permanent layout too. It does make the option of future expansion possible too.
Glad you’ve been enjoying the videos! I’m certainly looking forward to making some more in the near future so hopefully you won’t have to wait too long 😆
Helo
Hi 👋
You make no sense sometimes
Why not just cut bigger bits of plaster cast
You must have so
Much time on your hands
Two reasons, firstly this is the size the plaster rolls come in so I kind of had no choice in the matter. But layering several strips instead of just using one big bit makes the end result much stronger which I need for a portable layout like this. It's also much easier/quicker to work with in smaller sections. Overall it took about 5 mins to do the whole area. Thanks for watching 👍