Waterfront Project | Build 1
It’s been a couple of months since the last Waterfront Project update so I thought it best to get a clean start as the actual layout construction begins. Since we have the buildings built, the best place to start was to get a general feel for where these kits would sit on the base. Though it may change, right now the layout is slated to be 12” x 48”. This is a bit longer that I thought it would be but I want both space and scenery to be almost as prominent as the track itself.
Since I want this piece to have a very finished look to it, I’ll have a professional woodshop create the base once the track plan is established, but as it stands now our dimensions of 12” x 48” seem about right. This is actually a good size shelf / switching layout, if we converted this to HO scale this layout would measure 2’ 6” by 10’ 1”, definitely a respectable size.
I created accurate sketches of all the kits featured in our build articles. Any track plan when viewed overhead really only tells half the story as building height, angles and how well they work together isn’t shown, but the overhead drawing will allow for accurate track planning and a good idea of relationship between the structures and the trains.
Next comes the Big Kahuna in this project, finally designing the perfect track plan. I have to admit though after looking at more track plans than I can recall, I think the idea of the perfect plan is elusive if not impossible. What may be perfect to one person will be less so the next. After giving myself a headache or two on this part of the project, I think the lack of the perfect track plan is why many people may be armchair modelers; they don’t want to make the wrong choice. This is definitely something I find myself fighting.
We’ll begin tweaking the track plan this week and we’ll show some of these ideas right here at Ztrains. Once a plan is established, we’ll then ask Lance Mindheim for his assessment of our track plan.
It’s been a long time coming but we’re definitely excited to arrive at this point, turning our individual Micro-Trains kits in to a living, functioning layout.
Category: Z Scale Basics
