Whew, this was interesting. I still have some details I am going to finish up on. But I got this much done tonight in about 4 hours.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedmackel/8401748628/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedmackel/8400660025/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedmackel/8400660425/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedmackel/8401749930/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedmackel/8401750474/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedmackel/8400659141/

Wow, four hours. You sure work faster than I am able to do. Nice work. Tell us about how you dod the windows.

Thanks,

I have a pretty good system. It took longe because I hd to get rid of a loading door off one panel and a green door with steps of the other. The windows are printed on Vellum I got from Staples - it's just plain old inkjet Vellum. I will put two or three 5mm LEDs in side and I have a couple exterior ornamental LEDs I will put on the exterior. It probably has another 2 or three hours left to do the roof, add the lights and hit a few more details.

Ted

Thom, I have not bought a disk yet. Why? The models I like the best are split between two disks. It has not stopped me from making what I need. :)

I have kids and they love turning off the lights so any chance I can light a structure, I will do it and that is the motivation behind the Vellum. I have it tucked in the middle of my city temporarily and it looks great.

-Ted

Thom,

So here it is in the layout. You can see the Chimney in the back too. It looks great and fits in well with the skyline. I have 10 of your structures on my layout and even mixed in with off the shelf MTH and Lionelville they blend right in.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedmackel/8403640539/

This is a little closer, I have more work to do on the whole scene.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedmackel/8404735070/

Ted,

I really like your use of vellum to print the windows. It's ingenious and it works! I will be copying your technique soon. I see you use gator board to support your structures. I used to use foam core but I find gator board much easier to work with. Love your layout, keep the pics coming!

Jim

Thanks Jim,

I installed lights last night. Check out this picture:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedmackel/8415060133/

-Ted

Ted,

The lights look good. Are those LEDs? I like the lights on the underside of the trolley trestle, too. Is that trestle built from foam core or gator board?

Jim

Yeah they are all LEDs, with the Foam Core and paper I cant afford to risk using lights that generate heat. I have put foil inside some of the buildings to help bounce the light around.

The trestles were made of Masonite, then I took standard drywall shims and laminated a steel girder graphic on and then hot glued the shim to the bottom of the track support. I jammed some foam up there to hold the LEDs in place. This was my first attempt at building my own elevated trolley from scratch, next time I can do a much better job.

-Ted

Glad to know that I'm not the only one who builds a solid core and then wraps the Clevermodel textures around that. I use an architecture model material called "butterboard" it's super cheap and works well for HO scale. I wonder how many go this route?