Briefcase layout 2

What? no pictures this time? That's outrageous and totally inexcusable. :o)

I'm guilty of not posting enough pictures myself, so all is forgiven.

We do love pictures so look forward to the next photo you submit.

Maybe some gray weathering powder will lighten those dark crevices on your rock work?

The easiest way to decrease the brightness of the LEDs is to increase the resistor value. I'd need to know more about what you're doing provide more details, but try adding a second resistor and see if you like the results.
Mark

Loren & Mark, thanks for the suggestions, I'll try those this weekend.

I think the rocks will work but as for the LEDs, I'm afraid it's more of a color temperature issue than actual brightness, still it's worth a shot

thanks
Kurt

Kurt,
When you speak of the color temperature can I assume they seem too blue? A white LED is actually a combination of red green and blue (like a computer display) that fakes white. Because of the different designs of the color chips, blue is generally the most sensitive to a current reduction and red the least. So it may still be worth the effort reduce the LED current (increase the resistance) and see if you like what you get. In general I personally feel that nearly all white LEDs are too bright and too blue, so I always seem to want to run them at about half power.
Mark

Mark, I'll definately try adding a resistor then.

Loren, since there are no pictures really worth showing I made a little collage (is that even a word in English) of my experiments (note: not for the faint of heart) here:

many many things going wrong

Well, not a great many things have been happening this last week as my girlfriend decided the ground floor of the house needed painting, which also means lots of other small jobs that need to be done as well.
Still, one has to get ones priorities straight and for the smart man than means keeping the significant other happy

This doesn't mean nothing has been done though:
the rockwork got some extra light grey chalk to tone it down

the forest floor has been installed, as I mentioned before this consists of actual ground dried leaves, which I feel gives it a very organic look with decent color variations.
No photo of this yet, I'll include it in another update.

I planned to add extra resistors to the LEDS but chickened out, I'm too afraid they won't work anymore after I tamper with them now
Instead I installed all the wiring on the layout
Grooves were cut into the foam with the dremel, wires routed inside them and yes those are staples pushed into the foam to keep them in place, a dab of glue and they stay put too yet remain easy to remove.
You can also see the battery compartment for the LEDs hanging out of the tunnel opening where it will be housed and the start of the 'control panel', if you can call a socket for power and a switch to turn on the lights an actual control panel
A cavity to house this has been dremeled out on the front right of the layout.
Observant readers will also notice a LED going up in the middle of what will be forest and the leads for the track power both at the front and the rear of the layout.

Work on the log cabins had also started
This time I drew the outline on mm paper, glued the cut to measure sticks in place and then cut out the openings for the doors and windows.
As you can see the larger of the 2 still needs to be finished (ran out of good light today) while the smaller structure has everything cut and is put together as a test, it's not glued together yet.
I'll make use of matches glued in the corners to add structural strenght after I clean up the insides (the paper around the edges).
The insides will also be painted black to prevent 'light bleed' and a sort of foundation will be added as well.
I have to say this was a lot faster and easier than trying to work layer by layer as in my previous attempt.

I'll close this update with a nice little detail, the name of the layout: Mount Eugene RailRoad or M.E.R.R. for short.
I've decided to name it after my late father, as an activity like this always makes me think of that caring man who seemed to able to make or fix anything I couldn't.

markm wrote:

Kurt,
When you speak of the color temperature can I assume they seem too blue? A white LED is actually a combination of red green and blue (like a computer display) that fakes white. Because of the different designs of the color chips, blue is generally the most sensitive to a current reduction and red the least. So it may still be worth the effort reduce the LED current (increase the resistance) and see if you like what you get. In general I personally feel that nearly all white LEDs are too bright and too blue, so I always seem to want to run them at about half power.
Mark

Not to send a good thread too far astray (I am enjoying the progress of this project), but I did want to offer a correction to some technical information.

White LEDs consist of a single blue emitter that has a layer of phosphor over its surface; the phosphor converts blue light into white. (In fact, white LEDs operate under the same principal as fluorescent lamps.) This is why most white LEDs tend to have a blue tint.

There are a few exotic LEDs that have separate red, green and blue emitters in a single enclosure, but these are used to produce multiple colors and have separate electrical connections for the three emitters. You can most often find these LEDs in novelty items, like those pens with fiber optic strands that cycle through color changes.

White LEDs are deliberately designed to be very intense, since they're made to replace tungsten lights; they weren't designed for hobby applications, where maximum intensity isn't required. So, we need to make adjustments when using them in our modeling. Fortunately the problem has an extremely simple solution: just increase the size of the resistor connected to the LED to lower its intensity (or, even easier, add a second resistor).

Most white LEDs share two other problems when used in modeling: blue tint and directional illumination. The blue tint can be corrected very easily by applying a little orange transparent paint (Tamyia X26 is perfect). However, "warm white" LEDs are now available in just about every size and style, including the "nano" 0402 SMDs, and these produce a very satisfying natural-looking white color.

The directional nature of LEDs means they cast most of their light in a narrow cone, making them unsuitable for some applications such as building interior illumination. This, too, can easily be corrected by simply applying white paint to the clear portion of the LED. This not only helps diffuse the light, but it decreases the intensity at the same time.

And now back to our regularly scheduled program.

David K. Smith wrote:

White LEDs consist of a single blue emitter that has a layer of phosphor over its surface; the phosphor converts blue light into white. (In fact, white LEDs operate under the same principal as fluorescent lamps.) This is why most white LEDs tend to have a blue tint.

I hadn't realized that the phosphor coating had become that common. Bought my white LEDs in Tohoku Japan about 15 years ago (I believe from Stanley) and they were definitely multichip and definitely too blue. Current reduction made a big difference with them.
I don't know about the effects on a phosphor coated chip. I'll have to pick some from Radio Shack and play with them over the weekend.

There are a few exotic LEDs that have separate red, green and blue emitters in a single enclosure,

Radio Shack 276-028...not all that exotic, but we digress.

markm wrote:

Radio Shack 276-028...not all that exotic, but we digress.

Poor choice of word. "Much less common" is the right term. Virtually all white LEDs today are blue with phosphor coating; the RGB style is for specific applications such as novelty products or outdoor display panels.

ryuen wrote:

I planned to add extra resistors to the LEDS but chickened out, I'm too afraid they won't work anymore after I tamper with them now

People worry too much about LEDs. The typical LED can handle upwards to 50 mA of current and will light up with as little as 1 mA. Its just like running a 12V light bulb at 6V. But at this point David's paint suggestion is probably the best solution for you.

Have you thought about the cabin roof? Perhaps a sod roof? The walls are looking good. You might want to try some light-colored brown pencil lines to detail the texture of the logs.

Mark

The roof will be one of those 'labors of love' time consuming creations, it will be shingled and 100% handmade.
Once I've completed a cottage I'll post a picture and expand on how all parts were made.

I do know these little structures will appeal to the frugal modeller, I estimate a material cost of around 1€ max per cottage (feel free to call me a cheapskate )

For me it isn't the cost, it's the look. I can't think of anything at any cost that would make the cabin look superior. I was thinking you might want to try to do some chinking between the logs although I'm not sure that it can scale down to Z successfully.

Well both cost and look are the benefits of having found the right material, thin wooden rods that are used mainly for ship models (I think).
They are just over 1mm in diameter and thus slightly oversized I reckon but the effect and feel are definately there.
For the doors and terrace/patio flooring I just used square ones instead of round ones.

I considered chinking but that would require a steadier hand than mine but I do think it can be done.

So the first cabin is declared as-good-as-done now.

foto here

The foundation and chimney are painted stips cut from one of those plastic wall sheets I picked up at the LHS, it didn't list scale but I think it is N normally.

The roof is just layered strips of paper that small cuts were made into every mm or so and then painted black.

Unfortunately I had marked the rear of the paper to which the wood is glued with marker pen to indicate where the door would be, this green ink was dissolved and absorbed by the wood when I gave it a light india ink/alcohol wash.
I'm still debating how to fix this but will most likely varnish the whole thing to hide this.

Nicely done; well worth all of the effort. Regarding the green, I'm not sure it needs to be "fixed"--to me it looks like faded paint. Maybe add just a little more with a green fine-tip marker. Varnishing may cause more problems than it solves, and it would be a real shame to risk ruining the model.

I agree, great effort, had to look at the door a few times to see what you were worried about; I think it is in keeping with the building and looks like an "old" faded paint job! keep up the good work, wish I was as good

The only thing I might add is some Virginia Creeper ( Been pulling that stuff up in back forrest past two days) or Ivy- growing up the side. Once you plant the cabin on your layout- it will look like it's been there forever.

Thanks for the input, I believe I'll leave it they way it is then.

I have a few days off from work this week and today finished up the second cabin, but to avoid having 2 cabins with identical old paint on their doors I sanded away the paper on the inside this time.
I had already made the walls for this one before I noticed the bleeding color so this one too had green marker on the paper behind the door.

Fred, a great suggestion but unfortunately I, and the girlfriend, have a great dislike for any kind of creepers.
We have a wooden garage and when my girlfriend bought the house one of it's walls was covered in creepers, they were removed but that garage wall is showing signs of rot (which is why she dislikes them) and I'll get to replace that wall with new wood eventually (which is why I dislike them)
These log cabins were just practise for the real thing really

Anyway, they'll both get installed on the layout real soon.

As I found some charcoal sticks in my girlfriends school supplies (I love having a kindergarten teacher as a girlfriend, I swear the attic is more of an arts store than an attic) the tunnel portals will be getting their soot treatment as well, right before the nameplates go up.

That mysterious wiring that goes up right in the middle of the layout will also have its purpose revealed shortly.

And last on my little to do list for tomorrow: the bridge will be placed.

After all of the above well, it's grass time.
But before I start that I'll do a little test with flock & static grass (note to self: still have to solder up the applicator) which I'll combine with a test pour of the Ez-water.

Like I mentioned yesterday I installed a few things on the layout:

First the bridge: no more free floating track
As you can see I opted for lighter weathering this time, much less red and a bit more yellow rust.

Both cabins:
cabin nr1: the small one at the front left of the layout
cabin nr2: the bigger one at the back rear of the layout
Both are lightproof although I wish I could say that for the ground around cabin nr1, which sits on spray on foam (cabin 2 sits on solid extruded foam) but that's nothing another layer of glued on sand can't fix.

Tunnal portals have added soot and a nameplate now:
Because a good deed never goes unpunished
The soot was added in several layers (brush the charcoal stick against the portal, wipe with qtip, rinse, repeat) but unfortunaly the photos I tried taking show it harsher than it in reality.
Nameplates are just printed on copier papper (at work on the laser for better resolution) and glued on.

And lastly a shot showing the forest floor and the reason for the mystery wires:
Campfires are hard to do in Z!
This one took me over an hour and has to be the most fidgetty work on the layout to date.

I'd love to see a top view of this now


Zac