Tuesday, October 5, 2010

"Let there be light"

Well, two light bulbs at least. After a half day in collage yesterday, i decided to go and have a browse around Home Bargains. And I managed to buy a few odd things for the layout.
1) A children’s Halloween mask, with flashing eyes. With a bit of butchering of the mask and clever rewiring, I think it could make a good impression of a fire or an arc welder.
2) Two 'clip on' lamps without lampshades. I bought these to experiment with the lights on my layout. I'm thinking of (somehow) making a 'structure' that will support the lights from above. A board will be placed along the front of them with the name of the railway, exhibition badges and info about certain locomotives and features on the layout, such as a (very) brief history of the layout of maybe a timeline of the FR, not sure yet.
Also I have been thinking a bit more about how I can support the layout. My problem is that it needs to be fairly movable because dad wants enough space in the garage for 'emergency use' i.e. he needs to do something on the car without warning. So I have come up with some sort of a system (I think).
I might build a steel box tubing frame underneath that somehow 'screws' onto the layouts wooden frame, it will also have a way of supporting the lights. The best thing about it is that the lights will be able to slide down and protect the layout in transit. The structure will also be on four casters with brakes, so when the garage needs to be used, it can simply roll into the corner. Bit more thought is needed with this idea.