Military Railway Yard

There's a recent multi-media kit of a period German locomotive-the name unfortunately escapes me. That should do for that portion of the diorama. I'll post the name when I can find it.

I thought for a moment you were going to do that scene from Kelly's Heroes when the 3 Shermans come out of the railway tunnel...

Sorry, can't help you with your request...

QUOTE: Originally posted by djmodels1999 I thought for a moment you were going to do that scene from Kelly's Heroes when the 3 Shermans come out of the railway tunnel...

That would be a cool scene to model.

Alternatively, anyone know anything about the Leo's bunker's in the Calais region? I've seen a few pics, as well as a drawing showing a front view with the silouette of a Leo, but nothing on it's size, and defences in the vicinity.

teddyA theres something about the leo's bunker here http://www.one35th.com/model/k5/k5_frme.htm
are you using your garden as the dioramas base, its gotto be huge
http://www.one35th.com/model/k5/k5_frme.htm
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/gaz/bt.html

Aristo-Craft makes some 1:29 scale trains that run on G scale track(1:22.5). There is no other manufacturer who makes anything that close IMO. Good luck, I am working on a 1/87 scale layout/diorama w/ military base & shipyard.

Wow, ambitious project. Does it have to be that big? Can you play with forced perspective or crowd the scene to get the same idea across? Remember to make it in sections or you'll end up like the guy that built the boat in his basement. Don't know of too many dios that can handle being upended to fit through a door. Worked on a display for a tradeshow once that was a large diorama of a new launch pad. We had to build it in sections and had to come up wth different ways of disguising the seams. This allowed us to move it around, work on it from differnt angles to where we could reach everything and transport it. After the show though it had to be dismantled because there was no place to display it. We finally compressed it and excluded parts to make a lobby display. (It was a quarter of its original size by then) but the real eye opener came when we had to build a display case for it. $$$$$$$$ is an understatement.

The other thing we realized was that at times we lost steam on the project. We would sit back and shake our heads mumbling about how we made it too grandiose and tried to make too much. It would get discouraging and there were times where we even thought about scrapping the project. It always seemed like too much. There were times when we dreaded working on the project and really dogged it. Conversely there were times when we would get on a roll and look at our watches to see that we had spent most of the night working on it, getting lost in the project.

Big projects can be fun and frustrating at the same time.
I wish you the best of luck in your endeavor and I'm anxious to see how you proceed and the look forward to seeing the finished project.

Mike

I'm in the midst of planning it, I'm looking at something on the order of 40 odd square feet, possibly more, possibly less.

I've got some photos of German marshaling yards, but not many, any one have some good ones?
Money, currently is the only stumbling block, but I can plan, and get a few kits when I can. This thing though, will probably take years, so don't expect major pictures soon!

Man thats going to be a big freaken dior. keep us posted with your progress ...

You're probably going to have to buy G scale rail and "hand lay" the track. It's not impossible but requires some extreme planning. The railroad ties and spikes are avilable from several sources. You may do yourself a favor and take the track provided with the Loco Kit to a GOOD model train shop and they can help with the hardware. Good Luck.

I've figured it out at about 6" track spacing, based on the Leo, it's track and a wagon kit I just got, so a 6 track yard would be about 3' by 7-8', with extra for unloading facilities for the tanks, etc..., and put a main line through, with part of a station at one end.

Grand total of about 4' by 10', if the diorama is straight, different length and width if it would be curved, which would be easier for perspective.

Nearest railway modelling scale is Gauge 0 at 7mm to the foot, so about 1/42, which would give a slightly narrower track gauge than the norma European 4' 8.25'', but would be fine for one of the numerous narrow gauge lines throughout Germany. Alternativly rail and sleepers can be bought separately and built by hand, tedious but very realistic.

If you go for G scale it is best to buy the flexible metre lengths, and then bend them to suit your plan, as the pre-curved track is somewhat toylike, and would undermine the rest of your work. A well know make over here in the UK is Peco, not sure what the US equivalent is, possibly LGB from Germany. They also do fully made up points, or switches, dramatically simplifying the track building process.

Excellent loco for this would a Deutches Reichsbahn Kriegslok, built specifically for war work, very big, very impressive.

Best of luck.

I recently found out that DML makes some Armoured Train cars they have the Platformwagon, Artilleriewagon, Kommandowagon Gondolacar w/ AA Gun crew. Unfortunatly i can't remember the prices of any.

Good Luck.......

If you want track closer to scale you could just use I-beam and bend it. That's what tracks look like any I-beams on boards.
Keep us posted with pics.
Ambition is good, I want to do Pearl Harbor in 1/350 someday!!!!

QUOTE: Originally posted by 1-87scaler Aristo-Craft makes some 1:29 scale trains that run on G scale track(1:22.5).

45mm track is actually correct for 1/32 scale standard gauge trains, so it's not far off (~8%) for 1/35.

I plan on converting the Leopold I'm getting for Xmas for use on my 1/32 garden line, along with the Dragon and whatever other kits I can find.

For your railroad rolling stock you might have some success researching Walthers catalogues, Squadron catalogue and for military vehicles the ModelExpo. All of these are listed on the net and each in its own way can be very valuable and if you are looking for terrain and ground cover look at Woodland Scenics as well.
Good luck.
.

Teddy, greatmodels has a tank workshop WW2 german locomotive, but the price is over $300.00 U.S. . Good luck on your build. Keep us posted with your progress.
mark956