saber saw and a fine toothed blade. We found that the moisture from the glue sometimes caused the paper to bub- ble or wrinkle, even after the paper had been rolled flat. There is a simple fix. Us- ing the spray bottle, spray those areas until the paper is wet, then go over them with a hair dryer. When the area is warm, begin working at one end of the flaw and gradually roll it out with a rub- ber roller. Try to “go with the flow” of the paper and the flaw as you are rolling. Re- lease any trapped air under the flaw by poking a few holes with a hobby knife (just like a big decal). Use the hair drier to keep the area warm and the spray bottle to keep the areas being worked moist. Just back off if the paper starts to get pulpy or mushy, then proceed after you have dried it out a bit using the hair dryer. This appears to work because the warm moisture softens the glue and re- stores its adhesive properties. It also softens and relaxes the paper, making it easier to flatten it. We have successfully done this on pieces a week after the pa- per was glued to the wood.
prints to plywood would be high, espe- cially if we used a long-life type of spray. Why spend money to glue “blank” or “scrap areas” to the wood? We find that it’s best to have two or
more people team up when applying the templates to the plywood. Lay a full, 4′-0″×8′-0″ print flat on a sheet of plywood. Select a roadbed segment at the outer edge of the sheet and cut it out of the print with a hobby knife, leaving about half an inch extra around its edges.
Trace the edge of this piece onto the plywood with a pen, heavy pencil, or marker. Loosely roll it up for now and move the remainder of the full-size print out of the way, as well, so you have room to work.
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
Squirt or pour carpenter’s glue onto the plywood within the outline just drawn. Use a flat-edged scrap piece of wood to spread the glue into a thin lay- er within the tracing, and work as quickly as possible since the glue can set fast. We found that lightly misting the glue with water will thin it a bit and extend the time it is tacky. Now, starting at one end of the marked area, orient the piece of the print out to it and begin to roll the print onto the glue. Do long pieces a lit- tle at a time and check the alignment. Finally, use the rubber roller to smooth out the paper.
Let the paper template dry for about half an hour before attempting to cut it out. Just cut along the lines using a
Using the roadbed sections We use conventional methods of splicing the segments together and fas- tening them to the benchwork (splice plates screwed across butt joints from underneath, plus risers and cleats). The key letters printed on the pieces makes it easy to know where each one goes. We also found the computer-gen- erated tangents and accurately-curved track centerlines clearly printed in black on white made installing the cork roadbed go fast. The paper surface is also great for writing or marking notes and measurements. We decided to seal the cork roadbed and the remaining edges of exposed pa- per with gray latex paint to resist moisture and increase stability before laying down the track and ballast. This is a good idea for any layout other than one in a desert, and a coat of paint or polyurethane on the plywood sub- roadbed (both sides and cut edges) will provide even more stability. We bonded and cut out 25 plywood roadbed sec- tions from six plywood sheets in six, four-hour days. Since the layout is in a model railroad hobby shop, much of those four hours per day was spent tending customers or talking with them about the project. Overall, we feel we saved at least half the time and most of the head (and back) aches of traditional plywood sub-roadbed con- struction. We also used the plywood sheets effectively, minimizing waste. This approach is definitely worth the time and dollar investments, and the ideas discussed here can be applied to a layout of any size or scale.
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