I have a couple of areas that I used Woodland Scenics inclines to climb to 2 inches in roughly 8 feet. After I glued the incline down it rises maybe a 1/16th inch above the foam, like in my diagram here…
I, of course, need to make the transition from incline to level a bit smoother but I’m not sure exactly what to do. Should I start trimming the incline at … say… point a and proceed to the foam and stopping around point b, not trim the foam at all, or what?
Thanks for any help,
Jarrell
Draw a close approximation of what you would like the transition to look like with a sharpie on the close sides of the last four or five pylons, and then sand them down with 140-180 grit sandpaper. It will be a test of your patience, not your skill. I know you are trying hard to keep an even disposition about your layout, and have expressed ambivalence in another thread (you are NOT alone, friend), but do this, and on the other side if there is one (I have forgotten), and you will have good results.
So, it’s the incline itself where the problem is? I was thinking this afternoon… why doesn’t WS build a little trasition area into the last section of the incline. They could do it no sweat and it would make life so much easier.
You’re right about trying to keep trying to keep a good disposition. Sometimes you wonder if it’s worth it… [banghead]
So…, sand the foam incline? Ok, I’ll give’er a try tomorrow.
Thanks,
Jarrell
I just put mine together using the WS inclines and risers and luckily mine fit together fine. They don’t have any level areas on the incline so you can use mutiples and have a steady incline as high as you want to run it. (my guess)
I have seen others complain about the fit as well. Is the quality control at WS that bad? Maybe I was very lucky mine fit right. Or maybe you used different amounts of glue?? In any case you have the unfortunate situation so must make the best of it.
I would agree with selector on how to smooth them out, but you shouldn’t have to do anything to them. I’m afraid patience and very fine sandpaper will be what is needed.
If you are in a bit of a hurry, and are feeling brave enough, use a wire brush lightly with about three or four strokes… only… to get quick results…keeping in mind that what you see when it’s over is actually deeper due to the scoring done by the individual wires. Then use 120 grit until you can see that you have a nice smooth, rounded, transition. It doesn’t have to be baby’s bottom smooth because it is only a support for your roadbed.
BTW, check frquently to ensure that you are sanding it all evenly so that your final result is “level”. You don’t want the tracks and the locos lurching sideways from pylon-to-pylon because you had a cant on the sanding block.
I probably misled you guys when I mentioned the incline ended up being 1/16th inch above the foam. What I meant was this only added to the problem a little bit. I was mainly wishing WS would make their inclines with a transition area built into the product. I think a quick careful cut with a sharp knife will take care of the 1/16th inch area, but the problem of no transition area is still there. Today I think I’ll try the wire brush and gently take out about a 1/4th inch and sand it smooth. Maybe that’ll fix it.
Jarrell
WS probably doesn’t include a transition area at the top of their inclines because not every incline piece is at the top of an incline (if that makes any sense). It would be fine if the length of your incline was the exact same as the length of the WS foam piece, but I think it’s safe to say that this is often not the case and the incline must be cut to fit. It’s foam, and it’s VERY easy to shape any transitional area using a hotwire, rasp or some sandpaper as mentioned above. You could even cut your incline a little short and rasp the transition into your 2" foam instead.
When laying the WS risers, cut your own transitions from foam. if you have enough length the transition can be made much more gradual. This would look better and eliminate any possible uncoupling problems w/ the longer equipment.
Bob K.