Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Control Panels


I received control panels from two other layouts that were no longer using them. Both styles were basically them same, with the exception of door thickness and how the replaceable panel went into the box.
One of the panel styles had four screws hold the panel in from the front and the other slid into slots like the way a raised panel door is made. All I had to do was redesign the panel face and hook all of the new electronics in.
As with a lot of projects the first panel was the toughest. I designed the look on a CAD program, but when I actually cut the wholes I found out the were too close together for to suit my tastes. I made the second, first panel and cut a couple of holes too many. Finally on the third one I got all of the holes correct.


Then it came to painting and taping, which was OK, but it also didn't suit me when the tape kept twisting when I was screwing the buttons in. I changed my way and put the tape on, but then painted over it with a different color and then removed the tape. This worked better for me. I also found out that you needed some kind of lacquer over all of this to protect the paint for being scratched off. Of course, I discovered the lacquer thing after allowing my fingernails to scratch off the paint.



The top panel is of Belfast and its wye and the hidden staging at St. Albans.

The middle panel is of Cumberland Mills.

The bottom panel is Bath.

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