The Violalakenslip layout frame

In keeping with my IKEA themed model railway layout that occupies one wall of our loungeroom, I colour matched the small layout frame that I built for Bryn Nadolig with the IKEA Eket display cases that this little OO9 layout will sit upon. When I sent a pic of my finished 1150 mm x 550 mm white and clear pine effort by phone to my friend AV with the single word viola beneath it, Anthony's reply came back that it looks like a Violalakenslip. Aisle 25, section B12 at IKEA....

I love it! But the truth is, this is one of the easiest little layout projects I've done to date. It started with a 596 mm x 1200 mm x 7 mm single sheet of plywood that I first cut down to a size of 550 mm x 1150 mm as outlined in my previous post sacrificing length for functionality.

To build the frame, I bought 2 lengths of 30 mm x 18 mm x 2.7 metre long FJ primed pine from my local Bunnings Warehouse, and cut the sections to fit.

There are no fancy corner joins, simply 2 sections cut to a length of 1150 mm for the long sides of the layout, and 4 lengths cut to 514 mm (550 mm minus 2 times the 18 mm width of the timber), to use as the short side ends and additional supports.

I glued one section at a time to the underside of my plywood board using extra strength Tarzan's Grip wood glue.

As this glue grabs hold very quickly, just make sure you have test fitted each section before stringing a line of glue along the plywood. A clamp placed at each end will hold it in place as you work, and to ensure there wasn't going to be any warping or risk of a stray section of timber slipping out of alignment, I drilled and countersunk some holes through the plywood to anchor the framework in place with some 25 mm wood screws.

The plywood sheet was glued then anchored down with a few countersunk 25 mm long wood screws.

The screw holes and any gaps between each join were then puttied and left to dry overnight before sanding.

Any good finish is only as good as the preparation you put into it. So I sanded the entire frame edge using an orbital sander until it was nice and smooth. Although I could have just painted the frame edge and underside in the one colour, I thought 'why not make the edge strip of the plywood stand out by finishing it with some clear wood varnish?' The only extra work it involved was a 2 step process using some masking tape as outlined below...

I clear varnished the edge strip of the plywood by masking off the primed white timber beneath it.

The masking tape could then peel off easily leaving a sharp line of clear varnished plywood.

Once dry, the reverse was done. The plywood edge was masked off and the timber painted gloss white.

The masking tape pulls away leaving a sharp line between the gloss white and clear varnish.

I applied a total of 2 coats of clear varnish to the plywood edge and underside of the layout board. While for the primed FJ pine I applied 4 coats of water based gloss white, the same colour that I used when building my Philden Beach layout frame. The finished result is a uniform appearance once the OO9 layout is sat atop my IKEA furniture as can be seen below...

Viola! Bryn Nadolig's finished framework is finally ready to have some track laid.

As this layout is a small table top affair, there is going to be no backdrop added to it. I know, I know, you're probably thinking why given that I wrote a book on Model Railway Backdrop Basics. However, given that the layout will come out from its display position beneath Philden Beach at Christmas time, I want the layout to be able to be viewed from all sides whenever the family is gathered around the table. Including a backdrop will make that impossible. My next task is to build the hill in the centre of the layout using some insulation foam board. It will slope up gently from behind the slate station building, ending in a rock cutting against the railway line at the far left side of the layout. Rather than incorporating a backdrop, the hill is going to act as a visual divider.

A layout is meant to be fun, and this one will be no exception. Given that this is both a small table sized layout, and a Christmas themed model railway, I'm unsure if there will be enough material, or interest for that matter, to start planning another book around it. So, instead I'll use these blog posts to gauge people's interest and preserve the step-by-step process just in case I ever change my mind. Modelling in another scale compared to my decade long HO Australian efforts, is proving to be a welcome escape as I write my next Philden Model Railway book. Now that my Violalakenslip layout frame is complete, over this Australian summer I'm planning to flit between working on my next book and this little layout. Depending on how I feel each day.

My time writing model railway books is drawing to an end. So please, if you like what you've read, then feel free to leave a comment below. Or better still, show your support by buying me a coffee. Simply click on the blue coffee cup to the right and send a struggling writer a small tip... https://www.buymeacoffee.com/phildenmodelrailway