Sunday, June 10, 2012

Planning a "Mini" Layout

And its not quite what you think.....

Everywhere we look these days we are being exhorted to produce layouts that are "cute and tiny" and the attraction is quite obvious;  time, money, materials, all of these are now in the "scarce" basket for a lot of us and so starting a behemouth in the garage or spare room isnt really an option.

So my latest acquisition has got me pondering, as obviously its an item purpose built for transporting a layout (oh, and chasing trains in which means it will soon be fully kitted with a VHF radio installation).


Obviously its not blessed with space, so any layout designed to be transported in it (including supports and stock boxes) will need to be a bit...."clever".  I'm thinking that using the MMW endcaps is a must, but after that I havent really put much though to it.  However, I think the length is already decided for me.


And just to make things really awkward, access into the passenger area isnt stellar either....


(Not much of a gap there at all....)

So the MMW layout design company has swung into action with numerous ideas and plans and no doubt something will emerge.  And it might not necessarily be Nz120 either, in fact I'm thinking of going VERY BIG for the size of the trains to fit with the very tiny wee car.

The Forks, of course, will just have to be transported in the Honda Oddity when it arrives from the builder.....I cant think of how that will fit in the mini once its endcapped.

Oh, and the main rule is that the driver needs to remain in the car...

5 comments:

beaka said...

i'm thinking a mini trailer would be a fitting addition.It could be equipped with the same size wheels as car and be fully enclosed and waterproof. sort of like a mini furniture trailer with racks for sliding modules into. you would then be able to leave modules in it for storage at home. this would free up the car for transport when required and enable passengers for shows. call it the MMMT (mini me module transporter)35

Glen Anthony said...

Now your just trying to out-do Darryl Bond. Didn't he go train chasing in a green racing mini?
Well, a least your one will go faster than his, because everyone knows that red cars always go faster. LOL!

For the layout, think outside the square, (or even out side the mini, ha ha). How about some modules that plug together, and go across the inside of the car, out the window, do a 180, then back in the window again. If the modules lock together well enough, you wouldn't even need legs. Just rest them on the top of the wound down windows!

Anonymous said...

This blog has lost its focus.

Anonymous said...

The photos look in pretty good focus to me. SteveF

weeduggie said...

There is a far more suitable MMMT unit, as already reflected on the NZ120 site; I have emailed a copy to Herr Druff for subsequent erudition of the masses.