Using Smart Models printable building kits, I have created a few test buildings for the project, one early attempt was used for testing with the LED lighting, these paper-craft buildings in N Scale are really small to work with and a few things learned on early builds were that cutting out with a craft knife has to be precise, straight cuts on the line are vital (had to get a pair of reading glasses from the pound shop) Also glue gets everywhere (maybe just me) accurate gluing with minimum glue is required. Tweezers, magnifier and toothpicks are handy tools to have around.

Oh yeah bought some sheep from China too.

Needless to say I have got better at paper-craft and planning on doing a small village scene, but first the track layout is next on the list. First of all the dimensions are somewhat dictated by the glass top which is 1100 mm by 600 mm. We used a trial version of layout planning software AnyRail to come up with a layout that is simple but has enough interest with two trains running simultaneously. This turns out to be more of a challenge than meets the eye if we want to automate the running with manual override capabilities.

We have some track in the workshop but not enough for what we have planned, we will need to hit amazon or eBay at some point but for now we have printed out a full scale plan of the track layout allowing us to consider the table construction and the scenery construction.