One of the perennially frustrating aspects of being an American living in Bahrain is that you can't simply run down to Home Depot and get what you need to build a simple project like this. For some reason, DIY isn't really a thing in the Middle East, so finding stuff like lumber and building supplies is a real challenge. Bringing this kind of stuff back from my upcoming trip to the US wasn't really an option because of its size, so I knew whatever I was going to use for benchwork, I had to find locally.
The one store I thought might have what I needed was inconveniently located at least a 45-minute drive away in heavy traffic, and there just never seemed to be a good time to attempt a trip there. Fortunately, scrounging around our storage room at home turned up just what I needed: some under-layout shelving I built for my HO layout that I had shipped with our household goods from the US but wasn't able to use in our current apartment.
The shelves consisted of a couple of thin 2'x4' loose plywood sheets that sat on top of simple 1"x3" frames that I screwed to the layout benchwork. This was a perfect start! Based on what I had on hand and the space I expected to be available at the event, I quickly determined the optimal layout size would be 2'x4' (which then dictated the track configuration and the specific Unitrack set I needed to order from the online hobby shop). I then set about cannibalizing the storage shelves to make the benchwork for the Shinkansen layout.
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| The two pieces of plywood are behind one of the frames on the right. The other frame has already been dismantled, and its pieces are on the left. |
When I originally made the shelves, I had to trim 6" off the end of each sheet of plywood to fit my HO layout benchwork. I hated to give up any more straightaway track on the Shinkansen layout than necessary, so I decided to stick with a 2'x4' overall size. To keep the 4' length, I had to cut a 6" strip off the end of one of the sheets of plywood. I had also originally rounded the front corners on each piece of plywood, so the finished Shinkansen benchwork has a few of these funky quarter-round gaps in the plywood surface.
Somehow I ended up with two different thicknesses of plywood (of course!). To keep weight down, I used the full section of the thinner piece to cover most of the area, and cut the 6" make-up strip off the thicker piece. To keep the plywood surfaces even with each other, I trimmed off just a smidgen from the top edge of the frame under the thicker section.
Soon enough, I had the benchwork assembled. I really wanted to top it with a layer of foam, because one of the scenery elements I was hoping to include was a bridge going over a shallow valley of rice paddies. I never found the time to go to that local hardware store, so I had to give up on that idea and settle for the flat plywood surface. Maybe I can still include some rice paddies, just without the bridge 😞
Also, I was never able to get hold of any Masonite or luan plywood trim for the sides, so they ended up being covered by nothing more than a coat of paint.
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| Top view of the finished "benchwork" after a coat of latex house paint (a sample size can from Lowe's that I brought back from the US). Notice the seam between the two pieces of plywood on the left side. |
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| Underside of the finished and painted benchwork. The seam between the two pieces of plywood runs directly above the "double joist" on the left side. |
