Tips: Baseboards

Baseboards

A TIDY LAYOUT BASEBOARD

When you are working on your layout, your baseboard can rapidly become cluttered with a variety of tools, polystyrene, glue bottles, tins of paint, wire and a host of other materials all necessary for the purposes of construction. Now this can all be a nuisance when you want to find a particular item, need to clear an area to construct another building, do some scenic work, or make a test run. The answer, find somewhere else to put the stuff. You probably don’t want to put everything away in its correct place every time you use something so the best thing to do is build a small shelf under the baseboard or a tool tray of approximately a meter by 500 mm and hung under the baseboard on metal hangers. Leave about 250 mm of clearance in order to put things in, and to see where things are to get them out. By placing tools and materials not immediately in use on this shelf, they are handy when you want to use them as well as helping to keep the baseboard more or less uncluttered.

MEASURING

Carpenters say “Measure twice, cut once.” It is the same in modelling – to be sure, “Measure twice, cut once.” It is good advice for everyone to follow.

WORKING UNDER THE BASEBOARD

The job of installing wiring and other equipment under the baseboard can be very tiring, especially working for long periods. To make it easier on your back, purchase an inexpensive plastic garden chair and cut the legs off to a workable height when seated, depending on the height of your baseboard. Another slightly more expensive method is to make a platform on casters similar to a mechanic’s dolly. It can be padded to lie comfortably on with a headrest and even a pocket for your tools.

REACHING DISTANT PARTS

If your layout baseboard is too wide for you to reach to the far side, use one of those ‘Helping Hand’ grabbers available from suppliers of disabled equipment. It is much safer than trying to lean across and the gadget will really pick up anything.