Under $15 Turntable
By Jim O’Connell
May 2008
Most important is the 64oz Big Gulp cup. Next is the little plastic 'stay fresh' can top. I recommend purchasing the Roundhouse brand N Scale Gondola. Buy two @$2.99 each. You will need a dowel to make the turntable turn. You will need some MTL flex track. You will need a piece of styrene 1/4' wide and about 1/32' thick. Any hobby shop has these. You will also need some wood strips the same measurements. I use wood for the walkways because they weather better than the styrene. Some dull black paint, a brush, and something to weather the wood walkways is needed. CA glue if you are in a hurry, plastic model glue if you can wait over night. The cardboard simulates a piece of plywood for the floor of the turntable.
After the gondola arrives in the mail (most LHS', don't carry Roundhouse gondolas) cut the gondola in half and file the bottom of the pieces smooth. You will use the BOTTOM of the gondolas. The Big Gulp cup is 4 1/4" in diameter, this gives you a 110 Z scale foot turntable.
Cut the top of the Big Gulp cup off the cup. Trim it down so that the turntable, which rests on the 'stay fresh lid' is level with the top of the BG cup. I cut out the middle section of the 'stay fresh lid' it looks nicer. These lids are best from the tops of those Frosting cans found in the cake section of your local grocery store.
This photo shows all the bits used to make the turntable. Two pieces of wood, a piece of track, a piece of plastic to widen the gondola. Paint and glue.
This is the hardest part of this project. You can use a screw through the turntable into the dowel. You can glue them together. Or you can build a dowel receptacle beneath the turntable. Remember that the dowel must also be centred and be aligned beneath the layout so the dowel will not sway.
I build this. If you do it this way you also have come up with a way for the dowel not slide out onto the floor. I used a couple of screws into the dowel above the lower aligning hole beneath the layout.
When you are done this should be your result. Total assembly time about 20 minutes! If you can keep your wits about you. :-D
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