Building a Layout Bench

New to 1.64 layouts? Start here with Your First 1.64 Scale Layout

Building a farm or city style 1/64 scale layout will be dictated by the space available. To build the physical structure is not difficult. There are however a few ideas to maximize space and functionality.

A movable layout

One option is to put the layout on castors so the entire structure can be moved easily. This is what I created for my personal layout. The structure is 4’x8’ and 36” tall. The whole thing sets on 4” castors for an overall height of 40”. 

The purpose for this size and style is so I can move the layout around to work on it and stage photos. Two, I wanted to add shelves underneath the main layout for storage of building materials and so I can have more than one layout and switch them out depending on my interests. 

There is one lower shelf, another at 18” on center, then the top surface where the main layout rests. 

Fixed layout

A fixed layout is a movable version only stationary in a room. The height of any should be tall enough that the center can be reached for staging vehicles or working on it can happen without damaging edges by leaning over. 

The height will be dictated by each builder’s comfort reaching toward the center of their board. 

The overall size will once again be dictated by the amount of room each person has to use. 

L Shaped layout

An L Shaped Layout is exactly how it sounds. It is in the shape of an L and commonly fits in the corner of a room. This is a great way to make a layout when space is limited. A 4’x8’ sheet of plywood can be cut in half and cut down or used as is as space allows. 

What is cool about this method of building is long highways and roads can be added making this particular style conducive to city and urban flavored layouts. A variety of farm scenes can be with useful techniques to make layout “look” bigger which opens up a whole host of options for fields and other farm scenes.

Again, shelves can be added underneath to store excess models that can be changed out, building material, or even cells that can be changed out depending on the season a layout may be in. 

The bench is built, now we can choose a material to make our layout on. Great options await in the next post. Read Model Layout Subroadbed 4 material options