Unfinished Business

It's exciting to see progress even if it's just 5 parts coming together over the course of 2 evenings. I was able to get the second (and final) gable dormer assembled and placed on the mine roof. For whatever reason, I put this on long term hold while I worked on other projects. I usually do things like that when I am faced with a challenging bit of construction, or when I don't know how to proceed. In this case, I think I just really didn't feel like fighting with geometry!

Whatever my reasons were, now that I have this part behind me, I know that shelving the project was foolish. It looks good in my opinion, and even if it isn't as perfect as I would like it to be, it looks better than an unfinished structure.

I guess my point in all this rambling is that while your models might have some flaws, finishing them is more important and rewarding than having a shelf full of unfinished or even worse, unstarted kits.

Go build something awesome.

On30 Flat Car kit now available!

Flat car kits are available!!!

Price is $13.00, not including shipping. These are fantastic bare bones kits that can easily be used as a basis for all kinds of other cars. Super simple to assemble (two parts), and chocked full of subtle wood grain texture, they will look great on your layout. Minimum radius on this guy is about 10", so it will work well on small and micro layouts.

Look for a Gondola version of this car soon!

Hobbytown USA Annual Model Contest

What does Bruce Lee have to do with trains?  Everything.  More of that in a minute...

Yesterday my Mill Pond diorama won it's class (dioramas) at our local Hobbytown USA. I am pretty happy about that. I got a nice plaque, for the low price of three dollars (entrance fee).  More importantly, I got to see an old friend, and I got a chance to see models that ran the spectrum of very good, to very, very, bad.  Before you get a bad taste in your mouth for me "gloating", hear me out.  Even those really crappy models were on display, and I didn't see any of YOU there.  The people who had the balls to come out and compete are all winners, because they took time out of their day to at least show up, with glue runs, finger prints, and duct tape shadowboxes in tow, to share their hobby with others.

 As Model Railroaders, we kind of hang out with the other weirdos like us.  My friend today said: "ever notice that model builders are strange?"  Well, of course I had noticed, look at the two of us here!  We tend to be basement, garage, or attic dwellers, total geeks. Getting out to a contest or show to socialize with the other socially retarded folks is good for you, and competition is healthy. It also gives you ideas, and a chance to get to know other people who share your interests. 

What did I gain from looking at bad models? I got some inspiration to maybe try other genres of modeling. There were good ideas, just maybe not executed the best way.  Unfortunately, I couldn't really hang out and talk with all of the modelers, because I would have liked to give some of those guys some tips or ideas, and maybe I could have gotten some tips on my own modeling, and maybe those guys could have pointed out things that I could have done better that I missed.

Enough of the lecture. Here are some photos of my diorama.

So... Bruce Lee?  Did you watch the video? If I told you I am good, you would say that I am gloating. If I told you I am no good, you know I'm lying.  Become like water, and flow.

Go build something awesome.

Devil in the details

I'm now at the point in the diorama build where the nits come out to pick. I placed the logs in the pond, and now I just need to detail the scene a little. Saturday is the contest, and I'm pretty happy with what I have been able to accomplish in just under 3 weeks (to date). 

I still have too many projects, and too little time, for example:

* half a dozen HOn30 freight car kits to assemble

* On30 shay conversion

* On30 Porter rebuild (two of those)

* On30 Davenport detailing

* finish an HOn30 Porter

* finish my Mining micro in On30

* Buzzards Cove HOn30 micro layout

* finish the masters for my flat car kit

And...

This little guy. An HOn30 Forney kit, from Five79. While that is a pretty straight forward build, just like everything I do, I am over-complicating it by adding Radio Control. At least, that is the plan anyway. It's going to require me to get over my electronics mental block. 

I should probably start RC with an easier project, like one of the Porters in On30, and I may still, because I should be able to get this bugger running well  with the addition of a flywheel, and a conductive rear truck. I'm going to head to the Mid Atlantic Narrow Gauge Guild's annual module meet in Kimberton, PA in a few weeks to talk to the RC gurus of On30 to get some help, and maybe go from there.  

I'm not going to let this stuff stop me though, I'll just do what Dad taught me on my way to the Fort Benning School for Wayward Boys: "Just put one foot in front of the other."

Go build something awesome.

Dead Rail?

Over the last few days, I have been contemplating some pretty deep stuff, like:

Why do we drive on parkways, and park on driveways?
When is it okay to tell a person they have a hanging booger?
What makes an "innie" into an "outie"?

But the biggest question I have is:

Why do I get so frustrated building layouts?

I have the answer: I hate wiring. Hate is a pretty strong word, and I don't just hate wiring, I hate everything electrical.  Loathe it.  It's probably because I don't understand it, and that pisses me off. I could dive into books and websites and teach myself everything about electrical engineering I could ever want to know, but that would take time away from what I love, which is building, detailing, and weathering models. I'm not willing to do that. My modeling time is limited as it is, and I couldn't care any less to waste energy on the flow of electrons, amps, watts, ohms, and volts. 

Enter a few guys on the internet.

"Convert those locos to battery powered RC, and never worry about electrical again!" they said.  No worrying about any of the garbage anymore.

Well, I'm thinking about it, and I'm trying to figure out whether or not I can shoehorn RC gear into HOn30 locomotives, or if I'll have to run cheater cars with them.  The current (and only) HOn30 locomotive on the roster is a Railway Recollections Porter, which will probably not have the room for gear, without a cheat car. (a cheat car is a piece of rolling stock that is permanently connected to the locomotive that hides all the RC gear, It used to be pretty common for N scale guys to run cheaters with small steam locomotives).  I'm waiting on an order from Parkside Dundas to ship of a Five79 2-4-4 Forney that will go over an old Bachmann 0-4-0 mech, that are notoriously bad runners, mostly because of poor electrical connections (sounds like a candidate for RC). The Forney might have enough room in the cab and bunker to house the receiver and batteries. Once I get the kit, I'll be scrutinizing it thoroughly.

In the mean time, my Porters and lone Davenport in On30 would be able to run RC with one of my gondolas set up as an auxiliary tender (cheat car).  From what I can see, it doesn't look like costs would be much different than converting to DCC. 

Never having to clean track? Now that would be Awesome.

Who says Skeletons have to stay in the closet?

16' Shorty Skeleton Kit

 

Your short line needs some way of getting timber to the mill, enter the Shorty Skeleton. At 16' long, and 6' wide, this little bugger of a buggy will negotiate 12" radius turns on your backwoods layout. With the addition of your own preferred trucks and couplers, this little guy is ready to go. As a craftsman kit, some special tools are required, along with a moderate amount of patience and skill.

Contents of the kit

Kit includes everything seen in the picture. You will need to add your own trucks and couplers. I used Kadee #501 trucks and Grandt Line link and pin couplers for the model above. You'll also need an assortment of standard modeling tools, as well as a 2-56 Tap and a #43 drill bit.

Stay tuned for a how-to on my techniques for weathered wood, and rusty metal.

Go build something awesome.

Quantity

1 Kit $18.00 USD 2 Kits $35.00 USD 3 Kits $50.00 USD 4 Kits $60.00 USD

Late to the party

Skeleton kit with girly chain

I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this, and while I may be late to the party, I prefer to think of myself as being fashionably late. Fashion isn't something that I'm necessarily known for, with my combat boots, and realtree hat, but I digress...

Yesterday I was returning a product to AC Moore (Castn Craft mold release...don't buy it...it sucks) and since I had time, I figured I would "drip" around and see if I could find anything useful, and I did. In the bead/jewelry section I found myself very much out of place among tween girls and aging hippies, but I found chain. It's a little over scale, at about 14 LPI, with links scaling to around 4" long, but I didn't see anything smaller. It was $4.49 for 2 meters (6.5 feet), which is cheaper than 1 foot of chain from a model railroad supplier. Of course, it's shiny which won't do for us, so I dipped it in PCB Etchant for about an hour, and then dunked the whole works in a mason jar full of clean water. When it dried off (on a paper towel) it turned into a beautifully rusted pile of junk. The results can be seen in the picture. The more orange chain is how it looks coming out of the bath. 

While some people may say the rusted chain looks great, and I won't argue with that, it doesn't look like a chain that is used all day, every day. Iron chain that sits in your shed without oil will look like that, or maybe just a tad redder, but chain that is used constantly doesn't have lots of surface rust. So, I hit the chain with some odorless oil thinner (the kind artists use) and applied black, dark red rust, and dark earth colored Bradgon Weathering Powders.

Whether or not you choose to use girly fashion chain is up to you, but "Black" chain is just about as unrealistic as "Bling".

Go build something awesome

A million miles an hour

My brain is moving faster than my hands can build, write and type.

I've committed to attending a show in July, and while it might be just over 5 months away, I feel as if I have no time to prepare for it. Trying to balance long range planning, with the things that have to get done right now is just insane. I've got so many ideas, and I don't seem to have time to even catalog, let alone prioritize them. My goal is to have 3-4 kits ready for that show, with around 100 total in stock. I have a ton of other things that have to get done in order for me to feel prepared for the show, finishing the display layout, getting a packing list together, and identifying shortages on the list, and fixing them.

It would also be pretty awesome if I could do some of my OWN modeling while the winter is still on...

Back at it.

Go build something awesome.

Madness

Just a teaser of the next kit. This tiny little part will grow into something much bigger. Anything is possible when you know how to eat an elephant. 

Go build something awesome. 

Creative kitbashes

 

Models and Photos By Al Judy

 

 

Customer photos!

Al Judy sent me a bunch of photos of the very first Marsh Creek Miniatures kits assembled...ever. Al works super fast, and had two done by 5 pm the day he received them in the mail! Two were built as mine prop carriers, one as a tool car, and one as a bite sized bulkhead flat. You can see all of them above.  You can see more of Al's work on his Facebook page, the Mill Creek & Lycoming Railroad.

 

 If that isn't enough Pennsylvania goodness, order a copy of the 2014 On30 Annual where Al has a layout tour featured in one of the premier publications for the On30 crowd.  Here's a few more shots of Marsh Creek's kits on Al's Layout.

 

 

Models and Photos By Al Judy

 

 

It makes me incredibly happy and proud to see something I have designed executed so well. Thank you Al for the pictures!

Like the kits? You can buy them here.

 

 

Go build something.
Rich



Online shopping?

 

Technology is fantastic. I am pleased to announce that you can now purchase the little On30 4 wheel gondolas directly from this blog! Ever since I offered these for sale, the most common questions I got was "do you take PayPal?"

 Of course I accept PayPal. What kind of a tech savvy train geek would I be if I didn't?

Keep checking back often to see the latest developments with the kits, the blog, and my pseudo philosophical ramblings.

Weighty decisions

Sometimes in life we have to make some really hard decisions, decisions that carry a lot of weight, and can make or break us. It wasn't an easy decision to leave a comfortable career with a great retirement, not with a family, bills, and a mortgage. The weight of the world was on my shoulders, and a misstep could crush me. 

16 years ago, I trusted my life to an 18 year old parachute rigger, who probably failed a couple classes in high school, and probably wasn't trusted much by his teachers, or parents. By all rights, I shouldn't have trusted him either. Sometimes though, you have to make a leap of faith, and ignore that kid, and put your fate at the hands of The Lord. He can help you carry that weight, and if it suits him, he'll make sure your parachute opens. 

I asked for guidance, and he told me to "put my knees in the breeze". I shuffled out that door, into the dark night,and it looks like my 'chute is opening. 

Have faith in your abilities, and put faith in The Lord. Enjoy life, and build stuff. 

The picture above is relevant...I swear. I added weight to my kit in a space I could find, by using small incremental weights... BBs! Together with your faith, you can find places to carry the weight of the world, through creative thought.

Go build something.

Rich

An unexpected surprise

Yesterday I was finally able to sit down and build one of the mine cars that I had cast. With life being so hectic, I haven't had a whole lot of modeling time since Christmas. I think they came out pretty good. There are some other things that I'd like to do with them, but overall, I'm very pleased.

 

 

 

 

 The surprising thing is that they have gotten quite a lot of attention in a short amount of time. I had originally offered them as trade bait, thinking I might be able to get some small kits or parts for them.  Since Thursday, with a very small audience on facebook, I've gotten orders for 16 of them, from as far away as Scotland and New Zealand. I was shocked. I personally thought they were a pretty cool little car, and they were up to my standards as far as detail (of course they would be, I built them), but I had no idea there might be enough interest to make them available commercially.

 

 

 The response was so good in a 5 day period, that I literally have run out of supplies to make any more kits than were ordered. I've got more resin coming, and I'm contemplating making a second mold to speed up production.  One of the guys who bought the first kits suggested that I work on a shorty 2 truck car, between 12 and 15 scale feet in length. Bachmann's 18 foot cars are wildly popular, and for the guys who like to run tight curves on small layouts, even smaller would be a nice to have item.

 

 

 

 

Between School, the kids' extracurricular activities, Cub Scouts, and finding time for the Mrs., things take me a while. I'm not a retired guy who has nothing but time on his hands. I wish I could spend as much time as I wanted in the basement sniffing glue, creating things, but right now that's not in the cards. There may however, be just enough time to turn my creations into a small hobby business...

 

 

We'll see. I certainly hope there is, but I'll leave it in God's hands for now. Or, like they say in Iraq..."inshallah" (As God wills).

 

Stay tuned.