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.
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.
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."
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".
