Since late last summer I’ve been beating myself up with regard to my model railroading ‘structure building’ hobby. It all had to do with me finally getting motivated last yr around this time (Feb/2023), getting back to my hobby table building my “kits” (I hadn’t done anything project-wise during all of 2021 nor 2022). So, it was a big deal to getting back and start making things again. Then, … [Read more...]
Model Railroading – kit building – LaserKutModels
June 7, 2023 By
It’s pretty tough starting a mom & pop business out of your garage these days. Decades ago, you could put an ad into the various hobby related mags, announcing your new model railroad kit manufacturing company, and hopefully, via these magazine ads, as well as by word of mouth, your mom & pop business just might get enough customers to make your start-up a successful one, like Art’s Bar … [Read more...]
Model Railroading – recent thoughts – motivation
March 29, 2023 By
So…as some of you have noticed, I’ve been sharing my recent builds (after almost two yrs of being in a funk and not having any motivation to work at my project table). And, I’ve been getting the “likes” as well as some nice comments. But, the following comment this morning truly surprised me: “I am never going to be a great scale modeler but your work is inspiring.” This following (after the … [Read more...]
Model Railroading – FSM – Swakhammer’s Welding Co.
December 10, 2020 By
Hmm. I’ve been pretty lax for the last three months, not posting progress reports on any structure builds, so I’m a bit behind. I started this kit in mid September, and have been making slow progress especially during the month of November as I was preparing to move back home to MN from NC. The particular kit (manufacturered in 1990) is from a company called Fine Scale Miniatures (“FSM”), in … [Read more...]
Structure Model Building – Baker’s Produce – finished
January 1, 2019 By
Tonight, we finished Baker’s Produce. We built the clerestory, gluing the four walls, adding the six windows, and gluing a tarpaper roof onto it. The building of the clerestory was a pain since I wrongly assumed both of the longer walls were of equal height. But due to the slight slant of the roof, one wall is slightly shorter than the other (and, I had to do a do over while gluing the walls of … [Read more...]
Model Railroaders collecting stuff
December 17, 2018 By
From an eBay auction item description. ==== “...This item is from a family member’s train Empire that was never completed. I am not a business, Just selling items from a family member’s very, very large train Empire/Hoard. A collection from a 50 + year Passion/Addiction that I am unable to use on my own Empire.“ ==== Yup. Pretty much sums it up for those of us in this hobby. Although the … [Read more...]
Listening to some good music while working on the hobby
November 17, 2018 By
Been working at the project table for last couple of hours, listening to Pandora, on my “Scott Bradlee and Post Modern Jukebox” station. As you already probably know (but in case you didn’t), a Pandora station like this isn’t “all” music by that particular artist - a “station” just plays music of a similar genre, etc. So far, they not yet played a tune I didn’t like - just love this kind of music … [Read more...]
Model railroading kit building and ‘stash’ backlog
October 13, 2018 By
Post number two this morning due to insomnia/tinnitus. ==== Here’s a crafter’s dilemma, as a crafter gets older, toward retirement age. I’m going to make this a bit easier to understand by reducing the actual quantities. Let’s say, you have enough crafting “projects” (yarn, quilting material/projects, wood in workshop, or whatever) to last you for the next three to four years (or longer), at … [Read more...]
Hobbies, Model Railroading – what happens to your stuff when its time to go?
October 13, 2018 By
Post number two this morning due to insomnia/tinnitus. ==== Here’s a crafter’s dilemma, as a crafter gets older, toward retirement age. I’m going to make this a bit easier to understand by reducing the actual quantities. Let’s say, you have enough crafting “projects” (yarn, quilting material/projects, wood in workshop, or whatever) to last you for the next three to four years (or longer), at … [Read more...]
A post from a model railroader regarding creative hobbies
September 10, 2018 By
The following is a post from a Model Railroading group, BUT is generic enough for ALL hobbyists, whether the hobby is quilt-making, woodworking, crocheting, whatever. [for every model railroad jargon word below, insert a jargon word from your particular hobby.] ==== THE SUNDAY EVENING POST (Dave Pye) THE CASUAL MODELER Not every modeler has to be an all-out, “REAL” model railroader, if for no … [Read more...]
Random thoughts
September 6, 2018 By
[don’t read this - it’s just totally random and miscellaneous thoughts] It’s really been a strange week for me (for a variety of reasons) - I’m off on vacation all week, and have been doing a lot of physical hard labor (over a period of a few days), and I’m just exhausted from it - over the weekend, moving all the junk from the garage into a U-haul truck so that a new garage door can be … [Read more...]
Initial build of Goober’s Towing from KC Workshop
August 2, 2018 By
Started this kit tonight, took less than 2 hours to get this far. Braced the interior walls, primed the exterior walls with gray primer. Dry brushed on the green paint, put some “white” on a sponge and splotged / textured the green paint, weathering it. Glued on acetate onto the interior walls over the window areas. Somehow, in the last several kits I started putting the acetate on the interior … [Read more...]
Build of Shipyard Brewery – 6 of 6
January 30, 2018 By
After not touching this project for the last week or so, as soon as I got home tonite, I sat down at the project table and started working on this effort again. Finished all the shingling of the front and rear main roofs, shingled the two dormers (front/rear) and glued them on. Added rolled tar paper for the roofs of the front/rear clerestory things, and glued the rear one on (I think I glued … [Read more...]
Build of Shipyard Brewery – 5 of 6
January 21, 2018 By
Worked on shingling the main roof tonight. Also, built the dormer (both front and rear), as well as the two clerestory things. You can see the front dormer and the front clerestory here on the shingled front roof. Still have to shingle the rear main roof, then glue on the rear dormer and rear clerestory. Both dormers and both clerestory’s need tarpaper roofing material added to them - or maybe the … [Read more...]
Build of Shipyard Brewery – 4 of 6
January 17, 2018 By
Added the roofs and tarpapered them, for the two extensions, and for the two enclosed exterior staircases. Still need to weather them. Added a middle vertical “plank” to each end to cover up the seams that were created when I joined the front half to the rear half. Shouldn’t point this out, while it looks a ton better than the seam, it also now shows a flaw with my weathering - you can see some... … [Read more...]
Build of Shipyard Brewery – 3 of 6
January 15, 2018 By
Getting there. Glued on the barn doors (and funky windows) to both of the “extensions”, then glued on the two extensions to the building itself (one in front, one on left side). Glued on the two exterior enclosed staircases (one in front, the other on right side). Not happy with the back of the side staircase back wall - need to really weather that up a bit (too dark). The roof is just mocked on, … [Read more...]
Build of Shipyard Brewery – 2 of 6
January 14, 2018 By
Weathered the rest of the walls tonight, painted, then stained and then glued on the windows (all 22 of them), glued one side/end wall to the front wall, and one side/end wall to the rear/back wall. Now need to glue each “L” section to each other, forming the building rectangle. The roof is just mocked on - not glued on yet - need to put on the shingles or tar paper before gluing them on. Need … [Read more...]
Build of Shipyard Brewery – 1 of 6
January 13, 2018 By
This is “Shipyard Brewery”. Started this today, and got a lot done with it. This particular model kit is what’s called a “false front” building. The kit is designed to build only the front half of the building, and there would be no “back” to it - with the intention of placing it ag...ainst a wall on your model railroad “layout”. If it’s against a wall, your visitors wouldn’t be able to see its … [Read more...]
McDuffs Buildings – Main building – update
October 1, 2017 By
Spent the evening working on McDuff’s main building, adding in the (teal) portico (“drive-through”) scaffolding, weathering the walls be scuffing them, the weathering really shows well on the red walls, but not as much as the driftwood colored walls. Going to have to try another method for those. Added the (teal) lower storefront windowed / front door wall - that was almost a fiasco because I’d … [Read more...]
Build of Staton Marine (4 of 4)
September 2, 2017 By
I hadn’t taken the time to weather the walls of Stanton Marine. I’d done the roof, but not the walls, and it showed (I’ve included a couple of before pics - prior to the wall weathering). So, this morning, I finished this structure by using 2-3 pigment powders, and also 2-3 alcohol inks. It really looks so much better with the walls aged. Took me about an hour or so. Very happy how this kit turned … [Read more...]
