I'm Clinical

On July 13th, I'll be giving my first-ever clinic.  I was invited to give a presentation to the GRVS N-Trak club, on the construction of Johnson's Produce.  Should be fun - if you're in the neighborhood, stop on by, meeting starts at 7:00pm.

Not By The Hair Of My Chinny Chin Chin

Few people know this, but there was actually a fourth little pig, who built his house from paper.  Ok, not really, and it's a good thing.  As you can see in this shot, the walls of my hand car shed are, well, paper thin.

The wall studs are clearly visible through the paper siding.  The thing is extremely light too - there's no weight to it whatsoever, it certainly would have been no match for that wolf.  The see-through problem should be resolved once the walls are painted.  I hope so, because I really like the look of the paper siding.  It's not perfectly straight, a little wavy, some pieces are crooked - it looks like a neglected little building.

Wood, Paper, Siding

Once again, I'm trying something new.  I've seen a lot of great modeling done using paper and cardstock.  I started putting the clapboard siding on my hand car shed, using scale 2"x6" lumber, but it just didn't look right, too thick.  Lacking any scale 1"x6" stock, I decided to try paper instead.

It's a thick scrapbooking paper (swiped from my wife's supply), almost like cardstock.  So far, it looks great, but the real question is, how will it look painted and weathered?  Stay tuned....

What A Stud!

Seriously, who needs a stud-finder?  I have 33 of them, right here, ready to go, each 8 scale feet in length (thank you Chopper!):

It didn't take long to turn these into something resembling a shed:

Speedy Speeder Shed Construction

This is going MUCH faster than the produce warehouse did, I've already finished the floor of the hand car shed!

Thirty-two scale 2"x6" planks, 10 scale feet long, individually stained in a running alcohol/India Ink solution:

Assembly started:

Done!

Trapped In Modeler's Limbo

I can't start on the Lakeside Inn until my Grandt Line doors and windows arrive - waiting on my supplier to get them all in stock.  It's been three weeks since I've worked on anything, and it's driving me nuts!  The impatience got the best of me tonight.

A few weeks ago, I purchased a book of standard drawings from the Missabe Railroad Historical Society, offering official structural drawings of assorted railroad structures.

One of the drawings is for a small hand car (aka "speeder") shed.

I have just the spot for one, and building it should keep me occupied for a couple of weeks.  Let the construction begin!  Here are the 6"x8" sills, topped with 2"x6" floor joists, just like the drawing shows.

Are You On The Email?

From time to time, when describing my layout concept to someone, it becomes obvious that words aren't doing the trick.  Sometimes it's easier to just show them pictures, or direct them here to the blog.  Sometimes they'll ask if I can email them pictures.  Then there's the inevitable "What's your web site again?".  I love showing off my work, but this routine gets tedious.  I've solved that problem, by having "business" cards printed:

I've been asked to do a presentation in July to a local N scale group, and I'll be doing some clinics at the local division meetings in the fall.  These cards will come in handy then.