A shot for a Test Track product review in RMC many years ago. I don't remember who offered the structure kit but I managed to dress it up enough so the building almost disappeared. The lobster is from a swizzle stick I found in the mixed drink I ordered from Anthony's Pier 4 on the Boston waterfront. After I saw the lobster I just had to order several more drinks to get more lobsters.

The tree is a large piece on sage brush I got from Sweetwater Scenery. They may still be in business although the owner passed away many years ago. 

The other details were from my box of props that I used for every table top product review shot. I think the outboard motor came from a Revell tugboat kit. The piles of plywood were cut from furniture veneer and the boat, in the background was built from a plastic kit. 

Making ink jet "decals."

My Friend Hal Reynolds of Atlantic Scale Modelers sent me a link showing how to use your ink jet printer to make a "decal" from an image and then transfer the image to wood. This process has a ton of applications for modelers especially those want to add signage directly to the side of a building.

I tried the process with this sign I copied from the Internet (above.) I clipped the black edge from the sign in Photoshop and then printed it on the prepared paper as shown in the video.

Here's the first sign applied to a wood base which has a crinkled or cracking surface.

You can see how the ink jet ink has bled into the wet matte medium gel but the sign is useable and looks weathered.

I tried making smaller signs and I applied them to different wood bases. Here's two different sized signs applied to ship's deck planking.

I think they may look better on a white or light gray background.

I'm going to experiment with different sign on different wood backgrounds. I may even try a few on plastic or plaster.

Follow the steps in the link and you'll be making good looking signs in no time.

The C&DR Ry.

Here's a table top set-up shot on the HOn30 C&DR Ry. All the items in this photo have been placed to get a pleasing picture.

The HOn30 diesel was made from an N gauge Fairbanks Morse diesel with a Mini Trix HO cab. These were/are nice little diesels and I have three that still run just fine after 40 years of service. The boxcars were both scratchbuilt and kit made. The gondola car was scratchbuilt.

I like Lubriplate (black graphite suspended in Alcohol) to lubricate all these little engines.

I think it's the secret to getting good running qualities from these little engines. The other thing I always did to get these engines broken in quickly, was to remove the motor and connect the drive shaft to a variable speed electric drill and run the drive train for several hours at medium speed, adding lubricant to replace the stuff that flew off the gears. I think the Lubriplate also helped the gears "wear-in."

IHC Granite Front building

Did you ever get the urge to built something, anything? I get it all the time and I always turn to my trove of plastic structure kits from the 1970's, 1980's and 90's. These are quick and easy and satisfy the need to build.

A structure like this IHC stone front building is about an 8 hour project not counting the time it takes for the paint to dry. I spray painted all the parts while they were still on the sprue. Then the parts were assembled using ACC and Tenex plastic cement. After assembly I weathered the building with washes of oil colors and with pastel chalks. 

I still need to straighten the railing on the front stairs. They sagged while the glue was setting.

Sealing Mod Podge water

Several years ago I built a traveling display for Sea Port Model Works. (There are photos of the display base and several structures shown in earlier postings.) The question that everyone who sees the display asks is "how was the water built?" To answer the question I put together a 10 minute video showing the process. You can view the video here.

At the end of the presentation I talk about sealing the water surface using Gloss Acrylic Varnish. This is something you need to get in a paint store. Here's a photo of the brand I use but any good quality water-based varnish will work.

Stephen Crawford drawings

Years ago a fellow contacted Bob Hayden and myself to show us his sketches of narrow gauge trains. He was a fan of the Thatcher's Inlet series that was appearing in RMC at the time. His name was Stephen Crawford.

He made a sketch of one of the little saddle tank engines on the dock on the TI module. I used the sketch as the lead picture for part three, I believe. That sketch no longer exists but the two above were rescued from a box of old photos I was going to throw away.

As happens in life we lost touch with Stephen years ago but his art lives on.

Making Clouds

I get a lot of requests for information about how I make the clouds on my scenic backdrops. Here's the process:

The background starts as hardboard, Masonite or Gator board that's been painted blue. I found the blue color by holding a paint chip up to the sky on a bright sunny day and matching colors.

Next, I paint the background as shown below.

I have three layers - the blue color at the top, blue mixed with white halfway down and white mixed with a little blue at the bottom. There are no formulas. I just mix white with blue and paint it on knowing that if it's too light or dark I can fix it in the next step.

Here I painted in the distant mountains and then blended everything together using an airbrush with the high volume tip and flat white indoor wall paint.

Now for the clouds.

I use the Miles Hale method (published many years ago in RMC) and cut stencils from poster board. These are held about 2" in front of the backdrop and clouds are lightly misted-in using a spray can of flat white paint.

Here are stencil clouds sprayed on a module backdrop. You'll notice I've used several different stencils and overlapped them to get an interesting effect.

Here's the completed scene with the clouds in the background. Have fun!