This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Something from nothing Modeling from the scrap box/Bob Walker I


was going to title this month’s col- umn “The Joys of Being a Pack Rat,” but a title should not be such


a large mouthful. “Something from nothing” just seemed like a better fit. They say, “There’s no free lunch,” but I always seem to disagree with whoever “they” are, never being very tolerant of pompous authority. If it was rescued from the trash can and is later used, it is free. We are all pack rats to one de- gree or another. Saving items for fu- ture use is just common sense. For some (you know who you are) the word “purchase” is a dirty word. I have a few friends who, along with yours truly, fall into that league. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not counsel-


ing that we save every scrap of materi- al, regardless of size or non-usefulness. We need to set some limits on what is saved and what is not lest we become candidates for that hoarding show on TV. In my case, any strip stock (styrene or wood) less than 6″ long is deemed true scrap. Likewise, any sheet stock less than an HO 8′-0″×12′-0″ (wall?) is going into that circular file. Other items I tend to save in modest amounts. I have a few plastic sprues from a vari- ety of past kit projects, maybe 20 to 30 of them. The other thousand or two have been chucked. Recognizable details from past kit projects are quite another matter. I save all of them. A scratchbuilder can


Scratchbuilder’s Corner


never have too many doors, windows, chimneys, barrels, boxes, and the like. When the kit is done I look at the left- overs, and what I know to be of future use lands in the scrap box. I also like to save intriguingly-shaped


objects of most any kind. They often see good use as some nondescript “machin- ery” either inside or on a roof. Many times my better half, Donna, will wave some bizarre looking “thingey” under my nose, saying, “Can you use this dear?” Knowing a good thing when I see it, I


always say, “Yes,” and squirrel it away. It should not amaze you that I have found good use for many such items over the years. If you break something or in some


way ruin it for use on the current pro- ject, you should ask yourself, “What can I do to save this thing?” Can it be modified into something else? Before you throw it away, calm down a bit and think up ways to save it or modify it. I wish I had back some of the neat stuff I screwed up and casually (or more like- ly, not casually) sent to the wastebas- ket with “appropriately inappropriate” language. Such outbursts are usually


followed by a sweet voice from upstairs saying, “Are you all right dear?” Before I went into the service, I did a


bit of military modeling. Upon my re- turn, not being quite so enamored with things military, I quickly began to dis- card it all. My Dad, wiser than I in many ways more than just years, sug- gested that I keep some of the stuff, as it may be of use in the railroad hobby. Much to his surprise, I took the advice and kept a bunch of parts and pieces (no complete models) for some vague future project. This was in 1969, and it indeed came to pass over forty years later I needed some small tank treads. Way, way down at the bottom of a scrap box was a set from some $1.98 tank kit. My Sn3 logging railroad needed a Lombard log hauler. Now, a Lombard log hauler was basically a small steam locomotive that ran on a set of treads (like a bulldozer or tank) instead of dri- ving wheels; it was geared much like a Climax with a front platform supported by a set of ski-like runners and was steered with a steering wheel connect- ed to those skis. It was a bizarre-look- ing affair used in the winter by a lot of small logging outfits to get logs out of inaccessible areas to the railhead. I wanted a non-working static model to just park somewhere close to the edge of the benchwork. What gave me the idea in the first place was an HO 0-4-0T boiler in that very same scrap box.


PHOTOS BY BOB WALKER


If pieces of raw materials are in reasonable shape it makes sense to save them for future projects. A rough sorting and labeling


80


scheme will make them easier to reclaim. Other things can just go into boxes, though you end up with a couple of “misc” bins.


DECEMBER 2011


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116
Produced with Yudu - www.yudu.com