The single most important tool in your possession is the one between your ears. Think-build your model before you make the first cut. I can often do this in the ten minutes or so it takes me to fall asleep at night. Think the job through from beginning to end. Con- struct the whole thing in your mind and literally think-build it right up to the final weathering on the roof. Go get yourself a cup of joe or a soda, sit back in your chair, and build it in your head. All in all, it should take about 15 min- utes. Other times, I gather all the items I will need (tools, construction materials, and parts). Lay everything out, then just look everything over and develop a plan. Don’t start cutting un- til you have that plan firmed up in your head. It is also a good idea to have everything you need before you start. This sage advice popped into my head just yesterday when I decided to build the D&RGW’s warehouse in Chama. I’ve always got Evergreen Scale Models .030″ corrugated around—not! GER- RRRRR! It always pays to have a few projects set up and ready to start when a situation like this arises. Have a plan and a backup plan and maybe even a backup to the backup. This is not to say that things won’t change along the way. Be flexible when there is a bump in the road. Remember, if things are going well, you’re walking into an am- bush.
Sometimes Donna will ask, “How is it going down there?” This happens particularly if there has been none of the usual “@!#$%&@” from the nether regions. My usual response is “Some- thing is really wrong. Things are going too well!” All I’m really saying here is have a plan, and stick to it as long as it
is working. When it fails to work, re- think your approach. That warehouse will have to wait. Truth be told, I counted over twenty modeling projects waiting in the wings. Then there’s the hundred or so on the layout(s) waiting out there as well. Boy, am I glad I’m re- tired.
This next bit of counsel will generate gales of laughter from my family and friends. I am about the last person to give the following admonition. At the end of a project, clean up the bench and work area. Put the tools away, and pro- ceed to generally tidy up the place. An orderly workplace stimulates the com- mencement of a new project. Putting tools and parts away often seems like an all-day project. In reality, an hour usually does it. I keep a small office type pencil holder for just the most used tools. The rest are stashed in a drawer. Not only are they ready at hand, but in plain sight as well, not hidden in that drawer.
While I’m on the subject of holding
things, I learned the hard way to pre- vent my clumsy nature from knocking over the solvent cement right on a mostly completed project. Drill a bottle size hole in a chunk of 2″×4″ and store the plastic solvent cement in that hole. In order to knock it over you will have to be clumsier than I am, and I’m not sure that is possible. Whatever the project, it is nice to
know that it will fit where it is sup- posed to go when it’s done. I generally head for the layout, note pad and ruler in hand, where I measure (exactly) the area in which the building in question is to reside. It pays to know the size limitations of the real estate and the proposed footprint of the new project.
The tuition for miscalculation here is pretty steep. I once watched a large 2- 8-2 shove a recently completed engine house about 30 scale feet down the track. The door rebuilding and resizing was not nearly as much fun as the orig- inal construction.
As usual (with me anyway) it took a traumatic event to teach me better ways to do things. As I look back upon that bit of misadventure, I can see the humor, and wish I had a video of the building bumping along the tracks. Not all blunders are that harmless! Back in the mid 1970’s, I acquired a Dremel modeler’s table saw. It had a 4″ blade and, maybe because of its diminutive size, I failed to respect it. Eight stitches and a decent amount of blood later, I had a lot more respect for that small blade. After the failed at- tempt to sever my thumb at the first knuckle, I quickly turned off the saw with the injured digit. To shorten the story and make my point, I left the dried gore on the switch. I also pho- tographed the injury and taped a small print adjacent to the switch. The saw never got me again. Much of what I do for a living in- volves paint, and the accuracy of color. A word of caution here. All paint man- ufacturers match color in batches to what they call an “industrial” match, which is to say, not an exact match. If your project is large enough to take more than one bottle of paint, pre-mix as many as necessary into a larger ves- sel to insure continuity of tone. Well, I think you have suffered enough for this month. Next month we will continue along these same lines with some tips and techniques that I hope will be useful.
Before cutting and gluing begins on a project, try to scope out how to proceed. This “think-build” method of modeling will save a lot of time. First gather the needed materials (left) for the model
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
and lay everything out on the workbench. One of the hardest con- cepts for many modelers is clean up. Often times, tidying up the workbench (right) will lead naturally to the next modeling project.
73
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