tal; I grabbed it up. When modeling in HOn3, I had done a monument based on a scene of the Civil War’s 20th Maine Vol. Infantry Colonel, Joshua Chamberlain, from the film “Gettys- burg.” I had always wanted to do one in O scale, but I couldn’t find a suit- able figure. At least I now had a base. Memorial sculptures are usually larg- er than life-size, and in O scale, this means a fairly large figure. I model the year 1950, post-World
War II, and I fabricated a bit of a story. My town of Albion, where the memo- rial would be located, had featured a Civil War monument, but in its lo- cation next to the fire station near a street, an errant driver had demol- ished it. A new statue was needed, and it would be located in a small park behind the firehouse, hopefully out of harm’s way. And, since several more recent wars were to be remembered, the townspeople decided to employ a more modern figure. Who better to be recognized than the great hero of the European campaign, Gen. George S. Patton. The source for “Georgie” was almost ancient in itself.
94 RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
In the 1950s, plastic model kit
maker Revell produced a series of military vehicle models in 1/40 scale. The company also made a separate set of figures, one of which represent- ed Patton. For whatever reason, I had kept that figure, and now I put it to use. I laminated a couple of pieces of distressed styrene to the bottom of the resin pedestal to produce a base seven-feet square by 6 feet, 6 inches tall. The total height of the memori- al is about 14 feet. I glued the figure to a small rectangle of 0.020 styrene as a base for it and placed a similarly sized piece on the front of the pedes- tal. I painted the cement with Floquil Concrete and washed it with a mix- ture of alcohol and India ink. I paint- ed the figure with a mixture of Floquil Pullman Green and a touch of En- gine Black to replicate an old metallic look; same for the plaque on the ped- estal. On each corner of the bottom layer of the base, I drilled a hole and glued in a length of aluminum tubing 1/32-inches in diameter, four scale feet high. I measured the perimeter of the base and cut a length of Mod-
el Shipways chain. I made this long enough to provide a bit of sag, about 30 scale feet. At the proper places, I located the chain over the tubing and inserted a small, bead-headed sew- ing pin to hold it in place. A dab of ACC secures the chain in place, and a couple of excess links dangle off one upright. I toned down the bright sil- ver pin beads with a bit of silver paint and a wash of Rustall; the chain had previously been darkened with gun blackening solution. That completed the basic model. I glued it to a square of 1/16-inch
plywood and then applied a layer of ground foam to simulate a grassy sur- face. When placed on the layout, the surrounding scenery will be brought up to this surface, and a couple of benches, a community bulletin board, and some figures will complete the scene. Total labor for these two models
was maybe three hours. Yet, they are both very satisfying in their final form and reflect images, not only from my personal past, but also from our cul- ture and history in general.
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