Model Train Journal

Howdy,

This "sort of" goes with Chuck's wooden steam locomotive that he built a while back. I can't find that exact posting. Anyhow, while trapped in the house at the beginning of the shutdown I had this diorama kit my wife had gotten me. She thought it would look good on the layout. I explained it really was not quite the correct size but I would like to make it for my son, who writes. Thus was started a journey in paper cutting and folding, flower making, book making, and doll house furniture making. Man that red chair, hidden in the back for a reason, was a monster. Hats off to the folks who can make such things. It was a challenge and a blast to make the bookstore. It has been completed and given away now. I meant to share photos earlier but was remiss. Just for your viewing.

Now back to TRAINS!

Jim K




With the chandelier working!

Kewl! What is the size of the footprint?

Looks like a good backdrop for a Zoom call...

healey36 wrote:Looks like a good backdrop for a Zoom call...

I have used it for that!

ScaleCraft wrote:Kewl! What is the size of the footprint?

Roughly 8" by 9" by 8" high

Jim K

Wow! Beautiful details. Nice work!

Ditto Chuck's post.
My fingers and eyescould not handle that.

rogruth wrote:Ditto Chuck's post.
My fingers and eyescould not handle that.

Yep, mine barely could too! I had the Opti-visor on all the time. Also used a Laskey knife sharpener to keep an edge on the
X-acto blade. Even with that I went through several just cutting out those paper book covers etc. It was a hoot. Making that
chandelier was interesting. Thanks to Super-Glue it worked out. It was flat metal strips and wire with the round lamp holders.
Used a wire bending tool I had gotten for the Trolley Park overhead construction. Glad I had that dude.

Jim K

Too cool Jim, I love it.

Awesome!!

George

Thanks for the kudos Wayne and George. So I'm looking for something else to do or read and I find this book that has been on the shelf for some time titled "Trains - A Complete History." A bit of an overstatement but inside it has paper cut outs of 50, count 'em, 50 locomotives. The results have been very suspect. Folding paper along a seam for some perpendicular reasons is one thing but having to roll the paper to make boilers, etc is something else. I have completed several but only share pics of a few. Here is the Rocket or their version of it and mine. Another hoot.

Jim K






Hey, it does fit in at the Trolley Park. Another exhibit of sorts.

Train ON

Looks great!

Did you put TMCC in it?

George

A fair number of paper kits seem to be coming out of Europe. I don't know if those modelers have more patience or the models themselves are printed on more appropriate types of paper, aka correct weight/stiffness. I have tried some of these models and I generally do better with flat/rectangular shapes. Curves require some skill in pre-bending and that usually means find something of the right shape and size and often multiple gradual bends. I don't think I have the patience for that

I also frequently committed the sin of using blades that were too dull. Actually they started out fine but they progressively got duller and I cheaped out on replacing them. I did eventually try to resharpen them but that was usually a half ****d attempt. Getting the angle right and making sure the blade was true was something I picked up much later. By then I would either buy blades in bulk and relegate the "not so sharp" to secondary duty or use the snap off box cutter tool where you just toss the section you wore down. Really nice kits from Europe involved quality die cut punch outs where you barely need the point of the knife to free the part.

G3750 wrote:Looks great!

Did you put TMCC in it?

George

He was considering DCS but could not find the directions in "The Book".

You guys are killin' me!

That Laskey knife sharpener is nice because it uses crossed pieces of honing material.
With this tool you don't have to worry about angles; just put the blade in and draw it
through. I used to work with a Blade Ace. He spent hours perfecting his skills and then
admitted that the new tools were making it a lot easier. Of course you really need that
first sharp blade to start with. These are just maintenance devices in my mind.

Train ON

Jim K