Found In the Woods

Some video classics for you on this ever so spooky day…

The Pit Of Ultimate Darkness

Goth Talk

These last several months I've made tremendous progress on my model railroad. I got a large section of the benchwork done and lately I've been focusing on constructing the helix and associated subroadbed. All is moving along well, slowly, but well. It's hard to find large chunks of time with the kids around, but during naptime on weekends I can steal away for 2-4 hours and get some work done. Also, there is definitely a learning curve here. I've never constructed a layout of this complexity and type therefore I'm constantly referring to notes, websites, magazines & books and friends for advice. The process has been really fun and I just hope I can get trains up and running before we move out of this house some day!

This past weekend I spent some time installing a bridge which carries the track from the base of the helix through the wall to the main layout room. This was particularly tricky because I was working in a tiny space under the stairs and had to make a template for the curved roadbed. The solution was to use a piece of masonite about 16"x20" which I drew on and then slid to the side and drew the rest of the template. Then back in the main room where I had more space I recreated the alignment and used some plastic tubing to create a nice curve. I then cut the bridge piece with the jigsaw and it fit like a glove.

I also spent a few hours putting up the risers for the masonite spline subroadbed which I will use in most of the open single track areas of the layout. I have wanted to use the spline method since the beginning and I decided on Masonite after considering pine due to fact that I have a lot of it around and it bends so nicely. There is a really nice Masonite spline HOWTO writeup online at BCSJ.org . Check out the website; there are some fantastic shots and tips on there.

This is like finding a long lost friend. Back in the early 90s MTV ran a show called Exit 57. One of the sketches became an inside joke among some of my friends. Well, it finally made its way to YouTube. It’s just as classic now as it was back then… “CHARLAYYYYYY!”

Ted Stevens continues to amaze us with his understanding of the internets. This time in techno remix format.

This is the funniest thing ever… EVAR!! I was crying after I watched this. What’s right with public access cable television today.

There’s MORRRRRRRRRRE!

After many, many years, I got my airbrush back up and running. A couple years ago I built a booth for it but never got around to spraying anything. Over the last several years I've also been slowly collecting Airbrush parts such as valves, water trap, pressure gauge, hoses, fittings and nozzles. Last night, inspired by some free time I had, I got everything up and running and did some trials on some old HO scale engine shells that I had stripped years ago .

The results were promising. The booth performed pretty well, although when spraying, I had to hold the model up high to allow the spray to vent through the duct. If I held it low, the spray tended to circulate around and exit the booth. Oh well. The good part is that my wife could not smell anything upstairs while I was spraying.

I did a simple coat of Floquil Railroad Colors Primer Gray which I thinned with 25% Dio-Sol. This was a real adventure, as I've never been very precise with my paint mixing before and now I'm totally into it. I used Testors Pipettes to measure and distribute the paint to the spray jar. The paint dried a ilttle "chunky" or "dusty" on the model, and I'm not sure why. It seemed that I could wipe it off the model in some places. I think the air-paint ratio was off, but again, I'm still learning. Overall, I'm super satisfied at just getting it running again.

I am excited to continue painting. I plan on painting the two diesel shells up in B&O livery and the trolley shell in DC Transit livery. The DCT trolley will definitely find its way onto the layout some day. Next up, I hope to do some weathering practice on some rolling stock and engines.