Why...?

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I'm in the middle of decaling numberboards (thanks Mark!) with "6366", and I'm left wondering why the hell I'm in this hobby  ;D

I blame my dad... if I could go back 20 years right now, I'd BEG to go join the local little league, or for some pogs or something... 
 ;D ;D ;D

[Frank Amato]

Take a break, man...  I can't do more than a few numbers in one sitting w/o going cross-eyed!

[Puddington]

Ed; it's simple my friend....... somewhere in your distant past you were a bad child.... yep; it's true... soemwhere in your early years you soiled your Pamper's once too often; cried too loud, one too many times or made mommy and daddy cross in some significant way....... and then it "happened"...

Mommy......"That's it..I've had it.... Little Eddie has me at my wit's end...."

Daddy..... "Steady dear. I know he's challenging. he's bright; he's creative and he's artistic... I don't know what we can........wait........um......ah...............EUREKA, I"VE GOT IT..........."

Mommy ......."What are you talking about...?"

Daddy (Excited) ........" I know what we'll do....I know what we'll do..........I'll be back.." (grabs coat and cap and head for the family Taurus/Falcon or other "can't be discussed family car that we were all to embarased to ride in)

One hour later.........

Daddy..............."Honey, I'm home............ where's little Eddie......?"

Mommy......... "He's in his bedroom decapitating GI Joe and Barbie........what's in that big box......?

Daddy......."It's a train set....... It's a Conrail GP 15......hehehehehehehe, snort...."

Mommy......"Why are you giving him a present - he's been a little pain in the behind.... he doesn't deserve a ...."

Daddy...." Steady honey.. you don't understand.... it's "model trains"..... he'll love it and then obsess on it... he'll become totally engrossed; to the point of forgetting everything else... all his bad habits and bad friends will melt away... all he'll care about is Conrail Blue; fuel filler glasses; ditch light colours and other details that only an obessed Borg could care about; later he will sell his soul for a uber detailed photographic diarama; care more about model fall sumac than his relationships and will gravitate to people who are WM and Chessie fans rather than normal people.... it will be hard for him but his love and need for that mid blue plastic that runs on little foreign made circuit boards will outweigh his naturally born common sense... and all the while he will think that this is his lifes calling.......... bwhahahahahahaha

Dear, don't fret; he'll be ok; he'll graduate; get a job.; and never, never be normal again...........he will be "model railroader" and he'll never, never turn back..............and we'll be able to go back to a "life".....it's perfect.... perfect (at this point a loud "Dr. Evil laugh comes from daddy and he begins to mutter..... Conrail's demise will be his undoing.... Conrail's demise will be his undoing.....")

And there, my dear friend Ed, you have it........... glad to help.......

[ljudice]

Seriously, it's worth doing these as custom made decals... I'm not even sure I can see those numbers anymore even with glasses and the magifyer thing...

[ryourstone]

Just get a secondhand 600dpi laser printer and make these up in paintshop, it will add years to your life.

[wm3798]

Another advantage of the Western Maryland...  Lots of 2 digit road numbers!

I've got art mostly done for doing F units, and on the sheet I'm including number boards for just about any WM road number I can think of.  A couple of Readings, too...  Those Kato SD45's are awful with those skinny little boards...

Lee

[Walkercolt]

Ed, admit it's time for a set of Opti-Visors and a good bright light. (I have a new 5500K LED desk lamp equal to a 75 watt quartz-halogen little MR-16 "headlight" like at the big box stores. Made by Cree. 3 watts(!) A little pricey, but I got mine from a refurb web clearance house for $35) Like an Ott-Light on steriods, but more directional. It comes with two diffusers (both very nice) but I do better on close-work with a more "semi-spot". I don't mind telling where I got it, but they've sold-out of them and won't get anymore. SOP for "refurb" web-stores. There are a couple of dozen great ones and they don't play e-bay. I buy 90% of my power tools refurbed for sometimes 70% off (like I care if it's last year's model tool)!

[GaryHinshaw]

On the other hand, maybe it's not too late to go out for Little League...   

[ryourstone]

I just fill in the numberboards for Katos, they're pretty hopeless.

[nscalesteve]

I just fill in the numberboards for Katos, they're pretty hopeless.

yup, same here...

[Ian MacMillan]

Same here Ed! When I change all mine to white backgrounds....makes you kinda wanna do mid 80's CR when they were black!

I'm looking at just printing them as full decals now though.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Black on white would probably be easier to do as decals.

[Mark5]

I can't blame my Dad since he had no interest in trains. So I guess it's on me.

I did later find out that he made killer models of airplanes as a kid ...

Kato made all the long hood number boards on their EMD hood diesels too short (at least on my SD40s, SD40-2s, and SD45s) - a real revelation when trying to put scale numberboard decals on ... :

Mark

[Ian MacMillan]

Black on white would probably be easier to do as decals.

Thanks Captain Obvious.

[AlkemScaleModels]

I'm in the middle of decaling numberboards (thanks Mark!) with "6366", and I'm left wondering why the hell I'm in this hobby  ;D

I blame my dad... if I could go back 20 years right now, I'd BEG to go join the local little league, or for some pogs or something... 
 ;D ;D ;D

I feel the same way as I am detailing an N Scale blast furnace for my next book. This thing is a detail sink. No matter how much I do, there seems to be more to add!