Nice fleet, there Bruce!
Well, this week was wall to wall school work for Laura, so I did my best to cope by holing up in the man cave, and doing my best to keep the children busy. Here's the results thus far...
On Friday, Julie insisted that there must be a project she could help me with. After ruling out decoder installation, benchwork, and climbing out on the roof to paint the attic dormer, we settled on mixing up some Sculptamold and seeing what little odd jobs we could take care of.
First, we tackled a bit of landscaping that's been needed at North Junction for some time.
No longer will a blob of blue foam dominate this scene!
Next, we took our bucket over to Williamsport Junction to do some road work.
Motorists can now confidently cruise down US 219 toward Meyersdale, without fear of dropping down a shear cliff into the busy railroad tracks.
Well, a little more confidently...
Finally, the last bit of mud was used to finish out an area that has plum evaded me for some time. Due to the cuts and scraps of homasote I used to build my yard, once considered temporary but now pretty permanent, there was a low spot about 3" wide and a foot long behind the car shops. We decided that this would be a good place for a drainage ditch with some junk in it.
Julie was the art director on this section, too. She placed most of the plants and junk. Here she is plotting her next move.
And here's where the project stands at the moment...
Trees were added to camouflage a hole in the side of the car shop building, various debris items more properly weathered, and clear acrylic gloss applied (still wet) in the ditch. She said she felt a little guilty making such a filthy scene, but she still thought it was pretty fun!
When we ran out of Sculptamold, Julie decided she wanted to "build something"... (abrubt transition to sidebar story)
While running errands on Saturday, we found ourselves in Hobby Stop in Seaford, DE. Not a bad little shop, mostly heavy into R/C boats and cars, but also a massive section for wood boat modelers, lots of Lionel, and a good selection of model airplanes and military craft of various stripes. The trip was partly to see if we could score a little kit for Julie build, ideally one of those Model Power houses, or something along those lines. We were also looking for a Messershmidt, since Andy had been glued to the Military Channel all week watching WW2 documentaries... Well, we found a Messerschmidt kit, for $40!!!. Ridiculous! This for a 1:48 scale kit. I'm thinking that unless this baby has the ability to actually fly over France and wreak havoc, that's a bit much for a small boy's first effort. So we gave up on that part of the mission. Next to the N scale rack. Fairly sparse to someone who's used to the likes of MB Klein, but still some promise. Until I realized that just about everything on the rack was pre-built, and again, ridiculously priced. (Said Model Power House, in built up form, for $25 smackeroos...)
I asked the clerk if there's anything in the way of a kit for a child to build, and he points desperately to the bottom shelf... Mmmm. Steel mill for $100, and a couple of other industrial type kits, well beyond Julie's expectations, and certainly not suited for my budget. He did have the Walther's Merchant's Row kit, which is three store fronts for $28, but I've got enough DPM storefronts to choke a horse, so again, I took a pass. Usually when I stop in a hobby store, I'll do my best to pick up at least a magazine or a stalk of track or something just to support the cause, but this time I just walked out the door and moved on to the next thing. Now, back to our story...
Anyway, Julie pointed out that the 1:160 citizens of my little world would benefit from a little spiritual uplift. So we planned to build a nice little country church. I pulled out my Fireballs and Black Diamonds book and showed her the picture of the little frame church that's hard by the tracks down on one of the remote WM lines out of Elkins, and the die was cast. Our church wouldn't be quite so austere, since of course, it would have to be a Catholic Church, complete with golden candlesticks, Marian statues and a nice grisly crucifix on the wall... The big box of Evergreen stock came out, as did the drawer of window and door details, and we went to work on St. Julia's Parish.
Julie helped construct the basic building, and installed the windows. After I finished the bell tower and the addition on the back, she took care of the basic painting. Here's the progress so far, pending a few more details and some touch ups.
Considering most of the supplies for this project have been amortized for years, the only cost on this project was the gas to go to the hobby store to find out they didn't have any kits.
While I was working on the tricky parts, Julie took a break and messed around with switching the paper mill. Brian might need to apply for his old job... Anyway, not to be outdone, we finally found an airplane for Andy to build, a Revell kit of a P-51 (under $15 at Michaels, for those of you taking notes...)
Here he is hunched over his project, putting the finishing touches on the fuselage.
And here's the results of all that concentration:
His detail painting is exemplary, considering that this is his first ever airplane model...
So, yeah. It was a busy weekend!
Lee
