Brief blogging break

It's maybe some combination of winter blahs and lockdown blues, but my posts seem to be getting stale. I thought I'd take a vacation from blogging for a little while to recharge. I'm still here for email and what not. The first order of vacation business though is to make some coffee :-)

Mechanical fish tank

Mechanical fish tank: A layout capable of running trains in lazy, never ending loops to provide background ambience in a room.

Usage: Jane turned on the mechanical fish tank and dimmed the room lights before the guests arrived.

Source: Discussed at around the 15:35 mark in the accompanying video. John Kit notes it's a common practice with model railroaders, and wonders how something similar could be adopted by slot car track owners. Mr. Kit also states that the mechanical fish tank concept wasn't unheard of in slot cars' earlier days of model motoring.

from the electronic files for the 2029 4th edition of The Dictionary of Non-Existent Model Railroad Terms.

Flying surfaces covered

I see some wrinkles - argh.

Building the air camper has got me all philosophical. It seems when it comes to stick-and-tissue builds I completely forget about the Three Things I've Learned, which causes me to give up.

For example, the kit's instruction for covering is something like "cover with tissue". Not knowing the best method, or even a good one, I do some research and find there are many recommendations and practices. Given my lack of success in the past, I usually down tools at this point and give up for awhile, which often turns out to be months or forever. This time I decided to pick a procedure and get on with things - which is lesson #3 in the 3 things. So, I simply stuck on unstretched tissue pieces by applying to the frames clear-drying glue from a glue stick. I read that some builders of these peanut-scale models don't stretch the tissue for fear of warping the frame - which I have done, warping that is, in my not so illustrious past. 

So, the philosophy for this build is: Keep going; Try to do a good job; Don't rush; Complete.

Completion is important. I figure if I can complete it, I'll have experienced all the steps and can build on what I'ved learned, as there will be fewer mysteries involved on future projects.

Some toy cars from the '30s

Another uncle, the brother of WHW, playing in the backyard of their house, probably sometime around 1933 or so. Notice the two toy cars in the foreground, and the pedal-car in the background. I can see a few pleasant hours ahead rummaging through Louis Hertz's The Complete Book of Building and Collecting Model Automobiles to see if I can identify them.

Art Metropole: 2nd & 3rd floor overlays

I continued on with applying 'stone' overlays to layer 1.

While working on the middle section I swung firmly towards making this model an approximation of the real thing and not an exact replica. Overall, the facade has an Art Metropole feeling, but close examination shows liberties have been taken.

For example, I've added some trim with 2"x4" scale lumber to accentuate some lines in the reference photos, but they aren't exactly correct.

Interestingly, this deviation from the prototype didn't seem to bother me as I found work on this section as calming as work on the ground floor. Strange.

It's on to the top floor and the decorative work around the semicircular window.

It's alive!

Last week some discussion here at the 30Squares World Domination HQ veered to talk of BASIC and old computers prompted by this article on BASIC's ancestor, DOPE. One thing lead to another and I mentioned that I had an old TRS-80 stashed away in the basement. 

I had to go and find it.

And I did - find it that is.

And much to my surprise that after residing in a sealed box, unopened since being entombed in 1988, and being shipped here-and-there over the years, the monitor lit up and presented me with a prompt! 

I have some programs and data on cassettes that I'm interested in seeing if they're loadable, not to mention seeing if the old thing will actually still function. More on all of this in future posts.

Coverage

As for the textless covers, we've been told repeatedly by experts in the field that these amount to marketing hara kiri. They are likely correct. But we persist because we consider the covers works of art.

Emily Donaldson, CNQ Editor, from issue #1 of The Bibliophile. 

When CNQ, Canadian Notes & Queries, shows up in the mail I try to stop whatever I'm doing and jump right in. The covers are always by Seth, and they seem to have a pull that makes me want to see what's new inside. Yeap, and as their editor mentions, the covers are usually textless, or have just a few words about the issue's theme. Years ago I wrote about Model Railroader's textless cover years from the early '60s to the mid '70s. I thought they expressed confidence, and showed what model railroading was really all about. And if your name's Model Railroader, what more does one need to know about what's inside? Apparently today's 'experts' don't see it that way. CNQ goes one further than the old MR with cover art that wraps around to the back, where you might find a few explanatory words, nicely integrated into the image, if that's what you're after. 

Art Metropole: Street level overlays

Pieces of 2-ply, 500-series Strathmore Bristol Board were cut and attached to layer 1 to represent different stone layers on the street level portion of the facade. It isn't an exact replication of all the stone work, but just captures the largest features. All pieces are attached with transfer tape.

Hmmm. The stone layers are a bit hard to see in the photo. The horizontal lines are block divisions that were drawn on with a pencil and then etched in with a scriber.

The sign is made from 3mm high plastic letters sold by Model Builder's Supply. They're attached to layer 1 with Weld Bond. I should note that even though they look ok, they aren't prototypical. The actual building has letters cut into the facade's blocks. I didn't know how I'd replicate that at such a small scale, so I used some letters I had on hand.

I found this work relaxing, but I can see it isn't going to be finished as quickly as I had hoped. Maybe that's a good thing. The next job is to attach layers to the middle section.

The Existent Model Railroad Dictionary

It's not known if Bill Schopp's Model Railroad Dictionary, which ran in Railroad Model Craftsman beginning in September 1959, was a direct competitor to The Dictionary of Non-Existent Model Railroad Terms, or if either group knew about the other. But what is known is that Mr. Schopp's dictionary ran from late '59 to mid '61 in RMC - with an index to the entire series printed along with the last instalment in the May '61 issue. As with all of Mr. Schopp's work, it is thorough, and a fascinating snapshot of the terms of its time.

Art Metropole: Layers 0 and 1

I used the updated drawing to cut out the facade's base layers.

Layer 0 is the window layer. It's cut from a piece of clear 1/16" thick plastic - I'm not sure of the type of plastic other than it's a leftover that's been in my scrapbox for a longtime.

Layer 1 is the stone layer. It's cut from 4-ply 500 series Strathmore Bristol Board. I'm starting to appreciate why many of the old school builders liked this particular brand of Bristol Board. It cuts well and has a fine surface. 

The semi-circular window opening was cut out with a compass-like circle cutter. I think I need to buy another one as mine's made of plastic, and it was a bit wobbly in making the cut through the relatively thick card. I need to find out if there is a brand made of steel.

I'm moving on to building up layer 1 with pieces of thinner Strathmore to model the facade's stone relief.

Portrait with Train

Another photo from the family albums scanning project. Problem is I don't think that woman is family. I have no idea who she is. And to compound the problem, I have no idea where this was taken. I doubt it was in Toronto, but it could possibly be somewhere near Winnipeg, MB, or Rochester, NY, or maybe even Novato, CA - it's all guesswork though. I don't see recognizable markings or logos on the cars for possible clues. Era? Maybe the '40s or '50s?

I sometimes think photos like these - taken by amateurs where the trains are merely background - are just as important as those taken by railfans. The railfan photographer may approach the subject with certain agendas and preconceptions in mind which colours what and how they shoot. On the other hand, pictures like these where the subject is something other than the trains may capture some spontaneity in the rail scene that might not appear in a 'properly' staged and composed shot.

Crazy about a Mercury

A variation on this photo along with some musical commentary by Alan Jackson. 

Flying Table

A 5'x6' candidate for flying table-ization under a very high ceiling

Flying table: A layout suspended from a ceiling. Pulleys are used to lower the layout for use and raise for storing.

Usage: The rec-room featured a flying table.

Source: Although now a fairly common way of accommodating a layout in a home, especially in a garage, referring to the design as a flying table was first noted in Jack Stark’s article in the July 1960 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman called, “flying table”: Volar Mesa Lines. Mr. Stark notes how he got the idea for accommodating a layout in his house, which had no room for a conventionally supported one: While looking wistfully at the pike in the hobby shop window, I voiced my unhappiness at the state of affairs. And my wife, jokingly (I think) said, “Why don’t you hang it from the ceiling?” Flying table layouts are usually small. Mr. Stark’s was based on a classic 4’x8’ sheet of plywood.

Mr. Stark also notes that ‘flying table’ is roughly derived from the Spanish, ‘volar mesa’, which was incorporated into the name of his layout.

from The Dictionary of Non-Existent Model Railroad Terms, 2nd ed., 1999.

Here comes the streetcar

A variation on this photo.

Gil Mellé at the 1960 HIAA Trade Show

Gil Mellé at the 1960 HIAA trade show; RMC Apr '60

The April 1960 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman contains a report on the 1960 Hobby Industry Association of America trade show held in Chicago during February of that year. The article notes that Gil Mellé was there with his company, Industrial Model Works (IMW):

Industrial Model Works' Gil Mille [sic] takes a breather. IMW released 19 new items at the show including old time structures and styrene building material.

Prior to seeing this note I had thought IMW was more-or-less a garage manufacturer, but having a booth at America's premier hobby industry trade show seems to suggest much higher aspirations. 

What makes a model maker?

My uncle in the mid-'30s

I've been leisurely reading my way through some old issues of The Model Craftsman from the '30s and scans of The Model Builder from the '70s and '80s. This kind of trip is always a pleasure, but this time I'm again brought around to the thought lurking in the back of my mind that I'm only a 'real' model maker if I can successfully build a stick-and-tissue, rubber band powered, free-flying model airplane - and by successful I mean it looks good and flies well. I don't think I've ever been successful on those terms. And to drive the point home to me, most recently I parked the Pietenpol Air Camper project last summer when I got to the covering stage.

Look at that photo I recently found. There's my uncle of 1940s Winnipeg railroad photos fame with a stick-and-tissue flying model - one of several of these sorts of photos I've uncovered during my family photo scanning. I suspect he built those things, not just held them up for a photo. He died long before I was old enough to form any solid memories of him, so all this is inference from ancient images. 

Anyway, all this has got me thinking I should get back to the Air Camper to see if I can at least discover why I have mental blocks about stick-and-tissue flyers.

Linescape

Linescape: An image similar to a landscape, but incorporating streetcars, track and overhead wire as a dominant visual element.

Usage: The gallery was putting on a show of early 20th century Toronto linescapes. 

Source: In their 1976 book, Trolleys to the Surf: The Story of the Los Angeles Pacific Railway, William A. Myers and Ira L. Swett use the word in a photograph caption: LAP LINESCAPES: North portal of the north Hill Street Terminal, at Sunset Blvd.. There are no known instances of linescapes by either Rembrandt, Turner, or Constable.

from The Dictionary of Non-Existent Model Railroad Terms, 2nd ed., 1999.

Made to Measure

Progress is a bit slow on this project. Lockdown induced cabin fever was eating away at us yesterday, so we went for a long drive. The authorities would no doubt not approve, but getting away for a bit, along with seeing the sun, was good mental health-wise. Anyway, later in the day I had a go at re-jigging some dimensions on the Art Metropole drawing.

I didn't do much other than add a foot to the height of the middle windows, and make note of all the dimensions. I like to know the distance of each significant line from a reference point - in this case, the ground - because this information helps to reduce layout errors when drawing up the facade's pieces. I find that if one lays out a piece by just drawing the lines relative to each other instead of relative to a fixed point, it's easy to build up error in the layout. This isn't a problem with CAD, but if you're going old school, it's something to keep in mind. Next up: begin cutting out the pieces.