Dogs and Tennis Balls and Math

In Lance Mindheim’s post this week about simple layouts, he likens himself to a dog with a tennis ball. He’s happy to repeat the same moves time and again, much like the professionals. But what if you’re not like a dog chasing a tennis ball? How much complexity does it take so that you will […]

Full extension slides for quality of life

I saved some money when I built my modelling desk by using some drawer slides I’d found at ReStore. While they were the right length, they were partial extension or regular or whatever the opposite of “full extension” is. With the two-inch overhang of the desktop to facilitate clamping, these slides wound up hiding the […]

The Devil’s in the Details

I wasn’t deliberately putting off the final shaping of the pasture backdrop. At least I’m pretty sure I wasn’t. I knew it would be some work, and probably a little risky too when it came to adding all the details in the foreground trees. But, the rough shape took only an hour or two; how […]

The Stars of the Show

A couple of weeks ago, Trevor Marshall mentioned Jonathan Jones’s intriguing article in the 2023 issue of Model Railroad Planning, specifically Mr. Jones’s* assertion that if everything is important, then nothing is important. I’ve been wanting to write about this article since it came out, as it is the most innovative thing I’ve read in […]

716 Mary Street Gets Clad

The plywood core for 716 Mary Street, coupled with accurately-cut siding makes for super square, solid construction. The model is in danger of starting to look like a little Ontario house. I wish I’d thought of curtains before putting all the walls together. They’re going to be nuisance now!

First layer of colour for the pasture

The pasture is moving along about as quickly as the Laurentian Ice Sheet that carved this landscape in real life. Having modified the land forms for the “last time,” I repainted them with my recycled house paint, sprinkled with sanded grout of the same colour. In the depression that has today sprouted a well, in […]

Laser cut bits for 716 Mary St

I always said that the Cricut is a gateway drug for a laser cutter. The more I use my XTool, the more that feels true. With the Cricut, I frequently have to redo parts where the knife has dulled and failed to cut through, or where the adhesive mat has failed and the material dragged […]

A Waste of Time on the Cricut

For June, I’d hoped to finish the house I started for the Cricut clinic back in May. However, the wall technique, with which I’d hoped to replicate something like novelty siding was an utter disaster. At the clinic, I demonstrated a technique that Greg Kenelly thought looked promising for replicating N scale novelty siding. Our […]

Two New Materials for the Laser

While XTool has an extensive catalogue of suggested settings for their laser, they don’t appear to agree with me on the selection of materials. So, I designed a quick matrix of power and speed settings to help find the optimal setting for new materials. 100 small squares increment either the power or the speed in […]

Pasture Backdrop Rough-in

I’ve always planned to make the backdrops for Pembroke out of aluminum flashing. Styrene would probably be easier to work, but I feel it will get brittle and start to break with time. Also, aluminum is shiny, which might help to gather more of the horizon light and cast it up towards the sky. As […]