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!

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 […]

1120 Done for Now

After more months than I’d planned, 1120 has left the workbench and returned to Golden Lake to resume service to Pembroke. I decided to experiment with a dot filter on the boiler and tender, and it came out a little heavier than I would have liked. However, considering it is not on home rails, perhaps […]

Coal loads for 1120 and 622

I had already started to put 1120 together again when I realized the coal bunker was still just sheets of lead. I’ve made this mistake before, and narrowly averted disaster when I discovered that #10’s tender was not water-tight and consequently wound up dribbling glue all over the electronics inside. So, this time I did […]

1120’s Tender Rear

The pun was unavoidable. I originally left the lining off the rear of 1120’s tender because the information sheet with Black Cat’s decal set indicated I should. However, it didn’t sit right with me, and when that happens, I go looking for pictures. A photo of 1362 wrecked at Renfrew Junction in 1906 sealed the […]

Lettering for 1120

Thanks to everyone who wrote in to sound the alarm about leaving masking tape on too long! I’m thrilled that anyone reads this blog, and dumbfounded that so many of you care. In the end you needn’t have worried: the masking tape came off easily and the paint stayed on. I hadn’t particularly planned to […]

1120 Visits the Paint Shop

The new airbrush made quick work of spraying 1120 all black. Compared with the old airbrush, this one is a delight. Sure, I can still make mistakes, but I don’t feel like I’m constantly fighting the tool. This was my first time using Vallejo paint and primer. I can’t even write that name without Marc […]

1120 Gets Grand-Trunkified

You could definitely go overboard with detailing a steam locomotive. It’s harder with the earlier engines, which had fewer appliances, but still possible. The intent with 1120 is to get an engine running and looking appropriate so I can use it if I need an extra engine, but not to win any contests. So, I […]

Cricut print and score and cut test

In a moment of weakness, I volunteered to do a table-top clinic about the Cricut at the Railway Modellers’ Meet, which is coming up at the end of May. I may take the opportunity to work on the Pembroke Milling Company’s warehouse, but I also want to show some of the other ideas I’ve worked […]