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Topics - DaveInTheHat

#1
Dioramas / Dave's Tugboat Rides
October 14, 2021, 10:05:03 PM
HO scale diorama. This is my last one.


#2
Dioramas / Kate's Motel
September 21, 2021, 09:50:18 PM
Kate's Motel Diorama
#3
Rolling Stock / Short Train
June 06, 2021, 08:41:37 PM
I made a short train out of some broken up junk.
#4
Vehicle Modeling / Sailboat
October 02, 2020, 10:06:18 AM
I scratch built an HO scale 15 foot sailboat.







Here's a link to some pictures I took while I was building it: https://public.fotki.com/DaveInTheHat/187_scale_vehicles/sailboat-15/

Here's a short slide show:https://www.facebook.com/daveinthehat/videos/774084780094161/
#5
Dioramas / Ernie Hoffnagle's Place
September 01, 2020, 12:39:06 PM
Ernie Hoffnagle wasn't sure if it was a rock or a maybe a dinosaur bone in his garden. He called in some experts and now it's all a big mystery.











Here's a link to all the pictures I took while I was building this diorama: https://public.fotki.com/daveinthehat/davetown/ernie-hoffnagles-place/
#6
1:87 scale.








#7
Vehicle Modeling / Muppet Studebaker
January 18, 2020, 02:22:50 PM
#8
Dioramas / K.F.C.
January 17, 2020, 12:27:36 PM
K.F.C. didn't do well here.

















Here's pictures I took while I was building this diorama: https://public.fotki.com/daveinthehat/davetown/kfc-abandoned/

There's a slideshow on my Facebook page. Hit the "Like" button to keep up with what I'm working on.
https://www.facebook.com/daveinthehat/videos/
#9
Dioramas / Log House
January 15, 2020, 01:37:09 PM
I scratch built a log house. I made it using some sticks, plaster, junk mail, tin foil and a few other odds and ends.



















Here's a link to the pictures I took while I was building this:
https://public.fotki.com/daveinthehat/davetown/log-house/

Here's a link to a slide show on my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/daveinthehat/videos/826696394454661/
#10
Dioramas / Old Race Cars In An Abonded Barn
January 14, 2020, 12:31:07 PM
I scratch built the building out of plaster, sticks, and junk mail. The vehicles are modified from old models that are more like toys.



















Here's the link to the pictures I took while I was building this:
https://public.fotki.com/daveinthehat/davetown/old-race-cars-in-a-barn/

There's a slide show on my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/daveinthehat/videos/507198356536812/
#11
Vehicle Modeling / Stubby Bob
January 14, 2020, 12:04:43 PM
Roadkill's Stubby Bob in HO scale.










Here's the link to the pictures I took while I was building this:
https://public.fotki.com/daveinthehat/187_scale_vehicles/stubby-bob/
#12
Dioramas / Dave's Donuts
January 13, 2020, 09:34:50 PM










The pictures I too while I was building this are on my Fotki page: https://public.fotki.com/daveinthehat/davetown/daves-donuts/
#13
Here's my 1948 Dave-Craft Custom Deluxe Highway Clipper. Everything from the hood back in scratch built.









#14
Dioramas / Zephyrus
January 13, 2020, 04:34:54 PM


















This diorama took me about 9 months to build. It's almost 100% scratch built. The pictures I took while I was building it are on my Fotki page.
There's a slide show of the entire build on my Facebook page.
#15
Dioramas / Dave's Saucer City
January 12, 2020, 10:06:56 PM
Here's my diorama of an anti-gravity electro-magnetic hovercraft dealership.















The pictures I took while I was building it are here: https://public.fotki.com/daveinthehat/davetown/daves-saucer-city/

There's a slideshow on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/daveinthehat/
#16
Dioramas / Pirate's Cove
January 11, 2020, 01:57:25 PM
Here's a diorama I built a while ago. The ship isn't exactly HO scale, but kinda close. I have a video of the build on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/daveinthehat/videos/413330652910595/









#17
Dioramas / Patti Point Lighthouse
January 10, 2020, 06:34:21 PM




#18
Dioramas / Mulligan's Excavating
May 31, 2015, 04:46:29 PM
Everybody knows the story of "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel" and how Mary Anne got stuck in the cellar of the Popperville town hall. Not too many people know what happened 75 years later when the town of Popperville built a new town hall. The old building was scheduled for demolition and the town was going to sell Mary Anne for scrap. Hearing this Mike Mulligan's grandson, Bill set out to rescue Mary Anne. After a long legal battle which included corrupt town officials, scandals, kickbacks, and numerous other things the court decided that the town had no legal rights to Mary Anne. Since Mike Mulligan was never paid for the work that he did in 1939 the judge ordered that Bill Mulligan was to be compensated for the work done with interest.  So, with the Mulligan family having ownership of Mary Anne a salvage operation was started. With the help of Earl Schmutz and the guys from Davetown Salvage Mary Anne was finally removed form the cellar and seen in the daylight for the first time in 75 years. She was taken to a undisclosed location where the restoration was done by Ed Wertz and his team of mechanics from the Davetown Speed Shop. Mary Anne is now on display for everyone to see in front of Mulligan's Excavating. The only time she works now is the occasional parade or steam show.














Pictures of the entire build are here: http://public.fotki.com/DaveInTheHat/davetown/mulligans-excavating-/

Slideshow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkqdLmYwlsA

#19
Dioramas / Dave's Antiques
November 30, 2014, 09:48:53 PM
This is my first laser cut craftsman kit. I got this kit with a gift certificate that I won in a contest. I've actually been a little nervous about building it. I'm not sure why. Perhaps because the cost is about a third of what I spend per year. My hobby money is very limited. I probably spend about $100-$150 a year, most of that goes for paint, glue, building materials, a few people, and cars. So, having a craftsman kit to build is something kinda special for me.

I was really impressed with the kit. It's made by Best Trains. The box is really nice. Embossed printing and its like something that jewelry would come in. The picture of the finished model is really clear, which makes it nice when you need to see small details on how things go together. This was a really nice kit to build. I thoroughly enjoyed it.



Inside the box there's a couple pages of great instructions and all the pieces have been carefully packaged and thoughtfully arranged.





This is a simple kit. All the pieces are cut perfectly. The windows and doors at made by Titchy and fit in the openings without any problems. The metal castings are nice. They do need a little bit of clean up, but nothing major. Mostly just a little flash.



The are two ways to build the kit. A short version and a long version. I chose the long version with the addition on the back. The wood for the kit is color coded which makes it really easy to use the right pieces in the right places without having to measure anything. Only the corner pieces and the trim around the roof need to be cut. That was done quickly with a razor blade. I used Titebond wood glue and had the building together in about an hour. Most of that time was waiting for the glue to dry. I added 45 degree pieces in the corners to help keep is square.



After the walls were together and cleaned up a little from some excess glue I gave them a coat of ink and alcohol.



I sprayed the building with Aqua Net hair spray and threw salt all over it.



I sprayed it with coat of Folk Art Antique white.



Next a heavy coat of Folk Art Black Cherry.



I rubbed the salt off with a small wire brush and painted the trim Antique White.



The windows and doors went in easy. I did run into a bit of a problem with the "glass" that came with the kit. It has a printed outline on it and I cut it on the wrong side of the line, so they was all too small. I ended up using Scotch Tape for the glass. Sticky side out and then a coat of DulCote to keep dirt from sticking to it.
The roof is card stock and it's cut to fit. It fit perfect. The tar paper is peel and stick stuff that works really nice.



The roof shingles are peel and stick too. They're in strips. A little tedious, but I love them. They look really great.



So this is finished until I get it mounted to a base.



After I get it glued to a base I'll do some weathering and add the signs and the castings and all that other little stuff. I'm planning to have those Woodland Scenic painters painting the building. I'll have a small section with fresh paint on it. I'm thinking about having some other construction going on too. Sort of like the building is being rehabbed.
#20
Dioramas / Davetown Boardwalk
September 29, 2014, 10:36:32 PM
A little background on how this idea came about....
Whenever I'm building a diorama or anything else for that matter, I keep a small box on my bench to put "stuff" in. Things like leftover pieces of wood, metal, plastic, painted paper, leftover parts or anything else that I think I might use later. Once and a while I use some. When I'm finished with the project the little box gets dumped into a bigger box that I keep on a shelf with the other junk that I've been hording.

Along with this stuff I have a box of leftover kit parts and HO scale junk. Some of it I've sorted through and picked out what I can use and have it stored in empty prescription bottles. (finally found a good use for them). Then I have this other box of "stuff". It's full of things that I've found over the years. Pieces "stuff" or odd things that I think I might be able to use for something. My wife has developed a keen eye for "stuff" that she thinks I could use and usually just puts it on my workbench. Some of it is really odd that I never would probably never use. But, for the most part she leaves me with some really good "stuff" and I have used a lot of it in my dioramas.

So, I was looking for some stuff that I could use for "junk" to put behind "Tuxedo Dave's Chainsaw Sharpening" and I started wondering what I'm going to do with all this really weird "stuff". If I threw it all out I probably wouldn't even miss it. Am I the only one that does this?

Then I was at work and I found a piece of MDF 3/4" thick, about 5 inches wide and 4 feet long in the scrap bin. The idea hit me. I'm going to build a boardwalk and use up a whole mess of this weird crap that I've been saving.
I figure just about anything goes on a boardwalk. Actually, the stranger the better. I'll be able to use up a lot of the odd pieces of wood that I've been saving too.

My plan is to build the boardwalk in two, 2 foot sections to make it easier to work with. Once the base is finished I can start adding stores. Since I'm only going to be building store fronts they should be fairly quick to build. I'll be able to make these one at a time to take a little break from bigger projects. I'm looking forward to getting started on something. The first store is going to be French Fries. I have a list with about 50 ideas on it.

Here's what I've built so far....

I glued down some foam with wood glue



I chopped at it with a utility knife and some really course sandpaper from a floor sanding belt. I tried to carve some rocks out of the foam and gave it a coat of latex paint.



The rocks I tried to carve didn't look like rocks so I used super glue and stuck on some real rocks and added a section of black top. This will be the beginning of the boardwalk.



A coat of thinned out Elmer's Glue and some genuine sand from the Atlantic Ocean.



It took a couple layers of sand to get it to look right. I ended up using the glue straight from the bottle and dumping on a lot of sand and letting it sit overnight.



I got some pieces of lattice and cut up a whole bunch of wood. I did the best I could to keep the wood that I'm going to use for the decking the same thickness.





A quick trip through a pan of ink and alcohol got the wood a decent color of gray.



I got the pilings laid out on a scale 10 foot square grid.



Now I can add bracing and get the beams in place for the decking. I think that is going to be the hardest part of the whole thing. Gluing down about 1500 pieces for the deck is going to get boring.
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