Morning all,

Spent a little time at the workbench over the weekend.  I didn't get much done but I had fun. 

Maximum utilization of available space.   


Have a great one!

Morning all,

Nothing new at the workbench the last two days.   

Good news is June is fast approaching and I've got a ton of vacation time I'm taking in June.   

Have a great one!

Morning all,

T.G.I.T! (Says the guy who has Friday off this week) 

I always thought this might make an easy, neat little detail on a layout.  A sidewalk ripped up and a pile of debris.


Have a great one!

Morning all,

Got a little workbench time in last evening.  Maybe I can squeeze a little in on my lunch hour today.

Big meeting today about the reopening of our office next week.  At first returning to the office will be voluntary.  I'm waiting to be voluntold.    



Have a great one!

Morning all,

Nothing going on here.  No workbench time yesterday.    



Have a great one!

Morning all,

I snuck a little airbrush session in over my lunch hour yesterday to prime some parts (including the two replacement windows for my Marshall's Boat and Gas build).  One of the benefits of working from home. 

Have a great one!

Morning all,

Still waffling on whether or not we'll make the trip up to PA next month to visit family.  As of yesterday morning it was definitely off.  As of yesterday evening it was maybe back on again.    I guess I'll know for sure when my vacation starts on June 10th. 

I got some workbench time in yesterday and I sure needed it after last weeks marathon meeting week.  This week is a return to the normal meeting schedule.  We won't do that marathon thing for another 12 weeks (too soon).

Have a great one!

Time for a new build.  This one's currently on the workbench and only about half finished at this point.  It's the FOS Marshall's Boat and Gas.  For some reason I have had penchant for acquiring waterfront kits that wouldn't be found anywhere near the Reading Railroad.  The Reading did run down the port in Philadelphia and unload coal into cargo ships but I doubt any of the waterfront kits I've acquired fit the theme.  Oh well.  To bad.  When I get to build my little world things will be different for the Reading.   

Here's the bag the kit came in.


Some of the walls, strip wood and corrugated roofing material.


More walls and laser cut kit components.


Signs, instructions, plastic castings.  The usual suspects.   


As always I started off by removing the plastic parts from the sprues that hold them using a sprue cutter.  On of the best little tools I ever bought.


Any rough edges at the cuts are quickly dispensed with a swipe or two of an emery board.  There was no flash to clean up in the mullions or elsewhere.


More in a moment....

Morning all,

More meetings today.  Yesterday was brutal and I expect more of the same today.     No workbench time.  This happens every twelve weeks and that's still far too often.



Have a great one!

Morning all,

I uploaded 40+ pictures last night so I can start a new build thread when time permits.

Gee....my calendar today shows a meeting from 8 until 11 followed by a meeting from 11 until 4.     Good thing I'm working from home.  I can put down the headset and walk away when I need to.  Which will be quite often I'm afraid.

Have a great one!

This would have been build number Tres for the Build Challenge but I never got around to starting a thread on it until now.  I built this one at the same time I was working on the CCK Rowhouse on Concord Street.  I picked up both kits at the EXPO in Altoona in 2017 (I only remember the year because I'm currently wearing the EXPO t-shirt so all I had to do was look down  ).

This is KC's Workshop Linda's Luncheonette.  It comes in a small bag.  I wanted to build this one because it's a brick structure.


Some of the goodies packed in that small bag.


Signs and glazing.


And some instructions.


As usual I started by cleaning up the castings included in the kit using an emery board to get them ready to paint.


I removed the wood parts from their carrier sheets, in this case the front wall, using a single edged razor blade and cleaned them up as well to prep them for painting.


More in a moment...  

Morning all,

Jumped out of bed early today to go outside and watch the SpaceX rocket launch from the Cape.  The skies were clear so I got a decent view of it from my backyard.  I haven't caught a night time launch in quite some time.

I spent my lunch hour at the workbench yesterday and got a fair amount accomplished.   

Some inspiration for the next step of my build which is rusting up the roof panels a bit.


Have a great one!

Morning all,

Spent time at the workbench last night bracing the walls for the current build.  Needed that after a particularly annoying day at the office.



Have a great one!

Morning all,

I did manage to get an airbrush session in last night to prime the parts for a new build. 

Way back when a lot of homes had a small business of some sort attached to them.  I wonder what this one was back in the day?


Have a great one!

Morning all,

Spent most of the day at the workbench yesterday.  It felt good.  Now it's back to reality and spending the day at the work PC. 

Have a great one!

I have just enough time to squeeze another build into the Build Challenge.   

This is one I picked up at the EXPO in Altoona a few years back.  It's the Carolina Craftsman Kit Rowhouse on Concord Street.


Lot's of little goodies in the bag.  Let's start with the paper stuff like the roofing material, view block, etc.


Then onto the door, window and chimney castings.


Lot's of strip wood and walls for a little structure such as this.


I started by removing the castings from the sprues using a sprue cutter.


Then I smoothed the edges off with a quick swipe of an emery board.


More in a moment....

Morning all,

Ten minutes at the work bench last night soldering a couple of connections I forgot to solder when I put some lights in a structure.  After that I cleaned off some of the paints that had accumulated on my small workbench and made room for the next project.   

A shot from Howard Zane's magnificent layout.


Have a great one!

Morning all,

No workbench time last night.  I need to breakout the soldering pencil though and fix a connection in my latest build.  I forgot to solder the copper tape in two spots and it's proving problematic.  Easy fix though.  I'll take care of that tonight.

Recycling some old pictures from the Scranton EXPO.  I miss the EXPO's.   


Have a great one!

Morning all,

No workbench time last night.     I have to take a long lunch break today to get my second vaccination.  Junior is trying to score an appointment now that it's available to his age group. 

Sigh....it's been over a year since we've been up to Mt. Dora for a visit.  Maybe someday soon we'll go up and take a walk around town.  I snapped this picture during a visit to Mt. Dora years ago.


Have a great one!

Morning all,

Got a little workbench time in after a long day at work yesterday.  It felt good.  The workbench time that is.  Not the long day.   

Old picture (obviously) from the Enola yards.  Probably taken around my college days back in the late 70's.


Have a great one!