I will definitely use Sculptamold under my next large water pour.

Your diorama looks great!!!

So many people just use waves painted dark with a glossy finish.

I really like your treatment of water.

I hope to go over your build again the next time I am doing water.

I'm guilty of just doing dark, glossy waves.

Jaime,

I saw that a Shay Wood Miter sold on eBay recently.

If the buyer was you, congratulations.

I stocked these in my Train Shop in Alaska when they first became available.

They did not sell well, perhaps because of the limitations you spoke about.

My friend, Max Corey, figured out what modifications needed to be made for the original version to work right.

I'm sorry but I don't remember what they were.  In 45 years, the details have been forgotten.

I found the original aluminum lever would break at the bend.

I also had the 1/8th by 1/8 clear plexiglass strip which serves to hold the wood in place while the blade cuts downward broke off on the left hand side of the blade.

I recommend reinforcing that piece now by gluing another piece of styrene behind it.

If I am building a project that requires a lot of pieces exactly the same, I use a mini-chop saw.

I stain my wood and then form then into a block.  Say 1 inch by 1 inch.

I thin Elmers glue about 10 to 1 and use this to glue the sticks into a solid block.

After the dries I use the mini-chopsaw to cut the block into the desired length.

Toss these blocks into a container filled with water.

The next day the come apart easily.  Let dry and they are ready to use.

For most of the past 50 years I have built O scale models board by board using balloon framing like the prototype.

I use this method to produce 2 by 4 studs a hundred at a time.

But for most applications, I use the Shay Wood Miter.

I keep in my rights hand when building any model.

The corners are 90 degrees and are great for holding wood in place while the glue dries.

I also use it as a weight for the same purpose

I found the ruler to be useless and threw it away.

I lightly glue a piece of graph paper to the left of the blade.

I use the squares as a guide for cutting angles.

I also use fine tip Sharpies to mark certain angles on the paper.

When it get to bu unusable, I soak it in water and it easily peels off.

I then put a fresh piece of paper in place.

The round set screw on your unit can be replaced with a thumb screw.  Easier to use.

I never use this tool to cut styrene.  I do occasionally use it to lightly score styrene before stalling it.

This will become one of your favorite tools once you get past the learning phase.

I would not sell mine for $1,000.

Thanks John.  It has been a fun contest for sure.

My parents were part of the people who left the Oklahoma/Arkansas region during the depression in the 1930s.

The shack we lived in when I was very young still exists today.

The size was 9 feet wide and 20 feet long.  No indoor plumbing.

A shack that size will fit on a standard business card in HO.

Here is my version of my childhood home.

Another small diorama which fits on a standard size business card.

A small group of friends are having a friendly contest for building a small diorama on a base the size of a business card.

That seems like such a small area but there is much that can be done in that space.

Here is one of the dioramas I am working on.

Little cabin next door to my house as a child was lined with newspaper.

I guess it was a common treatment to cut down on cold.

Printing signs for buildings is one of the most pleasurable part of the hobby for me.

I have both HP and Epson inkjet printers.

Both do a fine job but the Epson is noticeably better when it comes to printing HO scale signs.

Really imaginative model building.

Looks great.

Thanks for sharing.

Great progress.  You should be done about the time my kit gets here.  Thanks for sharing.

Jaime,

The pilot models for many Campbell kits were assembled, painted and lightly weathered by Sherri Collins in the late 1960s.

There were several on display at Frank's Hobby in Tustin, California, in the early 1970s.

Sherri somehow achieved a very distinct shadow under the clapboard siding on her structures.

I never met Sherri but I always wanted to ask her how she got the distinct shadows.

I watched Tom Yorke weather automobiles at a convention when I let him use one of my two tables.

He used very fine Rapidograph pens to achieve distinct shadows under the "chrome" trim of the autos.

Sherri did not build a lot of models and each was featured in ads and on the kit boxes so I know she spent a lot of time on them.

At this point I can only assume she also used very fine Rapidograph pens to very carefully put the shadows in place.

Glad you enjoyed the tutorial.

One thing that makes this a great hobby is that so many people have little tricks.  Plus they are willing to share them all.

Jaime, come visit me in Idaho and we can build models together.

Darryl

Thanks Tom.

Darryl

Mike, nice idea about cutting out windows.

I think that is the only part of model building that I do not like to do.

Your method may fix that problem for me.

Thanks.

Darryl

Janbouli, Karl,

Thanks for the kind words.  I do appreciate them.

I was surprised at how well the plastic kit matched the wooden structure.

Now to work it into some sort of diorama.

Darryl