Good Morning Folks;

Thought I would check in and say hi. Wife and I are off to Florida panhandle for weekend, meeting up with son and family from Toledo, weather is great so should be great. I have just been fiddling with modeling this past week, using 3D printer to make batches of accessories like shovels, hammers and such for detailing down the road. I put each in tray unpainted ready for when needed. 

Congratulations to the winners of the Winter Challenge. Some really fine workmanship was shown and the models look great.

Next week I plan to start work on completing the Miami-Erie canal scene. It has been waiting for three years so guess it is time. At the rate I work it should take me balance of year to complete. First up will be complete design of two rolling bridges, I hope to make them operate but we will see.Well Rick enjoy that fresh air and the hike, I am going to hike to the car and head to Panama City.

Jim

Good Morning;

Hay did anyone turn on the coffee pot? OK it is on now with Starbucks brewing. The wife and I will be heading out to the Florida Panhandle later this afternoon. We are staying with son Craig and his family who are down from Toledo. I'm looking forward to the change of pace, the grandkids are growing to fast, the oldest heads to college this year, seems like yesterday I was holding a little bundle in my arms.

I have been printing some 3D accessories for the layout, shovels, tool boxes, road signs and such. Making them up in batches and leaving them unpainted until needed. Other then that not much modeling. Our pool is now full of water so essentially done. Need to sweep it daily for next month I am told to bring out the color and wait a week before swimming but all in all it came out great and summer is here in Florida. Well off to pack, have a great day.

Jim

This topic has been moved to Announcements.

https://modelersforum.com/index.php?topic=6990.0

First  a big thank you for all that took the time to enter the contest especially the extra effort to explain how you construct a model and build a diorama. This year we added prizes hoping to gain interest in the contest. In that aspect the contest did not meet its goal. However the entries were uniformly amazing and each offers a wealth of knowledge to those wanting to grow their own abilities.

Of the six entries three were unable to be completed by the official deadline so could not be counted for the contest.  Here are the final standings as judged by three NMRA members who have all had judging experience at the national level, all three are also accomplished MMR themselves. They were impressed by the high level of ability shown but commented while pictures are fine actually seeing in person the model is a must to take in the scene correctly and takes seeing detail to a new level. With the Forum limited in its ability to provide only photos we will need to reconsider how to proceed with next years contest.

The amazing dioramas that unfortunately were not completed by the end of March so were not judged are:

Lamson Bash by deemery
The South Tellynott Wedge by Mark Dalrymple
Jeffries Point Build by Zephyrus52246


The 2024 Winter Challenge Winner Circle:

#1 Truck Service Kit by Jeff Firestone.
The prize for Jeff will be a Oddmunn Brother's Mill Limited Edition Kit by Keep It Rusty

#2 Flat Iron Corner Building by Tom Langford
The prize for Tom is The Tower Six at Carter's Crossing & The Scrap Merchant Place by Keep It Rusty

#3 FOS Background Flats by Bob Butts
The prize for Bob will be The Old Boiler House by Keep it Rusty

Thank you to everyone and congratulations to this year's winners!!

Good Morning Folks;

Middle of April already, unbelievable. I got word back from the judges of the 2024 Winter Challenge and will be posting the results elsewhere. I want to thank everyone who took the time to enter and to show off how they approach modeling a diorama. 

So grab a cup of coffee and say hi. Today is another great day in central Florida. 

Jim

Good Morning Jeff and everyone else coming;

I got off to a late start also. Jeff that is very good news about your wife and granddaughter. Very good.

Another nice day on tap here in Florida. Our pool is currently being filled with water so appartently we are close to being finished. It will be nice to splash around in the coming hot weather. I continue to work on scenery both on layout and the Flour Mill. It is one of the most enjoyable parts of the hobby for myself. Yesterday I modified a design I found on line of a model hand dolly. I 3D printed the wheels and frame out, painted and glued a stainless steel tubing for an axle to it and ta-da a hand cart for loading the flour bags and barrels. Today, shovels, hammers, gloves and tool box.

Have a great day.

Jim

Good Morning Folks;

Well coffee is brewed so help yourself. Looks like another nice day in Central Florida. My plans are flexable today, probably some house cleaning and other honey do's. We have a swimming pool going in and today they are suppose to spray the final coating but at this point I see nobody. Florida construction is only one step up from Bahama time so I am not going to hold my breath..

Had a nice Palm Sunday, met up with part of the family, the nieces and nephews thought the train layout was cool. Well off to breakfast have a great day.

Jim

Morning everyone;

Great day here too! Coffee in hand, pups snoring on chair next to my deck. Hope everyone enjoys the weekend.

Jim

Impressive scene impressive layout, thanks Jeff.

Jim

I agree amazing brickwork and overall impressive.

Jim

A great job!

Jim

Looking like a natural fit, well done.

Jim

Good Morning Karl and all who follow;

Karl appreciate the big breakfast, you are hired! Coffee in hand the pups sleeping at my feet and the Boss is out doing her dragon boat practicing, life is good.

I've been aol from forum this week so I need to catch up on the goings on. For myself not much modeling this week though I did have the train modeling group I belong to over for a couple hours yesterday. We are all supposed to bring something to work on but ends up a BS session so not much work really happens. 

We have friends stuck in Spain as she had a seizure and had to be airlifted from ship they were on to hospital. Not good. She can't keep sodium levels up and they can't get blood pressure down. Hospital is first rate and they are bringing in experts but so far touch and go. She was in ICU for three days and now just one step down. Getting old is a challenge.

Anyway hope everyone here has a great day, we in Florida have perfect weather today so think I will take pups out and enjoy it. 

Jim

Good Afternoon;

Late check in for me today. I am kind of tired of making buildings so time to actually lay track and make a shelf switching layout. Due to room limitations I've decided to only model NW Ohio of 1912.  I was going to have Central Florida too but simply not enough room and there was plenty going on in NW Ohio to fill a small layout. I am going to expand the canal scene to start and work on a working drawbridge. I am sure that will keep me busy for balance of the year at the rate I work at.

Glad to hear everyone up north OK from storms, they did not look like fun.

Jim

Good Morning from Central Florida;

Strange weather here as well, hit a high of 92 yesterday and expect repeat today then temp going back down. Feels like summer. Rick enjoy that drive today. Happy Birthday Dale, this year I will be hitting 70 but not for a few months.


Anyway have a great day.

Jim