Geezer's Lounge (Rev 1) - Volume 5

[TomO/Tloc]

Good morning. Thanks for opening Rick.

It's 69f degrees with 98% humidity and little breeze at 2 mph! High temperature later is 90 per the guessers.

Trees, trees and more trees! I enjoy making trees but yes they can get boring. I like wire armatures for tree making. I just have never had the success others have had with twigs, dead roots, Woodland Scenic plastic armatures and plants. Plus the start up costs are much less and I prefer trees taller than the trains

Looking at just the birch trees. 90% of these 44 created are trees for the forest, only 5 will qualify for foreground or as 1 of the guys calls them "hero" trees! It's pretty much the same with all the species only 10 to possibly 20% will qualify for being "that" foreground tree. I'm not treating those 10-20% any different while building them but some are just better looking than others when all is said and done.

I'm taking the grandson and 2 of his buddies to the Top Golf facility in Madison at 10:15. 90 minutes for $26 for up to 6 golfers. So it doesn't cost me anymore to bring his friends until we do lunch. Probably Raising Canes on campus. With the students back and with the warm weather the boys (including me) will enjoy the scenery walking by!

After dinner, the conifer and maple tree builders are coming by. Sounds like the conifers are ready for some coloring. I've never built one so I am anxious to see how these look in person. The maples are ahead of schedule too but I'm not exactly sure what we are discussing on those! The UP Michigan layout owner has a medical appointment at 5:30 and should be at the shop around 7pm. He is bringing the found deciduous trees from the old layout but definitely not the puff balls. We will sort those out and then the 2 kids can work on them tomorrow. So not too much has changed on the schedule from yesterday just more precise time slots! I resisted the effort to start another new bridge between tree sessions yesterday. That was hard!

The daughter said the doll house scheduled for the printers and laser cutters this week for Wednesday AndyThursday are delayed as the next part of the deposit is late. So she is going to cut the walls for the bleach plant and Paper machine building for the PNW layout. She will print the wall hangers and other details for the liquor tanks and test if she can print the pipe racks I drew up. It doesn't affect the tree schedule but is impactful down the way.

Enjoy your day
TomO

[Jerry]

Morning everyone

Rick thanks for the coffee & breakfast.
That is a beautiful picture!!

Jaime you must have done things right your still working there!! 

Curt I hope you get the pilings the way you want them.

Larry I'll be looking for the update.

Ron isn't work aa PITA???

TomO you sound like your lost in the forest!! 

Weather in South Jersey is P. sunny/76.  Later on 86.
Almost done with wall 4.
I'm tired of shingles for sure!!!!
Hopefully it will be done today and I can move on to the weathering and making doors & trim.

Everyone have a wonderful day!! 

Jerry

[KentuckySouthern]

Sun and heat are back in MI.  Heat index to approach 100^o is forecast.  Might be stuck inside. We had a t-boom around 3 pm, noise and rumble and only 1/10" of rain. 

Amazon did get my plaster cloth here by mid afternoon.  I was tied up tho on a project.  I disassembled my old, obsolete 3d printer and harvested a power supply and some hardware and tossed the rest.  Was over $1k and I had to assemble it.  Tech surpassed it's abilities and it's been an area hog for some time.  Got into that when our friend and one time RR-L chef Burly Jim gave a clinic on it at an NMRA even in Grand Rapids.  I could replace it with a new printer with better resolution these days, for $200 or so depending on sales.

Today, Rx to fetch then return to the layout or the work room clean out. 

Rick, I never was a morning person, worked nights 90% of my law enforcement career.  I liked busting bad guys not running bs errands for supervisors with nothing to do but pick nits.  Had some real pros at that at our place.  Sgt Pat Perfect was a sad sack wannabe state trooper.  He and I had a years long battle over my mustache length. Spit shine and such doesn't work for a K-9 guy. Cops now days don't even shave.

Enough, back to today. 

[friscomike]

Good morning folks,

Rick, thank you for the coffee, breakfast, and opening.  Wishing you a great hike at the park.

Jaime, congrats on the "no news".

Curt, good luck with the big dock.

Larry, looking forward to the update.

Ron, many of us have felt your pain.  This too will pass.

TomO, what wire gauge do you use for the trees?

Jerry, congrats on wall 4 progress.  Shingle on!

Karl, sounds like the night shift was a good one.  BTW, someone hijacked my post and said I went 90mph...

How is the rest of the crew?

It's a nice morning, but heating to 93F later.  Yesterday I made good progress on the engine shed facility.  I'll do more of the same today. 

This morning I filled bird feeders, watered outdoor potted plants, replaced eve light bulbs (didn't fall of ladder), and repositioned a couple of feeders. 

Have fun,
mike 

[Rick]

Good morning everyone.

47 now in Kremmling, sunny and a high of 72 today.

Coffee, sodas and OJ are ready.
Breakfast burritos for breakfast today filled with scrambled eggs, sausage and cheddar.

Mike, glad you didn't fall off the ladder.

Karl, I worked overnights for a short while when I was driving trucks but couldn't get used to sleeping during the day.

Jerry, did you finish the shingles?

TomO, lots going on in Wisconsin modeling wise.

Ron, that's a busy schedule for sure.

Larry, your update looks good.

Curt, I'm sure you'll come up with something good for the pilings.

Jamie, are you working on any models?

ACLTom, hope you are doing well.

How's everyone else?

Did a long 14.5 mile hike with 2,270' of climbing on the Verna Lake via East Inlet Trail.
Very beautiful trail and the view at the East Inlet was amazing.
It was challenging getting good pictures because of the harsh light.
After the hike I drove towards Steamboat Springs and stopped about half way there.
I'll drive the rest of the way this morning and will hit the gym and pick up a few groceries while there.
I'll have to keep moving north after finishing my chores because Steamboat Springs isn't van friendly.

This is the first lake you reach, Lone Pine Lake, on yesterdays hike.



Have a great day everyone.

[Larry C]

Morning Gents,

Rick thanks for the coffee and breakfast. Safe travels and thanks for another great photo.

What's your plans for the day?

It's a cloudy 68 with a high of 79 with some rain. Not sure what the day will bring but hopefully a little bench time this am. Waiting on the Doc to see if Ellie's MRI results are in yet. She has an apt. tomorrow to go over the results IF the results are in; if not her apt. will have to be bumped forward.

Have a great and safe day!! Be well. Tom hope the healing is going well.

[TomO/Tloc]

Good morning folks,

Rick, thank you for the coffee, breakfast, and opening.  Wishing you a great hike at the park.

Jaime, congrats on the "no news".

Curt, good luck with the big dock.

Larry, looking forward to the update.

Ron, many of us have felt your pain.  This too will pass.

TomO, what wire gauge do you use for the trees?

Jerry, congrats on wall 4 progress.  Shingle on!

Karl, sounds like the night shift was a good one.  BTW, someone hijacked my post and said I went 90mph...

How is the rest of the crew?

It's a nice morning, but heating to 93F later.  Yesterday I made good progress on the engine shed facility.  I'll do more of the same today.

This morning I filled bird feeders, watered outdoor potted plants, replaced eve light bulbs (didn't fall of ladder), and repositioned a couple of feeders.

Have fun,
mike

Mike. For wire armature trees I normally use 22, 26 and 28 gauge florist wire originally purchased from Michael's but now from Amazon because of quantity pricing. The lower the # of the gauge the thicker it is. I occasionally will use for taller trunks 18 gauge stem wire available from 10-16" at Michael's and sometimes at Hobby Lobby. If the trees are taller I will mix in a couple pieces of 18 along with the 22 gauge to stiffen the trunk.

I'm not reinventing anything in tree making. I started by following the method from You Tube content maker Luke Towan before he moved his new good stuff behind a paywall. He has transitioned and I cannot remember her new name. Boulder creek Railroad is his YT page. He has a slew of still available tree building videos. Also I use some of Boomer Diorama methods from his YouTube pages of the same name. He has I believe 24 videos he created. Towan is a modeler! Boomer (I am a disciple) is a former professional museum modeler but both have useful methods and both produce the absolute best video productions and quality on YT in my opinion

TomO

[TomO/Tloc]

Good morning crew. 73 very humid degrees heading to 88. Though the media weather expert said a good chance of T-Storms I checked radar and I see no way we get anything!

Today has changed. The 2 apprentice painters are not coming after school and Friday's work session on the layout was cancelled. So I doubt I'll work on any trees today.

The high humidity does affect Terry's breathing and she will decide if we do any Farmers markets this morning. I though will visit the Artist Craftsman store just off campus today. Students are back and it's Sales Week. I want some better than Michael's canvases, oils and taskboard. I usually avoid this store as like the LHS for modelers it's addictive

Enjoy the day
TomO

[elwoodblues]

Good morning everyone,

Thanks for the coffee and breakfast Rick.  Another great photo as usual, safe driving.

Larry, hope you make it to the workbench and Eli gets here MRI results (and that they are good).

Tom, the wire trunk tree method is something I've always wanted to try but haven't attempted yet.

Another early check-in.  Current weather is 17c (62f), overcast with more rain in the forecast.  No modeling last night, mostly because I'm procrastinating.   Scenery is something I haven't done much of, mostly because it terrifies me.  I'm not sure why, as my scenery attempts in the past have turned out pretty good, maybe it's because I'm too much of a perfectionist or afraid of failure, or maybe both.  I think I just need to follow the Nike philosophy and "just do it".   

Have a great day everyone.

[NEMMRRC]

Howdy.

It's the middle of the week. It's all downhill from here.

Lately I've been trying to finish the Campbell sand house kit. I need to find some foam to build a sand mound. I have the sand tower about 85% finished eve though it is not in the photo. 

[friscomike]

Good morning folks,

Rick, thanks for the coffee and breakfast.  Thanks for the nice photo.

Larry, hope Ellie gets good MRI results.

TomO, thank you for the wire details.  I've been a Luke Towan follower for years.  She is a fantastic modeler. I didn't know about the paywall, but that explains why I haven't seen any new stuff on his site.

Ron, good luck getting to the scenery.  I understand about just doing it.

Jaime, that's a great kit and fun to build.  Good luck with the foam insert.

How is the rest of the crew?

IT's a bright morning, headed to 95F.  I have nothing on the agenda but modeling.  Yesterday I worked on engine shed out structures.  I may take a break for siding and start painting stone today.

Have fun,
mike

[PRR Modeler]

Good Morning All,

Thanks for opening and breakfast Rick. The scenery photo is beautiful. You definitely have an eye for composition.

Late to the party this morning. I didn't fall asleep until almost 2 am because the neuropathy was so bad. Nothing helped.

Yesterday I finished the platform bracing and glued down 2 rails for an embedded RR track. After that I grained 60 boards for planking the platform.

Today I've alreeady done the floors and I hope to color 60 planks for the large platform.

That's it from here.

I hope everyone has a good day.

[Jerry]

Morning everyone

Rick thanks for the coffee & breakfast.
Great picture.

I have to get going this morning as I have a Dr. appointment.
Then we have company coming.

Everyone have a great day!! 

Jerry

[deemery]

TomO:  Do you have any rules-of-thumb about tree trunks/number of wires to start with?  I would think that a taller tree would need a thicker trunk (DUH!), but my question is how thick?  

dave

[KentuckySouthern]

The buck stopped here...



Just sitting on the back deck last night when is handsome boy stopped by to pose for me.

We had a couple of drops of rain yesterday but the rain actually passed ever so slightly SW to SE.

Went out for Mexican yesterday. I did manage to use up some of the plaster cloth I got.


This guy stopped by as well.

Enjoy the day. Layout or bench time later.

Did I mention it's hot here, humid, too?