Merry Christmas from Full Steam Ahead

Hello Fellow Modelers:

I wanted to take the opportunity in my first newsletter to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.  It has been a fun  and fruitful year for my family and I.  Our second child was born on July 6th and the last 5 months have been a bit of a whirlwind.  I managed to just barely get the R.G. Shinnie Boatworks (named after Greg Shinnie who redesigned the Farmers’ Market into the Boatworks) before the Craftsman Structure Show in Mansfield.  Since CSS08 things have been very busy for me.  Thankfully my dad recently retired up to Owen Sound and has been running the laser for a couple of hours in the day when I am teaching.

The following are a few of the items I will be working on in the New Year:

1.  Complete the Ridgeway Station (I was working on it tonight).

2.  Create a companion model to the Boatworks (a cannery).

3.  Currently I am working with another modeler to offer an O-scale version of the Boatworks.

4.  Update my website with video clips to demonstrate model building techniques.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family.

Joe Rutter

 

Ridgeway Station (The Model)

Here are the photos and where I am at with the HO model.  Whenever I talk to people about models and more importantly how to improve their modeling skills, a tip I give them is to take a photo of their model.  There is no better way to find crooked castings, unpainted/unweathered areas, warped roofs (the list can go on forever), then to take a picture.

Last night was no exception for me.  I took a photo of the Witches Hat portion of the model with shingles attached.  After looking at the photos I thought something looked very strange.  After closer inspection I realized that the shingles followed the arc of the witches hat instead of curling at the edges into a more horizontal line to match the long side roof.  I’ll post some photos in another thread.

Ridgeway Station (Grand Trunk Railway)

 

I thought I would update everyone on where I am at with my next model … The Ridgeway Station.  Its’ name is a bit of a misnomer because it is located in Fort Erie.  The Station was moved from Ridgeway, Ontario to its present location at the Fort Erie Railway museum in 1975. 

The Gallery shows an old picture of the station in the early 1970s and then the updated station as it sits at the railway museum today.

Later I’ll post photos of where I am at with the model (I have been plugging away at it for about a year off and on).

Thanks, 

Joe