Circus Ship Shop #2

Here are some photos of my latest building from the Children’s Book, “The Circus Ship”. I call this building Shop #2. I used my resin strip foundation for the base along with Northeastern Scale Lumber roofing. I sure enjoyed making this little gem of a building that will sit beside Shop #1 (the Giraffe building)

July Model of the Month (The Lodge)

Below are the photos for “The Lodge”, in the Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen. This was a lot of fun to build and provided with a few interesting challenges … the stairs (are a resin from my North American Bent Chair Kit, the trim. The overview shot shows my progress so far. Next month I am working on a small building that the cheetah hides in the flowers that sits beside “The Lodge”.

I hope you are all enjoying your summer.

Joe

June Model of the Month

Hi All:

Below are a series of photos for June’s Model of the Month. The building is part of my Circus Ship diorama I am building. I made the roof from a heavy card stock and laser scribed the centre ridge so that is bent easily at the roof peak. Other photos illustrate how I place my laser cut cedar shakes. I like to hand paint my shakes with a base colour (rail brown on this roof). After the base coat is dry I streak with a dark brown, followed by a dark grey. Once all is dry I glue the strips on the roof. The last step is to dry brush the roof shakes. You can see how the diorama is shaping up with 4 completed buildings. I think for July I will build 1 more house and maybe the lodge … we’ll see.

Brooklyn Kit Update

Hi Everyone:

Here are a few updated photos and words to update you on the progress of our fundraising efforts. Brooklyn now has her iPad and she loves it. I watch her work on it in my classroom and she wheels around the school with it on her lap all the time. The smile has never left her face and she is still very humbled by everyone’s support.

Together we raised over $1300 through kit sales ($1000), several people paid extra for their kits, several people donated money and didn’t want a kit and one my daughter Georgia sold cookies at our yard sale and donated $30 for Brooklyn!

As suggested by a donor, Brooklyn will put the extra money toward the purchase of Applications and developing her business idea. Check out her blog is you already have not

www.forthewhitecrayons.blogspot.com

We are ready to ship the kits (BUT) there is a postal lockout in Canada and because of this we are sitting on 40 kits that cannot be shipped until the labour dispute is over. I am hopeful that I will be able to ship early next week. I do apologize for any inconvience that this may have caused any of the 40 people who supported Brooklyn.

You can see how happy Brooklyn is with her new iPad along with the 3 HO kits that 40 modellers worldwide purchased in just 4 days! Check out the World Map, the orange arrows point to all of the places people live that purchased the kits.

I also threw in a photo of my most dedicated modeler during our lunch hour sessions. Martin really wanted his photo on my website displaying all of his efforts. We just finished putting on the decals to his Spitfire and he is very proud his efforts.

Brooklyn Kit (3 HO buildings)

Full Steam Ahead is not my day job … it is my late, late night job : ). During the day I am Head of Special Education at the Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute. (I”m the old looking guy on the left) My position is varied and I deal with all levels of students from the Developmentally Delayed to the Gifted. I am also responsible for students with Learning Disabilities and I run a Resource Room to help with any and all students struggling or in need of educataional accommodations. One very special student that I have come to know over the last 3 years is Brooklyn Marx. Brooklyn Marx is this months’ Model of the Month.

Brooklyn academically is a high achieving grade 11 student with a 90+ average in University level courses (these are Math, Science and English credits earned to apply to University studies). What makes Brooklyn so unique is that she was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). SMA is a neuromuscular disease that progressively causes weakness in her muscles. Brooklyn undertakes physical therapy and respiratory therapy at home and school everyday because of SMA. She also is involved with Occupational Therapy to help her with her daily living and challenges at school. Brooklyn gets around in her power wheelchair … she has never walked. Whenever Brooklyn is away I have a panic attack because she is very prone and susceptible to respiratory problems. This past winter she missed a month of school because of a collapsed lung and complications. Never once have I heard Brooklyn complain.

While Brooklyn does have many tools and equipment at her disposal we have never found a computer or device that she can personally handle, manoeuvre or operate … until now. We have trialed the new Ipad and found that because of its’ size and less than 1.5 pound weight Brooklyn can personally and without assistance operate it. My school and budget could buy the Ipad but in the end it would not be Brooklyn’s.

Why the Ipad?

Brooklyn has recently started a blog entitled – forthewhitecrayons.blogspot.com Brookly often feels like a white crayon. Remember using your crayons? How often did you get out your white crayon and use it on your white paper? It was invisible and because of her SMA and confinement to a wheel chair she often feels invisible. She would use the Ipad to write up her blogs.

Remember your first summer job? Owen Sound is a small remotely located city and finding summer employment for a summer student in a wheelchair is difficult at best. Brooklyn has a great idea to start up her own business that is linked to disabilities. Brooklyn would review the accessibility of a business for people with a disability, write a review with recommendations and publish them to her website. Businesses would pay for advertising and have a direct link on the website to their business. Each week would have a theme such as: family restaurants, hair salons, banks, grocery stores, etc. Brooklyn wants to work and this is an opportunity that is flexible, unique and she has a personal commitment and passion for this cause. On a personal note my wife’s grandmother has recently suffered a stroke and is confined to a wheelchair. We are finding that everytime we plan an outing we have to call and ask questions about accessibility and a website like Brooklyn’s would benefit not only our physcially disabled population but also our aging population. She would use the Ipad for her business enterprise. NOTE: Brooklyn has applied to several jobs and continue with her business plan even if she finds some summer work.

Brooklyn would also like to write a freelance column in our local newspaper and other close by municipalities about her life, disability and business. She would use the Ipad for her column.

What can I do? What can you do? Below is a list of all the things you can do!

1. Full Steam Ahead is going to make a limited quantity (40) of the 3 buildings (pictured below … there maybe slight modifications such as roofing and castings in design) in HO scale that you can purchase. The cost of the fundraiser kit will be $32. $25 dollars will go directly to the purchase of the Ipad and a few accessories. $7will pay for postage & Paypal fees … Full Steam Ahead is covering all of the material costs and laser cutting for Brooklyn. Payment can be direct through a money order, chequre or Paypal. The kit will be available for shipment by mid June. Please email me if you would like a kit and are sending payment so that I can track the 40 kits joe@fullsteamahead.ca

SHIPPING WILL BE MID JUNE

THIS KIT SOLD OUT IN LESS THAN A WEEK BECAUSE OF YOUR HELP! THANK YOU FROM BROOKLYN AND JOE.
Thank-you,

Brooklyn and Joe

Circus Ship (May Model of the Month) House

Hi:

Below are the photos for the for the ‘Circus Ship’ diorama. The model is one of the house illustrated as Mr. Payne is walking up to the village centre. Enjoy … more to come.

Thanks Joe

April Model(s) of the Month

This month’s models are based on my daughter’s favourite children’s book, “The Circus Ship” by Chris Van Dusen.

I decided to create a series of buildings based on the book and the buildings depicted throughout the book. I hope you will enjoy watching the diorama come together over the next few months.

You’ll learn some new building techniques, learn about some new suppliers and see a great and meaningful diorama come together.

Enjoy your trip to a sleepy, Maine coastal village!

Model of the Month – March

The third and final installment of the 3 Heritage Buildings in Calgary is the Dentist Office. Following the regular steps of painting laser-cut windows and doors, bracing walls, painting walls, adding corner trim, adding signs, adding laser-cut window glazing, placing in the windows, gluing the 4 walls together followed by the roof panels and ridge cap. I added a chimney and took photos of the 3 buildings together. I hope you enjoyed following this fun build of 3 interesting buildings that could fit into any era with a variety of uses.

Model of the Month — Law Office

The Model of the Month for February is the second kit in a three part series of heritage buildings in Calgary, Alberta. This month I have built the Law Office.

Look through the series of photos to see this kit come to life. Remember the steps for building a wooden craftsman kit are all the same:

1. Brace Walls or Distress Wood
2. Distress Wood or Brace Walls
3. Paint Walls
4. Prepare Windows and Doors (paint and glazing)
5. Prepare Castings
6. Paint Roofing (set a side)
7. Paint and add corner bracing
8. Install windows, doors and trim
9. Assemble Walls
10. Install roof panels and rolled roofing
11. Add details (castings)
12. Set in as a diorama

NOTE: As part of the series I am going to add signage and set in a diorama as part of my third installment (March)

Check out the photos below.

January Model of the Month

Hello Fellow Modellers:

I recently received a phone call from a long time model railroader in my local city. He wanted to know if I wanted his magazine collection that dated back to the 1950s? The collection was huge, Model Railroaders, NMRA Bulletins, Model Railroad Craftsman and other various publications collected over the years. I spent about 2 weeks looking through all of the magazines for building tips, techniques and other information that I could share with you. While researching I thought to myself I should cut out any simple building articles and build them for fun for all of you to watch. Over the course of the next 12 months I am going to build a model of the month based on articles I found in some of the old magazine articles, photos I have collected, plans I have collected … I even am going to build a building or 2 from one of my favourite children’s books. I hope you enjoy my first model of the month!

This month’s model comes from a booklet someone gave me several years ago. The booklet was part of a model railroad show in Calgary with drawings of historic buildings that were part of Alberta history. The buildings also exist in Calgary’s Heritage Park. www.heritagepark.ca
You can also google images Calgary’s Heritage Park for pictures of all of the great buildings at the park.
I was hoping to attend the huge Calgary Train Show last spring but could not attend and had started to design several kits to sell as a way to supplement my travel expenses. The Real Estate Office was one of 3 kits I started but never finished … until now!

I could change the name from Model of the Month to a simple build over 2 or 3 evenings. This is such a great little building with lots of detail, perfect proportions and great laser design for simple construction.

I am hoping to use the Model of the Month buildings for use in my school model club for projects: OSCVI MODEL CLUB.

Materials used for the build:
- clapboard wood siding
- laser board trim and door details
- 6″ x 6″ stripwood for corner details
- laser cut window glazing
- laser cut wood panels
- Northeastern Scale Lumber Shingles
- stripwood for bracing
- chimney casting
- wicker white paint

Building Steps:

1. I started bracing my 4 wall sections. (I painted my chimney casting while glue dried on the bracing)

2. Next I painted the 4 wall sections and window/door/trim sheet my wicker white paint … I should have painted my 6″ x 6″ corner stripwood but I forgot … you can see this in the photos … I simply painted them after I glued it together.

That was it for the first night (less than1 hour to do the first 2 steps)

3. Cut and Glue your 6″ x 6″ stripwood to the corners of your peaked front and back wall sections.

4. Remove your door/window/trim from the tabs that hold them in place.

5. Glue your window glazing into the windows and door openings.

6. Glue your window & door trim around the appropriate opening.

7. Glue your 2 pieces that make up the front door together.

8. Glue your windows and door into their respective openings.

9. Glue your appropriate window and door sills into place.

10. Paint the underside of your roof panel edges a dark colour.

11. I cheated on the roof and used Northeastern Scale Lumber’s roofing. (the roofing comes in a variety of shades) I simply measured it against the roof panel, cut it with a sharp razor blade and glued the roofing in place … it is a great product because it is not a paper photograph, it is real strips of shingles but they are glued into place so when I say it was simple i should say it was fast too! It took me about 1 minuter per roof panel to cut and glue into place. I weighted the panels down so the shingles dried flat.

End of night 2 (I work quickly so these steps took just over 1 hour)

12. I assembled and glued my 4 wall sections together and touched up any areas with paint that required it.

13. Glue down roof panels and attach a strip as your peak.

14. The last thing I did was to attach a chimney at the back … in hindsight I should have laser cut the hole before but I was in a hurry and had to drill a hole and then file it square so the chimney fit … does this sound familiar to any of you???

Stay tuned for next month’s model. I am not sure if it will be 1 of the other 2 buildings, from an old magazine article or a children’s book. I’ll wait and see where my creative juices take me.

Thanks, Joe

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