Frary’s Furniture (O-Scale – kit)

Here is another beautiful kit inspired by Troels Kirk. The small footprint packs a big punch … 4.75″ x 5.75″. Siding is clapboard with cedar shakes for the peaked roof sections. Laser cut random roofing shakes and freight doors. Custom designed furniture just for the kit is included … 2 hutches, cafe dining set and chairs. This is another unique kit that has more than one use on your railroad.

Contact me if you live in Ontario before you click the “Buy Now” button.

Only $59.99 plus $11 shipping.

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

The North American Bent Chair Company “for sale”

Hi Folks:

I have been doing some soul searching lately. The Craftsman Kit manufacturing industry has become incredibly competitive and trying to find a niche in the market is a challenge for any manufacturer. I realized that with a bit of reflection I could see a direction I was headed over my last few kits. It is a direction I am very excited about. Like you, I have family commitments and job duties and over the last few years they have become more demanding. Therefore as I stated before I am “retiring” the majority of my kits so that I can concentrate on 1 limited kit at a time. Once my stock is depleted over the course of time I will not be producing the following kits:

The Barrel Factory
The Freight House
Ellsworth Farms & Feeds
Bootleg Mabels Brewery
Phinny’s Garage
Farmer’s Market
Wooden Hotel

The above HO kits can still be ordered direct from me for only $50 (no shipping) as I try to retire them from the Full Steam Ahead line-up.

To attempt to make myself stand out from the crowd I have been creating kits that are not only unique but are designed with cool building features and unique materials. The North American Bent Chair Company is a reflection of my philosophy on kit design and I hope you will appreciate the work that I have put into it and the great modeling materials that are part of this kit. Don’t worry if this kit doesn’t suit your layout I have a feeling my next kit will blow you away and you will have to find a spot for it on your layout!

It appears that after a long hot summer the cool autumn winds are blowing in all of the new craftsman kits of the season. I hope you will take a minute to consider my latest kit … The North American Bent Chair Company. This is a kit that promises to teach you a few new tricks and techniques because of the unique materials that make up the factory. The brick factory walls are etched bricks on a heavy cardboard/photograph framing material that is already a beautiful brick colour specially ordered for this kit. The loading docks represent concrete slabs that are done in high quality and detailed resin. You’ll get a chance to work with laser board “plastic imprenated paper” and create your own bent chairs. I am also very proud of the unique design and construction of the new skylights … they are cool and I can’t wait for the modelling community to try them out!

The North American Bent Chair Company is an HO – Scale background kit. The walls are laser etched brick. Also included are laser cut adjustable windows, doors, skylights, hinges, window sills, a brick sign and cornerstone trim. Loading docks & stairs are highly detailed resin castings. Metal roof vents, trash cans, barrels and pallets are also included. There are 8 bent chairs that top this kit off! The footprint of the kit is 14 inches long, 2.5 inches wide and 5 inches tall. This kit is limited to only 100 kits and can be purchased for only $99 plus $10 shipping in North America. Figures and Vehicles are not included.

You can also separately purchase bent chairs (8 per pack), skylights (6 per pack) and wall sections to extend your factory or create your own master piece. The wall sections are 7 inches in length and come with all of the great laser cut adjustable windows and window glazing.

Randolph & Briggs [Part 6] … the last one

Well I am finished this build … I didn’t attach the metal castings because I am not sure what to do with this building … I might put it on ebay or have a silent auction to raise some funds for my school modeling club.

The first 4 photos show how I put together the awnings and  mount them to the wall.

The remaining photos are more completed shots that show the painted castings, different awnings installed, roof rafters, lights, flags, sidewalk painted with civil war re-enactment poster, etc.

There is a lot more I can do to finish this kit such as more weathering chalks, completing the metal castings, building a fence section or 2 but I must move on to completing the Bent Chair Factory kit.

Thanks,

 

Joe Rutter

 

 

 

 

Randolph & Briggs (part 4)

Well today I found out how far I can jam an x-acto knife into the palm of my hand … about half way.  The blood letting slowed down the modeling today because I had to run to the pharmacy for butterfly bandages.

STEP 1:  Top trim on the Corbels

i)  Paint and glue the top trim pieces so they are flush with the inside of the top wall.

ii)  Touch up with paint once dry

STEP 2:  Assembly the billboard

i)  remove all parts from their frets (take your time and be careful)

ii)  glue the lattice framework to the solid board

iii)  glue the legs onto the back frame (be sure they are set up straight)

iv)  I’ll add a few pieces of trim to solidify the billboard later … after my palm heals!

You can also see I glued together the top stairwell and painted it blue.  I also added the doors and windows to the remaining parts of the building.

Next Steps:

i)  heal

ii)  Complete the billboard

iii)  assembly the fire escape

iv)  apply the roofing

You can see how quickly it can come together .. I have less than 2 hours into each post (about 8 hours so far)

Joe

 

 

Randolph & Briggs Part3

Moving Right Along: 

I didn’t like the shade of dark grey so I started by painting a light coat of grey to tone it down a bit … I like the results.

STEP 1: Adding Window Glazing (1st 3 photographs)

i)  I start by cutting out the painted window panes.  (decide if you want the windows open or closed)

ii)  I cut out the matching window glazing.

iii)  I apply a thin coat of my favourite glue (formula 560) and place on a piece of matching glazing.

iv)  place the lower sash in the open position of your choice

v)  let dry before you glue into place.  (6th photo)

STEP 2: 4 panel door  (photographs 4 and 5)

i)  After your parts are painted, carefully remove them from their tabs

ii)  Glue the 4 panel trim to the solid door piece

iii)  Glue the door into place on the back wall.

STEP 3:  Inside Roof Trim

From the 7th photo you can see the 4 thin pieces of wood that will be placed on the inside of the roof (I realized after I removed them and test fit them I did not get my roof panel low enough so I had to trim them thinner first)  … this was an easy process using a sharp x-acto knife and scoring a line on the part that is higher than the roof line.

i)  Glue the 2 long roof trim pieces first followed by the 2 short pieces.  (photographs 7 – 10)

STEP 4:  Decorative Corbels (photographs 11- 14)

Paint your Corbels while they are still in their frets.

i)  CAREFULLY remove them with a sharp x-acto blade so that they don’t break!

ii)  You may have to trim the back ends if they don’t allow the corbel to lay flat on the brick wall

iii)  Glue the corbels into place (this is a pretty quick step

iv)  Allow to dry and later touch up the inside pieces with paint and apply the top pieces (I’ll do this tomorrow)

STEP 5:  Window Glazing

i)  I measure and cut window glazing for the front window section (paint them first)

ii)  I realized after I test fit these pieces that I should have put in the 2nd floor so that they rested on the top when you glued them in (the wooden section has the lines all laser etched)

STEP 6:  Other Jobs

i)  I glued the board and batten sections together and installed the windows and doors (last few photographs)  (I like to deal with the roofing in in the last few steps)

ii)  You can start painting a few castings if you have extra time.

That is it for tonight … I should be able to do the following tomorrow:

i)  Complete the decorative corbels top trim

ii)  Glue the scribed wood section together

iii)  Glue the front windows and doors into place

iv)  Put the billboard together

v)  Put together the stair well that sits on top of the roof.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Troels Kirk Cannery

Hi All:

I thought I would post a few photos of my latest kit I am working on. (Yes, I am still plugging away on the Ridgeway Station)

The kit started off with an inspiring model by Troels Kirk. I added another building with a connecting walkway ala John Steinbeck and “Cannery Row”. A lot of the windows will be tilting (could you imagine the smell of a cannery without tilting windows?)

My first stage are papermockups and redesigning. I have designed and redesigned the larger structure several times but have finally settled on this configuration.

I have ordered a few different tanks to sit at the back of the large building to act as brind holders.

There are lots of details (staircases, vents, pipes, lightening rods, seagulls, lobster traps, signs).

Please keep following along and if you have any suggestions, old photos or a great idea email me with your comments. joe@fullsteamahead.ca

Here are a few photos of my test build of the new Cannery kit I am working on. I hope to have it ready for early summer. It will be limited to 100 kits and the price tag will be well below $150 dollars. Email me if you are interested on being on a waiting list. Thanks, Joe