By John O’Connell, Photos by Kevin Klettke, Nick Muff and John O’Connell

Eighteen members and one visitor were in attendance at the Mt. Vernon Senior Center when Ted Becker opened the Clinic with welcoming comments and announcements.

Announcements

February 27, 28, Monroe Model Railroad Show and Swap Meet. Visit http://www.unwclub.org/unwshow.html for details.
March 5, Milwaukee Road Meet. Burien, WA. Visit http://www.milwelectric.org/2016-march-milwaukee-meet-march-5-burien-wa/ for updates.
March 10, Mt. Vernon Clinic. Ted Becker, “Steam Locomotive Appliances”
March 19, Santa Fe Mini-Meet, Burien. Visit http://www.atsfrr.com/convention/MiniMeets/17th%20Northwest%20Santa%20Fe%20Mini.pdf for more information.
April 2, Pennsylvania Rail Road Meet, Burien.
April 14, Mt. Vernon Clinic. Dioramas and Mini-Clinics.
May 12, Mt. Vernon Clinic. Kevin Klettke “Fleet Weathering.” This is a reprise of his well-received Clinic at PDX 2015 on efficiently weathering large fleets of rolling stock. Not to be missed. Visit his website at http://wnrr.net.

Here’s a sample of Kevin’s work. Weathering a truck.

Al Carter and Mike O’Brien’s M of W Shed

Progress continues in kit bashing a laser cut Hog House into a track side Maintenance of Way Shed.

Laser kit challenge

Recall last month, Al challenged the audience to take on a laser cut kit with the proviso that the volunteer had never built one previously and share the results.

John Biagio took on the challenge and brought his work in progress to the Clinic. John said Rite Way magnetic corners were invaluable!

Dioramas in Progress

Since last Clinic, Mike O’Brien has focused on trying to achieve greater realism by toning down the vivid Fall colors by transitioning the color change from the lower branches to the upper ones.

The photo above doesn’t do justice but there is a hawk’s nest on an upper branch of one of the trees.

Ted Becker’s efforts with his diorama have focused first on the most time consuming feature, the Engine House.

Since the last Clinic, he has assembled, glazed the windows, mounted doors and installed decking. Next will the roofing material.

Al Carter brought his diorama in progress.

Al’s features a rail siding serving a beautifully weathered fueling facility, a gas station and a Mexican restaurant.

Tool Time

Most of us haven’t seen an Erasing Shield since junior high school drafting class, but this is very handy for working in tight spaces according to Ted. They are available at Hobby Lobby for $1.49!!

Marty Day shared a number of tools he has found useful: First a Portable Drill Guide that turns an electric drill into a drill press. Check Amazon or eBay for a variety of choices. Then there is the Nibbler for making precision cuts in styrene of light sheet metal, Amazon. Finally, Marty showed us an array of brushes for any number of purposes.

For when a light touch is needed, Al shared a retractable Feather Duster. One source is Reliable Paper but these are probably available locally.

Finally, Skip Johnson shared his latest purchase, a precision strip wood cutter from Mid West Products that he spied on Mike O’Brien’s Xtrains table in the back of the room. Once he gets some experience with the cutter, there was considerable interest in a mini-clinic.

The Program

Nick Muff, MMR, grew up in Southern California but spent many summers riding the train to visit relatives via Kansas City and its venerable Classic Revival Union Station. Tonight’s program is the first walk through of the presentation he will make at The NMRA National Convention in Kansas City in 2018. Inspired by his memories and access to historical documents and architectural drawings, this master modeler set about to bring this master piece to life on his layout. Sixty eight months of planning, designing and building led to what you see below.

Nick said, “At 6′ wide by 4′ deep, with two levels below street level, and weighing in at 60 pounds, assembled, you may never choose to model a structure of this size or scope but the techniques have a wide application in structure modeling.”

Kansas City Union Station in foam core mock-up.

The prepared site for the station.

The waiting room under construction.

The sub-basement complete and on the layout.

The Union Station ready for the front drive way.

Those are individual lights in the chandeliers hanging in the Grand Lobby…..

Nick’s presentation ended with a hearty round of applause!