By John O’Connell / Photos by Roger Johnson
The Meeting was opened at 7:05 PM by Ted Becker. Sixteen were in attendance. Ted advised that this is an NMRA, Pacific Northwest Region, 4th Division, sponsored event.
Announcements
Ted mentioned to Clinic attendees that Suzy, owner of Performance R/C Hobbies in Burlington, confided to him and Al Carter that the business is not doing well financially. He reminded us that hers is one of the few shops in the area willing and able to support our hobby and that we consider giving our business to her rather than to internet vendors.
She has since announced the business will be closed November 30, but she will still accept special orders until November 1 and will attempt to fulfill them before she closes. It is unknown at this time if there will be a going out of business sale.
Upcoming events:
- Lynden Train Show & Swap Meet October 3 & 4
- Chehalis Train Show & Swap Meet October 10 & 11
- Boeing Swap Meet November 14 (which conflicts with a show in Puyallup the same day)
Future Mt Vernon Clinic Topics
While the sequence/timing of the clinics has yet to be finalized for the coming clinic year, future clinic possibilities include:
- Two Scenery clinics by Mike O’Brien, ground coverings and tree making
- Getting a 1:1 Locomotive Cab into the Basement by MMR Nick Muff
- Homasote roadbed by Steve Cox, owner of Cascade Rail Supply
- Steam Locomotive Appliances by Ted Becker
- Building a HO scale model of the Houston Union Station by MMR Nick Muff
- Mt. Vernon Terminal Railway with owner George Stephenson
- Mini clinics, TBA
Show & Tell:
- Paul Koren brought a UP book and a Tangent Models three section tank car
- Mike Pettruzzelli brought a N scale saw mill model
- Al Carter showed some Chooch cobblestone street products
- Tom Buckingham shared some old photos of the Pacific Car & Foundry site in Renton
Tools
Nick showed several items including (1) MicroMark Liquid PSA, an improvement in his view over canopy glue for securing windows in structures, (2) a diamond scribe for more accurate cutting of microscope slides and covers for use as window glass, (3) some Railroad Graphics disks available @ $10 each and (4) some Sylvan Models products
Program – NMRA Convention Impressions
Ted Becker, Al Carter, Tom Buckingham and Paul Korum shared some of their observations, experiences and photos from the national NMRA convention in Portland, Oregon last month. Some the key takeaways:
- Tsunami announced a new lower priced but less full featured line of decoders called Econami.
- Sugar Cube Speakers from Streamlined Backshop come with their own enclosures, often priced less than $20. Litchfield Station has some for $10.
- Mike O’Connell, owner of Chooch, announced that he will be releasing a seawall in the upcoming months, similar to the peel and stick retaining walls already offered by that firm.
Program – mini clinics
- Ted Becker demonstrated his method of scribing styrene through paper templates. For some parts with unusual or complicated shapes, he draws them using CAD software on his computer, prints them, overlays them on the styrene, then cuts through the paper templates on the drawn lines, thereby scribing the styrene underneath. Then the styrene can be easily snapped to form the part.
- Nick Muff demonstrated making super trees with the Super Tree Starter Kit from Scenic Express. Using some of the armatures provided in the kit he dipped them in liquid latex adhesive, sprinkled them with a couple of types and colors of foliage, sprayed them with hair spray and hung them up to dry.
Apply liquid latex adhesive
Sprinkling Scenic Express foliage
Hang to dry
Finished deciduous tree in winter
Finished tree with full foliage
Multiple finished trees
- Al Carter showed us how to make convincing looking roads and parking lots from thin sheets of foam rubber with self sticking backs. He over sprays them to give them a weathered look, then uses paint pens to draw center stripes, parking space lines, etc.
Diorama Contest
Tom Buckingham has volunteered to manage a diorama contest this Clinic Year with the final submission and judging to be at the April Clinic.
Tom outlines the rules below and suggests you pay particular attention to numbers 1 and 7:
- Have fun
- Size, up to 288 square inches–commonly one foot by two feet, but it could be six inches by four feet for example.
- Must have some reference to railroading–this could be as little as a railroad crossing sign or as much track as you can cram in.
- Any scale–though the very large scales become a problem.
- End date–the April clinic, but please bring progress to our monthly meetings.
- (Optional) Use at least one new technique/skill or revive an old technique/skill and tell us what it is.
- Have fun
Next Clinic
Tuesday, October 27, 7:00, Mt. Vernon Senior Center
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