Saturday, December 23, 2017

And coming to you in early 2018!

The paint scheme I should have offered first.
In Jan, I hope to have available our ACF built BAR boxcar with the "as built" paint scheme.

Shawn over at Minuteman Models is working away to get the right shades of red and blue for this car as well.
Ted Cullota has developed the artwork for these decals for us. So you know they're going to be great!
As much as I detest masking, I am very much looking forward to getting this car built.
One of my favorite postwar paint schemes.

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Another speed bump!

One of the things that sets Yarmouth Model Works HO scale resin apart from the other manufacturers is that we try and include the correct trucks in all our kits.
In the case of the AC&F 50 ton boxcars that would entail the inclusion of the Kato ASF A-3 truck.
One of the nicest set of trucks on the market!
Too bad I and the rest of North America are out of stock on these trucks!
And my last communication with Kato indicates that I won't be seeing any more trucks at least until April.
So until then I'll be refunding a small amount on each kit sale that doesn't have trucks in it.
Really not liking this stocking practice. I know all the majors are doing it. Doesn't make me feel any better.

Ya just can't make this stuff up

It has to be seen to be believed;
Somebody took this very nice Samhongsa  brass model and did a very good application of this outrageous colour scheme.
The next step is to strip this paint

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Back in the Saddle again

Here's the thing about custom building;
While it is my job, it's also a labour of love. I'm as enamoured with those models as the owners are.
And I'm honoured to be entrusted with those little treasures.
But it happens, from time to time, where I loose my "will to build".
For reasons not completely clear to me, I've been inactive since the Chicagoland RPM.
That is until this past week. Where I've gotten back into the groove and am building again.
Here's 2 fun little projects;
A Branchline Sleeper and a Bethlehem Car Works Horse car.
There are other projects on the go of course.
So to my clients who are waiting, thanks for your indulgence, I'm back at it.

Thursday, December 7, 2017

Well CRAP!






Turns out I made a rather big mistake.
The base model for this S scale kit we offered was an old PRS kit. PRS has been out of business for some time now. A quick look on the internet at the time did not indicate that anyone had bought the product line.
So you can imagine my surprise when I was contacted by Des Plaines Hobbies, telling me that they owned the intellectual property rights to the PRS line.
A brief conversation ensued and I did offer a licensing fee, however Des Plaines has indicated that they would prefer that I stop selling the kit.
So as this is being written the website is being amended to conform to Des Plaines wishes.
However why Des Plaines is being further punitive to me is unknown. I've been informed that they will also not sell me any more product at wholesale prices. Regardless of scale.
I've had happier days.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Onto Delhi!

I had a surprise windfall come to me yesterday.
A friend sent me a gift of some cash. Told me to do whatever I wished with it.
So I bought some lumber and made sawdust.
And out of that came the initial bit of benchwork for the town of Delhi.
The station and such will occupy the area just in front of the cordless drill.
The modeled portions of the town will include the usual suspects, coal dealer, stock pen, freight house, etc.
The signature structure and source of much traffic will be the tobacco warehouses.
I'm certainly not going to have room for all those metal store houses, so I'm going to concentrate on the curtain wall style structure that you see here.
The next step is determine just how big of a plant I can incorporate into the layout space.
It's all a bit of a juggling act. And part of the fun.