For a month or more, I’ve felt frustrated that other priorities (holidays, a house guest, master bath remodel and tattoo graphics for Chris), plus a lack of early-season snow in the mountains* have prevented me from getting back to work on my models this season. But, as I looked through posts on this blog from last year, plus progress photos on my phone, I realized that last year’s winter modeling season didn’t really get fully underway until the day of the Great Train Show in Puyallup in mid-January. So now I don’t feel so bad, and I supposed this just goes to show how excited I was to get back into the work.
I did manage to spend about 8 hours working on the chapel car, and a few more hours working on a 1950s wood kit (boxcar) given to me by a new friend, Karl, who I met last February at the UNW train show in Monroe. Karl drives trains for Amtrak and recognized me from my daily routine of walking from my office to the Spokane Street crossing on the BNSF main line to see the 2:20 Amtrak Cascades departure from King Street Station go past. In addition to those two car kits, I spent a few hours painting a few more of the 120 Preiser figures that I bought last January at the Puyallup show. Today was the Puyallup show again, and I’m now even more excited to get back into modeling after picking up a few more supplies, kits and details.
I spent about $60 on PanPastel weathering powders in earth/rust tones and five shades of grey, including black and white. I’ve read in Model Railroader magazine and discussion forums that weathering powders contain something to help them stick to the models better, compared to the powdered artist’s pastels I had been using, which can blow off easily, especially when airbrushing a clear coat over them to try to lock them in.
I also picked up discounted (open package) set of brass fire escapes, which is something I’ve wanted to add to one of the structure kits I’m building. I picked up two more DPM kits, “Walker Building” and “Townhouse #3”. I hesitated buying them, since I still don’t consider my first building to be complete yet, and I already have two other DPM kits that I’ve assembled and partially painted. But Chris wanted to thank me for the tattoo graphics work by buying me “whatever you want” at the train show, so I bought them after all.
I picked up a couple more packs of Kadee #5 couplers for additional conversions, plus a Kadee coupler height gauge. Karl gave me a set of plastic trucks and blackened metal wheels for use on the chapel car. Overall, it was a good trip to the train show again this year, followed by eight or nine of us hanging out at Karl’s, running trains on his layout. That was my first time operating trains on a layout with multiple people running trains on the same tracks. It didn’t always go totally smoothly, but I suppose that was part of the fun, too. I think I’ll take my Bowser PCC Streetcar to Karl’s the next time I go over to run trains.
With two more urban structure kits, new weathering powders, couplers and fire escapes on hand, I’m super stoked for the new season of modeling.
*Most of my model work is done while Chris is snowboarding at Stevens Pass nearly every Saturday and Sunday of snowboarding season, or elsewhere for longer trips.