skip to main |
skip to sidebar
...probably the most abused vehicle in HO scale in terms of "anything but as an assembled model".
I got tired of seeing Dave Frary and Bob Hayden stick the wheels of this kit into the debris modeling they do so well on the HOn30 Carrabasset and Dead River RR. I thought to myself that surely something could be done with them to make respectable fire fighting equipment for my LPBs. So, a bit of sawing and carving and kibbles and bits from my scrap box with a touch of paint and now my plastic populace can feel safe that their homes are protected. I did these about 15 years ago and I'm still very pleased with how they came out.
There for awhile last year you could get 1:87 vans at Wally World 'til they pushed them out. The Dodges looked great as they were but the Fords were left with dorky looking rims. I swapped one set with a Reel Rides "Dazed and Confused" Chevy pickup, the other I swapped with a Malibu Classics Shelby Cobra that hit the floor...
(1) Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
(2) Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
(3) All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
(4) For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
(5) But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
(6) And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
(7) And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
(8) But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
(9) And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
(10) Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
(11) But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
(12) And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
I don't know about you, but I've got a bunch of keychains, especially railroad ones, choking my modeling space. Here's a guy I just found that'll put them to good use. Maybe my readers can help him out as well.
Blessings, grace and peace, Br'er Shaygetz.
Perhaps the best value for your dollar in metal kits, the Woodland Scenics kits have been around since the early 70s. They make great front line models with just a bit more than average filing involved. The price justifies the little bit of extra work as they have many different vehicles and little details in their buildings not found in higher end kits.
This one I added a wind shield made from the blister pack it came in. During assembly I found that they had given me two left halves of the shovel boom that they quickly resolved thru the mail. I also replaced the thread given to simulate cables with brass wire. It has no fuzz, does not sag and is not easily broken.
...my beloved let me go to the annual train show at the Hadji Temple---without a chaparon even. My work crews gained an UMEX Liebherr Turmdrehkran 8A derrick for their tight quartered heavy lifts. My LPB CFO, Stearnly Hardcase was pleased with what $1 from the vehicular improvement fund could get...
The rest of the loot...
Now, if you factor in that I sold a tool for $20 to get spending money for the show, and that I won a $16 Atlas N scale hopper as a door prize, AND if you subtract the $5 admission AND the $4 I spent on the N scale parts lot that yielded 9 complete cars, plus the $1 for the crane AND the $5 for the HO scale Athearn Hustler...deep breath...I came out $21 ahead---until you factor in the four gallons of gas to get there and back. ---sigh---
...made with a Roco Willys jeep and Micro Machines monster truck tires. The roll cage and engine were scratchbuilt. I took the Ma Deuce off...for about 15 seconds.
(1) There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
(2) And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
(3) I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
(4) Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
(5) I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
(6) He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
(7) Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
(8) And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
(9) And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.
A.W. Tozer---
And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of
hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!"---Isaiah 6:3
If you want to pray strategically, in a way which would please God,
pray that God might raise up men who would see the beauty of the Lord
our God and would begin to preach it and hold it out to people,
instead of offering peace of mind, deliverance from cigarettes, a
better job and nicer cottage....
What good is all our busy religion if God isn't in it? What good is
it if we've lost majesty, reverence, worship--an awareness of the
divine? What good is it if we've lost a sense of the Presence and the
ability to retreat within our own hearts and meet God in the garden?
If we've lost that, why build another church? Why make more converts
to an effete Christianity? Why bring people to follow after a Savior
so far off that He doesn't own them?
We need to improve the quality of our Christianity, and we never will
until we raise our concept of God back to that held by apostle, sage,
prophet, saint and reformer. When we put God back where He belongs,
we will instinctively and automatically move up again; the whole
spiral of our religious direction will be upward.---The Attributes of
God, 194-195.
...and a few bits of department store signage (it works like commercial sheet styrene), brass wire, lost wax castings, an old AHM/Rivarossi pantograph from one of their GG1s, a fertile imagination...and a bit of cutting, gluing and soldering. A free lance design, I wanted to build a locomotive from the ground up without too many hand tools. No paint job coming anytime soon as my beloved likes it just the way it is.
...no explanation needed if you're older than 40.
...been ten years easy since I've seen a pickup/plow rig. What do you think? Paint's coming, takes a bit for me to work up the urge to paint, then I'll hit everything at once.
And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were
sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
and by the Spirit of our God.---1 Corinthians 6:11
Sometimes evangelical Christians seem to be fuzzy and uncertain
about the nature of God and His purposes in creation and
redemption. In such instances, the preachers often are to blame.
There are still preachers and teachers who say that Christ died
so we would not drink and not smoke and not go to the theater.
No wonder people are confused! No wonder they fall into the
habit of backsliding when such things are held up as the reason
for salvation.
Jesus was born of a virgin, suffered under Pontius Pilate, died
on the cross and rose from the grave to make worshipers out of
rebels!
A.W. Tozer, Whatever Happened to Worship?, 11.
(1) O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
(2) Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
(3) When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
(4) What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
(5) For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
(6) Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
(7) All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
(8) The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
(9) O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
...built onto an Atlas N scale 0-6-0 switcher mechanism, it was inspired by a similar locomotive in Model Railroader's June '72 issue. The caboose was scratchbuilt from sheet styrene onto a modified N scale passenger car truck.
Shown side by side with my Lima 0-4-0 locomotive for a comparison. You can see from this shot the appeal of narrow gauge steam as an alternative to standard gauge modeling. Alas, 'twas the truck that killed the beast, with horsepower increasing and the advent of multi-wheel drive and heavier transmissions, it was only a matter of time before the higher cost of running even a small railroad caught up.
...one of my favorites for its simplicity and faithful running ability.
...in progress, just haven't felt like painting. My LPBs are itching to get off to a weekend in Hatteras once finished though...
Apparently AHM had Penn Line for a bit before Bowser picked them up in '63. First made by Varney in the '50s, then Penn Line, they were released under the Life-Like "Scene Masters" series in the 1980s. Very little had changed on them over the years. Life-Like did retool the truck molds and cast them in Delrin plastic.
These were $2 for the pair at a swap meet. They came with their original boxes though one was missing its trucks and couplers. There was also one complete original lighting kit included. It appears that it was part of the kit and not an aftermarket item. I installed a pair of Central Valley trucks in place of the missing set and body mounted Kadee #5 couplers. Now they will join my Life-Like variations that wear NYC and Pennsy colors.
IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Habakkuk 3:17-19
(17) Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
(18) Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
(19) The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.
Worship: God's Awesomeness
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
--Romans 11:33
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary lists 550,000 words. And it is a
solemn and beautiful thought that in our worship of God there
sometimes rush up from the depths of our souls feelings that all
this wealth of words is not sufficient to express. To be articulate
at certain times we are compelled to fall back upon "Oh!" or "O!"--a
primitive exclamatory sound that is hardly a word at all and that
scarcely admits of a definition.
Vocabularies are formed by many minds over long periods and are
capable of expressing whatever the mind is capable of entertaining.
But when the heart, on its knees, moves into the awesome Presence
and hears with fear and wonder things not lawful to utter, then the
mind falls flat, and words, previously its faithful servants,
become weak and totally incapable of telling what the heart hears
and sees. In that awful moment the worshiper can only cry "Oh!" And
that simple exclamation becomes more eloquent than learned speech
and, I have no doubt, is dearer to God than any oratory.---Born
After Midnight, 84-85.
