The Hidden Blessing of Constraints


Awhile back I was reading an article on architectural design.  The author, an architect, made the point that having constraints (budget, theme, etc.) on a project often made it easier rather than harder.   The constraints narrowed the focus leading to a more cohesive result. The same could be said for model railroading.   At first […]

Flashback Miami


In their “Flashback Miami” series, the Miami Herald ran an excellent, photo laden article on the Seaboard Airline in town.  Included are a lot of photos of the station at 7th Avenue, the location of the east end of the Downtown Spur.  Thanks to my mentor David Orr for the heads up. Click HERE for the […]

Foreground Composition


One of the great planning fall backs is, when stuck, just copy the prototype.  I’d been struggling with one aspect of composing the foreground structures.  Specifically, if I put a row of foreground structures end to end on 50th street it would be difficult to see the background structures.  The solution?  Remove every other foreground […]

Kitbashing


Walther’s Grocery Distributor would serve as an excellent foundation for a first kitbashing project One of the questions on my commercial layout design questionnaire is, “what aspect of the hobby do you enjoy the most?”. The most common answer, one that invariably is given a “ten” by most modelers, is structure building. Across the board […]