I can’t remember if it was Al Gore, Mark Cuban, or Leonardo Da Vinci that “invented” the 80/20 rule. Either way, it is one of the more universally applicable concepts to roll out of a R&D department in years. It even applies to our leisure time pursuit. At least eighty per cent of the visual […]
How much would you pay for an idea that made a dramatic improvement in the appearance of your layout? Five dollars? Twenty? Forty? The latter number, forty, corresponds to the ballpark subscription cost of a hobby magazine. I hear it all the time, “I stopped subscribing to magazine X” because: it wasn’t inspirational, it didn’t […]
Before posting a modeling technique, I look to see if it can meet two marks. First, it must be simple enough that an entry level modeler (middle school student, recent retiree, etc.) can easily employ it. Second, it must create a fair degree of visual impact. Panel line accents meet both criteria. Forcing shadows into the crevices […]
After my last posting, I was contacted by Paul Cooledge who was kind enough to share with me his exceptional utility pole model above. He explained his methods as follows: “I completed this scratch-built 1/87th scale model on March 4th as part of a Railroad-Line Forum challenge and thought that being a fellow utility pole enthusiast […]
Each of us has a defined number of hours we can dedicate to the hobby. That being the case, it makes sense to focus on things that provide not only the most enjoyment but the most visual impact as well. Vertical elements, specifically utility poles, if well executed can really elevate the appearance of our scenes. […]