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Soooo...... when does this

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  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, May 12, 2005 12:28 PM
yeah, I know I'm lucky. I know it every day.

One of the reasons we haven't progressed as fst as I'd like, is little things like ("dad, don't we need to add a road to get to the top of the hill for the little people to be able to drive down", and "dad, can we have a lake with a crashed ufo in it?", and the list goes on).

  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Vancouver Island, BC
  • 23,330 posts
Posted by selector on Thursday, May 12, 2005 1:06 PM
Jarrell, you should understand that I went at my layout like I was possessed. In my professional life, I wrote documents, policies, and lectures. I could do those in one day. My layout is the only thing in my life that I knew was going to take me weeks of effort with little change apparent to me day-to-day. I almost got burned out, lost a great deal of sleep, and grew impatient at times. But, I kept my eye on the ball, so-to-speak, and saw it through. You will get there, but you might benefit from stepping back for a whole day, and drawing up a list of things you have to do, in the order that they should be done, so that you can derive a sort of timeline. I don't mean writing down "Have bridge installed by noon on Wednesday, 18 May." or anything like that. Just look at where you are, where you have to go (more like where you WANT to go), and itemize all the various steps.

The neat part of this (now don't go getting all overwhelmed on me!!) is that you get to stroke off each step as you complete it! It gets you excited to see the progress that way, if not at your hands. You will begin to correlate the two, and it will help you to keep momentum.

As for the turntable, I (think) I finally have it beaten into submission. Besides the wobbles described in an earlier thread, the bottom brass ring that the track wipers rub on kept slipping down off the pivot post, and I'd lose connectivity. I solved that with a screw centered in the bottom of the pivot with a plastic washer on it to keep the brass ring from sliding off. I tested it last night, in the layout, and it works fine.

So, if you would like some on-line coaching, please feel free to contact me via e-mail, or here, as you wish.

Regards,

Crandell
  • Member since
    November 2002
  • From: US
  • 4,648 posts
Posted by jacon12 on Thursday, May 12, 2005 8:52 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by grande man

Hang in there, Jerrell! The scenery is the fun part for me, hopefully you'll enjoy it too. Never forget the vision of the end product and take your time building.

Yep, I'm kinda anxious to get to the scenery part. Maybe to anxious!
Jarrell
 HO Scale DCC Modeler of 1950, give or take 30 years.
  • Member since
    November 2002
  • From: US
  • 4,648 posts
Posted by jacon12 on Thursday, May 12, 2005 8:55 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by malexenko

yeah, I know I'm lucky. I know it every day.

One of the reasons we haven't progressed as fst as I'd like, is little things like ("dad, don't we need to add a road to get to the top of the hill for the little people to be able to drive down", and "dad, can we have a lake with a crashed ufo in it?", and the list goes on).



"dad, can we have a lake with a crashed ufo in it?", "
sounds like a winner to me!
Jarrell
 HO Scale DCC Modeler of 1950, give or take 30 years.
  • Member since
    November 2002
  • From: US
  • 4,648 posts
Posted by jacon12 on Thursday, May 12, 2005 9:03 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by selector

Jarrell, you should understand that I went at my layout like I was possessed. In my professional life, I wrote documents, policies, and lectures. I could do those in one day. My layout is the only thing in my life that I knew was going to take me weeks of effort with little change apparent to me day-to-day. I almost got burned out, lost a great deal of sleep, and grew impatient at times. But, I kept my eye on the ball, so-to-speak, and saw it through. You will get there, but you might benefit from stepping back for a whole day, and drawing up a list of things you have to do, in the order that they should be done, so that you can derive a sort of timeline. I don't mean writing down "Have bridge installed by noon on Wednesday, 18 May." or anything like that. Just look at where you are, where you have to go (more like where you WANT to go), and itemize all the various steps.

The neat part of this (now don't go getting all overwhelmed on me!!) is that you get to stroke off each step as you complete it! It gets you excited to see the progress that way, if not at your hands. You will begin to correlate the two, and it will help you to keep momentum.

As for the turntable, I (think) I finally have it beaten into submission. Besides the wobbles described in an earlier thread, the bottom brass ring that the track wipers rub on kept slipping down off the pivot post, and I'd lose connectivity. I solved that with a screw centered in the bottom of the pivot with a plastic washer on it to keep the brass ring from sliding off. I tested it last night, in the layout, and it works fine.

So, if you would like some on-line coaching, please feel free to contact me via e-mail, or here, as you wish.

Regards,

Crandell

Yes, I think we all tend to forget that each modeler brings his/her own personality and style of working to the table, and no two are the same. Some are very exact and methodical because what they do everyday for a living requires it. Others are just the opposite, or nearly so. I really do want to keep it fun though. I know about that burnout thing and that is no fun. You just want to hang it up, lock it up and walk away. I don't want to get that way, I've been there before.
........."So, if you would like some on-line coaching, please feel free to contact me via e-mail, or here, as you wish.".....

I appreciate that and will take you up on it when I hit something I'm just not getting anywhere with.
Thanks,
Jarrell
 HO Scale DCC Modeler of 1950, give or take 30 years.
  • Member since
    November 2002
  • From: US
  • 4,648 posts
Posted by jacon12 on Thursday, May 12, 2005 9:06 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by grande man

Hang in there, Jerrell! The scenery is the fun part for me, hopefully you'll enjoy it too. Never forget the vision of the end product and take your time building.

Grand Man, as much as I like to watch trains run, I think the scenery part is going to be the most fun too. It's kinda like trying to do a painting in 3D. I've tried to describe that to my non mrring friends but I don't think they understand.
Oh well, we do.
Jarrell
 HO Scale DCC Modeler of 1950, give or take 30 years.
  • Member since
    November 2002
  • From: US
  • 4,648 posts
Posted by jacon12 on Thursday, May 12, 2005 9:11 PM
Did I mention the fun has already begun? Yesterday late? Oh yes, Mr. Genius here forgot there was a low stool behind him when he steped back to admire that smooth seam, fell over it and somehow (how do ya do these things!) twisted my right knee, so now when I go up the back steps I have to lift my right leg with my hand, step up, lift again.
I'm just glad I'm not painting a ceiling.[B)]
Jarrell
 HO Scale DCC Modeler of 1950, give or take 30 years.
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 13, 2005 12:20 AM
Jarell,

You know how hard it was to find a suitable n-scale "ufo"? [;)]
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 13, 2005 10:54 AM
Jacon...Love it! Talk about capturing a moment. I bust a gut laughing at the expression on your face.

I think a great many of us have been where you are right now. Don't worry, there are duldrums at various spots along the way; thankfully not many. I'm glad to see you have a good attitude and sense of humour about it. That's key in getting through those boring bits...as few and far between as they are.

Right now I'm in the middle of plaster coating my mountains, waiting for them to dry, sanding, next coat, repeat...The upside is that as I moved over the mountain I have been able to start adding colour to the beginning side and now it actually looks like I'm getting somewhere.

Enjoy,
Trevor

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