Nighttime in Dartmouth and all is quiet at the gypsum hopper display.
Three gypsum forms from three Nova Scotia locations in this small display: decorative orange gypsum (Cheverie), selenite crystal sign (Summerville), and wallboard-quality gypsum ore (Windsor).
Another view with the glass in place. The next pole will have the light higher.
Power pole light attached to an orange gypsum base (from Cheverie, NS) with the LED leads passing through the same gypsum hole at the pole's base. Simple mini connectors, using IC socket parts as before, attach to a small external battery box with an on/off switch. Nothing is attached to the case's wood base so changes are readily made, including a different glass case.
Nova Scotia gypsum hopper case nearly complete. Wiring the lighting and it will be done.
Adding Peco static grass to the gypsum side of the large display. Also working on wooden ties and lighting for the small case.
This padauk base has been grooved for lighting leads and will feature a CN hopper with a real load of Nova Scotia gypsum. A stone (gypsum crystal) sign will be included.
Dual-track tank car case complete. Once again I developed a few techniques to make this build easier and faster.
Need a different front and top glass than those in my small inventory for the big display case. Will find something I like tomorrow. In the meantime, I finished a wide base for my two new Walthers Proto 55' Trinity 30,145 gallon tank cars (Christmas present). The base is made of canarywood from Brazil. It has been sanded, grooved and oiled. Going to use a more industrial-looking background glass plate.
OldSchoolScratchbuilderLike anything else, practice makes as close to perfect as you aspire to.
.
Absolutely true, I was certainly not willing to put the additional time and effort into honing these skills at a time in my life when girls and my 1966 Mercury S-55 were at their peak of interest.
Maybe I will look into adult classes on stained glass again.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Problems with other Forum members should be resolved off the Forum. This thread has been cleaned up. Don't make me do it again.
Let me clear up some misconceptions. Though the OP may never be able to run a train on his display cases, what he's doing is still related to model railroading, and therefore on topic for this Forum. He is also under no obligation to answer or even acknowledge anybody's questions about his project. If all he wants to do is present his work and leave, he's allowed to do so. This Forum has a long tradition of "build threads" that were exactly the same.
If you don't like the OP's threads, you are under no obligation to read or comment on them. Stop complaining because he does things (both modeling and posting) differently than you would. Live and let live.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
BATMAN I have ordered two of Rapido's Royal Hudsons and think a case like these would be ideal for display if I don't have them on the layout. When we move and the new layout hasn't been built yet I will be able to at least look at them.
I have ordered two of Rapido's Royal Hudsons and think a case like these would be ideal for display if I don't have them on the layout. When we move and the new layout hasn't been built yet I will be able to at least look at them.
Wow, just looked at them (and their price tags)! love to put one of those in a display case for sure. Very nice.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I collect old mirror and picture frame glass so I am using a piece of the former for the fusing glass support plate. It won't be visible inside the display case. The right side will simply be a mirror. Both have been cut to precise measurements, diamond ground and copper-backed foil applied. I will solder the two together first so they can stand on their own outside of the router grooves.
Now that I have experience building cases, I can turn my attention to the Nova Scotia case. The fusing glass backplate must be bonded to a case backing plate that can sink into the back router groove and be foilable. Sizing in progress. Gypsum crystal installed bearing my GypsumWorks Studio logo and year.
Number four complete. My wife has placed all four around the house among her antiques.
Ready to cut and fit the glass top. More work to tin the remaining foil. Company name on a stone (gypsum) sign is a nice touch. I'll do that for my other locomotive cases as well.
It certainly is a "build thread". And since there is no definition of what a layout is, perhaps the more appropriate location for OPs blog would be in the Layout Build section.
- Douglas
This thread reads like a personal blog being hosted by Kalmbach. Free of charge of course.
Hmmm, looks like that loco has that same "very unique" sign!
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Gypsum in any form has a white streak. This property allows me to make some very unique signs, especially with transparent crystals like this. Easy as writing with a pen!
So, just like that and I have some beautiful crystals to work with. And, I got some exercise and fresh air in the process.
Took awhile hiking into the bone-chilling wind but I finally reached the selenite outcrop and found what I was looking for for the train case. As the tide was rising quickly, I had to hurry back retracing my footprints, except where I recalled the ice moving.
In the aftermath of recent 'Bomb Cyclone' the Bay of Fundy shoreline at Summerville Beach looked like the Arctic. The ice cakes, some larger than automobiles, littered the beach and made hiking challenging, especially when they moved when I stepped/jumped on them. Almost fell twice but the ice picks held fast.
Adding selenite (gypsum crystals) to this display case which means a winter hike to the Bay of Fundy in cold weather gear. With -15 C and a wind chill down to -25 C, multi-layers and ice picks on my boots were in order. Between the crystals and my house runs the 45th parallel and this sign marks the spot - stopped to take this picture.
SeeYou190 My dad and I took a stained glass class at the public library in Cape Coral back in 1985. It was a lot of fun, but the pieces I made fell apart! . -Kevin .
My dad and I took a stained glass class at the public library in Cape Coral back in 1985. It was a lot of fun, but the pieces I made fell apart!
I have had the good fortune to learn many tricks from several experienced stained glass instructors and artists/crafters since taking my first course at our National Stained Glass Studio here in Dartmouth. Like anything else, practice makes as close to perfect as you aspire to. This past week the owner of the store asked me if I would run his store in his absence from time to time. Since I am retired I will indeed help him out. He is going to show me how to use the register, and wrap glass properly for customers next week. I'm sure I will learn a lot more from running the store.
The foil is now in place and this piece is ready for soldering. The front sides and top glass pieces will be made the same way and then the case can be assembled. I'll show how I assemble when I have made the other parts.
Two types of foil are typically used to apply to the glass edges: silver-backed and copper-backed. Here I am using copper-backed because if some of it shows in the end product, it fits better with my antique look.
Although the water in the grinder keeps most of the glass particles from becoming airborne, I wear safety glasses because it does happen from time to time.