GalleryBrass Investments Legacy YouTube Videos Modeling Objects That Tell A Story

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#StoryTeller #Models Modeling Objects That Tell A Story

Some time ago I did a video called "Modeling Philosophy" to try and explain my thinking when I go about building models. Subsequently, I have encouraged some time be spent to research as much as you can about the prototype, but also the environment in which a railroad operated in, a town serviced by the the trains or even the sustainability and development of the country when railroads where and still are the backbone of our Republic.

A very interesting book was published recently that was reviewed in the May 2019 Railroad Model Craftsman by Harry K. Wong. The book titled "Model Railroading As Art" by author Lance Mindheim takes us away from the traditional approach and mindset of how we go about building models, layouts, scenes, the tools of color, geometry, shapes and forms to build in the most realism. My own line of thinking aligns well with the topics in the book. However, I was not thinking in terms of art or taking an art world perspective until coming upon this book. I always thought the art part of model railroading was for the scenery guys and gals, how short sighted of me.

In any case with this in mind, whenever you see a model, a modular or shelf layout and that "Wow" factor strikes you on the first look, the expressiveness of our hobby seems not to have limits particularly given the story behind the motivation to recreate the objects that we model. The story more often than not goes very deep if told across some continuum of time. For example, the small town serviced by a railroad in the year 1915. Even if we had good business metrics from those days, few would be able to fathom the multivariate dimensions of a railroad company and what it took to provide customers service. We will get into more story telling in future videos to make model building interesting whether we are trying to model trains of yesteryear or the most modern railroads on the tracks today.

To supplement the story though, it is time to talk a little more about building models in brass. For those of you following my CGW Tank Car series, I suggest you have a look at these short videos listed below on modern day tank car construction and safety.

Greenbrier Tank Car Construction Video https://youtu.be/0DSY-UjeE_Q

Union Tank Car Company https://youtu.be/UMRqnaM9tK8

Union Tank Car Company, Marion, Ohio https://youtu.be/ppsE3RQh6NM

Norfolk Southern Tank Car Safety https://youtu.be/9YCD79pe22g

And just how timely is an article in Railroad Model Craftsman May 2019 issue building, "Scratchbuilt Brass Bridge" by Mark Juett. This easy project to develop your scratch building skills can easily be modeled in O Scale even though it is featured in HO scale.

While you may find some videos on how to solder brass, as a refresher course here I suggest having a look at the following videos by American Beauty, soldering parts onto a semi-truck frame.

American Beauty Soldering https://youtu.be/UYEc8Gfp-js

and product videos

https://www.youtube.com/user/Solderin...

Now I am not sure if you would argue if people find the design in the details or the details define the design of an object. Details in rolling stock evolved over time such that the design was a function of improvement in utility and safety. In past videos from strictly a traditional modeling objective and rivet counter attitude, some imports did not satisfy my taste. That is not the case for all imported models of course. Keystone brought in some highly detailed models in which you would have to complement the builders in Korea for such fine workmanship.

In our case, we go back to the work bench. We will talk a little further about soldering and speak to detail on the CGW interchange caboose in the context and ground work toward developing the story your model will deliver.

Favorite O Scale Trains Magazine by White River Productions:

http://oscalemag.com