The Looming Mail Disruption

Once again, Canada Post and it's unionized work force are at loggerheads with each other.
And I'm torn.
On one hand, as a small business, who is dependent upon the post office for shipping services, I'm pissed off. Neither side seems to care at all about the impact this dispute will have on me and others like me.
On the other hand I a member of a labour union, in my other guise as a stagehand and arena rigger, and some of the demands being made by management are a outrageous.
At the same time, the union is being rather short sited on a major sticking point, that is a change to the pension plans for new hires.
The day of the defined benefit pension plan is over. And it's time the union accepts this. Now they should get something in return for agreeing to the change, but holding the mail as ransom is unacceptable.
And the company needs to address the massive pay inequity issue between rural and urban letter carriers. The company's argument is specious at best.
But everything else aside, both sides need to stop holding the country ransom because they can't figure it out.

As far as my business is concerned, as of today, I'm not shipping out any orders for parts or kits until I know that mail service is assured. Finished freight cars will go by courier.
Sorry.

It's days like this where I hate Canada Post. Llabour and management.

Ruminations on layout building

Last week yet another high profile Canadian modeler passed away suddenly. Dan Kirlin, who was a year younger than I, had a heart attack while mowing his lawn.
Dan was a very talented modeler, who had a hand in my evolving into a prototype modeler, when he helped make and market the huge pile of proper ends, doors, roofs and running boards for modeling Canadian 1937 AAR style boxcars.
One of the things Dan left behind was an idea for building a layout. Which for some reason never really moved forward.
I'm always struck by the number of people who have plans for a layout, but never get it into gear.
My advice;
Just bloody do it!
You're not getting any younger.
You have no idea what tomorrow's going to bring.
In my case, I've decided to push ahead with my layout in a fairly aggressive fashion. I want to get the "heavy" work done within the next couple of years. I'm finding it more difficult to do now, what I used to be able to do fairly easily a couple of years ago.
My long term mobility remains a permanent question, as a result of an accident when I was a teenager. So I push ahead now, knowing that in a few years, flinging plywood sheets onto the table saw won't be an option.
My friend Trevor and I have discussed this many times. And we share a very similar mindset. Neither of our spaces is optimum for what we had hoped to model. But the spaces , if planned properly, will serve our needs quite well. That perfect solution is likely never to be there.
We both know of individuals who held off their layout building, for a variety of obscure reasons and as a result never got to achieve their  dreams.
It's a hobby guys. It's meant to be fun.  And nowhere is it written that you can't have fun now.
Saving for retirement? How much do you really need? And are you going to be in good enough shape to enjoy it the way you think you will.
When Rich Chrysler was dying of pancreatic cancer, he made a point of continuing to work on his layout for as long as he could. And when he finally passed, I had a couple of months of "what's the point?" The point is, I'm here to enjoy life. And building a layout makes me happy. And I know that sharing the layout progress brings pleasure to others as they read about my ups and downs.
If I get hit by a bus tomorrow, I won't be spending my last moments saying to myself,"if only I'd..."

And here it is!

In all it's decaled glory!

Now to edit all the photos and write the instructions.
Who has more fun on a holiday weekend than me?

I have a simple request...

To the makers of CA.

Do you think, maybe, perhaps, you could date the bottles of glue as you bottle them?
CA does not keep forever. I'm not sure what the actual shelf life is, but it does indeed have a shelf life.
2 identical bottles, bought from different stores. The one on the right was opened 2 days ago. Thye one on the left just this morning.
The one on the right provided CA that wouldn't cure without accelerator. The one on the left performed exactly as required. Rather annoying when trying to mount tanks onto underframes.
It's also annoying to be tossing a virtually full  bottle of glue.
Is it so much to ask?

And it's off to the paint shop!

The platform is done! And the last little details are on the model. Shortly it'll be deciding which shade of black to apply.
The platform went together far quicker than I was worried it might. Which is always good news.
Heavily aided by thoughtful design and valuable input from the team that helped get this project done.
This project has been in the works now for almost 3 years. It has involved at least 8 different people in 3 countries on 2 continents. My deep gratitude to all who had a hand in this.
It's a great hobby.

Progress this day

The process of building pilot models is draining. Rewarding, but draining.

After far too many delays and minor hiccups, this model is now reaching completion. And I couldn't be happier. So far the model has gone together pretty much as I had hoped. Still have to pause and consider how best to approach some of the tasks involved in assembling this car.
As well as, I have to stop and write down all the steps as I go for the instructions, which slows down progress some.
Tomorrow it's the etched dome platform. With any luck I'll be flinging paint before dinner.
I fully expect to be able to have this model ready for sale at the St Louis RPM in August. Right now the intention is to only offer 50 kits for sale. If there's more demand I'll consider a further production run.

I love this technique!

0.060" styrene sheet for backdrops and fascia.
Delightful!

The plastic is relatively cheap. $100.00 bought me 4 sheets.
It's real easy to work. Just scribe and snap like you would for model making. Admittedly 4'x8' sheets are a tad unwieldy, but we prevail.
No fasteners are required. I use a panel adhesive, No More Nails, it grabs well and drys fairly quickly.
Seams are dealt with by scabbing a splice plate on the back and gluing using solvent cement. In this case good ole Testors.
I'll use spot putty to fill the seams and it'll get painted in a couple of days.
I put up 40' of backdrop in a couple of hours, without assistance.
It's starting to look like a model railroad down here.