I bought two MR books to read on my recent vacation. One was disappointing but the other “How to Build & Detail Model Railroad Scenes” by Lou Sassi was one of the most useful model railroading books that I’ve ever purchased. He went into an incredible amount of detail that was very helpful for someone building their first layout as I am. Does anyone know if Lou participates in this forum or have an email address for him? I’m definitely going to look for his other books.
I don’t know if he participates in this forum, but he’s a contributer to MODEL RAILROADER, so you can probably contact them throuh this website, and they can put you in touch with him.
Lou Sassi is definately one of the greats in this hobby. Although I haven’t yet purchased/read his “How to Build and Detail Model Railroad Scenes” it’s on my list. He is definately a very talented modeler who gets fantastic results. What makes him great in my book is that when you read his articles you’re forced to say “Wow, I can do that too!” Although I am far from reaching Lou’s results, he’s been a major reason why my modeling today is so much better than it was 10 years ago.
Maybe this can be of some interest.
http://www.allenkeller.com/GMR23.htm
There is a nice article about him in Model Railroader, july 1988, page 76 [:D]
Thanks for the feedback. That was exactly how I felt. Wow, I understand the why behind this and I can do it too. I’ll find his other books.
I have a friend who had the whole GMR series. I will definitely borrow number 23. Thanks.
Just picked up Lou’s book on scenery, LOVE IT!
I really enjoyed the Detail book, but that’s sorta my thing in the hobby.
For scenery, I’m partial to Dave Frary.
you’re right; that is a great book! I was going to model roads using the AMI stuff, but now I’m thinking about using the method he says in that book. Only, I’ll use the WS “flex-paste” instead of “Scale-crete” like he shows.
So what was the book that was a waste?
Just my personal preference but the one that I didn’t find very useful was “The New Scenery Tips & Techniques”. It was just a compilation of quick snippets of articles from Model Railroader. All the various topics were just two pages and that was half photos. I liked the Lou Sassi book for the great detail and disliked the other one for the lack of it.
To let folks know: The product referred to as Scale Crete in my “How To” books is no longer available through C.S.Designs. It is, however, still produced for the building industry by DAP Inc. It is called Bondex “Ready Mixed Concrete Patch”, comes in 32 fl. oz. containers and is available at Lowes Home Improvement stores nationwide. Lou Sassi
It was my first book this time around, and still my favorite. I now have four scenes patterened after his work.
I was going to yes, he does show up here on occassion, and then he did.
Lou,
Thanks for the update on the Scale Crete. I was just rereading a section of your book the other day and then your article showed up in MRR. Did you write any other books besides the one that I mentioned? Your style of writing and modeling is very easy to follow.