My job required me to spend about the next 8 months straight working at the Tampa location. This semi-permanent arrangement switches my trips to Tampa from a “travel expense” to a “relocation allowance”, so basically I need to find a room instead of staying in hotels.
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I rented a room in an old, 1960s, ranch house in Lakeland. I have not been a “roommate” since I was in college back in 1985!
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Anyway, this is a great modeling opportunity. I went to IKEA and bought a couple tabes and a drawer section and made this make-shift modeling bench complete with a bright 48 inch light bar.
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I have time during the week to build Funarao & Camerlengo kits lilke this BOSTON & MAINE 1930 boxcar:
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This is a weird living arrangement for a fellow my age, but I am loving it so far. I thought I was past IKEA furniture, but I guess not.
I had it lucky; I went to a local school and lived at home. Its been so long ago about the only thing I remember is the tough time finding a parking space. I do remember almost all of the pranks.
I had a room behind my Dad’s garage. I had a shelf layout around the room with a lift bridge at the door and a small workbench that doubled as a study place until I got married, then everything evaporated.
Kevin or others, what brand cutting board as shown is recommended? I looked online but some said the one they got would not lay flat, or did not self heal very well. I work on a desk blotter calendar and these boards look like a better way.
I’ve had several different varieties of those self-healing cutting mats, absolutely worth it over a plain blotter. Never had a problem with them not laying flat - if shipped rolled up like many larger ones are, if left unrolled with some stuff on the corners to hold it down, it will quickly stay put. My ESD mat on my electronics bench was the same way - when first unrolled, the ends wanted to curl back up. Now it’s just fine. I like having a large desk-size one with plenty of workign area, but I also have a small one that fits in my toolbox to take along to work on things if at a show or if I go away for work.
I too went to college raltively close to home, but I did lived on campus, glad I did. I I probably could have done a small shelf thing in my room, but around hat time I was more or less out of the hobby and concentrating on my electronics education. My last two years of college, I definitely could have done somehing - I lived in a single room, no roommate to deal with. Small room, but I could have done a reverse loft bed - pu a layout OVER my bed. Or have the loft bed and a layout under it instead of the more typical couch. But really, between studies and work, and work when I was home over the Summer, there wasn’t much model railroad time.
Weird times, traveled by myself for the first time accross the country, knew nobody or anything about the city but the name, never lived on my own before. Looked for a place to live with Pneumonia, that was fun.
Those are quite simply a 2" long piece of Plastruct 3/8" styrene angle with a #41 hole drilled in the center of one side.
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I have used these on every kit I have built for the past 20 years. They stay on the model for assembly and painting. They do not come off until the model is ready for trucks and couplers.
I presume that they are removed when the underside is painted and then reinstalled to paint the body of the car, or do you install the trucks right after painting the floor?
I have a Hobbico If I lay it on top of something, it has a slight memory and will warp. A short trip to lie on the patio table in the sun makes it flat again. No problem with cutting on it, even if I use a utility knife.
I suppose you could King Kong your way through a piece of styrene and cut right through it.
I love the cutting mats I have. I do not know the brand name. They just say “Gradient” on them. That is the only marking they have.
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I buy them at Hobbytown USA in Brandon, FL. They are less than $20.00 each and last about two years with heavy use. They are much heavier than a normal cutting mat, and I have not complaints.
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Before this I had Fiskars cutting mads, and they tended to warp often.
Well, I do miss my days in the Penn State Model Railroading Club…and the railfanning trackside in Altoona that I had plenty of time to do (prior to University Park Campus)…and the simple apartment with 5’ x 9’ layout that came later after college…
Sometimes the worst of times can be the best of times.
The first 2 yrs of my undergrad days I was on active duty in 5he Navy but I managed to keep my model railroading hobby going by building Athearn BB kits in my quarters. While unable to do more than thst, the completed models served as inspiration for future modeling-sort of a touch of home away from home. Although I was on shore duty I heard of several fellow model railroaders who managed to do something similar on board ships and at overseas locations. While we all have competing interests in our youth and throughout later life, if you love trains you can find a way to enjoy them no matter where you go!
Tichy includes a pair of similar supports with their boxcar kits. They simply plug into the screw holes where the trucks are later fastened…
I made a “handle”, using sheet aluminum, which can be screw-mounted onto the truck-mounting bolsters of tank cars. It’s very handy for holding the car for painting, as there’s no open bodyshell into which your gloved hand can be inserted, as it might for a boxcar or hopper…
Because of its design, it will work with cars of various lengths (at least until the metal fatigues and breaks).
