What’s coming in 2012?
What’s coming in 2012? When will we see something new? Huh, huh, Mike?
Okay, here’s the skinny on what’s going on. First, I’m working on two e-books, e-pubs, e-whatever-you-want-to-call them. The closest to being ready is the first one in a new series called Modern Freight Cars, Volumes 1-? If you’re a modern era modeler as I am, you know how hard it can be to find good solid information and detailed photos of contemporary freight cars. It should be simple since they are everywhere. However from a modelers point of view, finding good close-up shots online is a hit-or-miss prospect.
Steam era modelers have what seems like an unlimited supply of resources, from vintage car builder photos to the detailed drawings of older Car Builders’ Cyclopedias and on it goes. It appears that some new, rich source of archive material comes to light almost every year on the steam era. Do we modern era modelers have to wait fifty+ years in order to have good resources? I hope not; I won’t be here to enjoy it.
Instead of whining about things, I decided to do something positive and create this series.
These digital publications will be a photo rich collection of close-in detail shots that prototype modelers need to render things accurately. Instead of looking at a whole class of cars like covered hoppers, each volume in the series will focus on a single car. Volume 1 looks at a Pullman Standard/Trinity Industries 5850 cu.ft.covered hopper, one commonly used to haul plastic pellets.
Other volumes will look at boxcars, tank cars and a variety of covered hopper cars, which now make up the bulk of traffic hauled on the rails today -at least in my neck of the woods. This volume will be available as a 50+ page PDF download. There will be one large photo per page with internal links that allow you to access a specific section quickly. Sections include an overview of the car, close-up photos of each end, close-up shots of the hopper chutes and loading gates and more. This volume is getting close, perhaps by this Spring. Price and ordering details to be announced.
P48 Handbook
The second major project at this stage is another digital publication called the P48 Handbook. It’s an in-depth look at P48 modeling and the possibilities it offers. Most of the literature on P48 focuses on the difference of the track and wheel profiles and tend to leave it there. The P48 Handbook looks deeper, treating the subject with the respect and depth it deserves. P48 is as much a modeling philosophy and a mindset as it is a set of standards, and this is the story covered here. It looks at aspects such as how finescale modeling impacts layout design and size with a visit to Warner Clarks’s Maumee Basin Lines layout. There’s also information on getting started, finding supplies and learning more about this growing aspect of quarter-inch scale modeling. Look for this title around mid-year.
Landscape Modeling: Masterclass Modeling Series, Volume 2
Work on the second in the Masterclass Modeling Series of books is still in progress. This title is off in the distance as still I’m writing it. And, to be honest, I’m struggling a bit with the text and concepts I want to convey. Things haven’t quite fallen into place yet and that is slowing me down. I can say that this book isn’t going to be another collection of techniques on how to build scenery, do grass, trees, rocks, and more. There’s already more info on these topics than you could use in a lifetime.
From my view, what’s been missing from the conversation are the principles of good design, coupled with excellent observation skills that underlie the most convincing model scenery. A few books have touched on this, most notably several British titles, but no US titles have covered it with the depth that I enjoy. We all tend to sense certain qualities that can set a layout apart visually – qualities that convey a sense of time and place and atmosphere. For most of us, such qualities are hard to express and define. As an example, I think that anyone who chooses to model the barren trees of winter, with or without snow, is attempting to capture something below the surface. Something indefinable, intangible but felt nevertheless.
See why I’m having difficulty? My work style is to plod along until something clicks into place and then get outta the way! There’s no rhyme nor reason as to how it works but it usually does. Stay tuned.
Best regards,
Mike
Category: For The Media
