OST Publications Blog
Design Your Thinking Part Seven: First Steps
Before my eyesight issues began I was content to pursue working with brass and not that interested in building another layout. That changed when I could no longer scratchbuild as I miss working with my hands and making things. Chris Mears and I have a lot of email...
Design Your Thinking Part Six: What Now?
As you can see, I have a clean slate again. The Mill Road cameo is in temporary storage until I decide its fate and the other sections have been dismantled for the materials. Although I was and still am happy with Mill Road, I've taken it as far as it wants to go....
Design Your Thinking Part Five: Alternatives To The Sky?
To recreate the expansive space that we experience outside, we resort to tricks ranging from a plain blue color on the walls to large custom made photomurals. As I've progressed through the craft, I've reached the conclusion the backdrop is not as necessary as I used...
Design Your Thinking Part Four: Time To Let Go of The Box?
As much as I've sung the praises of shadowbox construction, my tastes are moving toward simpler forms. Even though there is a lot to love about the shadowbox format, looking at Mill Road today the eight-foot long x 24 inch high modules seem clunky and overbuilt to my...
Design Your Thinking Part Three: Borrowed Space
Our kitchen is small by any standard but it works for our needs. It's just the two of us and our cooking and food prep are modest. We wanted more counter space but there wasn't room to add any in the kitchen itself without creating an awkward bottleneck at both entry...
Design Your Thinking Part Two: Frameworks
One framework of contemporary railroading is the idea of MASSIVE . Gigantic locomotives and freight cars; huge facilities and heart pounding, in your face action. That's not the whole story though. As seen in the following images, the modern scene also includes the...
Thinking of Design or Designing Your Thinking
A quick update:After a battery of eye tests I’ve been diagnosed with a twenty percent permanent vision loss in my right eye and told the condition may eventually also impact the left eye. Reading small text on paper or a screen is frustrating unless it’s the size of...
Ups and Downs
I haven 't had much bench time recently, and the time I have spent has been less productive. I'm dealing with a complication in one eye from the cataract surgery and it's frustrating. My vision is blurred and that makes reading text or doing close work nearly...
Inspiration is Where You Find It
I’m a strong believer in looking to other crafts for inspiration and techniques. Taking time to get out of the model train echo chamber can greatly enrich our modeling. When I decided to pursue working in brass, I went looking for sources of information and...