Clever Models Blog Entries

Customer question about some of our bigger, newer kits

2010-02-07T14:53:17Z

Hi everyone, this is Dave. A customer asked me a question the other day that I thought I’d better address so everyone could see it.

On our STEEL and BRICK & MORTAR discs are some physically large kits, namely Big Steel and Akron Tool. The instructions on the sheets say they should be printed on 8-1/2 x 14 cardstock. Apparently folks are having trouble finding this size. (Elsewhere we state that out kits are designed for 8-1/2 x 11, but these buildings are really big and we had to break our own rules to make them practical.)

If you can’t find 8-1/2 x 14 cardstock, you can make it by taking two sheets of 8-1/2 x 11 and taping them together. What I do is use clear, packaging tape. (available in office supply stores) Cut a piece about 12” long and place it on the back of one of the sheets, on the 8-1/2” edge so about half of it is exposed. It helps to work on a surface that the tape can be easily removed from. Flip this sheet over so the sticky side is up. CAREFULLY, you get one shot at this, take a second sheet and aligning the two edges, press the second sheet onto the tape. You really want the joint to be tight. It might take a bit of practice, but it is not as hard as it sounds. Trim the tape that is sticking out from the sides and you have an 8-1/2 x 22 sheet of cardstock. (you don’t have to cut it down to 14”, your printer will automatically feed out the whole sheet) Make sure to feed the paper into your printer with the tape on the non-printed side. You may also have to provide a bit of support for the joint as the paper feeds. You will be amazed that the joint disappears once printed.

This works so well, that I don’t even try to buy 8-1/2 x 14paper anymore.

Here's a great picture of our latest free download

2010-02-04T20:04:49Z

This is an O scale flag stop built by Ben Streeter. This model will be available for the next couple of weeks on our “freebies” page. enjoy.

Quick comments on our trip to the Amherst Railway Society Show

2010-02-04T15:27:48Z

Hi everyone. This is Dave. Thom and I just got back late Monday night and now that we have recouperated a bit, I wanted to give you all some brief highlights. There will be more, with pictures, once I unpack completely. (and find my camera)

First, it was a grueling drive. We knew it would be long, but the weather was really difficult. We arrived Late Thursday, rested and got to the Eastern States Exposition Center early Friday for setup.

All I can say is WOW. This is a huge place and it was already was full of folks setting up some huge layouts in everything from Z to G.

Because we only brought our new HOn30 layout (complete with cardstock trains) and our DVD’s to sell, we were set up in about an hour. We go to spend the rest of the day wandering around meeting some really nice people and seeing allot of great verdors and displays.

This place is absolutely the biggest show I have ever seen. It’s 347,000 square feet under roof, in four buildings. We were honored to be placed in the center of the main building, sandwiched between Scotty Mason of the Scotty Mason Show and Dave Frary, “Mr. Scenery”. This was a great place to be and I want to thank the show management for such a great location.

One of the interesting things to me, was that besides about 25 vendors that we run into at all the shows we go to, the other 375, (yes, there was 400 vendors there), were all new folks to us. It was also a very new customer base to us.

When the show opened on Saturday at 9:00 AM, it was pretty much non-stop people till closing at 5:00 PM. I have never seen such a crowd. The Management reported that the first day attendance was over 11,000. WOW! I missed the 2nd day report, but it was every bit as busy as the 1st day.

Well, I wanted to keep this fairly short and we will have more in a following post, but for now, you really want to see this show. Lots of top notch layouts, modeling, vendors and folks like you. It’s every year at the end of January. Go to the Amherst Railway Society website, http://www.amherstrail.org/, for more info.

Dave Miecznikowski

4 days and counting

2010-01-26T16:37:03Z

I have to admit it, I’m excited. springfield is just 4 days away and even the idea of 16 hours in a car with my brother can’t dampen my mood. i just love going to train shows and going to the biggest one in the country is great. i hope i get a chance to see some of it.

the disks are burned and packed, the layout is running (still needs work but I think it will show well) All I need to do now is pack some cloths and find my fez.

On a completely unrelated note: Consider it a tip of the month.

I use a lot of dull coat. In an effort to save a bit of coin I bought a large can of Krylon matt uv resistant spray. now i know that this can happen with any clear coat but this was particularly bad. I had just sprayed a big commissioned job. hundreds of hours of work and watched in horror as it it turned a foggy white as it dried. OK don’t panic, I’ve seen this before. i remembered that a second spray will some times correct the problem. I did that after the model was good and dry from the first spray. the improvement was very good but not perfect. i wanted to try to understand what was happening so I ran a test bu spraying some art work in my scrap pile. Again it turned milky white. I did a strip test across the face of the art. one strip was one respray. Another strip was two sprays and the last strip was sprayed over with Testors dull coat. each strip sprayed showed improvement but I have to say the Testors worked far better, both clearing up the fog and leaving a nice surface. So I’m endorsing it. Testors works best.

Hope to see lots of you at the show

Pictures from ben's tutorial

2010-01-20T00:55:02Z

Ben’s tutorial is now available in the freebies section, here are some teasers of this excelent tutorial.

An example of a great build from Ben Streeter

2010-01-12T00:31:17Z

More train show news

2010-01-08T17:39:54Z

I don’t know why the train gods are smilling on us but we just got word that our location at the show has been seriously modified. Originally we were lucky to get in at all with the waiting list. Initially we were to be in the 4th and newest building. We just got notice that we have been moved to the main building and we are located with Dave Frary to one side and Scotty Mason on the other. Could you want a better location. I think not. Though I did have to take a critical look at some of the prototype kits I’ve used on our layout. The prototypes are test builds and as such can have a rough corner or three. Maybe I’m overreacting but the potential increased scrutiny has motivated me to revisit (scrap) a couple of those structures and replace them with new builds of the final release versions of two kits.

Brother Dave is also in a mad rush to find replacement motor brushes for our paper box cab which died unexpectadly during a layout burn in session. Another new addition to our roster of motive power, an 0-4-0 with paper cab, side tanks and snow plow is also undergoing some tune ups.

Good thing I like building models.

Thom

Amherst train show

2010-01-04T19:28:54Z

I am finding myself excited to attend the Amherst show. As I’ve said before, we don’t get East much, but we were specially invited. The show has a long waiting list and they jumped us to the front because they like our kits. I’m looking forward to seeing all the new layouts. I know if you live out East, you’ve already seen most of this. Sure it’s a huge show but it’s likely you’ve seen it before. Here in the midwest, when we do shows, you get to know everyone and you see the same train layouts. Thats OK. We have made a lot of friends and I look forward to every opportunity to see them, but the East coast scene is completely fresh to us and I can enjoy not being jaded for a wile. We have a lot of customers out East and I’m hoping they will stop by and chat for a bit.

I finished module number two of our three module demo layout (module one has been ready for some time). Brother Dave is now making sure it runs and putting a few finishing touches on the rolling stock. Module three runs but will be unlandscaped for this show. Still this will be the first time we take it on the road and that’s pretty exciting too.

Hope to see you at thew show.

Jumping in

2009-12-29T16:53:59Z

I’ve been working on the new touring HOn30 layout. With a show at the end of January there’s a lot of incentive to have something new and cool to show. This pressure has forced me to focus on the modules and it has made me make tough choices rather then put them off. Some time ago, I had started a freelance factory design for a specific location on the layout. I decided I would make it strictly from stuff in the “extras” and “flats” folders on our disks. I really built the monster out to the max and it was looking glorious. It was an odd shaped building made to fit a siding and also have another siding going inside. (Notice I’m using a lot of “past tense”). When I work on a module I hook it up to the module next to it so they look like they belong together. Wile playing around with placement I took a couple of buildings I had sitting around and tried different arrangements. I hit on one that worked really well. The problem however, is that this beautiful scratch built one of a kind factory’s foot print would no longer work.

This is where you just have to make a leap of faith and trust your instincts. I ripped out the custom building (carefully removed actually). I had a vague idea that I would re-configure it into a smaller structure. Then I had to go back and fill the gaps with fresh ground cover and dirt. Making this one tough decision opened up several opportunities. I was able to place 5 structures in the space taken up by the one I ripped out. A nice arrangement of old and new kits. A slightly modified Warehouse kit, the brand new Habbakers Garage, the shed from our contest of a couple of months ago and a Qounset Hut. An unexpected bonus was a home for the model that started it all. The brick narrow gauge engine house that I first showed my brother almost 6 years ago will now be tucked into a space at the end of a spur that would have been inside the big factory. It’s a bit crude compared to our current models, but I like the historic aspect. I think I’ll model a marker or monument for it.

So, what of the big factory? No way I will let dozens of hours of work go to waste. I cut appart all of the walls and re-assembled them as a long, low relief background flat running along one of the 6 edges of the layout (it’s U shaped).

When all is said and done, the lesson here is to not get too attached to anything. Sometimes being brash and chaotic can lead to fresh thought and exciting results.

Thom

Pix of Rudy Co

2009-12-20T02:29:35Z

A couple of teases