Smashing Windows, and I Found Myself a New Supplier of Model Paints

When I use my airbrush, I almost always spray ModelFlex acrylic type paints.  I don't have a spray booth, and there's no fumes from the acrylic paint.  I was wanting to re-build one of my layout buildings and it's going to need repainting as part of the project, but I didn't have enough of one colour  - Concrete Gray - for it.

I looked up on the website of the supplier here in Canada that I've used in the past, but they had that item listed as out-of-stock.  I sent off an email to them, explained what I wanted, and that I would also order some other items at the same time.  I received an email right back saying that they didn't know if they were going to re-stock ModelFlex.  Not what I wanted to hear at all.

So, back to the internet and found a place in New Jersey that had what I wanted. It would cost me more and of course delivery takes longer from the US to Canada.  But at least I could get what I was after, so I placed my order at www.megahobby.com . Check them out. They shipped the very next day, which was just about the same time that I remembered that Canada Post is striking.  And then on the news, they said that Canada Post is asking the USA and other foreign nations to stop sending parcels to Canada because the backlog of packages awaiting delivery is so great.

If it isn't one thing, it's another...


The structure that I want to re-build is made up of parts from Walther's Roberts Printing kits, and will be used to make this building, which I've featured before, even longer.

I often receive comments (positive ones) about this building from anyone that sees it, and the frequently asked question is "how did you do the broken windows?".  The answer is white glue.  Since I'll be making and breaking some more, here's a photo below that I hope will help illustrate the process.  The process is fairly time consuming, but I just do a bit at a time so it doesn't seem so bad.  The individual panes are filled in with white glue that has been allowed to set up for a few minutes and then brushed in with a small, flat artist brush.

You can see the windows on the parts sprue that haven't been touched.  In the middle-right are 3 small windows that have been filled with white glue which is still wet.  Above them are 4 larger windows in which the glue has dried overnight.  And to the left of those are 3 that when installed into the building will appear to have been smashed out by groups of rock throwing vandals. Technically it will have been me doing the smashing by use of my Xacto knife, and no vandalism charges will have been laid.

Here's how the structure is looking at the moment.  It'll get better. The overall length of the whole building is just over 44 inches.

Down at the Sarnia freight yard, this nice looking blue and white GATX GP38 has been working for a couple of weeks or so. GP38's are favourites of mine and so are leaser engines, so for me this is a real nice combination  I'll try to get a better picture of it and post another time.  The little black thing at the corner of the station is a rat trap. Anybody ever model one of those as a detail on a layout?