Thursday, August 6, 2009

Railroad Model Craftsman 03 2009


My very first HO freight car kits were made by Megow, which had established a reputation for balsa wood airplane and ship models. At fifty cents each they were well priced for a teenager and came with sprung trucks and automatic couplers. Those late 1930's kits used wood construction with printed cardboard sides and stamped detail parts. Their sprung trucks were also stamped metal, and the modeler fastened the sideframes to the bolster with small rivets. For fifty cents you wanted detail in those side frames? Idle dreamer! Megow couplers were a variation of the LaNal basketball hoop design on top of which was placed a stamped hook. A small screw underneath was used for uncoupling over a ramp between the rails. I soon found in that pre-World War II world there were other brands of HO freight car kits, kits with such names as Ideal, Charlen, Varney, and Walthers. I also discovered that each brand had its own coupler. Most were cast lead dummy couplers. Some almost resembled the real thing, while others, such as the one made by Varney, were oversized and coupled only with themselves. These were actually better than their scale couplers.

Ship Modelling Hints and Tips


The modelling of ships is a fascinating hobby because it has such a tremendously wide field of choice both geographically and chronologically. Its appeal to craftsmen and artist, youth and age, student and sage, rests on sure foundations; for it is inexpensive, it is within the reach of all and, although within the reach of all, it still permits very broad standards of artistry, science, and craftsmanship. Some years ago, while organising a huge shipping exhibition for the City of Liverpool, I decided upon a novel competition to popularise the ship model part of the exhibition. Competitors were invited to submit ship models wherein the materials had cost not more than three shillings. The results were amazing in ingenuity, craftsmanship, and popularity. I feel sure that really fine models can be constructed for less than ten shillings. Unlike the model engineer the requisite tools are few and comparatively inexpensive. Some friends of mine, good modellers they are, manage along with a favourite knife, spokeshave, small hacksaw and a few files (tiny ones) and some razor-blades. With these few things they consider themselves well equipped.