SG1

Nope, not a Stargate post, but the reference isn't entirely accidental.  I am a Stargate SG-1 fan and to a lesser degree I enjoyed the Atlantis spinoff, though I really wish they'd have done more with the SGU series, but I digress.

Rather, the title of this post has more to do with what happened in the Mojave desert on June 21, 2004.  I was there when Mike Melvill earned his astronaut wings flying Scaled Composites' 'SpaceShipOne' into the edge of space and back.  The coolest part by far was when, after the ship had landed, they hooked it to a pickup truck and drove it down the tarmac so the crowd could get a closer look.

When it came to choosing a name for my static grass applicator, I kicked around a few from Grassinator (say it like Heinz  Doofenshmirtz) to Grass Blaster, but ultimately I just settled on SG1, short for Static Grass One.  Of course the name is far less important than the function of the tool, and this one - so far - works great.

I bought the components to build the thing NINE years ago, so perhaps I should've named it ADT or 'About Dadgum Time'.  Ha. 

It runs on 12 volts provided by an old power supply.  I won't say never throw anything away, but this time it helped to keep a bag of old power supplies.

For the first test flight I decided to see which of these two adhesives performed better.  I'd have to say the Alene's Tacky did the best in terms of overall coverage, while the Sobo tended to be patchier.  That patchiness could be an advantage in the right setting. 

I have much more experimentation to do before I use this on the Pine Branch Park pike, so I am planning at least one diorama to practice techniques for this tool as well as road building, track weathering and tree making.  Look for those in upcoming posts.

Framed!

Notice anything different?

Look closer...

Closer...

And here's another corner:

The railroad has been framed!  Finally.  The 12 foot long trim strips have been laying on my garage floor for FAR too long.  The color is my favorite, Mudstone.  I had the Home Depot color match a quart from a sample I brought in.  These images make it look washed out but it is really much darker in person. 

The concept I am developing is that of a picture laid on its back with the three-dimensional interactive painting rising out of the frame.  I debated on whether or not to consider it a plinth on which a sculpture is created, but that doesn't suit the concept.  The frame around traditional paintings serves to isolate the world of the painting from the world of the viewer whether in a gallery, restaurant, office, or in my case, garage.

This frame is complete - there will be no throttle doo-dads or operational whatsits attached.  To my mind that's just visual clutter, no matter how useful.  (My garage is already cluttered enough!).  DCC fortunately reduces the need to rely on a massive control panel of switches and lights.  That said, there will still be a panel for the throttle power supply and controls for lights; it will be on a separate board on a shelf beneath the railroad.

More on this concept in later posts.  I am not the first to pass this way, but not many have...

Station Details

Some old, some new, some no longer available except second hand.  Scale is HO.

The chair is from Vector Cut, and is laser cut taskboard.  Brilliant little kit; too bad the company is on hiatus with no sign of returning anytime soon.  The spitoon (cuspidor) water cooler, stove, desk lamp, typewriter and clock with signs are all Scale Structures Limited.  I scratchbuilt the little table beneath the water cooler.  The signs I will scan in and whiten in Gimp, while the clock may be a candidate for Oyumaru and Milliput reproduction, keeping the original as a master.  The benches are Atlas, I believe, but I can't be sure.  The calendars, Chero-Cola signs and election posters are all found online.  Lastly, the pattern at the bottom of each shot is a tin ceiling tile image I found and 'tiled' using Gimp image editing software. 

The station has been under construction for far too long now.  It is time to push forward and finish this structure, so look for more posts in the weeks ahead.