I am moving my projects to separate pages. Each project will have its own page.
October 4, 2019
Nothing new for builds lately. Been working on electrical boards for Give Kids The World. I have purchased the plug and play light system and installed lights in my buildings. Need to pick up more lights and hubs to finish them. Also think I will get some street lights to add on.
January 8, 2019
The speaker I installed in the Ice Cream Truck is not loud enough so I installed an additional speaker and placed it closer to the visitors where it can be heard loud and clear now.
I also have started working on a model of the school house I attended while growing up. More on that later.
December 17, 2018
Although I’m waiting for the sound card to install in my Ice Cream truck I have added lights on the roof to catch the eye of the kids when they push the button. Here is a video of the lights in action.
December 12, 2018
My new project is again going to be for the layout at Give Kids The World. I have decided to create a ice cream truck with sound and flashing lights to add to the layout. Kids will push a button to activate the sound and lights. After a period of 30 seconds or so the lights and sound will stop.
Her is a picture of the ice cream truck I found in O-scale.
I added a light in the inside and a figure which will allow the visitors to see inside the truck. Next I will add some blinking lights on the top of the truck which should help to draw attention when the button is pushed and the visitors/kids will be able to find it. The layout is quite large so it’s a challenge sometimes for the kids to find the object they pushed the button to run.
November 9, 2018
I have completed the Toy Store I made for Give Kids The World train layout. Here is a short video to show the store.
October 23, 2018
I have painted more of the building. Added white wash so the grout lines show up between the bricks. I plan to add more figures on the left side of the interior. Here is a picture of how I added grout between the bricks. Paint on the white, then wipe it off. That leaves the grout lines.
I also added a sign for the building.
October 20th, 2018
Well I have decided to build a toy store for Give Kids The World. I want to animate a train going around when the kids push the button. I found a website on the internet called Colorado Model. com. They sell G-scale buildings which is what I need for the project. I also considered using wood and making a wooden structure. I think however, that a brick building is more appropriate as its a commercial building.
I ordered this kit that has an angled door opening as the building is going on a corner on the GKTW layout. 
I will only be using the left third of the kit for this build. Here are the four pieces of the kit I am using.
I had planned to build a turntable with a motor attached to turn it but I was in Home Depot the other day and found this building in the Christmas section.
This is exactly what I need for the build so I purchased it.
Here are more recent pictures of the new mechanism installed in the building and the building painted.
I need to touch up more of the painting and add some signs in order to complete it.
October 9, 2018
Been looking at some electronic projects to try. Haven’t come up with anything yet. Picked up a magazine on animation at the Deland train show last Saturday. I think there are a couple projects in there that I will do for Give Kids The World.
Not much else going on.
September 12, 2018
Well I am not working on any projects at this time. Trying to decide what to do next. Don’t have room for anymore buildings on the layout or in the house so I don’t think I am ready to start another build. I have considered building kits/dirama and selling them at train shows but not sure if I want to get into that yet. Going to see the Fine Scale layout in Odessa, Fl on Saturday. That probably will give me some idea’s what to do next.
August 31, 2018
I decided to make a building that is under construction for a scene on the Give Kids The World layout. We had the scene that looks like its a construction site but there was nothing being built. This was an easy build since it did not have to be a finished one, however the build had to be done differently. Instead of just adding a floor and siding for walls the building had to have a constructed floor, and studded walls. Of course the first floor had to be built before the second one could as those walls sit on top of the second floor. Here is a picture of the finished product installed on the Give Kids The World layout.
August 14, 2018
Well the layout has taken shape. Roads have been added, buildings, people, automobiles, vehicles and so forth has been added. I have also added more of the grass and gravel. Now I have decided to also remove a layer of foam and add a industrial port. Although this could be tied to the train track, it is not going to be. I used lots of the same buildings I had on my old layout. The only thing I was concerned about was getting the color of the water correct. Here is a picture of it so far.
July 17, 2018
Making some progress with the new layout. As planned purchased a table, Styrofoam and have laid track down to see if I like the plan. Although its a lot smaller than anything I have made before it will have to do as I need to be able to remove it at a moments notice so a bed can be set up in the guest room. I have laid the track and wired it up and now added some buildings (not many as I need to remove them) and added grass.
During all this process my operating system NCE Power Cab stopped working. I have a back up one that I had been using to do programming and that one failed as well. After trying to find out what was wrong with them I finally realized the circuit boards must have shorted out and needed to be replaced. Checking the price I found a new system is only a few dollars more so I ordered a new one. After that, big mistake, I messed with the system more and got both of them to work. To late to cancel the new system so I am now going to have three NCE power cab systems and only need one. Perhaps I can sell one of them. I did find out one of the circuit board jacks that interfaces the throttle with the track has bad pins in it. I could replace that board for about $20.00 dollars. Maybe later.
So here are some pictures of the new layout so far. Hope you can see them
July 8, 2018
Well the Willow Crossing Railroad has been dismantled. I decided to move the layout into the house so the one in the shed has been taken out. The new one is a “shelf layout”. 29″X96″. The only problem is the layout in the house needs to be able to be removed if I need to set up a bed for visitors. I started by purchasing a 8′ folding table, then purchased two 4X8 ft sheets of 1″ extruded Styrofoam. My thought is to just lay the Styrofoam on the table and build the layout on it. If it needs to be moved I can lift it up in one piece and take it out of the room, fold the table back up and store it away. We’ll see if that is going to work. I have laid out track on the Styrofoam but have not glued it down yet. Need to test it out and see if its going to work or if I need to change the plan.
July 3, 2018
No special projects going on at this time.
June 3, 2018
Blues Brothers Brewery is done. Here are a couple shots of the finished building. Note the beer barrow’s on the signs and door. Also beer kegs in the Tap room.
May 27, 2018
Well I have been working on the Blues Brothers Brewery. Added some ground foam, dirt, grass and some walkways. All the roofing is done front and back. Added some people also.
May 16, 2018
A little progress on the Blue’s Brothers Brewery. Added some tin roofing, painted the wood sections and added signs. At a standstill now waiting on more metal roofing from Northeastern scale lumber. Here are new pics.
May 11, 2018
Now that I have the Brewery building all closed in its time to paint the metal roofing. I use Raw Sienna as a base and brush Burnt Sienna over it to make it have a more rusted look. Also use the Alcohol india ink wash to give the wood part of the building a weathered look. Here are a couple pictures of the roofing.
May 10, 2018
Have the new circuit boards for the riding train at Give Kids The World. The circuit board works as planned, however I have to dig into the engine as its shorting out the transformer.
Looked at the engine and sure enough there were a couple wires that were not completely covered and must have been causing the short. Fixed them and next Tuesday will place it on the layout and see if it runs. The layout is actually G-Scale so we are using HO scale train for the track that looks like people are riding on it. Added a button for the kids to push to make the train go back and forth.
Lastly I have been learning how to use the Arduino circuit board. Expect I will be able to add some projects controlled by the computer board. Will program it to make some action figure work. Still in the learning process there.
Been batting around names for the latest building I’m making. Since its inspired by the House of Blues building at Disney Springs I want to include some parts of that into the name of the building. Thinking Blue House Brewery; Blues Brewery; Blues Brothers Brewery; Blues Brewing. I’m leaning towards Blues Brothers Brewery.
May 6, 2018
Added interior pieces, lighting, and part of the back. Making progress.
May 4, 2018
Added some doors, windows and lights. Also added some flooring and sub-roofing.
May 1st, 2018
I’ve been working on this building lately. Creating it as I go. Added some floors for the second story a stairwell and some doors. My order of metal roofing has not come in yet so that will be added later. Long way to go. Here are a few updated pictures.
April 28th, 2018
Now I have another project going. Installing a HO gauge train in the G-scale layout at Give Kids The World. The purpose is to make it look like the people are riding on a live steam train. Ordered a circuit board to make it go back and forth but messed it up somehow and killed the board. Had to order another one to replace it. Its on the way. More on that later.
Also started a new building based on the House of Blues building located at Disney Springs. Its a large building so I will only be able to create parts of it. Even scaling it down is difficult as its so large. The largest part of the building is metal, old rusty metal. Real neat. The other parts of the building are wood siding. Its all decorated up which I will not duplicate. I am thinking this would be a brewery or farming mill type of building. Here is the structure so far…Its hard to see from the picture but it will be clearer once I get some siding on it.
04/20/2018
Since I volunteer at Give Kids the World keeping the trains and layout updated in Amberville I have been working on projects for there. We purchased some solar windmills to place on the layout but found them to be poorly motorized. I purchased some servo motors via WalMart (best deal I could find, 10 for $18.00 plus dollars). Had to modify them so they will rotate 360 degrees continuously and mount them in the base. Just finished modifying the first one.
04/18/2018 Well just a little update. I decided for now not to name the building but did add some water using Woodland Scenics water
effects. Have a couple other projects going on so going to set this aside
April 2018
So this is the project page. Here is the first project for this post.
My latest project is the LaserArt Weimer Grist Mill. Here’s what it looks like so far.
The wires you see coming out from under the diorama are for lights. I didn’t motorize the water wheel but wish now that I had. Probably not worth taking it apart to add power to the wheel. Still needs to be weathered, detailed with people, vehicles and so forth. If the building were to be added to a 50’s era the mill would no longer be used. It then would be converted to some other type of business. That’s why there are no signs yet. Need to determine what the business is going to be. For an earlier era it probably would be a working mill and could still be called Weimer Grist Mill. Just a fun project.