neo train model

"Friendly Fridays... WIP it... WIP it good!"

As a board member of the NMRA Garden State Division, I was charged with staging our winter meet last year. In addition to securing a venue, I had to establish a program so I enlisted the help of some mates who presented  'works-in-progress' clinics, or WIPs. Most of the guys owed me a favor or two, while a few others probably just felt sorry for me.

They did an absolutely outstanding job presenting their work in four 30 minute sessions allowing attendees to rotate from one station to the next. Especially gratifying was that attendance approached 100, doubling what the typical GSD meet usually gets. Let's listen in on the nuggets of wisdom from each clinician.

"It's true. Cosmo says that women are tired of men with thick, rich hair." - Craig Bisgeier

"It's not my problem. No one said to go ahead and touch the Crazy Glue." - Bruce DeYoung

"My  jelly doughnut is  dripping over everything. I hate when that happens." - Ted D'Iorio

"Geez, I  forget what comes next.  Hey, where the @#$*& are my sunglasses?" - Ralph Heiss

"Here's a tip for added realism. I like to put the roof on TOP of the building." - Tony Koester

"I'm very excited about the new Gator Board modules from Chia Pet." - Ted Pamperin

"Do I look crazy? With a few breaks, we can be the best team in baseball." -  David Ramos

For the record, Craig displayed his mastery with rubber molds and casting resins; Joe demonstrated a creative way to scribe foam meat packaging into retaining walls; Bruce discussed his unique weathering techniques for craftsman kits; and Ted D. showed how to build and maintain a roster up to NMRA standards.

Ralph cleverly illustrated weathering rolling stock with PanPastels; Tony displayed proto structures for his NKP that he had converted from standard kits; Ted P. covered his imaginative scenery techniques; and Dave demonstrated his considerable expertise at building complex turnouts.

My heartfelt thanks to a bunch of talented gentlemen who invested their time and shared their talents for the betterment of our hobby. "Tres bien et merci beaucoup mes amis."

Tomorrow we'll be back with more standard fare. In fact we'll jump to the present for one specific item. Join us.