RedCrystal

Model scale

Much is written about model scales. Go to Wikipedia and Live Search and Google if you want to read what I read.

I've basically been going back and forth between O scale (about 1:48) and HO scale (about 1:87 or so), the two most popular model scales. I'm leaning towards O scale because I'd rather have just a bit larger area to get just a bit more detail into the models. That means the models will take up a bit of space, but I think I'll have more options when it comes to things like lighting and so on.

Let's see, at O scale, a 4' x 8' plywood table would give me the space to represent an area about... 192' x 384'. That's 73,728 ft², or about 1.7 acres. Now, that means if I were to try to represent Disneyland, I'd need boards about 40' x 40'. On the other hand, Bell's Amusement Park (sadly, closed due to stupid gummint people in Oklahoma -- and I can say that because I'm from Oklahoma sort of) took only 10 acres as opposed to Disneyland's 85. Bell's was a lot of fun (stupid gummint people!), so to represent it would take only about, oh, 13.75' x 13.75'. Or, if I use 8' for one edge, it'd be around 24' for another edge.

Hm. That's still pretty big.

Ummm.

At the O scale, the ticket booth I plan to make would only be 1½ inches wide. And about 3 inches tall.

In other words, the drawing from the previous post is actual size.

Yeah, okay, a little daunting, but that's what this is about, right?

At the O scale, I could do a fairly small but decent midway or carnival within about 5' x 5', which represents about 60,000 ft².

A 36' diameter carousel will be about 9" in diameter.

A 200' observation tower (unlikely in a haunted amusement park) would be 4' tall.

A 90' tall Ferris wheel (a "giant" wheel) will actually be just under 2'.

Those last two are the big rides.

A bobsled ride could be made to easily fit in an area 15" x 15". The diameter of the ride itself would only be just over a foot in diameter.

I think I can make this work. The hard part will be the lights and, of course, the detail (especially the lettering).

Oh, and the lighting. Those little subminiature LEDs can get expensive! Not to mention if I plan to do tricky little special effects like marquee lights or flickering lights.

New Hobby: Miniature Models

I've decided to pursue one hobby fairly seriously. It's not a hobby I've ever really identified strictly as a serious hobby, nor exclusively. Rather, I've sort of mildly pursued lots of other hobbies instead: biking, photography, flying, music, movies, reading, puzzles, travel.

None of those hobbies have ever really grabbed me. And we recently bought a model rocket for Christopher Robin, and doing that made me think of what a fun hobby that is, and how I don't really have hobbies as much as diversions and leisurely pursuits.

So the family and I went to Borders, where I had in my mind to browse through the selection looking specifically for a new hobby that would grab me. I found a book titled "Get A Hobby" or something like that, and looked through about 100 ideas. I read the entire list about three times, still not finding anything that leaped out. Finally, I sort of settled on one: Balsa Wood Carving. And the more I thought about that, the more I thought of the neat sort of little things I would build.

And thus I was grabbed.

I won't be sticking just with balsa, although I'm sure I'll be using it. Right away, I started thinking of little Christmas villages and the like.

After Borders, we dropped into Michaels for some things we'd need for the rockets, and I got drawn to the Halloween displays. (Yes, they are already out. No, I don't believe it, either.) They had some neat miniatures that spawned some ideas.

I browsed on the web today for more ideas. I came across Department 56, of course, and got lots more ideas. But I plan to create my own original ideas and then build them.

I'll begin with a Halloween theme (one of my favorite holidays). Michaels had a Halloween amusement park theme going on, and I liked that, so I'm going to start with my own. I'll keep it simple, by starting with the ticket booth. Here's the first draft:

More details will come later. I'll see how hard it is to add lights and some special effects. I don't plan to put in any moving parts yet, but I'm sure I will later on.

I'm also going to document how long it takes to actually build this, and how expensive it turns out to be. The above picture is the result of maybe 4 hours of browsing on the web, thinking, and maybe 30 minutes of drawing.

Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, sausage, and spam.

Because it doesn't have as much rat in it.

Here's the email I received:

-----Original Message-----

From: Customs Service [mailto:tefuquay@uasys.edu]
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2008 1:20 AM
To: Alan McBee
Subject: Customs - We have received a parcel for you

Good afternoon,

We have received a parcel for you, sent from France on July 9. Please fill out the customs declaration attached to this message and send it to us by mail or fax. The address and the fax number are at the bottom of the declaration form.

Kind regards,

Christa Burns

Your Customs Service

And here was my reply:

From: Alan McBee
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2008 8:00 PM
To: 'Customs Service'
Subject: RE: Customs - We have received a parcel for you

Oh, gosh. A parcel for me! Thank goodness I'm gullible and completely trusting of every email I get, or I might think this was a scam.

Here's my condition: I'll send you my filled-in customs declaration, just as soon as you email me scanned color copies of your birth certificate, Social Security Card, or Naturalized Citizenship Papers, and current Drivers License (all those with front and back, please!) so that I can verify that you are a real, honest-to-goodness "Customs Service". (Don't you mean a Customs Service Agent?). I'm sure you'll trust me to protect your personal, private information, since you wouldn't ask me to trust you with mine unless you were a real Customs Service, right?

Whew! That was fun. Let's do this again sometime.

->A

Spam rats. Pish.