Dr. Brunnell The Embalmer

Several months ago, Doug Tagsold and I had a discussion about his great grandfather, Harvey Parker. Harvey Parker was a member of the 4th Michigan Infantry Regiment in the US Army of the Potomac. The Army of the Potomac is the Army that was supported by the USMRR Aquia Line, the line that I model in O Scale. Doug told me that Harvey would later be captured, survive Andersonville prison, and return home to father a family with 5 generations, three of which were embalmers and funeral directors.  Doug’s family donated Harvey’s letters to an archive at the University of Michigan. Alas, they are not available on line and Doug did not pay much attention to them when he was younger. So we didn’t have much to go on.

I was aware that there was an embalmer named Dr Brunnell in Fredericksburg in 1862. I assume that he moved his establishment to Aquia Landing when the US Army left Fredericksburg in late 1862. Doug and I speculated that his great grandfather may have been inspired to become an embalmer by seeing him and  other embalmers while serving in the Army. Wikipedia says, 

"Embalming became more common in the United States during the American Civil War, when servicemen often died far from home. The wish of families for their remains to be returned home for local burial and lengthy transport from the battlefield meant it became common in the United States.

The period from about 1861 is sometimes known as the funeral period of embalming and is marked by a separation of the fields of embalming by undertakers and embalming (anatomical wetting) for medical and scientific purposes.  Dr Thomas Holmes received a commission from the Army Medical Corps to embalm the corpses of dead Union officers to return to their families. Military authorities also permitted private embalmers to work in military-controlled areas. The passage of Abraham Lincoln's body home for burial was made possible by embalming, and it brought wider public attention to the possibilities and potential of embalming.”

I used the prototype photo of Dr Brunnell's facility in Fredericksburg, VA as inspiration for the model. I didn't have room for the whole width of the structure, so I just built the gable section using laser-cut wood. I used parchment paper to simulate the canvas sides. I made the signs on my computer using the prototype photos as a guide.

The doctor and the man with the shovel are figures by Knuckleduster that I painted. The Harvey Parker figure is from Sash and Saber to which I added a kepi-wearing Zouave head, also by Sash and Saber.  There was a Lieutenant Parker in the 4th Michigan, but Doug does not think Harvey Parker was an officer. That is why I depicted him wearing an enlisted uniform. 

The 4th Michigan was a zouave infantry regiment. They wore dark blue uniforms with either blue fez with red tassel or blue kepi. The prototype photo of the soldiers in the 4th Michigan is a colorized image from the National Archives showing the Zouave uniforms.

A little more research revealed that the Lieutenant Parker mentioned in the captions of some of  the photos of the 4th Michigan was actually Sewell Parker, thereby confirming that Harvey Parker was not an officer. 

Here is a photo of Doug pointing at the figure of his great grandfather on my layout. 

To complete the scene I  started building a Berkshire Valley model of an O Scale wagon used by a photographer. This is a very fine kit. I have not finished the kit as you can see the unpainted model in the photos. My plan is to show a scene where the photographer is taking a photo of the embalmer’s facility.

I also added a small vignette to the Primmer Farm. This shows Mrs. Primmer milking their family cow while a soldier looks on. The cow and woman were 40mm figures from Triguard Miniatures.

In Memoriam: Paul Dolkos

On August 10, 2024, Paul Dolkos passed away while in hospice care in Alexandria, VA. He was 85. Paul's family asked to post this news to the model railroad community.  They are planning a celebration of his life in the future. I will post the time and location as it becomes available. 

Working on my Soldier Summit layout

I don't remember exactly when we met for the first time.  I know it was sometime in the mid 1990's. Paul lived in Alexandria a few miles from where I lived. He took me under his wing. He helped me with my model railroad projects and introduced me to many of the model railroad publishers and operating groups. This photo is the earliest I have of him from 2001 when he was helping me build a N scale project layout for Model Railroader magazine in my old house.

As our relationship developed and my skills improved, I was honored to be asked to contribute work on his layout. I became Paul's custom decal printer. He would frequently visit my house and supervise me as I generated many custom decals for his layout using Photoshop on my computer.  Everything had to be just right for him. One day I was pleasantly surprised to see that he had created a vignette on his railroad of two men putting up a sign. Their truck was called "Kempinski and Son, Sign Painters."

"Ship Model?"

When he started his Baltimore Harbor Layout, I was excited to help build the pier side warehouse. Once it was built, I said to Paul," Now all you need is a nice ship model."

He looked at me with a slight smirk and said, "I'm a model railroader, not a ship modeler." 

Paul also contributed a lot of work on my various layouts. If you scan through this blog you will find dozens of examples.  I once said to Alicia that when Paul does work on my layout, there is no need to check it. You know it was done right. I would frequently ask his advice on various design or artistic questions. In just about every case, I did what he suggested. 

Paul taking background photos while on a
 road trip to Maryland

We shared a lot of other mutual interests especially photography. In addition, he and my wife Alicia would discuss finances and local Alexandria news when he visited. Speaking of Alicia, my all-time favorite Paul Dolkos story is when I took her to see his former B&M Layout. Alicia walked down the stairs, took a brief look around and blurted out, "Oh, so this is what they are supposed to look like."

Indeed. 

Paul's photo of Edna Mine

Paul was truly a train enthusiast.  He started rail-fanning as a young man and kept it up for seven decades. His slide collection was a gold mine of fantastic images. Whenever I started a new article or project, I first contacted Paul to see what images he might have. He did not disappoint. This photo of the Edna Mine in Colorado from the 1980s is a good case in point.  

One amusing anecdote I remember was when Paul got his first vehicle with GPS navigation.  He was so excited to learn that the navigation screens displayed the railroad tracks and not just the normal roads. 

At an ops session in NJ

I recall another time when Paul brought over his new digital camera, and we did a side-by-side comparison of his and my camera's capabilities. 

For some reason, he never wanted to buy a new computer. And he tried to run Photoshop Elements on the aging machine. So, over the past the last few years I made many trips to his house to act as tech support. Once I happened to be riding my bike and he called for tech support. I was two blocks from his  house. So, I said, "if you don't mind a sweaty biker coming in your house, I can be right over." 

Paul getting in the Porsche for fun ride in the snow

We made many road trips together to rail fan and operate on layouts. One thing about those trips, if Paul was with you, you were not going to eat at cheap fast-food joints. One time when we got caught in an early snowstorm in New Jersey in my Porsche with summer tires, and we were gingerly driving around. I was shocked when Paul said, "Let's stop at McDonalds to get breakfast." It should be noted that Paul once owned a Porsche too.

Paul had written multiple scores of articles for the model railroad press. He delivered dozens of clinics to local NMRA and RPM meets. Those inspired and instructed many model railroads. But he also was very generous with his time and advice for dozens of modelers. It is a wonderful tribute to him that many call him their mentor.

Paul's last year was tough on him and his family. I tried to visit him at his retirement home, hospital, and rehab as often as possible. I could see his health sliding downhill. Still, he enjoyed talking about trains and reading magazines that I brought him. He was a gentleman until the end. Rest in peace my friend. 

Happier times, Paul and his wife Linda (far right) are in this photo. 

Road Trip to IPMS National Convention 2024

Former C&O Caboose and Freight depot in Ashland, KY

We are in the middle of our road trip to the Midwest to attend the IPMS National Convention 2024 and to visit family. We started the trip on Monday with a stop at Blackwater Falls State Park in WV. We spent the first night at Ashland, KY.  I visited the location of the former AK Steel mill, which I featured on the cover of my book on Modeling Steel. The AK mill was torn down in 2021. Almost nothing is left of the mill except for some piles of materials and some bits of foundations.

Blackwater Falls State Park

Next stop was golf at Eagle Trace Golf Course in Morehead, KY. Alicia and I played 18 holes. It was a nice course. Then we met my son, Chase and his daughter, Ruka, at their new farm near Owensville, KY. They bought the farm as a weekend camping spot and to eventually develop it.

 

Chase and Ruka survey their
 farm

It is a beautiful piece of land along the Slate Creek with woods, a ridge with nice view, and 20 acres for growing hay. That evening we met Dan Pierce, Rob and Terry Kempinski at Chase's house in Lexington, KY. Mizuki had prepared a wonderful dinner. Alas, we couldn't stay long as we continued on to Columbus, IN so that our drive to Madison the next day would get us there around noon. 

Doug and Alicia at the Blue Gray SIG
display at the Tiger Meet

We arrived in Madison, WI and got checked into the convention. All went smoothly. The location was in the Monona Convention Center. It was an excellent facility and a great place for the convention.  I set up models in the contest area and at the Tiger Meet. The latter was an area set aside for models that would be exhibited, but not in the contest. Doug Hamilton coordinated the Blue and Gray Special Interest Group exhibit. I had 3 models on display there.

We stayed at a house about 30 miles from downtown Madison. It was a very nice house surrounded by woods and hills. It was very relaxing. The bridge in front of the house was home to a flock of Cliff Swallows that we saw every morning and evening.

10th hole Osks at Cottage Grove

The next morning Alicia, Dan, Rob and I played golf at The Oaks at Cottage Grove. It as a beautiful course in excellent shape. We played a scramble, which gave me time to do some bird watching. I spotted a Baltimore Oriole, a lifer for me. I also made a clutch 25-foot putt for a birdie. We finished 3 under for the round as everyone contributed some shots to the score. 

Back at the Convention, over 1,000 people registered with 2,950 models in the contest and another 700 or so in the Tiger Meet. I contracted a head cold (see comment at end of this post,) so I didn't judge models this year. But the contest went well. Our group did quite well. The Train Busters Group Build Diorama received first place. My dictator mortar received second place in the figure vignettes category.  Rob's Sherman tank-based yarder got first place in Construction Equipment, his St-Chamond tank got third place in Basic Kit Build Armor. And the big surprise was his "I'll Buy You a Beer in Berlin" vignette got the D-Day Theme Award.  

Greg Chilar's winning Vignette

 We also received a lot of peer recognition. Many groups award challenge coins, poker chips or other items to models that they think deserved it. We did it too. I made a batch of about 50 laser cut medallions for the Tailgate Modelers. We distributed them to models that we liked. For example, I awarded a medallion to this vignette of a mounted knight and dismounted warrior. That vignette went on to win first place in figure vignettes and Best Diorama overall. I later learned it was painted by well-known figure painter, Greg Chilar.  I also made a special effort to award our medallions to junior modelers. 

The Tank Busters diorama received three coins/chips, while my Medusa and diablo busts received one each. Rob's St-Chamond and Yarder also received some coins/chips.

I repainted my Diablo 3 bust to incorporate object source lighting. In this case, the source of the light was the glow from inside the character. The Diablo character is actually a drab looking figure. The internal glow and the OSL made the figure more colorful and appealing. 

My Medusa bust received a peer recognition medallion. In addition, the folks at Fine Scale Modeler photographed it for their show gallery. I don't know when they will post that.

The Dictator with a Second Place Award

I entered a model of the Dictator Mortar in the figure vignette category. It got second place, behind Greg Chilar's vignette. I actually built this model about 18 years ago. I used a Verlinden 13-inch mortar kit. I scratch built the carriage using wood and resin parts. I made the master road wheel and pillow blocks in styrene, then made resin copies. I sculpted the figure to match a prototype photo using a head by Shenandoah Models. I refreshed the scenery on the diorama using some of the newer static grass and leaf flock materials. 

Airplanes are the most popular category of models at the Nationals. But this year I thought the ship models had a lot of really fine entries including two scratch-built admiralty models. There was also a gigantic, large scale model of a US Navy LCM with full interior.  You can see the admiralty models behind the giant LCM in the photo at the left. I believe the LCM received the best ship award

Two great crested flycatchers 

I managed to sneak in some bird watching at the rental house and a trip to the Cave of the Mounds (well worth a visit). Alicia, Terry and I also visited with Alicia's friend to see the new house they are building on Lake Monona across from the convention center. It is spectacular. 

I didn't spend much time in the vendor area. But I did buy a couple items for future projects. The ICM company from Ukraine was there. They gave a fantastic presentation on Saturday about what it is like to run a model business in war-time Kiev. They deserve our support. I bought one of their kits.

FSM Craftsman Structure on Phil's layout

On Thursday evening we had a chance to visit two nice model railroads by Bill Clancy and Phil Hottman. Bill is a retired orthopedic surgeon that invented ACL repair surgery. Phil was an engineer at Sub Zero and holds several patents. Thanks to Ken Hojnacki for setting up the layout visits. 

Our road trip continued as we went to Minnesota to visit Alicia's family. We return later this week.

Notes on catching a cold. I came down with cold like symptoms on Friday, sniffles, sore throat, and congestion, but no fever. My wife and I took two at home covid tests and were negative. When we arrived in Minnesota I went to the Mayo Clinic Express and had a PCR COVID test that was also negative. The doctor said I had some kind of viral common cold but not COVID or flu. I felt pretty well but isolated myself and wore a mask. Apparently several other people reported contracting COVID at the convention.  I’m feeling almost fully better as I write this 

A Video Look at Behind the Scenes

Train Busters Diorama

 

We have completed the Train Busters diorama. Mark delivered the truck today with 3 soldiers.  We set them up to depict the truck as if it was abandoned by the crew after being strafed.  One soldier carries his wounded buddy to safety, but another soldier, Hans, decided, perhaps foolishly, to fight back. One MP-42 SMG versus a flight of P-47's each with eight 0.50 caliber MGs. 

Hans, don't be a hero!

I added the flaming smoke. I used an LED tea candle for the light with poly-fiber painted black and orange for the smoke.

As a final touch I added a cutout to the backdrop of a photo of a P-47 looping around to make a second pass on the train and bridge 

Punch List Time

 

We are almost done with the Operation Chattanooga Choo Choo diorama. There are just a few items on the punch list left to do.  Mark is just about finished with the last major element, which is a German tactical truck in the foreground. 

I have a few more things to do on the trains and that will be it.

To make the water I used a product that I haven't tried before - UV curing resin. I painted the stream bed with mud brown and dark blue gray taking care to feather the brown into the gray. Then I added a thin layer of UV resin. I used a portable UV light to cure it. But after a half hour, Alicia helped me carry the whole diorama outside to let the strong sunlight help cure it. I couldn't leave the diorama outside too long as it was very hot today, and the sun was strong. The models heated up very rapidly.  Good news was the resin cured quite nicely. This is probably the easiest way to make a clear resin stream. 

While the models were outside, I decided to take a few test photos. There is nothing like actual daylight to make a model look realistic. 

Operation Chattanooga Choo Choo Diorama

Test photo of work in progress 

 Operation Chattanooga Choo Choo was part of the Allied Transportation Plan leading up to D-Day.  According to "The Army Air Forces in World War II, III Europe:Argument to V-E Day,"

"The most sensational attacks were the CHATTANOOGA CHOO-CHOO missions, the first of which took place on 21 May when 763 AEAF fighters swept over the northern half of France and 500 Eighth Air Force fighters ranged over Germany firing and bombing at trains. Another occurred on 25 May when three Ninth Air Force fighter groups operated over the Rhineland and northern France and more than 600 Eighth Air Force fighters shot up trains in Belgium and France. Other outstanding CHATTANOOGA missions were carried out by 571 Eighth Air Force fighters in eastern Germany and Poland on 29 May and by the Ninth Air Force in France on 2, 3, and 4 June. These operations furnished good practice for fighter pilots in attacking ground targets, a skill they were to develop to a high degree after the invasion, and they brought about enormous disruption to enemy traffic and ruin to equipment while producing important psychological effects on railroad personnel. French train crews deserted in large numbers, especially after fighters began to drop belly tanks on stalled trains and to set them afire by strafing. This situation caused the Germans to employ crews of their own nationality on the more hazardous runs, and after 26 May railway operations in daylight were sharply reduced even in cases where the lines were unbroken.

The battle against enemy transportation was a splendid success on the eve of D-day. It "opened the door for the invasion," as Spaatz later informed Arnold.94 British-American aircraft had dropped a total of 76,200 tons (on rail centers 71,000, bridges 4,400, and open lines 800) and would aim 78,000 tons more at transportation targets before France was free of the German. Railway traffic in France fell off dramatically between 19 May -- when the Allies were somewhat discouraged about the transportation bombings and 9 June 1944, the index dropping from 69 to 38 (based on 100 for January and February 1944). By mid-July the index would be only 23, and traffic in northern France would be practically at a standstill. Von Rundstedt had been unable to move effective reinforcements into the Seine-Loire triangle at the time of the invasion, and his forces had been committed piecemeal and could not even be deployed as units. Thus, the Allies had won their premier objective in the transportation campaign: they were able to build up their forces in Normandy from across the Channel faster than the Germans could reinforce theirs from adjacent areas in France."

This diorama is a group build by the Tailgate Modelers. The group includes Dan Pierce, Rob Kempinski and David Keene from Florida, and Mark Franke and I from Virginia. Our name is derived from the Dan's business where he sells model kits at hobby shows, and sometimes from the back of his truck. 

I proposed the idea for diorama last summer when we got back from the IPMS Nationals in Texas. The concept was to build a diorama showing US P-47s attacking German trains.  We initially planned to set the diorama in Italy. But we relocated the site of the diorama to France when we learned that the theme for the 2024 IPMS Nationals was D-Day.

We divide the work as follows Dan built the locomotive. Rob built the 1/72nd scale P-47, David built 2 1/144the scale P-47s, Mark built a truck, and I did the diorama box, bridge, railcars, and all the scenery. We were assisted by Jennifer and Rob in making some of the trees. 

Dan built the Kreigslokomotive. It is a 1/72nd scale model by Hobby Boss. This was the second model Dan built for the diorama. The first was a Revell 1/87th scale kit of a German Kreigslokomotive. He did a nice job on that, but the kit was too basic. So, we upped the scale the trains to 1/72nd.  This kit is much better detailed. Rob delivered the locomotive to Virginia on one of his visits.

The drawback of doing the trains in 1/72nd scale was that there are no German railcars available in that scale. So I had to make some on my 3D printer. I was able to find some files, but they needed some work.

I also had to make custom decals as none were available. 

Rob built three 1/72nd scale P-47s for the project. The first two were bare metal finish P-47s for fighter groups that fought in Italy. He agreed to build one more painted in Overlord invasion stripes once the diorama was moved to depict France. I used one of the silver planes as a stand in during construction to mockup the layout. That way the plane with the invasion stripes place was not damaged.  

David built two 1/144th scale P-47s. We will only need one. It will be located toward the back for forced perspective. 

I built the box to house the diorama. It is like a shadow box with a coved backdrop covering the sides and back. The backdrop is a piece of sheet 0.060" styrene. There is also a top panel that is removable for construction and maintenance access. We have a LED battery powered under cabinet light that puts out 200 lumens to illuminate the diorama.

I scratch built the bridge based on a photo of a an actual bridge in Normandy, France.  Once the bridge was built, I added and shaped the terrain using foam and putty. 

Jennifer and Rob visited in late June. They helped me make trees. There are 42 large trees on the diorama.  I painted the backdrop while they built trees.

I flocked the trees and installed them over the course of 3 days. Then it was time to add the ground texture. 

The diorama is almost done. It's good thing as it has to be ready to go by 15 July.  We started this last year but work on it was diverted to making the D-Day diorama for Keith Rocco.

The Last Piece of the Exhibit

We finished the last piece of the Omaha Beach Diorama this week. Mark Franke constructed a 1/350th scale model of the USS Frankford. That was one of the US Navy destroyers that provided direct gun fire support to the troops pinned down on Omaha Beach. By many accounts, that gunfire was crucial to helping the Allies break through the German beach defenses. 

Mark used a ship model from Dragon with a set of photo etched parts from Gold Medal Models. Mark said that he did not anticipate how difficult assembling the tiny etched parts would be. As a result it took him several months to finish the kit.

To expedite the construction process, I offered to build the diorama base and scenic treatment. That job went pretty quickly.  I used a piece of oak I had on hand to make the base. To that I added a piece of 1/8th inch hardboard that was precisely cut to hold the acrylic case. Then I added a slightly smaller piece of foam to create the water surface. 

I cut the foam on my chop saw. Then I used a small blow torch to create the wave troughs. I used the bottom of the ship model hull to create a space in the water to house the model. 

Then I used the same toilet paper mache technique as before to add texture to the waves.  Various shades of dark blue paint and several coats of acrylic gloss finished off the waves.  I set the model in the hole in the base and used heavy acrylic gloss gel to tape the waves along the hull. 

The final touch was some puffs of smoke from the 5-inch guns.

The back drop is a section from a painting from the US Navy collection painted by an eyewitness at Omaha Beach.  We installed the diorama at the Museum on Friday. 

D-Day Diorama Team Members installing the last diorama at the WW2 Experience Museum
L-R Rob Kempinski, John Drye, Bernard Kempinski, Mark Franke