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| Scene from the News Years Party we attended |
Work on the Aquia Line is 2025 was dominated by the machine shop construction and developing a range of figures to populate the layout. Somehow I managed to host no operation sessions all year, though I did have an open house for the layout and ran trains for some quests. I did attend some op sessions elsewhere including Marty McGuirk's inaugural session, Mat Thompson's new Oregon layout, Rich Steinman's EL and George Shindledecker's WM.
I hope to get more projects finished on the Aquia Line next year. I also have several other modeling projects lined up that I wish to compete (see Moby Dick diorama below). It will be a fun year as I also have a lot of travel planned starting with a trip to Costa Rica. Then to the Atlanta Figure Show in Feb, and Florida in March. Later in the year there trips to Japan and Prague on the schedule. In July-August there is the NMRA National Convention in Chattanooga and the IPMS National in Fort Wayne on back to back weekends.
From Hell's Heart I Stab at Thee
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| Gregory Peck stabbing Moby Dick |
This is a figure diorama I am working on inspired by the story of Moby Dick. Specifically the scene from the movie with Gregory Peck where Ahab is caught on the whale and he tries to stab it as seen at the left.
The scene in the movie is a bit different from the book where Ahab doesn't get lashed to the whale, but is yanked off the whale boat by the harpoon line as it wrapped around his neck,
"The harpoon was darted; the stricken whale flew forward; with igniting velocity the line ran through the grooves;—ran foul. Ahab stooped to clear it; he did clear it; but the flying turn caught him round the neck, and voicelessly as Turkish mutes bowstring their victim, he was shot out of the boat, ere the crew knew he was gone. Next instant, the heavy eye-splice in the rope’s final end flew out of the stark-empty tub, knocked down an oarsman, and smiting the sea, disappeared in its depths.
The scene in the later movie with Patrick Stewart is a little closer to how the book described, but still has some differences.
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| Scenes from Patrick Stewart's movie version |
I mocked up the diorama in Blender
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| The whale was too large for my printer so it required me to print it in two parts. |
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| I used 2-part putty to resculpt the eye area. |
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I added additional wrinkles to the whale using my Rotex sander.
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| I have blocked in the colors on Ahab/ |
