June Update

 

Fast Rope- US Navy and Marines Enforce Blockade

June was a busy month with a wonderful 10-day trip to central Europe wedged between work on  several modeling projects.  Since it's the Fourth of July let's start with that.

1. Writing the Declaration of Independence Diorama

Ferris' painting

This will be a shadow box diorama depicting Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and John Adams as they edit the declaration of independence 250 years ago.  It is based on Jean Leon Gerome Ferris' painting, but I modified the composition for better arrangement in a 3D shadow box diorama.

It features from right to left, Adams (right, who became the second President of the USA), Jefferson (in the center who became the 3rd US president and was 6'2" tall) and Ben Franklin (who was 70 years old at the time). Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston were also members of the Committee of Five that helped draft it, but for some reason don't get as much fame even though they were both very influential people in the early history of the United States.

Mock-up of the shadow pox 

Adams had pushed for Jefferson to take the lead on writing. Jefferson had a certain literary grace, and, more importantly, he wasn’t yet tarnished by too much speaking in the contentious congressional debates. “You can write ten times better than I can,” Adams told him.

So Jefferson got to work in a boarding house a few blocks from the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall), putting pen to paper between June 11 and 28. His desk was a simple wooden box with paper and quill pens that he held on his lap, a 18th century laptop.

When Jefferson finished, he handed copies to Franklin and Adams for review and editing.

In the original draft, Jefferson wrote, “We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable…”

This phrasing placed liberty’s foundation squarely in the realm of religion and natural law. It had theological weight and lofty moral power. But to Franklin the appeal to divine authority invited theological disputation. Ever the rationalist, he suggestred using the language of Enlightenment reason.

Franklin crossed out “sacred and undeniable” and scribbled something new: “self-evident.”

In 1776, Benjamin Franklin was 37 years older than Jefferson, and had sat through more committee meetings and wrestled with more politics than Adams and Jefferson combined. He understood that to rally a continent and pass muster with the prickly delegates of the Continental Congress, the Declaration’s truths needed to be stated plainly, not preached.

“Self-evident” drew on the language of 17th-century philosophers like Descartes and 18th-century thinkers like John Locke. It suggested these were not mere articles of religious faith, but truths discernible by reason and shared human experience.

The edits weren’t over. Congress itself would spend all day July 3rd and most of July 4th revising the document—cutting nearly a quarter of it, including Jefferson’s scathing denunciation of the slave trade, ironic since Jefferson, a Virginian, himself was a slave owner. .

But Franklin’s change remained. Self-evident survived. It threaded the needle between moral conviction and rational persuasion, giving the line a universalism that has carried through centuries.

2. Fast Rope : US Navy and Marines Enforce Blockade

Inspired by recent events, I converted my existing container ship model from the PoLA layout  into a diorama depicting US Marine fast roping to the top of the containers. 

The helicopter is a MH-60S from a Chinese company MRY-SFW, which stands for Mr. Yao's Super Fantasy World. It is 3D printed. The model is very nicely detailed. But there are some layer lines visible. They were very hard to remove due to all the rivet detail. I used several coats of leveling primer to try to hide them. 

The other major problem was that the 3D printed clear parts had a frosted appearance with visible layers. I tried polishing them, but did not have good luck. So I ordered a Hasegawa UH-60 as it has a the same windows and doors as the USN MH-60S. I had to carefully trim and sand the clear parts from the injection molded kit  to fit the 3D printed model. I was lucky it worked out.

The figures are 3D sculpts. The fast roping marines I sculpted. The other marines came from a vendor on Myminifactory.  The ropes are steel piano wire placed into holes drilled into the containers. They I added curled up sections of cord to simulate the excess rope that typically hangs from the helos. The helo is rather high as it has to avoid the ship cranes. That puts a lot of torque on the wires, even though the model weighs about 3 ounces.

I used Liquidtex acrylic heavy gel and acrylic pouring medium for the water surface.  I added a backdrop to help protect the fragile helicopter during handling and transport. I also made foam support to secure the helicopter while the diorama is in transit. Hopefully that will minimize vibrations. 

3. Boudica Bust

I had a commissioned model for the Long Island Figure club. They requested a bust of Boudica, Queen of the Iceni. They plan to sell the bust to raise money for their club. I printed about 30 busts for them.

5. John Adams Bust

I also did a digital sculpt of a bust for John Adams. Part of the founding fathers busts series.Not sure when I will get a chance to paint it. Sculpting the curly hair was a lot of fun. 

6. Polish National IPMS Show

Rob taking with the owner of Lukgraph.
Rob bought the huge Grumman Goose model

We had a chance to visit the Polish National IPMS show in Warsaw. It was a nice meet. About as big as the Northern Virgina IPMS meet. There were a lot of nice models on display. I also purchased a model a 230mm mortar built by Skoda, but used by the Poles in WW2. Alas, the weapon was spectaculary ineffective. One report mentioned they only had 75 rounds for all their mortar.  The Germans captured it and reused it in Norway. 

We saw some amazing paper models. Here is one example. 

This is a neat idea of a scuba diver trying to help a manta ray with a fishing net .

May Update

 May was a busy month with several projects in the works. And to make things even busier, I went on an 11 day to trip to Japan.

Show Figure

To accompany the bust of John Hancock for the NCMSS Show figure I created two more sculpts, Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. The Franklin figure will be available for sale by the NMCSS. I haven't had a chance to paint them yet. I want to also do a figure of John Adams.

I also created two sculpts for a client of Honus Wagner.

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Shizuoka Model Show

While we were in Japan we attended the Shizuoka Model Show. It is probably the biggest model show in Japan. There were two main halls and two smaller rooms for displays. While not as big as a National IPMS or NMRA Convention, it was still packed with lots of cool models and people. We met folks from Taiwan, Shanghai, Singapore, Japan and some from the USA. Gundam and Anime were at least half of the models on display. But this Honda pit row diorama was one of my favorites.

I didn't buy anything at the show. I did pick up some laster cut models of Japanese castle and a five level pagoda at a department store. I also purchased a Shinkansen Train set in N scale at a very nice hobby shop in Kyoto for my friend Brian. That was all my suitcase could handle.

Speaking of Shinkansen, we bought Japan Rail Passes for 7 days. So we rode lots of JR trains including the Shinkansen several times. I posted a video to youtube showing some of the trains we rode and the sights we saw.

Model Projects

The pile driver model for my layout is still not done. But, I have been working on an another project to take to the IPMS Nationals. I also am working on a new ACW N Scale module to debut at the NMRA National Convention.  Here is a hint on what the IPMS model will be. 

NoVa IPMS Model Classic 2026

I attended the NOVA IPMS Model Classic on Saturday after what has been a whirlwind of 5 weeks of travel and activity for mostly family activities plus a nasty cold. I had just returned from a week at Disney World with my daughter and her family. 

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I entered 9 models in 5 different categories. I am happy to report that I received several awards, while  fellow members of the National Capital Model Soldier Society also did very well. I received:

• 1st place for my 75mm model of Herman Haupt in the figure 90mm and less Category
• 1st place for Acinad and Koda in the Mounted Figure Category. This model also got a peer award from the Fort Wayne IPMS,
• 1st Place for the USMRR Engine House and Shop in the Miscellaneous and Railway Models Category. 
• 2nd Place for Inquisitor Mizar in the Bust Category
• 2nd Place for Avenging Varus in the Miscellaneous Diorama Category.
• My bust of the 1st Virginia infantry at Valley Forge got a peer award from Fort Wayne IPMS.

The USMRR Engine House and Shop also received the Best Miscellaneous Model Award, which put it in contention for Best in Show. However, that award went to Zack Becker, fellow member of the National Capital Model Soldier Society, for his dual busts of revolutionary war figures called "250." 
Zack also received some other awards but I did not get the full list.

Jim Ritchey, another member of National Capital Model Soldier Society, received first place for his Sicilian Pirate in the over 90mm category.

Darcy Hoffman ran the National Capital Model Soldier Society table where we debuted the 2026 Show Figure of John Hancock and had some sales. It will be interesting to see how others paint the figure.

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Brion Boyles was at the show displaying his incredible model of the 1/40th scale CSS Shiloh, a fictional model of a gunboat that served in the Confederate Navy set in his version of an alternate universe where the South did not lose the Civil War.  The model is both a fully- operational RC boat and incredibly detailed. 

Machine Shop Pictures

Strong light through the window wall to create realistic shadows on the carpenter workbenches

 I have not installed the machine shop in its final location. This was a good time to take some photos of the interior, while I still can maneuver the structure for the best angles and light. Nonetheless, it was tricky to take these shots as I had to balance light on the interior to see the detail, but not too much light to look unrealistic. 

All of these figures except JB Clough are ones I digitally sculpted. 

COL Haupt (superintendent) , JB Clough (chief engineer) and MG Burnside (Commander)  visit the Machine shop

I removed the roof on the right side to add light
and added a small LED light in the 
foreground

February Update

 

Lathe at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History

February was a whirlwind of activity amid some of the coldest sustained wintry weather I have experienced in Virginia in the 30 some years I have lived here.  

An expertly painted NMM finish on a figure by Dave Colwell
that was best of show at Crimson Brush 2026. 

The main event was a figure painting class my brother and I took in Atlanta, GA as a prelude to the Atlanta Figure Society Show. The class was taught by Jim Rice, a well known figure painting artist, and was great. It focused on non-metallic metal (NMM) painting techniques.  That is a technique used for centuries by 2D artists and now adopted by miniature hobbyists to create the illusion of metallic surfaces, such as armor or weapons, using only matte acrylic or sometimes oil paints instead of actual metallic pigments that are not metallic at all but small flecks of mica suspended in medium. This method involves layering gradients of light and shadow to mimic how light reflects off metal, with a dark base color and progressively lighter shade highlights while incorporating subtle color shifts for reflections. One key advantage of NMM is its scalability and photographic appeal, as it avoids the glittery sheen of true metallics that can look unnatural under certain lighting or in photos. Additionally, NMM allows for greater artistic control since non-metallic paints can be customized with various hues to match specific themes or environments. However, it is very hard to do well on a miniature. Hence the class.

This is the figure we painted in the class.

I enjoyed the class and I think I learned a lot about  techniques that he showed.  I need more practice. The Mizar figure has several NMM surfaces on it included the breastplate, scythe, bell and censer. At home I added the graveyard backdrop to help protect the figure and convey the story of a medieval zombie hunter. 

After the class, the show commenced. It was a successful show with over 500 figures on display. Rob and I had several figures on display. In between we managed a trip to the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History. It was his first visit there. 

We received several awards. Rob got two silver and two bronze medals. I got 4 silver and one bronze. The trip home was marred by yet another snow storm requiring me to take a hotel in Henderson, NC to let it blow over.

The next weekend was the Richmond IPMS Old Dominion Open. That is one of the largest model shows on the east coast aside from the IPMS Nationals. 

My brother again joined me as he had a flight coupon he needed to use. He entered 3 models and I had 10 in the contest. I was also a judge for categories that I did not enter. There were 1100 models on display with 245 contestants and 800 general admission folks. I met several friends form other meets and had a great time sharing stories. I especially enjoy talking with Don Johnson. He gave me detailed comments on how to improve some of my figures.

The contest went well. Rob received a 3rd place award for his Old King bust. I received a first place in dioramas for my Avenging Varus diorama. I also received second place for my 75mm figure of Herman Haupt. I received 3rd places for Mizar (see above) and Acinad and Koda mounted figure. I also received the Best Diorama special award. I also got some peer awards for Moby Dick,  Avenging Varus, and my 1st Virginian Infantry at Valley Forge bust.

Two trips to shows with the 1st Virgina bust and his long musket convinced me that the musket is just waiting to break off. So  I decided to make a small backdrop to protect the musket on this figure and help with  the story of an American Rev. War soldier at Vally Forge. Painting the backdrop was almost as much fun as doing the figure. 

I am making progress on a pile driver model for my layout. I will post pictures later. 

Happy New Year. The Moby Dick Diorama

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

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.  

Scenes from Patrick Stewart's movie version

I mocked up the diorama in Blender

The whale was too large for my printer so it required me to print it in two parts.

I used 2-part putty to resculpt the eye area.

I added additional wrinkles to the whale using my Rotex sander.

I have blocked in the colors on Ahab/

John Hancock

 This is a figure I have been working on for a possible 2026 show figure for the National Captial Model Soldier Society. It is a bust of John Hancock in 1/12th scale.  The figure is part of the theme of US 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. I sculpted the figured digitally using Meshy and Blender. It is painted with acrylics and inks. I tried to use Rembrandt lighting with a main light to the figures lefthand above and a small fill light on the right. 

The signature name plate was cut on my laser. The base is a piece off rosewood salvaged by Rob Kempinski from trees damaged in a hurricane a few years ago.

I have also been painting a 75mm figure of BG Hermann Haupt. This is WIP.

October Update - the AI Invasion

Proto People

An example of prototype people I can 3D print for my layout

I have spent much of October involved in developing a range of figures suitable for the Aquia Line. This is because there are very few civil war era figures available in the market that are in non-combat poses. So I decided to make my own.

One of my long term objectives was to learn 3D sculpting software to sculpt and then print those figures for my railroad.  I considered Zbrush and Blender as possible software tools for this. Both have pretty steep learning curves so I delayed learning them. Zbrush is also very expensive, while Blender is free, open source. However, I learned about a new sculpting service called Meshy that greatly simplifies the process. Meshy uses AI functions to convert 2D images into STL files that can be 3D printed.  It is similar to the photogramatry process used in 3D scanning, but it uses AI to extrapolate a 2D image to 3D.  They charge a subscription fee, but it is not too expensive. 

The work flow is  as follows

•     Find an image that I want to use as inspiration for a figure or set of figures. 
•     Clean up the image in Photoshop. 
•     Import the 2D image to Meshy and create an STL.
•     Clean up and or repair the STL file in Blender and  Meshmixer.  For example, add an arm that the AI may have omitted, or fix the insignia or hat style on a figure. I also embellish the facial and other details. 
•     Export a final STL that I can use in Chitubox to create the sliced file that can be used on a 3D printer.

 I am not going to bother going into detail on any of those steps as there are thousands of websites and Youtube videos that explain them. The bottom line is that this work flow saves me a lot of time in the sculpting phase of the process.

With this I have been able to produce 3D prints of actual people that I find in images taken on the actual Aquia Line. I have developed a range of these figures that I sell on my Alkem scale models web site https://alkemscalemodels.biz/proto-people

Story Telling 

Another one of my long term objectives is to use the USMRR Aquia Line as a setting and prop for telling stories in video or graphic novel format. I am not a big fan of  superhero graphic novels. But I do like more realistic and historical stories told in graphic format and they are fun to make. However, the possibility of making a video story has been enhanced with the use of some of the new AI video tools that are coming available. I have done a limited test of these and the results are promising, but not quite where they need to be yet to make a good video short. 

Here is a test video that I made using mostly Grok, but also some RunwayML. 

Unfortunately, RunwayML has been disappointing. Grok works better but has many limitations. So, for now, this objective will have to wait until the AI video generating software improves. 

NMRA MER Annual Convention

I attended the NMRA MER Annual convention in King of Prussia, PA, which is a suburb of Philadelphia, PA. The convention was fun, although a bit on the expensive side. The hotel was very nice and convenient to a lot of other attractions, such as the Audubon Center, where I went twice to bird watch.  I went to one op session, managed to attend one clinic and spent a good part of Saturday acting an an evaluator for the Model Contest.

The model contest was very well run. My team was very proficient and did a great job in evaluating the many models. I also entered a model in the contest, so I had to sit out that category.

I am happy to report that my model of the USMRR Machine shop won three awards,

•     First Place in On-Line Structure
•     The Charles Haldik Memorial Award for best model of a southern RR subject
•     Best in Show

I will be taking the machine shop to one more show, then I will be installing it on the USMRR Aquia Line. I should mention that I used figures from my new line to populate the model.

On my way home I stopped at 4 model railroad open houses. All were very nice. I met Bruce Friedman, who is an Alkem Scale Models customer and has an impressive modern prototype based railroad.  He was kind enough to demonstrate his contemporary US Army tank train on his layout. It is an amazing 70-car long train full of DODX cars hauling Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and a few other odds and ends.  

Bruce had this posted on the wall of his train room.

It was an interesting coincidence that his and my model railroads were featured in the same issue of Model Railroader. 

August Update

It has been whirlwind of activity since my last update. I have been traveling, birding, building models, and trying to stay healthy. Here is a summary of the modeling activity. My Facebook feed has more pictures of my travels if you are interested.

The Machine Shop

I finished the machine shop. I installed it on a portable base to take it to some shows before I install it on the layout. I took a few quick photos, but I plan do take more later after I get it installed on the layout. 

I brought it to the IPMS National Convention. They didn't have a category for models like this, so I entered it in the Miscellaneous Category. It did not get a National award, but it did get a couple peer awards.  

My favorite view looking into the line of machine tools

It will be on display at MARPM 2025 and the ACWRRHS Annual Meeting, both of which take place in September. 

Avenging Varus

This is a small diorama I worked on in the past few weeks.  These are the first figure models I have painted in several months. This diorama depicts a scene from the battle of Idistasvisto, 16AD, when the Roman Empire sought and achieved revenge on the German tribes that participated in the Teutoberger Wald battle.

All the figures are 3d prints that I made. The Romans are from Minormous and are about 75mm scale. The dying German warrior is a print from Reconquer  Designs that I scaled up from 28mm. I did a little bit of conversion work on the German to make his fit the scene better. 

I will be showing this at the National Capital Model Soldier Society Annual Show  next week. 

Lotus Diorama 

I built this diorama for the Lotus Club of Washington. They will auction it for charity. I started with a prepainted and assembled die cast model. 

I weathered it for a more realistic appearance. The road is a piece of foam covered with a thin layer of Durham’s Water Putty. 

Roger Sekera

I am saddened to report that Roger Sekera died while in hospice care. He suffered a stroke and heart stoppage while on a cruise in the Atlantic and could not recover.  It was just a few months ago that I spent a few days with he and his wife Sue.  I will miss him.