News update: I'm holding off on the Bronx cutting. Andre is traveling extensively and the price to do the job is high and I'm not sure I want to put all my eggs in one basket. I printed out full-size drawings of the three views and am going to make a cardboard mockup to see how and where it will fit. I'm a little concerned about how big it is and where it will go in the village. Better to find out this way that it doesn't work then to get a box of laser cut parts and THEN find out that it's too big.
Meanwhile, after I sold my Rock Island consist to Gene France of California it now has a home on the San Diego O'Scale Model Railroad Club layout and Gene sent me a video of it running on a big wonderful layout. I'm really glad that it found a great home and thanks to Gene for sending the video and closing the loop.
I'm continuing monumental work on the Essex aircraft carrier, updating it as best I can to a late WW2 configuration. I'm building all the masting out of soldered brass and believe me, it's one heck of a challenge. I had a rare set of weekend work sessions and finished the Mark 37 gun directors and the main tripod mast.
The yard arm consists of a main support using three sizes of sub-millimeter thin-wall brass tubing with the photo-etched detail piece soldered to it, providing detail AND strength.
Here are the two directors. Base is kit plastic with all brass on top. I mounted the assembly on a brass plate which you can see and may do some more filling to hide the gap better. These are a bear to build and there's still more details on the antenna that can be added if you're so inclined. Right now I AM NOT so inclined.
And I also ran the trains for a little bit...after all I am a model railroader at heart. Winter has make that track misalignment at the gate disappear. Low humidity did the trick. Perhaps I should get a de-humidifier for the basement...?
