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Thursday, September 26, 2019

Safari Ltd No. 10120 Glow in the dark Snow Dragon - Natural

This will probably be the last Safari Ltd Dragon I post for a while as I don't really fancy what's left in their line. We'll see, things change. I'm gonna break this critter down into three separate post. Today we'll see what he looks like au naturel without any special lighting tricks. He measures 5 3/4" (14.60cm) L x 4 1/2" (11/43cm) W x 4 3/4" (12.06cm) H. Enjoy!















Monday, September 23, 2019

Safari Ltd No. 10115 Cloud Dragon

Up next is the Safari Ltd No. 10115 Cloud Dragon measuring 6" (15.24cm) L x 8 1/4" (20.95cm) wingspan x 4 1/2" (11.43cm) H. Being in a hurry - as usual - I don't have much to say except I need to get off my butt and make some kind of cave or mountain scene to photograph these little gems on. 'Til then - Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina













Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Safari Ltd No. 801229 Sea Dragon

Okay, so this was the period I had hoped would be mostly devoted to space toys but between having no time or being sick, I just had to switch gears.

Dragons have always been an integral part of the blog and several of them have found their way into my dragon lair like this Sea Dragon from Safari Ltd. It's a nice slinky blue fella measuring 6 3/4" (17.14cm) L x 4 3/4" (12.06cm) W x 3 3/4" (9.52cm) H. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina













Saturday, September 7, 2019

TRAIN TIME: A Yank Does Hornby Pt 13 - Let the Scenery Begin

Gosh, I totally forgot about posting updates to the Hornby layout! Good grief! Well, to make up for lost time I'll kinda roll several posts into one. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

July 2018

With the basic board built and on legs I started planning the layout. This was my first go-round but it didn't allow for a long enough main line.


Here's what I decided on - a simple loop with one siding off to the left nearly forming a circle. I could have done a circle but then I couldn't use the Mettoy bridge where I wanted it. For a small layout this is just fine.


That brown paint is from a can I've been using for nearly the past ten years! A little here on this layout, a little there on that layout and there's still enough for as couple of small layouts like these


After seeing this paint at Lowe's I thought it would work as faux ballast or roadbed under the track. It's thicker than normal paint, has some granular texture and little black flecks. The photos don't do it justice but it looks great!



Started painting in roads (the tan vertical stripe to the right of center) and making hills - the paper template is to the far left of the layout


August 2018
After a brief pause Ipainted in ground area using a dark gray - nearly black - paint. The large Styrofoam chunk to the left will be wittled down so that a road can pass through


September 2018
More roads, two hills to the left and the structures temporarily in-place. I had been buying some vehicles but the pics only show a Corgi Scammell Mechanical Horse for now. For hedges I used Loofa sponges already dyed green and cut down to represent hedgerows. I wanted to try this because a lot of the early Hornby scenery plots utilize Loofa as trees and hedges and I was hoping to achieve a vintage look.


One of the reasons I bought the Hornby France Crossing Gate was it's two-piece construction. I know it utilizes a different gate structure than that in the UK but there was no more room on the layout for a Hornby UK Crossing Gate as utilized on the upper end of the road










I tried to lighten up the dark gray with some light gray highlighting but I think it needs more. The dark gray is too overpowering me thinks!