Wiley's Bench Time - Model Railroading Podcast

Bench Time #110: Finally Starting New Builds!

First off we want to thank our new Patron Rob C! Support us here: https://patreon.com/hoscalecustoms 

We will also be soon launching our Bench Time Podcast Forum, stay tuned for more information to come about that! 

Bullhorn Announcements (not affiliate links): 

There are three new kits available from Carolina Craftsman Kits, you can check them out here:

1. Raymond Transfer: https://carolinacraftsmankits.com/products/ho-raymond-transfer
2. Kruiswyk Pencil & Pen: https://carolinacraftsmankits.com/products/ho-raymond-transfer-cck-slash-jj20
3. Wiley & Son Paper Mill: https://carolinacraftsmankits.com/products/ho-kruiswyk-pencil-and-pen-background-kit
4. Wiley & Son The Complex: https://carolinacraftsmankits.com/products/ho-wiley-paper-products-company

New Sunrise Warehouse Kit has been released from Mine Mount Models: https://minemountmodels.com/shop?olsPage=products%2Fsunrise-warehouse-ho-scale-kit

You can also join the monthly FOS Scale Models Kit of the Month here: https://fosscalemodels.com/collections/kit-of-the-month-club-1

Jason Jensen has released some awesome new YouTube videos to watch, catch them here:

• Making the Paper Mill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AabZ00hLj1M 
• Combining the Three Kits - Complex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5qjH6d_AaM

We have a new video up on our YouTube channel here for the Foundations of Craftsman Kits.

After the Bullhorn, we talk about our current projects, projects we’re wrapping up, and ones that we’ll be starting to tear into! Todd just started his JJ Hollinger Build, Brett finished the Palzer’s build and will be starting The Terminal from FOS Scale Models.

Our Official Bench Mugs are gaining some popularity, so join in and stay warm at your workbench with the official Bench Mug! Get yours here: https://hoscalecustoms.threadless.com/

Bench Time #109: Bob Van Gelder of South River Model Works

This week we had a great time talking with Bob Van Gelder from South River Model Works who has created one of the most revered lines of craftsman kits in the hobby!

We talked a little about how Bob grew his business into the giant it became in model railroading and shared some laughs about the hobby and where we've all been. 

We also got into a little bit of Bob's modeling career and how much of an impact his kits have made on the craftsman model railroading scene.

Enjoy this week's show, and have a great weekend!

Love the show? Consider supporting us on Patreon! This week's newest patron is Jim M!

Bench time #108: Getting Into Scenery This Week

This week my dad and I talked a bit about some new scenery techniques as well as a couple of new products we picked up recently to apply some static grass in a more precise fashion. 

We also had a couple of announcements for our Fine Scale Bullhorn!

• Mine Mount Models - Sunrise Warehouse HO Scale Kit
• FOS Scale Models - Scratch Building Materials Wall Sections
• FOS Scale Models - Charity Auction

Also we cover some questions as usual from our awesome Patrons! If you want to support the show and get a chance to win a kit each month, check out our Patreon Page.

Bench Time #107: The Last Episode of 2019!

This is the last episode of 2019... [insert sad emoji here]

We had an AWESOME year in model railroading and my Dad and I have been extremely grateful to have met a lot of our listeners, and shared some laughs and good times with all of you, whether it's online through email, messenger, our facebook page, or in person at a couple of the events we went to this year.

Join us in this final Bench Time Podcast Episode of 2019 as we model into the new year!

Have a safe and happy New Year everybody, we hope that 2020 brings even more amazing experiences for all of us!

Every listener of this show has truly made our time in this hobby the most enjoyable experience we could possibly ask for, so for that, we thank you. 

Let's make 2020 EVEN BETTER!

Bench Time #106: Christmas 2019 Special

It's the holiday season, so we'll keep this week's episode notes brief, because the show title explains most of the episode. Join us this week as we go over some Christmas traditions, holiday train talk, deep discussions about cookies, and everything holiday-related on episode 106 of the Bench Time Model Railroading Podcast.

We want to thank Martin H. as our newest Patron!

This week's Contest Winner: Jason Sider

We're taking a 1 week break from the contest, and we'll resume everything again after the Christmas break! We also will be shipping this week's and last week's contest winners out Saturday morning (12/21).

We hope everybody has a Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday and that you enjoy the time spent with your families and friends. 

Bench Time #105: Our Top 5 Modeling Books & More!

This week we covered our top 5 favorite modeling books, which included the below books (in no particular order):

• AK - Realistic Wood Effects
• AK - F.A.Q. Dioramas Book - US
• How to Build Realistic Model Railroad Scenery, Third Edition (affiliate link)
• Modelling Ports and Inland Waterways (affiliate link)
• Model Railroading as Art - Lance Mindheim (affiliate link)

After that, we went through our current projects as usual and had some fun talking about our upcoming plans for the layout and models.

Make sure to check out our newest YouTube Video here

Consider supporting our page here: https://patreon.com/hoscalecustoms

This Week's Contest Winner: Lynn McCurdy

This week's contest: Share a photo of your favorite Christmas or holiday decoration at your house!

 

Bench Time #104: New Work on Layout & Unraveling of Laughter

Wow, did we cover a lot this week...

From some work that Todd has been feverishly working on near the marina and waterfront, over to Brett's industrial side of the layout, we've been busy working on the layout as well as some new YouTube videos!

After our rundown of the week in work for both of our workbenches, we dove headfirst into the Patron questions and... Well, I don't think we've ever laughed as hard as we did in this episode. Hope you all get a good chuckle out of it too.

This week's Podcast Winner: Dave Salamon

This week's contest for a kit from RailroadKits.com and an HO Scale Customs Koozie is to share on our Facebook Page a photo of a tool that you have that wasn't intended to be a tool! One winner before next week's episode will be selected to win!

Bench Time Podcast #103: Thanksgiving Break Modeling & Patron Mailbag!

The Black Friday Episode

This week we celebrated Thanksgiving and enjoyed our annual over-indulgence in food and time spent with some family! We hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving with family and friends and that you're able to enjoy the weekend. 

We're bringing back the contest this week for a kit from RailroadKits.com, and you can win one by simply sharing a photo of what you worked on over the Thanksgiving weekend! As long as it's a modeling/model railroading photo you're qualified to win a small kit and a koozie from us! Deadline for entry is 12/4/2019 at midnight (eastern time).

A.C. Moore is closing... Stock up on the modeling materials while you can, maybe you'll be able to get there in time for some good sales and clearances! Check out their site for some A.C. Moore Coupons!

We went over a bunch this week for the episode including a TON of patron topics & our own topics from glazing windows to bad live video mess-ups and really then the entire spectrum of possibilities.

Some other fun tidbits from this week's episode include:

• Todd & Brett's favorite and least favorite Thanksgiving foods.
• Pumpkin Pie Preferences
• Benefits of modeling in plastic
• Harbor Freight MUST HAVE TOOL for scratch building: https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/measuring-marking-layout/calipers-micrometer/6-in-digital-caliper-63711.html

Pics from our work are available on our main website: https://hoscalecustoms.com/ 

Bench Time Podcast #102: Hobby Knife Rant, Balsa Wood Laughs, and More!

Clearing the air first, we will not take the intro songs out of the podcast. It’s only like 12-15 seconds of the 1+ hour podcast and it’s just fun to put some different and zany intro tracks in for each week

Fine Scale Bullhorn Announcements:

• George is currently building his kit from RailroadKits.com and plans on sharing his progress on his build.
• George Sellios is going to be having an open house on Black Friday to view the Franklin & South Manchester layout. Contact us if you want additional info at podcast@hoscalecustoms.com if you’re interested in going!
• Eli N. has been emailing us a TON of cool small tips, and we’ll be sharing them very soon, so keep checking back to our site for those!
• Banta Model Works (sent to us from Nathan Kline)  is producing some kits for the East Broadtop Railroad Kits. You can check out their new stuff here: http://broadtopmountainmodels.com/index.html

If you want to submit any fine-scale modeling news to the Fine Scale Bullhorn segment, email us at podcast@hoscalecustoms.com or send us a message on our facebook page.

Todd then rants about breaking and snapping hobby knife blades, which takes up about 10 more minutes than it should… But we enjoy stepping onto our soapboxes from time to time and this topic is something that we’ve all had problems with.

Here’s the link to the 100 pack of #11 brand name blades we were talking about: https://amzn.to/35pvWnu (affiliate link)

AND if you’re feeling lucky, here’s the off-brand 140 pack for half the price: https://amzn.to/2KYvi91 (affiliate link)

After Todd’s little rant about hobby knife blades, we cover what we’re currently working on, including the Sassen Vinegar Works build, the FOS Yard Office and Palzer’s Plumbing from Mine Mount Models.

We then get into our Patron questions/topics for the week and cover things from how we design and assemble scratch-builds, to how we deal with breaking walks and mess-ups during our builds. 

Oh yeah… And please don’t build with balsa wood…. From our balsa wood rant. And for our balsa wood rant, you can check out the info on Balsa here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ochroma 

And you can take a walk down memory lane with a balsa wood airplane kit! https://amzn.to/2OD5Gze (shameless affiliate link)

Story on the Disney bridge accident: https://ktla.com/2019/11/11/disneylands-tarzan-treehouse-briefly-closed-after-visitor-apparently-jumps-on-bridge-snaps-plank/

If you want to be able to submit patron-only topics, join our patron-exclusive facebook page, as well as support our efforts for this podcast, you can head over to https://patreon.com/hoscalecustoms and join in on the fun!

Model Building Toolbox Talk #16: Storage form Motrak Models & Essential Paints

Storage and Organization Solutions from Motrak Models

We recently had the opportunity to get our hands on some awesome new workbench storage and organization systems from Motrak Models. This stuff is awesome! They’re made from really sturdy masonite board and they offer a wide variety of storage and organization module systems to store tools, paints, and really whatever you may have at your workbench!

Some of the specific storage items include:

• Pan Pastel Racks
• Acrylic Paint Racks
• Floquil/Polyscale/True Color Paint Racks
• Stripwood Storage Box

We have the Modeler’s Workbench Organizer Module A & B, which you can find here:

• Module A
• Module B

We’ll be publishing a video for the modules in the next couple of days, so make sure to keep your eyes open for that!

Todd’s Paint Information

The acrylic craft paints that we most often reach for and keep directly at our side, not the hundreds of other colors I keep in giant racks next to the bench.  These are the ones we use for a lot of different applications and it saves so much time to have them ready to go! Your list, of course, may vary to taste (but don’t taste the paint… PLEASE).

Color - Manufacturer 

This is a suggested list of must-have paints, although all the craft paint companies have many of the same colors. The links are affiliate links to the paints on Amazon (just in case you can't find a certain color locally), but can definitely be found cheaper in most box stores with a coupon... You can grab a popular craft store coupon here: https://www.michaels.com/coupons

• Lamp Black - Deco Art Americana
• Soft Black - Deco Art Americana
• Wrought Iron - Folk Art
• Charcoal  - Delta Creative Ceramcoat
• Burnt Umber - Folk Art, Americana, etc.
• Raw Umber - Folk Art, Americana, etc.
• Barn Wood - Folk Art
• Dove Gray - Folk Art
• Tin, Matte Metallic - Craftsmart found at Michaels
• White - any brand
• Khaki - Apple Barrel
• Tan - any brand
• Suede - Craftsmart at Michaels
• Dark Taupe - Craftsmart at Michaels
• Mississippi Mud - Americana
• Jute - Ceramcoat
• Fawn - Americana (perfectly matches Floquil's Earth)
• Misty White - Apple Barrel
• Antique White - Apple Barrel (for drybrush highlighting)
• Avocado - Americana

For Rusts and weathering:

• Burnt Sienna - Folk Art or Americana
• Raw Sienna - Folk Art or Americana
• Brown Iron Oxide - Ceramcoat
• Rusted Pipe - Folk Art

This post may contain affiliate links that we've selected to trusted sources for products and materials.