"Damn it, get up!... You can sleep on the beach!"

The ladies of the household dragged me to Mexico's Riviera Maya last week so I could reprise my role in, "You're so annoying." Far be it for me to say, but I don't understand the logic of waking at dawn to secure a prime beach chair under a hut out of the sun, then slathering on sun block from head to toe for protection from said sun, before dozing off for much of the day. I could achieve the same result staying in my air conditioned room, with a lot less fuss and a lot more ESPN. 


Whatever the case, I reluctantly experienced the beach ambience with my wife and daughter while a favorite RPM commenced in Malvern, PA. No clinics, no models, no layouts, no nothing. Just a bunch of topless European women on holiday with, and I'm guessing here, no interest whatsoever in model railroading. But I did get a hobby fix via an email thread that I will unabashedly share here. 


Jim Dufour enlisted the help of the visiting Randy Laframboise to complete some river scenes on his B&M Cheshire Branch. Due to the river's slope, they  chose Golden Polymer Medium to pour into the previously  modeled river beds, per Glenn Glasstetter's advice.



Tony Koester commented that New England's cleaner waterways present more of a modeling challenge than the Midwest or central Appalachian regions which merely require that modelers fill the undetailed basins with plaster and paint them  pea-soup green, before building up layers of gloss medium.



While the acrylic gel was easy to work with for Jim and Randy, Bernie Kempinski reminded all of the anxiety of dealing with the alternative two-part resin option. He suggests that the most reliable and most foolproof is Magic Water from Unreal Details.

 

Jim referred to Randy as "ever fearless." in his email. Kip Grant beat everyone else to the quip, "It's easy to be fearless when it's someone else's layout!"  Truth is, we all recognize Randy's talent and his willingness to help, not to mention his ability to throw good-natured verbal jabs of his own when he spots an opening. For today, we'll just say that Dairy Boy done good here, real good.

Well, this is post numero 75 for this blog and it seems like a good number to finish up with as the one year anniversary is a week away. I'll be back on that special day with one more entry. Thanks everyone. We'll see you then.

-30-

 

   BONUS:  JUST  ONE  MORE  THING  BEFORE  WE  GO...  

 

My daughter, Senorita Wise-Ass, suggested that I post this photo from the local OTC farmacia as a public service to all modelers.