Hole in One

Hole in One

 

Creativity is in the nature of every modeler. Sometimes I think that’s why we do it – as an outlet for our creativity. The ability to take an ordinary, run-of-the-mill kit and make it something special is the goal of most modelers.

 

Ken Mason had such an idea when he spotted an unpainted model of a water tank on the Crescent City Model Railroad Club’s layout. He took it home, painted and weathered it, and then added something unique to make it stand out.

 

I’ll let Ken explain what he did:

 

“The water tower was on the layout as an unpainted plastic kit and did not look very realistic. I took it home and painted it, weathered it, and thought it would be a fun addition to our open house scavenger hunt.

 

 

I remembered seeing an old Model Railroader layout video where the layout builder had added a leak to his water tower. The video didn’t show how he did it, but I took a piece of clear plastic model kit sprue and warmed it over a candle until it became soft enough to stretch. Once it was soft I just pulled it by each end and stretched it out.

 

The plastic in the middle can be made as fine as human hair or thicker depending on how far you pull it before it cools off. It takes a little practice to get it right, but once you do it is pretty easy. Once I had the clear piece, I drilled a small hole in the side of the water tank and the model’s base, and then glued it in from inside the tank and to the bottom of the base. A little ballast on the base covered the end of the water stream and it looks like a stream of water leaking out of the tank.”