A Merry Kitbashing Chrismas!

Christmas was a small event in term of social interactions in my family this year. Better say nothing "happened" outside a few phone calls. But saying it was uneventful wouldn't be true either.

It was the occasion simply sit at the benchwork, look at some pictures in Richard Yaremko's books and see if some cheap cars and parts could be slapped together to create prototypical models and the stash of outdated CDS Lettering dry transfers can provide something. Once again, Model Power and Bachmann donated their shell, which, at the end of the day, was reduced to their sides only. Branchline provided roofs and Youngstown doors, Detail West the plug doors and Evergreen and Plastruct took care of the rest. In the  process, I learned a lot about the number of panels on these boxcars, their use, how they were built and how they evolved over the year... stuff you don't learned by looking at a nice RTR that doesn't require you to know your subject.

It was also a moment of contemplation. While hacking down plastic with a jeweler saw or slicing doors, the repetitive actions starts to foster thoughts and reflexions. As saint Benedict once summed it up nicely to describe a well-balanced life: Ora et Labora (prayer and work). And maybe it's one of the many reasons I like this hobby. In times of hardship, it always provided me food for thought and useful way to occupy myself. There is nothing worst than being idle and building trains, as flimsy as an excuse it can be, is at the end of the day a good one.

Merry Christmas!