Hobbies
A Look At Model Train Scales
If you have decided that you want to design and build a truly elaborate and intricate model train set, you will also need to work to determine just what scale size you would be most interested in building it to. There are some things to take into consideration before deciding what scale to use so that you can pick the one that best works with your needs and wishes.
To begin with, the word scale quite simply refers to the reduced sized of something which is related to the original from which it is being copied. The HO model railroad scale is the most popular one. It is a 1:87 scale. Roughly seventy percent of people who design and build model trains use this scale in their constructions. The HO has some variations such as the Nn3 and the Hon3. These variations only change the space between the tracks, making it narrower than that of the HO scale.
The HO scale has become popular because it can fit into most homes but is not so small that it is difficult to work with. The minimum size for an HO model railroad is 4′ by 8′. HO model trains are easy to operate and look great when displayed in shows. It is also easy to find new pieces for HO scale model trains.
Other common scales include N(1:160), O(1:48), G(1:24) and Z(1:220). There are more scales than these, but they are less common and harder to find.
The N scale is about half the size of the HO scale. N scale model railroads are difficult to design well because of their small size but are also quite charming to watch running for the same reason. The work that has to be done to the train motors and the delicate details related to such small scenery require very precision work. Although working on such small trains can be frustrating, the finished product is very rewarding.
Z scale model railroads are another third smaller than even the N scale, which means that people with bad eyesight, big hands, or other difficulties simply cannot work with this scale of model train. One distinct advantage of Z scale trains, however, is that they can be positioned in places that you would normally not expect to see a model train, such as a businessman’s office desk.
Even though they are no longer as popular as they once were, many model train enthusiasts still like O scale trains. These were designed to make realistic noises as they crossed the tracks.
Children’s toys were traditionally made in this size since they were large and easy to play with.
Handmade Soap for Gift Baskets
People all over are learning how to make soap at home. It is easier than you might think. If you have the space to make a soapy mess then it is well worth it to make it the center piece of a gift basket.
Soap is a chemical reaction of fat combining with lye. Some of you may remember making lye soap. If you do then you are pretty old because it is not commonly used anymore. Making soap at home was not a hobby way back then but a necessity.
Supplies are not complicated or that hard to find. Just look on the internet and you will find a complete list. Use stainless steel when you have a choice. You will need spoons, whisks, pots, bowls and the like. You’ll need an oil like coconut or olive oil for example.
A luxurious touch could be adding a fragrance. It is luxurious and uniquely yours. Be careful that the intended user is not allergic to the additives.
Your soap basket can contain other niceties of the bath like bath oil beads or bath salts. A handy loofah is generally appreciated too. A back scrubber and color coordinated nett sponge.
A person touch could be to match the basket’s theme to those of your friend or families bathrooms. The soaps could be the same colors as their towels or shower curtains. They will appreciate the extra time you have taken to notice their home and make something that is especially for them.
Any occasion will benefit from a gift basket featuring hand made soaps. A baby shower, birthday or house warming come to my mind right away. Think of new and different ways to use hand made soap baskets. Why greet your new neighbor with a tired old apple pie or chocolate chips cookies when you can show off your hand made soaps.
I hope you have learned a few ideas about how to make your own soap and what a luxury it can be these days. Making lye soap is not just for great grandma anymore. So get to work and send me some soap.
Are they cute? or Are they creepy?
The latest development of the dolls industries, beating Barbies, is the Reborn Doll. The term Reborn Doll refers to a baby doll made from vinyl, that has been built by a process call Reborning, which are by repainting and enhancement to resemble a real baby.
Not everyone visualise reborning, the technique of Reborning has evolved over the past five years, as hobbyists and doll artists have refined the painting techniques and added technical enhancements, such as a pulse simulator. To the inexperienced it’s a world of strange obsession, to the folks that do understand, it provides endless hours of unreplaceable pleasure. More lately special Reborn doll kits are available, and mechanical enhancements are seen, such a battery powered breathing mechanism to imitate the respiration motions of a sleeping baby.
That joy is derived from beauty, prowess, and uniqueness of each doll, because just like human babies, reborn dolls come in every conceivable shape size and color - nowadays there are Caucasian, Asian, and African American Reborn Dolls.
Reborn dolls are exactly as they sound, they are dolls that have been stripped of their factory finishes and been “reborn” and transformed in to realistic looking babies. A search for ‘reborn’ in the eBay dolls category yields painstakingly refinished dolls made to look sometimes eerily like real babies.
Sometimes in mid July this year, in Australia, frantic police have broken a window to rescue a seemingly unconscious baby from a locked vehicle, only to find it was a highly real doll, which is the reborn doll. Similar incident in the US when the window of a new Hummer was broken by police trying to rescue a “baby” that became out to be a doll belonging to the owner’s wife.
From real skin tones and micro-rooted hair, a perfectly weighted body filled with special soft products, this is truly a multi-dimensional art..these babies look and feel real. Reborning baby dolls has become a unique art skills and some of the famous artists in this field excel in this very niche business. A lot of people also take it as a hobby for the doll making as there are many tools available for ones to pursue on the interest.
Their chests rise and fall and you can hear a tiny pulse, but these babies for sale over the Internet are not alive. They are not only popular mainly with collectors, but also with avid grandparents and grieving parents. “Cuddle therapy” is what one reborning Website calls the spare-time activity — the dolls’ bodies can be fitted with electronic devices that mimic a heartbeat and respiration.
As the dolls grow more hot, doll-makers keep supplying new particulars to simulate the experience of holding a real baby. There are reborns that seem to breathe, ones that have a faint heartbeat, others that feel warm to the touch, since they come with heating packs. There are dolls modeled after premature babies that are sold with incubators, a breathing apparatus taped to their nostrils. Some makers add a milky, baby-powder scent. Doll-maker Becker rinses her reborns repeatedly in baby shampoo so they no longer smell of vinyl but like a newly bathed baby.
You don’t stop playing with dolls because you grow old. You grow old because you stop playing with dolls.
