Super 8 Film Animation
![Back in the late 1970’s I inherited a Super 8 film camera from my granddad. He used it for home movies and I ended up make a few home movies with it as well. But one feature of the camera that caught my eye was the single frame mode. So I convinced friend’s of mine […]](https://thomasbeuteltinkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/darth-car-805x510.png "Super 8 Film Animation")
Back in the late 1970's I inherited a Super 8 film camera from my granddad. He used it for home movies and I ended up make a few home movies with it as well. But one feature of the...
Recording Bats
![I’ve always been intrigued about bats flying around at twilight and catching insects. We see them every evening on our fishing trips to lakes in Northern California. On one trip I decided to see if I could film them with the help of night vision and a bat detector. A bat detector is basically a […]](https://thomasbeuteltinkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Screen-Shot-2018-01-21-at-11.04.56-AM-805x510.png "Recording Bats")
I've always been intrigued about bats flying around at twilight and catching insects. We see them every evening on our fishing trips to lakes in Northern California. On one trip I decided...
Casting, Catching, Cooking
Here is the very first time I attempted to cast for herring in San Francisco Bay and cook them. I only caught one, but I was pretty excited nonetheless! A fellow angler gave me a few...
San Frantemblor
My first automata. It's based on Paul Spooner's 'San Francisco and the San Andreas Fault' which is pictured in Rodney Peppé's automata book on page 133. The trickiest part I think...
Printed Backdrops
![I print my own railroad backdrops from images that I google. Here I show roughly how I do it. My railroad is based on scenery in Northern California, so I google well known landmarks around the Bay Area for photos. I make heavy use of the clone tool to blend and extend the different photos. […]](https://thomasbeuteltinkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Screen-Shot-2017-11-19-at-2.11.45-PM-805x510.png "Printed Backdrops")
I print my own railroad backdrops from images that I google. Here I show roughly how I do it.
My railroad is based on scenery in Northern California, so I google well known landmarks...
Hardshell Scenery for the Great Canyon
![When I built the floor to ceiling canyon on the HO-scale Redwoods and Railroad in 1997, I had some friends come over and help apply the plaster. To make the canyon, I roughed out the shape of the hills and valleys using strips of cardboard. Once all the cardboard is in place, my friends and […]](https://thomasbeuteltinkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Screen-Shot-2017-11-19-at-1.23.50-PM-805x510.png "Hardshell Scenery for the Great Canyon")
When I built the floor to ceiling canyon on the HO-scale Redwoods and Railroad in 1997, I had some friends come over and help apply the plaster. To make the canyon, I roughed out the...
From Beach to Model Railroad
![One of my favorite pastimes is to go fishing early in the morning at the beach at Crissy Field. I try to go at least twice a week before work during the spring and summer. One day I noticed a bunch of plastic litter up above the surf zone. I assume these discarded bits and pieces […]](https://thomasbeuteltinkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Screen-Shot-2017-11-18-at-9.02.00-AM-805x510.png "From Beach to Model Railroad")
One of my favorite pastimes is to go fishing early in the morning at the beach at Crissy Field. I try to go at least twice a week before work during the spring and summer. One day I noticed...
Ferry Slip Headwork Built from Coffee Stirrers
![In this 4 minute video I show how I built a ferry slip headwork for my Redwoods and Pacific Railroad. Even though the tracks of the ferry slip end at a wall I wanted something more than just a backdrop to indicate the structure. I built it from coffee stirrers and the wheels are from […]](https://thomasbeuteltinkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Screen-Shot-2017-11-18-at-11.57.05-AM-805x510.png "Ferry Slip Headwork Built from Coffee Stirrers")
In this 4 minute video I show how I built a ferry slip headwork for my Redwoods and Pacific Railroad. Even though the tracks of the ferry slip end at a wall I wanted something more...
Well Worn Reefers
![Railroad equipment rarely looks brand new in real life, so I like to weather my trains to give them that well worn look. In this video, my daughter and I weather a couple of Bachmann Pacific Fruit Express (PFE) Reefers. In real life, the PFE transported fruits and vegetables from California to the east coast, […]](https://thomasbeuteltinkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Screen-Shot-2017-11-19-at-1.33.45-PM-805x510.png "Well Worn Reefers")
Railroad equipment rarely looks brand new in real life, so I like to weather my trains to give them that well worn look. In this video, my daughter and I weather a couple of Bachmann...
Pumpkin Patch Restoration
Those annoying mice! A mouse ate all my HO-scale pumpkins, so I painted some more and fixed up the pumpkin patch.
3.5 minutes. Enjoy!