N Scale Dystopia

Thank you to everyone who joined me for tonights Third-Rail Thursday Unauthorized Transmission. We took a pile of broken acoustic ceiling tile from dust to done and somehow ended the night with a surprisingly convincing section of stratified rock.

Thanks for showing up and being part of it. The signal has ended, but the landscape remains.

6 days ago | [YT] | 53

N Scale Dystopia

A small change around here.

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about how much structure I’ve managed to build around something that is, ultimately, supposed to be a hobby.

So I’m changing things up a little.

I’m moving away from a fixed schedule for both regular videos and livestreams. That doesn’t mean either is going away. It just means videos will come out when I have something I genuinely want to share, and livestreams will happen when I have something I want to work on and it feels like a good time to turn on the camera. Thursday at 8 doesn’t need to be an institution.

I’m hoping that gives me a little more room to actually make things without constantly thinking about how and when they need to become content.

I’m also adding a lower membership level at $1.49. I think of this one much more as the hobby tip jar. If you enjoy N Scale Dystopia and just want to throw a couple of bucks toward whatever strange thing is happening in the basement next, you can. There’s no additional content commitment attached to it.

For those of you who have been members for a long time, I genuinely appreciate it. Your support has paid for materials, models and experiments and has made it much easier for me to indulge some fairly questionable ideas.

Nothing dramatic is happening. I’m still here, still building things and still sharing them. I’m just removing some of the machinery around it.

1 week ago | [YT] | 65

N Scale Dystopia

Unauthorized Transmission Delayed!

Sometimes too many trains try to occupy the same stretch of track. There are simply too many competing priorities this week to give the next Scratch Bash-Build project the attention it deserves.

We'll pick it up soon. Be prepared to catch the next train!

Thanks for understanding.

1 month ago | [YT] | 37

N Scale Dystopia

Apparently I uploaded the wrong render... and nobody seems to care.

https://youtu.be/V5YXNkSTamM

Thankfully the bridge has received a much warmer reception than my production workflow. 😉

I wasn't sure how I was going to approach this build, but after picking up an inexpensive bridge kit, the construction method suddenly became obvious.

My favourite part? Laser cutting the broken end of the bridge.

1 month ago | [YT] | 88

N Scale Dystopia

Thanks to everyone who dropped by tonight's Third-Rail Thursday!

In just over an hour we managed to scratch-build a small collection of industrial rooftop air conditioning units using nothing more than square dowels, paper, paint, glue, and a bit of patience.

I always enjoy these streams because they remind me that good details don't have to come from expensive parts. Sometimes all you need is a simple idea and a willingness to experiment.

Thanks for spending your evening building a little more of N Scale Dystopia with me.

See you next transmission.

1 month ago | [YT] | 72

N Scale Dystopia

Toronto almost lost Sneaky Dee's!

I figured the least I could do was make sure it survives on my layout.

This one was scratch built entirely from styrene and was one of those rare projects where I could see the whole thing in my head before I even started.

The full build is now live on the channe

1 month ago | [YT] | 83

N Scale Dystopia

Thanks to everyone who tuned into tonight's live stream! We scratchbuilt this ramshackle little scrap shack in N scale using cardboard, aluminum tape, masking tape, and whatever else we could sweep off the workbench. The entire structure came together in well under an hour.

Along the way we also shared the latest layout update, looked at the new DCC conversion, talked about some new tools that will be making an appearance in future projects, and, as always, had some great conversations.

Thanks for spending your evening with me. I'll see you on the next Unauthorized Transmission.

2 months ago | [YT] | 91