Interview with Joe Warren

Well, if you don't know Joe, he is the founder-owner of Showcase Miniatures (well, I remember Showcase Miniatures specificlly as the only manufacturer who produces commercially available N scale motor cycle, that I know of!). Mouli and I recently had an opportunity to be inerviewed by him, you can find the interview here: http://nlayout.blogspot.com

Also, this particular blog is the online directory of all N scale layouts having presence on the web - a MUST for every N scale lover. I am sure many of you you might already added that to your favorites, but if you haven't, please do - highly recommended. There will be many more interviews coming and this will soon become a hotspot for N scalers...

Thanks Joe, for the opportunity and the exposure.

Cafe Nimo (Contnd.)

Well, some more progress on the Cafe building. The neon light mehanism is housed securely within the building:

Also, the fire escape for the building is also modeled:

Once the roof is in place, notice the to tiny access on the roof - looks like roof detailing from a distance. The one in the front is the on-of switch, the smaller round access is to use the run pattern selection switch.

Now some shots...

Here is another video to show the different chase patterns of the neon light.

Cafe Nimo

Well, this is a project that I 'kind of' started a long time back. And this particular piece is going to be different - kind of the flashy side of the so far grim background.


As for the shape - nothing exciting, an L shaped building with a cafe in one block and a not so healthy motel in another. The scene around this area of the town is not going to portray a nice neighborhood anyway. This cafe and motel is also a hang out of place for a local biker gang... well that tells you quite a few about the area, and tells you about my next ambitious project as well - modeling enough N scale bikes to model a biker joint - at least 3 -4! That is going to be one hell of a project, I reckon.

Coming to the building - here are the walls with windows and doors:

And now the best part of th building - the Light Works USA 'Cafe' neon light!




Placing the building with the others on the layout gives the persepective of how it is going to look after it's complete and installed. The gap between the tall 7 story hotel in the left and the cafe will have a road and a level crossing, with the cold storage building in the background.

Here, a short video of the neon light animation: