The 5″ x 8″ Lined Notepad
I’ve occasionally written about how important it is to be organized in Z scale, to set realistic (but ambitious) goals and to track your progress as you work towards those goals. Good advice that I need right now at Ztrains.com, more so now than ever before.
I have a small wheelbarrow full of articles that need porting over to this new site but I can’t just do that alone for the next several months for a couple of reasons. First, it would be kind of boring for our longtime readers as they’ve seen these older articles. Second, if all I did was to re-work these old articles and not take on new work… it would be boring for me. If you’re not excited by what you’re doing, it will show.
Websites or train layouts, I think being genuinely jazzed by what you’re doing is incredibly important if you want to finish with a great result, something you can be proud of. It’s on this note that I’m sitting here on Sunday afternoon with my 5” x 8” lined notepad (I love these things for making lists) making out a priority list for myself and for this site. Without a clear set of steps to take I’ll end up fiddling around with this project or that, never really nailing any of them.
We are all manufacturers. Making good, making trouble, or making excuses.
H. V. Adolt
Two big projects on my benches right now are a diorama for the new AZL east coast Budd car and a new desktop layout, with a desert theme, for a client. Sounds clear enough. Now to the list. On the Budd diorama I’m incorporating several new kits (including an unreleased prototype kit) as well as using existing structure kits from GCLaser, RSLaser, Paw of a Bear, Micron Art and Animek Models. We’ll also be playing with some new asphalt techniques and building lots of handmade trees.
On the desert themed desktop layout, I need to create a sense of complexity and interest without looking busy for the sake of looking busy. That’s always a challenge on a small layout, you want depth but you don’t want it to feel contrived or labored.
In addition to this I need to keep working on this new site, lots to learn here, as well as keeping up with the pesky little details like my new camera woes and the normal daily stuff we all have to deal with. My point to this little whine party of mine is the LIST. Yes, that 5” x 8” lined notepad that will give me clarity and direction. Seriously without a clear set of steps to be taken I’d just be bouncing from project to project… doing a little here and there. I’m a lousy multitasker (like many of us, you know who you are) and that silly little pad can help chart out steps needed to get a project moving.
The 5” x 8” lined notepad is one of the tricks I use for getting myself organized in Z scale, if you’re having trouble getting your modeling time in order… give it a try.
Category: Blog
