World War II Poster Resource

In modeling the World War II era, one of the many aspects is Posters. They were plastered (literally) everywhere during that era. These messages encouraged anything from purchasing war bonds to being careful of what you said.

This is a great site with dozens of posters you can print out and apply to your layout;

Lackland Airforce Base Poster Collection

08/01/09 unfortunately, Lackland AFB has taken the posters off their website, I will try and post the posters that I have online when I get a chance. In the meanwhile, a simple google image search on WWII posters will produce many for you...

How to apply these great posters;

a) Pick a site on your layout, Typically they were Store Windows, Sides of Buildings, Wrapped around Telephone Poles, Billboards, On fences, etc.
b) Print out the poster on a color printer to the appropriate scale you are modeling,
c) Cut out the poster and taking a fine grit sand paper, carefully begin to remove the paper from the back side of the poster. Your goal is to thin out the paper enough so that when you apply it it will conform to the surface that your applying it to. Bricks, Fence sign etc,
d) If you want the poster to have a weathered appearance you can lightly sand the front of the poster causing a fading effect,
e) Make a mixture of either 50/50 Matt medium or 50/50 Elmers (not school type) with water,
f) Using a paint brush coat the back side of the poster with the mixture and apply to the surface,
g) Apply a coat of the mixture to the front of the poster as well with that same brush, you want to have the paper complete soaked. After it is applied working the poster from left to right (I use a stippling brush) into the crevices and surface of the wall or whatever your applying it too.
h) If you want to weather the poster even more, find a paint color that matches the brick or surface background. (I use acrylics diluted) and coat the surface of the poster and this will give it an appearance of the brick or surface bleeding through as if the poster was painted on.
i) Added details such as making small tears in the paper, peeling down a corner as if it was coming off the surface. Also if placed on a fence you can cut the paper between the slats.
This is an easy, inexpensive way to detail your layout and give it that feel of WWII era.

Newest Models

Sunset AC-4

Being a Southern Pacific modeler, I have always owned Cab Forwards, these have been the older Rivarossi AC-12s. Any modeler that owns these models knows that they are (although nice for the day) difficult to run due to flange depth and the mechanics of the model are somewhat mediocre at best. As a kid I always wanted the Brass versions of these locomotive types. So with that said over the last year I invested in two Sunset Model Cab Forwards.

Sunset AC-6

As they appear to be identical in the photo's, there are small differences between the two variations. As time permits I will begin to tear them down for paint, decoders, sound,and weathering.

I am a big fan of Sunset Models, they are somewhat reasonably priced as compared to the higher end brass available today. The level of detail is very nice (includes cab detail) and as far as I can see are identical to the prototype. Moreover, the later year versions have can motors, sprung drivers, and great drive train which makes for a easy DCC conversion.

From my workbench

Military Train Complete

I have been slowly building a military transport train for several months now. It consist of 20 pieces varying from flat cars, kitchen, and troop carriers. As part of the era of which my layout is being constructed (1939-1949) I felt it was a key ingredient.



My layout plan calls for a separate military "compound" of some type. Regardless, it should prove to be an interesting aspect of my operations.

Image of the Month

This is a curious photograph, it appears to be a safety reminder for the railroad or perhaps an advertisement for Johnsons & Johnsons... the engineer and fireman has a look like "you have got to be kidding"