2009 NMRA Convention - Hartford, Connecticut logo
national train show

The First Modeling With The Masters Workshop...

A testimonial by Scott G. Perry, NMRA member 110470


I had the privilege of being one of the first NMRA members to attend the MWTM workshop, and I have to say it was one of the most enjoyable experiences I have ever had in model railroading. It was so intense, I hardly slept for four days because I was too excited.

I got there early on Thursday and checked into the hotel. We all assembled in the hotel conference center. After being introduced to four Master Model Railroaders...(oh my God, THE Allen McClelland!) we took turns introducing ourselves around the room. Being the youngest member of the group, I felt a little out-of-place, knowing that many of these folks had been modeling longer than I had been alive. However, I have never met a nicer bunch of people! Everyone was very warm and friendly. I was also the only S-guager, which meant that Smith, Moffet and Kooning had to baby-sit me the whole time. But like they said, every kit or project that I did was in my scale!

Clark Kooning wasted no time and got us straight into the heart of the program. Little did I know, we were going on a non-stop whirlwind tour of modeling skills. From early in the morning to VERY, VERY late every night, we were hands-on! Luckily they provided us with a nice MWTM apron to keep the glue and paint off our clothes.

We scratchbuilt a cattle ramp from styrene strips. Don't worry, most of the other guys had never done it before, either. Mine was not bad for 11:00 pm at night. One of the boards was straight, anyway. We built a laser-kit general store, and airbrush painted the assembly. We got a demonstration of how to build hand-laid turnouts. We built an entire diorama with full scenery and track. Literally we were hands-on some project virtually around the clock.


Some of the other things we did included a complete tour of the NMRA headquarters, including the Kalmbach Memorial Library (nice place!) We met the office staff. Bob Charles was present through most of the proceedings. We caught glimpses of Connie Rudder zipping by every few minutes. Super busy person! Allen McClelland, MMR gave us a great slide presentation of his legendary V&O railroad. And some of us even snuck down during lunch to see the Tennessee Railroad Museum next door.

I learned more about model building in those few days than I could learn in years. Where else can you have Allen McClelland standing over your shoulder helping you build scenery. Where else can you get a guy like Pete Smith who owned a model company show you how to build kits? Where else can you get the National AP Chairman to give you a person-to-person workshop and an AP pep talk? Where else can you go through Clark Kooning's toolbox (still, my favorite part of the whole trip...I now own Micro-Mark.) The one-on-one instruction in a light-hearted atmosphere made for great fun! Heck, I even won an award.


You'll see me there in March 2000! Guaranteed!

--- Scott G. Perry

My recommendations...


Dress very comfortably. You will be very busy! Don't wear clothes that you can't get glue or paint on. Bob Charles looked very smart in his denim NMRA shirt, so now I have that to wear to the next one!

Prepare yourself to carry back a lot more stuff than you brought. Luckily, I live close to Chattanooga, so I drove. How the other guys got all that stuff back home is beyond me.

Bring no-doze. We met until 11:00 each night, then took our little meetings outside (Allen, Pete, Pete, and Clark are great social assets to the NMRA, too!) then my roommate and I would stay up even later discussing our train layouts. Zzzzzzzzzzz......

Get everyone's address and phone number. I lost track of a few people because I didn't get all this information. Several of us still swap pictures, hobby stuff, models, etc. I made some lasting friends!

Carry a camera and a small spiral-bound notebook. I took tons of notes.

Don't put slaw on your barbecue. This is in Tennessee, not North Carolina, and several members violated this rule during the lunch break. I actually can eat lunch and airbrush at the same time now!

GO FOR IT! You will have the time of your life!

Go here for information on the next
Modeling With The Masters Seminar!