The year started off strong and then momentum waned after a big family vacation over the summer.
The spring months were spent finally finishing the Mines of Xenon graphic novel. I had to complete the manuscript with additional photography, manipulate the images to comic style and do the layout. The finished product wasn’t half bad and in addition to the story line, had an additional section for “concept art” for motive power and rolling stock. I also had a lot of fun making an old-timey back page with corny ads for novelties you could order by mail. All with sci-fi inside jokes, of course.
The balance of energy for the rest of year was spent on the Italy Med layout (based on the Disney movie Luca). The town hall, plaza statue, and a couple of small shops on the west side were built. I started acquiring and painting figures to place on the layout.
Towards the end of the year, I started experimenting with photogrammetry (3D scanning with smart phone) and 3D printing. Also started sculpting my own figures and generating figures using AI. I’ve printed one figure from a 3D scan, so it seems to work in principle. I’m looking forward to printing out some unique characters to populate my seaside town in 2024.
Small Urban Rails 