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Malcolm Furlow - Freedom of Expression
As I'm sure some of you do, I watch Model Railroader Video Plus for ideas on creating my layout. Recently they have been replaying some old videos concerning how to model effective scenery. One of the modelers is Malcolm Furlow, who created a very nice narrow gauge layout. Malcolm is a true artist and incorporated a lot of the ideas we use here on this forum. I wondered what happened to Malcolm since I haven't seen him in any recent videos. I did a little research and found that Malcolm is now an accomplished artist in Taos, New Mexico. I sent him a note and asked him why he wasn't involved in model railroading. Here is the reply I got back -
"I quit the hobby because most folks in it that I knew except for the likes of John Olson, and the work of John Allen, everyone else seemed a bit too tight-minded. I could not believe the anger that was associated with my participation in the hobby. I had a lot of admirers of my work in trains but the bombardment of hate mail just got ridiculous."
This really blew me away and reinforced why I like this particular forum. There is no "right way" to do things and Brett, Bill and Karl encourage everyone to model their own interpretation of what a particular model should look like. So, if your particular model doesn't look like the pictures in the manual or someone else's forum build, don't worry. What matters is what you think and how the model looks to you. It's ok to ask how to achieve a particular look, but everyone should strive to obtain their own individual look.
In closing, I refer back to the editorial in an issue of Model Railroader (June 2016). Folks were griping because kits were "expensive, required too many man hours and were a waste of time in lieu of buying the ready made structures." I was very proud of Neil Besougloff when he said, "Wooden craftsman kits are designed for hobbyist who relish the journey. The journey is in the construction of the kit."
So get out there, open the box, start building, and enjoy the journey!!!
Phil
"I quit the hobby because most folks in it that I knew except for the likes of John Olson, and the work of John Allen, everyone else seemed a bit too tight-minded. I could not believe the anger that was associated with my participation in the hobby. I had a lot of admirers of my work in trains but the bombardment of hate mail just got ridiculous."
This really blew me away and reinforced why I like this particular forum. There is no "right way" to do things and Brett, Bill and Karl encourage everyone to model their own interpretation of what a particular model should look like. So, if your particular model doesn't look like the pictures in the manual or someone else's forum build, don't worry. What matters is what you think and how the model looks to you. It's ok to ask how to achieve a particular look, but everyone should strive to obtain their own individual look.
In closing, I refer back to the editorial in an issue of Model Railroader (June 2016). Folks were griping because kits were "expensive, required too many man hours and were a waste of time in lieu of buying the ready made structures." I was very proud of Neil Besougloff when he said, "Wooden craftsman kits are designed for hobbyist who relish the journey. The journey is in the construction of the kit."
So get out there, open the box, start building, and enjoy the journey!!!
Phil
Comments
I wish I had got a chance to meet Malcolm but never did. His articles in MR got me interested in narrow gauge and backwoods modeling. But then again, that was back when MR was a magazine worth reading. Don't even get me started on that!
The articles by Malcom Furlow and Jon Olson in various magazines inspired me to build. I wanted to imitate what they did. Building Sierra West kits teach me how to do imitate them. I am very grateful these kits exist. There is nothing that needs to be apologized for in any of them and they keep getting better. Thanks Brett for making them.
Mitch
-Steve
Saw that asshole at many conventions after that and guess what? Never talked to me again. Thank goodness! This type of attitude drives modelers away from the hobby or at least from publicly sharing their work. Oh and that K27... Best of Show. Deserved it. Never met the builder. Shaped my modeling philosophy for over a decade in fact if you see my early packaging there was a tagline something like "Relax, enjoy the hobby..." based upon that contest room encounter... Modelers like Malcolm Furlow are always welcome here!
Jaime
About a year later on one of my many business trips to the US, I managed to bend my travel through Dallas and caught up with Malcolm again. He and his lovely wife (Sharon?) collected me from my hotel, we dined out then went back to his place and played trains on his HOn3 layout until late into the night. Malcolm had a Dynatrol system, one of the forebears to DCC control. We spent a bunch of time playing push helpers on the fly up past his mines. One of the best nights.
Phil Morrow
Buderim, AUS
Jerry