Love that abandoned Chevy and the dystopian dioramas. Excellent work there!

So as my avatar hints, I was a model railroader long before falling into the pinball habit. I still am, although the only time I have for it now relates to assignments for magazines. The amazing thing I've found is that all the skills honed by "completing" a realistic railroad, across all facets of model railroading, translates directly into pinball restorations: fine scale painting, electronics, mechanics, cabinetry, even the concept of a troubleshooting matrix. Even the more arcane specialized skills I adopted such as scratch-building (pre-3D printing), graphic design and custom-printing decals, greatly enhanced what I could do with pinball. It's truly uncanny. Heck, even the overall expense is the same these days...

Anyway, here's a few pics from back when I was more in the thick of things... and not just trains either, heh.

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It's two trailing axles short of an Allegheny, but a C&O compound Mallet (2-6-6-2) is returning to service on the Western Maryland this summer:

https://www.movingfullsteamahead.com/content/co1309

It will be the largest operating articulated steam locomotive in the world until UP finishes the Big Boy next year.

So in the "may have bit off more than I can chew" department, I am the proud custodian of these:

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These are 1/18 scale... automobiles. Kits made 40+ years ago by Pocher (Rivarossi) in Italy... *thousands* of parts including metal, leather, and rubber. Working suspension, sprung upholstered interior, operating doors and windows... turning engine... the spoked wheels have to be individually assembled spoke-by-spoke.

The boxes are GIGANTIC and weigh almost 20lbs ea!

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I honestly do intend to build one and am quite confident I can do it. Trouble is... pinball, and model trains (writing for mags), leave me no time or space to do more than one. But I can't decide which...

...If anyone is interested I'm willing to sell one or the other. But they're not cheap (pushing 4 figures each) and you should understand what you're getting into. And I really don't want to ship them, unfortunately. But anyway, not meaning to spam here, PM me if interested, otherwise I thought folks would get a kick out of these. I can't wait to see one completed. In a... few years, oops...

Never heard of the glycerin spray before... I might have to try that sometime.

To your regimen I'll add compressed canned "air duster". For all the many places brushes can't reach... especially for models if not scenery. Use caution as it takes come careful modulation: you don't want to go full blast against fragile details. But typically, short 1/3 squeeze trigger bursts at close range can really make something look "new" (or old without dust) again. For scenery and other tricky to reach areas, a gentle burst can blow loose dust and debris to where your brush or minivac attachments will take over.

Amazing work on that sterling engine! What a thing of beauty.

I you wanted it to be "functional" you could put a small blade on it and make a desktop fan