Behind the Scenes: Hand Crafting Pieces for Your Model Train Kit [VIDEO]

AVON -- This week in our "Behind the Scenes" series on WJON, we learn how to hand craft pieces for making model train kits.

When your parents or grandparents were kids building a model train or airplane was probably a highlight in their childhood.

In 1991 David Proell's hobby and enjoyment for building model trains sparked a new adventure.

"A bunch of guys came over and said hey I want to buy that kit and I said I scratched built it and it kind of gave me an idea to start making and selling my own models," says Proell.

Since that time, Proell has made hundreds of kits and accessories from ideas and photos he has seen over the years.

"Everything is just kind of ideas I have had for a model or a building, just something I would like on my train layout and basically it's just something I imagine and sketch it up and build it," says Proell.

Each kit starts by drawing a blue print of the photo and seeing how each piece fits. Then it's sent to the computer, cut with a laser and the prototype is created.

"Once I get the structure built, then I write down the notes on how it's done and start writing instructions," says Proell.

As for the accessories needed to each kit, they are casted, painted, boxed then shipped out to their destination.

"To design and come up with a kit, the whole process takes a few weeks to a month," says Proell.

Proell says each kit is made by hand and the best part of the whole process is building and feeling like a kid again.

"Building the prototype is the best part, writing the instructions not so much," says Proell.

He says he creates about two new kits every year.