HINTS AND TIPS - THE FOLLOW ON
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Coupler Height
By Dennis Kane
Couplers are generally attached or secured from the top, with a screw or clip going through from the bottom, or glued to the floor. Shims placed between the floor and coupler will lower the coupler, but to raise it you would need to raise the whole floor, such as by adding shims (washers) between the trucks and the body. Otherwise you would have to thin the floor or carve out some of the material; consider a different coupler, that is made for lower mounting surfaces.
If a mount is loose you can use a shim under it to raise it, but generally the height would be the same as if it where mounted properly.
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Weathering with Acrylics
By Duane Grenier
I am in the standard paint brush crowd and using acrylics for weathering my layout. Some I "wash" with paints thinned with water, some gets dry brushed. My most used colors: Light Chocolate (for dust & mud), Iron Oxide (an overcoat wash over box car red to tone it down, wheels, trucks, couplers, older rust), Raw Sienna (newer rust), Flat Black (roofs, soot grime), and a light grey (lettering paint "run", oxidization and fade for roofs). I do use dull coat when done, and as previously stated it does tone things down and you learn to adjust to it to end with the result you are after.
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Weathering with Acrylics
By Carey Jamieson
Do not be afraid to use anything that will give you the effect that you are after. I have used everything from paint, inks, cigar and cigarette ash, charcoal, and sometimes just plain dirt and dust. One thing that must be done is the sealing of the job.
I do not care if the powders that many use have good adhesion on the sides and roof, every time the car or loco is handled, there will be some removal of the powders. Handled enough, and certain areas will become glossy, and most of the colors will be gone.
For pastels and basically chalk, a very light misting of super hold hair spray will work to hold the chalks and powders in place without "washing" them out. After the hair spray is dry, which can take a day or so, them seal this with a light mist of dullcoat. Heavier coats can be applied afterwards for better protection.
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Weathering Track before laying
By Jody Gordon
I chose to paint all of my rail before installing on the layout. Many tedious hours were spent at the club painting the rail with paint markers after installation. I decided there had to be a better way.
To pre-paint the rail, I came up with a pretty painless process. I took a scrap piece of plywood and affixed two pieces of carpet tape to either end. I attached the base of each rail to the carpet tape roughly 1/8" to 1/4" apart across the board. I then spray painted the rails with a flat dark brown camouflage paint I found at at big box store. Holding the spray can at a shallow angle of around 20 degrees in relation to the mounting board ensures you achieve the proper coverage across the entire web of the rail. After both sides are painted and the paint is still wet, I took a folded up paper towel and wiped across the rail heads. Since the rails are so close together, you don't have to worry about accidentally removing the wet paint from the sides of the rail. After the paint has dried, you can use a bright boy to clean up any remnants you missed before removing the rail from the board. You can paint an entire bundle of Micro Engineering rail in about 5-10 minutes. Pretty slick!
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Weathering Track before laying
By Jody Gordon
As I handlay track on my layout, I decided to ballast the ties before installing the rail. This method takes all the work out of trying to ensure stray ballast has not made its way into the web of the rail, or critical turnout components.
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Colouring Asphalt
By Stephen Selwood
I use a water-based craft paint on 1mm craft foam sheet. You can buy shades of gray paint, but if you want to mix your own, mixing black with white will result in a blueish tint. I mixed black with a light tan or suede colour to remove any tint. I dabbed it on using a damp kitchen sponge. Look for a sponge that doesn't have any sort of pattern embossed into it. I also cut the sponge in half, using one half to apply the paint. The other was kept clean and damp and was used to remove paint if needed, such as the dark areas down the middle of the lanes. You might want to dab the sponge on something else first, such as a piece of cardboard, to remove some paint in a sort of dry brushing as we would use doing weathering.
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Absolute minimum clearances in a hidden staging or fiddle yard
By Tom Yeomans
Place some of the roadbed you plan to use on the shelf. Put a section of track on the roadbed. Put your tallest piece of equipment on the track. Make a fat fist and place it above the piece of equipment. Measure from the shelf surface up to the top of your most prominent knuckle. That's your ABSOLUTE MINIMUM clearance, but more space is better.
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Aged Wood
By Colin Hussey
I am a fan of using one of the tube acrylics from called Nimbus grey, which is good for spreading around the edges for clouds.
For styrene, rough up the face that is on show, if grain wanted, use a hobby saw to draw over the face gently to get some grain. The paint goes on to roughened surfaces better than a gloss one. I also use a cheap Steel scratch brush to take the shine of styrene & models.
Once the paint is dry, or depending on the finish I want, I leave the paint wet, & then brush on shades of grey powders from Acrylic Soft Pastel sets. The paint helps the powders set & leaves the surface with a more natural finish.
The best part is that the whole process is cheap.
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Removing Factory lettering from Painted surfaces
By Ken Macpherson
For many locomotives, cut a small piece of paper towel the same size as the lettering/number you want to remove. Lay the model so the lettering area is flat. Place the paper towel over the lettering and apply a few drops of Solvaset to the paper towel. Let it sit there for at least 5 minutes. Then pick up the paper towel and using a new pencil eraser dipped in Solvaset easily erase the lettering. The paper towel keeps the Solvaset in contact with the lettering enough to soften it.
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Mixing Paint straight from Cans to represent concrete pathways etc
By Dave Nelson
I have used Tamiya rattle can paints where I spray two colors at the same time, creating a varied and blended look that I think is convincing. The two colors that work best for concrete are TS-68 Wooden Deck Tan or AS-15Tan (USAF) PLUS AS-16 Light Gray (USAF). It takes some practice.
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Weathering Scrap Loads Pt 1
By Wayne Williams
I use thicker staples as scrap loads. Hack the staples into shorter pieces, dump them in some chemical blackener, then use them as a load in my gondolas.
For such scrap, I place it in a disposable container (the plastic from blister-packs is useful for this), then dump in only enough blackener to wet all of the material. I then leave it until it's all used up, stirring occasionally if I think of it - sometimes it sits for days or even weeks. It has little effect on stainless steel or aluminum, but the residue from the steel and brass bits with which it's mixed accumulates on everything.
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Weathering Scrap Loads Pt 2
By Wayne Williams
Another option for weathering metal parts is a propane torch. I stripped the wire from a number of open-frame motors, then wound it into rough coils. Working outdoors, I played the torch flame over them, burning away the insulating varnish:
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Recycling used track By David Hockley
A good way to better guarantee re-usability is to fasten your flex track down with track nails and/or spikes. I had a basement layout 14 x 26' feet, with adecent amount of track involved including code 83 and code 100 flex, and a number around 6 #8 curved turnouts, and a couple of 3 way turnouts.
I had not gotten to the ballast phase when I had to move, so I was able to simply pull up the track nails with the aid of a thin screwdriver and a pair of needle nose pliers. I saved ALL of the track and it has saved me a bundle when it came time to build my next layout. All of the track is being re-used and is in very good condition. Track that was soldered did have to be trimmed off the ends of the rails, maybe quarter of an inch. Obviously not everyone can save track but it saves a lot of money if you start this way. Food for thought anyway.
Last edit: by xdford
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A Different Way to fasten clear Windows
By Ron Perkins
I have been using a strong double-stick tape for attaching small cutout pieces of clear plastic to the insides of my models, to retain them. I get this particular tape from a drafting supplier. Its primary use is to hold down the large sheet vinyl covers placed on drafting tables.
I have been using this method for over 3 years now- ever since I ruined a kitbash caboose with Testor's clear canopy glue (after foolishly trying CA glue first) and none of my model's window pieces on which the tape was used show any signs of "drying out" or losing adhesion. Easy to cut with a very small scissor or sharp- bladed knife, and I "oversize" the clear window piece so that I have a hidden edge along which I apply the tape.
I measure the space first, then cut the window plastic. I next check how much tape is needed and apply that with the backing still on the other side of it to final check the fit, then remove the backing. I then use tweezers to place the window properly and use a toothpick to burnish the window piece (where the tape is underneath) against the car or structure interior. Some jobs require one piece; others two- one piece on each side, etc.
If you make a mistake, the tape is easily removable and does no harm to either the window plastic or the inner wall of the structure or rolling stock item.
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A Way to keep Sheet sides square while drying glue etc
By Trevor Gibbs
If you are gluing foam core sides etc for structures, you could try some simple LEGO and Duplo blocks which will lock into exact 90 degree corners and allow for all sorts of tight and unusual corners with the different shapes available. Those little plastic spring clamps should be able to get around or over any sheet material and clamp onto the blocks or in the case of Duplo, turn the block upside down and use the edge.
If you cannot source this you could also use Ferrero Rocher boxes which at time of writing are perfectly square as well.
Last edit: by xdford
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Defining your model Railway Globes without a meter By Ray James
Most Model rail type bulbs are either 1.5 or 12 volts but if you are not sure and electronics are foreign to you, just hook a AA battery to one. If the globe burns brightly then it is a 1.5v bulb, if it does not even glow, it would be a 12 volt… or it could be blown!!!
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How to Drill Soft Brass Castings By Tom Stage
When drilling Castings such as Headlights and other pieces, remember that brass is a soft metal so you could probably drill it out by hand with a pin vise and bit. And I would do it in several incrimental steps rather than with just one drill bit.
Also, if possible, I would place the casting in some sort of vise so that you have better control with your pin vise and bit. Brass can be really nasty to drill because your drill is either too sharp and wants to grab or the brass work-hardens and you can drill forever and not make any progress
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Creating N Scale Dirt
By Kyle Russell
Take a five gallon bucket (preferably with a lid), and a shovel, and get dry clumped up dirt of your chosen colour or your chosen area (or both) that does not have any rocks in it. Then get a few big rocks, put them in the bucket, and shake it. You can also grind up the dirt as well to make it almost like dust. If you do not like the color, you can get some gray dirt from an dusty gravel road. Get the finest mesh available, and a few larger, stronger screens, and make a screening jig. You can then put your jig on a five gallon bucket, and then scoop up the gravel with your shovel, and shake your jig back and forth. You will need to get down towards the bottom of the gravel layer to get the fine dust.
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Making your Spray Can spray finer By Dean Mitchell
A trick I use is to heat up the rattle cans in hot water from the tap. (NOT MORE THAN 140 F) This raises the pressure inside the can and you get a finer coat. Several light coats are better than one heavy coat. I let it dry at least a couple of days. When you cannot smell the paint any longer it is dry enough to decal.
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Using
Fibre Fill
By
Roger Johnson
You
should be able to purchase poly fiber
at any fabric store, although only white. At a club I belonged to long ago we started with the
white stuff, teased it out to make it more airy, gave it a quick
rattle can spray of reddish brown and finally a light dusting of
green foam. It made pretty convincing blackberry bushes.
Last edit: by xdford
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