HINTS AND TIPS - THE FOLLOW ON
Posted
Full Member
Colours for Fascias Pt 2
By Doug Murphy
I used a grey colour darker than medium grey color. Gray is a neutral and blends with everything so you hardly look at it except for diagrams and toggels but yet the edges are a finished product.
Posted
Full Member
Straightening bent plastic pieces from kits
By Raymond Bell
To bend plastic to a new or different shape, brush on liquid cement from the underside and twist to shape. You only need to hold it till the glue evaporates.
Posted
Full Member
Straightening bent plastic pieces from kits using Heat
By Several Modellers
Years ago, Fine Scale Modeler had an article on straightening a model car chassis that was warped (from factory or heat). The idea is to get a heat lamp- one of those small bullet-shaped desk lamps with a 60 watt standard light bulb (maximum wattage allowed) would work (you can get them at Walmart, I believe).
Place the warped piece on a true flat surface, such as a piece of plywood or MDF and locate the lamp close to the part. Let the heat from the bulb relax the styrene, but monitor it regularly, until the part is straight again. This process may take a few hours or so, but is less abusive to the part than using a heat gun. (Ron Wood)
Place the item between two sheets of glass, perhaps plate glass, and have the heat lamp above the glass – but again, with careful and constant monitoring so it does not go "too far" – (Dave Nelson)
When placing plastic material on a flat surface prior to heating, you may have to "shim" and set weights to exert "over" bending. The plastic will still have a tendency to spring out of shape even on a flat surface once cooled. (Bob Kennett)
Posted
Full Member
Gluing Plastic to Wood
By Several Modellers
I was able to successfully bond styrene plastic to wood (in this case, birch plywood). To do this, I used a product called Weldbond. Weldbond is available at stores like Ace Hardware, Home Depot, Lowes, and Michaels.
I just wanted to bring this to the attention of those who might be interested in how to bond these materials together. (Richard Travers)
The good thing about Weldbond is that, unlike regular white glue, you can heat it up with a heat gun and easily remove the parts. (Mark Davis)
Last edit: by xdford
Posted
Full Member
Preserving Acrylic Paint
By Ron Wood
Cut some circles from the top portion of a foam egg carton, the same diameter as the cap lid of a small paint jar- Testor's/ Paasche/ Model Master, etc. Make sure the jar top is clean on the inside threads, then place inside the lid and screw back on the jar, where it will easily conform to the interior and make a nice airtight cap liner for your paints.
This really is much better than those waxed cardstock liners that tend to decay quickly. I also use these egg carton lids for 91% alcohol and paint thinner, both of which I keep a small bottle of for hand painting use at the workbench. Careful to apply this to Acrylic paints as Enamel Paints may affect the foam.
Posted
Full Member
Mixing Acrylic Paints
By Colin Restorick
Generally I have found mixing acrylic with acrylic regardless of brands doesn't present an issue. Since Polly Scale is a Testors brand, I have used Testors acrylics with Polly before without any issues. Tamiya is very good as well.
It never hurts to mix a small batch to try it out first too.
Posted
Full Member
Ballasting trackwork across baseboard joins can lead to expansive and expensive problems!
By Tauranga Model Railway Club
On layouts where track work crosses the joins between MDF or chipboard boards, problems
can occur when the diluted glue/detergent mix used to ballast the track work seeps down
into the join. The glue soaks into the edge of the board causing it to swell, lifting the track
into a pronounced hump. If this happens, the swelling and the hump are there to stay!
There is no easy way to cure this once it has happened other than to scrap the lot †boards
and all †and start all over again! Ouch!
Fortunately the problem is easy to avoid. Before laying your boards, seal the edges where
the track is likely to cross with undiluted PVA such as Unibond. Later, when you are ready to
start laying the track, paint the entire track bed area with a coat of PVA †it must be
undiluted †making sure you include all areas to be ballasted and allowing a generous margin
on either side. Take particular care to seal board joins, screw holes and any other breaks in
the surface of the board. When dry, repeat with a second coat. Once your track has been
laid, before you start ballasting, check for and PVA any new holes such as wiring or point
motor holes. Hopefully this should stop any problems, but it is always wise not to be too
generous with your ballasting glue just in case.
This may sound like overkill †it probably is, but the alternative does not bare thinking about!
Of course, if you want a humpâ€shunting layout, please feel free to disregard the above!
Posted
Full Member
Holding small details
By Dennis Blank Jr
For painting small detail parts, I use a piece of electronics breadboard or perf board and use MicroScale Kristal Klear to mount the parts.
The Kristal Klear can be easily softened with water after the parts are painted.
Posted
Full Member
Making Figures Stand
By Mark Decapri
To hold my figurines in N Scale, I am mostly using magnets with a spike on a mat. But I have many methods which vary depending on my mood and the exact needs of the model.
To get under my sidewalks etc, is not entirely difficult. First up all my houses/buildings are on their own bases. Sometimes cut exactly to the edge of the building, sometime so include the surrounding yard or diorama. With a small drill, I can embed a bit of metal into the figure base. This works well for grass areas and where the feet are not entirely shown.
Posted
Full Member
Selecting a Sky blue Colour for backdrops By Peter Ledger
When exploring a sky color for my backdrops I followed a suggestion that I gather some paint swatches from the paint store, go outside on a clear day and choose the one that most resembled the sky and then go with one shade darker. Also enlisted my wife's eye for color as mine is lacking. My layout is lighted with 4100K florescent tubes and it was also suggested that going the one shade darker would improve the looks of the backdrop in photographs.
Posted
Full Member
Merging Blues for Backdrops
By Tom Mathieson
I actually use 3 colors of blue. The exact colors are not critical and will vary depending on paint brand. In general, select a dark blue, a medium blue, and a light blue. You will apply the dark blue at the top, the medium blue in the middle, and the light blue at the bottom. I use latex paint which is formulated to dry quickly (because most people want to paint two coats in one day). We do not want the paint to dry this fast when painting the backdrop. As such, I add an “Extender†which retards the drying time to allow you to work with and blend it. This blending is critical because you want a gradual transition of color from dark to light on the distant horizon. I work with about 3-4 feet in length at a time. That ensures the paint remains wet for blending. I use four 2.5†wide trim brushes. One dedicated to each color of blue, and the fourth for the blending.
Let us assume your backdrop is 30†high. Starting at the top of the backdrop, paint a 1 to 2†wide stripe of dark blue. About a foot below that, paint a width of the medium blue. Using the blending brush, work the dark blue down and the medium blue up mixing the colors where they meet. With practice, you will achieve a gradual transition from the dark blue into the medium blue creating custom shades between. While this mixture is still wet, I add the light blue to the lower portion of the backdrop. Again, using the blending brush, work the light blue up into the medium blue and the medium blue down into the light blue. This will give the effect of dark blue sky immediately overhead and light blue on the horizon.
I have zero artistic talent, so if I can pull this off, anyone can. I just completed all the backdrop for a friends layout using this technique. It took me a total of 12 hours to do his entire layout. I have also used this on my home layout with equally good results.
Posted
Full Member
Making Hills in an Inner City area
By Alex Wilson
First I take a cardboard box and measure a area on my layout where I want a mountain and basically do like you would if you were using foam.
But instead of foam I use cardboard because it easy to get and usually free. Any ways I do my base, then I cut little pieces of wood or card to glue to my base with super glue. I then cut smaller pieces and then glue those to my next level as tall as I need.
Then I use painters masking tape. It's white and has that paper feel to it. Then I tape up level by level. Doesn't matter which level you start with but I always start at the base since the level above will cover the level below when I am taping.
Squirting white glue all over and then even it all out with a Classic Colour Pen Set although any will do. Then almost done. I then take sand but you can use whatever fits your needs. And I pour it on and let it sit for 5 or so minutes then flip it so all the extra sand falls off. Then the time consuming part starts. Doing all the sand patch work. Little areas that didn't get glued or to light of sand. And holding it from different areas and looking at it from different angles really helps find those spots. And that's pretty much it. Fill the patches till its all done. Repeat if you want to do a 2 tone color. The trick is using enough glue to have the sand stick to it but not to much glue where the sand with soak up the glue.
Last edit: by xdford
Posted
Full Member
When I paint track…
By Dave Nelson
Before I spray my track with either an airbrush or “paint bombsâ€, I take a Qtip with light household oil and rub it on the railheads. That makes rubbing off any paint that sticks to the rail head much much easier. Even if I used an airbrush I would still do the oiled Qtip thing.
Posted
Full Member
Protecting LED's in DC locomotives
By Trevor Gibbs
Smaller LED's when you fit them to locomotives should be their own protection but usually they are not. At time of writing, I run "pure" DC and to protect my LED headlights, I normally put a 4001 diode in series with the LED headlight and its resistor which will take care of any hiccups that happen when the motor temporarily feeds back on a broken momentary contact and causes the LED to flicker.
If you are concerned that your headlights will come on well after your train starts moving because of the diode I suggested protecting the LED, place 2 diodes opposite to each other in series with the motor. This will drop the voltage to the motor by .6v which will mean your lights will come on earlier to the start of the movement of your train. I use an inertia throttle that I can adjust the maximum voltage upwards slightly although I usually only set it for about 9 to 10 volts max anyway so the train can move at an acceptable maximum speed.
Posted
Full Member
Diffusing Light
By Max Wright
.
I use Tissue Paper behind my otherwise clear Factory windows. It helps diffuse the light, especially from Warm white LED's and softens the effect on the glass suggesting activity requiring light.
Posted
Full Member
Simulating model Fluorescent Lighting
By Max Wright
To simulate Fluorescent Tubes, I use “Cold White†LED's in small clear styrene tubes. The plastic helps spread the lighting very slightly as well and the LED's keep fairly cool inside the tubing.
Posted
Full Member
Making “bark†look straggly
By Roy Thorp
To make a tree bark look “shaggy†with the texture, I painted on a coat of glue then coated with Sand. Trees in different parts of the world have a characteristic stringy looking bark.
Posted
Full Member
Making Weeds by using fake fur…upside down.
By Tom Acton
A friend of mine "planted" weeds between his rails on a branch by gluing fake fur/faux fur upside down and cutting off the backing when it was dry. We had a few operating sessions during which the Kadee uncoupling pins caught on little loops of fiber that had been formed where it was not cut properly. Once these loops had all been found & cut, the layout operated beautifully.
Last edit: by xdford
Posted
Full Member
Making “Stone†retaining Walls
By Bill Rosser
I make Stone for retaining walls, abutments and stone fences by using foam recycled from meat trays.I “scribe†across them using a length of plastic I Beam to imprint the long edge. Placing one of the I flats in the previous slot helps keep the gaps fairly even as the gap is created. I also use this type of foam for tunnel mouths and stone brick buildings and anything else that requires a granite stone finish.
Last edit: by xdford
Posted
Full Member
Making a Breakwater that looks like big Rocks … using Foil?
By Daniel Kemp
I have a maritime layout which I have a breakwater. I started out by filling the gaps between the two levels of the bench work with chunks of Styrofoam, roughly shaped to the slope of the coast line. I managed to cut those ribs with a sharp knife without cutting myself!
I mixed some black paint into raw quick drying plaster, got it to the approximate shape over a layer of scrap foam, then gently pressed foil and crumpled it up over the top to stop the plaster from running. I make sure I press it in hard and you can see the final shape from the “outsideâ€.
Before it dries fully I peel the foil very gently off,avoiding it to stick to the plaster and let the plaster set. The black paint gives it a grey tone so you should have minimal work apart from seaweed and barnacles!
Last edit: by xdford
1 guest and 0 members have just viewed this.