Hints & Tips No.1627
 

  Making Grout/Mortar Pt 1  

  By John Busby
  

  

  Paint the walls in brick colour. leave to dry thoroughly. Then get a suitable citedal paints wash ( from games workshop) with a paint that will make the brick look mucky - definitely not a white - this will look way to clean for an industrial building. Mix the wash 50-50 with clean water really slosh it on. Do not skimp on it. Leave it to dry at least 48 hours then lightly dry brush with the brick colour to bring out the brick pattern.
  

  This assumes that windows, doors and other fittings have not yet been attached to the walls but the walls are glued together
  

Hints & Tips No.1628
 

  Making Grout/Mortar Pt 2  

  By Steve Lammin
  

  I use a thinned wash of flat light gray water based paint. Any excess can be wiped off. I also use drywall mud in small areas. It replicates areas where the original was "repointed".

Hints & Tips No.1629
 

  Using a Dremel or other brand extender to Drill holes and Cut rail.  

  By Frank Stripe
  

  When drillng holes with a flex-shaft, I set the speed to the lowest setting and put the tool/drill bit where I want the hole and then turn the tool on. I find it does not wander all over, that way. I have not had to cut gaps in any rail for quite some time, but when I did., I always double-up the small disc's when I use them to cut. This made the cutting action stronger and the discs do not break as easily that way and is still a thinner cut, than the larger disc used in the Dremel and other cutters

Hints & Tips No.1630
 

  LED's as lights in Buildings  

  By Randy Rinker
  

  Cone type LED's are usually found in the holiday light strings, which, knowing most stores, should be appearing on shelves about now at the time of writing this. Cone lights spread their glow a better proportion of 360 degrees so the lighting will appear more even. You can get warm white LED's or incandescent globes in houses and cool white LED's for office buildings that would be lit with fluorescent bulbs. Both types are usually available, in addition to multi color ones.

Hints & Tips No.1631
 

  Adjusting Light Brightness pf LED's  

  By Mike Lehman
  

  To get the light brightness about right using LEDs is to build-in the resistance you know is protective and about right – based on your experience or the calculater – install on the layout. Most of the time you're good, but generally the problem will be not enough, rather than too much. Since resistors are additive and the resistance goes up when wired in series, you can install added resistance underneath the layout where the leads to a structure connect to power. This saves having to reset a structure. Unless you're modeling one of those rare super-bright light sources, you'll almost always want to add considerably MORE resistance than the protective resistance. 

Hints & Tips No.1632
 

  Fitting Figurines to Model Cars  

  By Dave Graham
  

  Taking most OO/HO vehicles apart is not all that difficult. As has been said, a few of them can be popped apart or unscrewed, but it isn't hard to drill out the rivets on vehicles like Classic Metal Works. A little CA will stick them back together just fine once the figures are installed.
  

  The biggest problem is that most HO figures will simply not fit nicely into most HO vehicles. Getting the figures to fit usually means at the least chopping off legs. Even the figures of drivers offered by the European suppliers often need modification before they will fit. It also often means removing a fair portion of the figure's back side, and cutting off arms so they can be repositioned to look like they are hanging on to the steering wheel. Often the top of the head has to be trimmed slightly so the face can sit at an appropriate height.
 

Hints & Tips No.1633


  Keeping Track in Contact with Wheels  Trevor Gibbs
  

  Fellow modellers have been experimenting with graphite to keep up electrical contact between rails and wheels. Do not use an ordinary pencil as there is a lot of clay in many "graphite" pencils but go to an art supply place and ask for a solid graphite art stick. They are not very expensive (I paid about $2 for mine at my friendly newsagent) and there is a noticeable level of improvement in performance although I still have some recalcitrant track that insists on needing cleaning.
   

Hints & Tips No.1634
 

  Tips for Painting Figurines  

  By Several Modelers
  

  Get a magnifying lamp or an Optivisor. The hardest thing about painting small details is that you can't see them, unless, of course, you have a young pair of eyes to do the job.
  I typically paint the flesh tones first. These do not have to be neat. Actually, I intentionally paint "outside the lines" a bit, because they will be covered later. Shoes are the same way if the figure is wearing long pants. I do my figures with craft paints, so I use a piece of scrap cardboard as a palette and I might have a few colours open at once. I usually only do a half-dozen figures at a time, though, because that's the number that fits most scenes for me.
  I paint one colour on many figures at a time, let that colour dry and then paint a different colour, so on and so forth. All I can say is try to enjoy yourself while you do it. These things really are pretty tiny in HO, so some flesh colour on the hands and face and different coloured hair is about all I do to the face as details such as the eyes seems to make them look bug eyed, so I leave this flesh coloured.
 

Hints & Tips No.1635
 

  Giving Buildings a Stucco effect  

  By Kevin Beasley
  

  I like textured speckled spray paints ( Rustoleum brand in the US ) to add texture to flat surfaces.  It is a quick 1-step process to achieve both texture and color. I have also used textured paints without the speckles.  That gives a slightly rough surface of uniform colour.
  

Hints & Tips No.1636
 

  Diffusing the Lights from LED's  

  By Several Modelers
  

  I have found the light emitted by the standard 3mm dome ended led is quite directionsl, focusing about 2 inches away. By filing a flat on the plastic case it seems to spread out more suitably for an interior application.  (Doug Dickson)
  

  If you have access to a Lathe, gently turn down the top so there is a minor flat, then drill with a centre drill to make a small Vee. This will diffuse the LED's output in a random fashion but it should appear to be more even to our eye size. You could do the same with a hand drill working very lightly (Trevor Gibbs)
  

  

Hints & Tips No.1637
 

  Tips for Using Ash for Ashpits and other reasons Pt 1  

  By Tony Sander
  

  The club I used to belong to the guys that smoked saved their cig ashes and used them in the ash pits. They also used them for weathering it gives that soft grey effect everyone likes. The club disbanded and gave away most of the things that didn't sell at the train shows.
  

  I have a 3 lb coffee can full and use them for scenery on my rocks and other areas. You just need a soft makeup brush to apply them.

Hints & Tips No.1638
 

  Tips for Using Ash for Ashpits and other reasons Pt 2  

  By Bill Veitch
  

  I used real ashes from actual steam engines. A number of geared locomotives are in use on my layout, and on a visit to the Cass Scenic RR in West Virginia I hauled along a zip-lock storage bag. I scooped some ashes from the shays there at Cass into the bag, later sprinkling the finer grade of ashes over white glue covering a small plaster mound within my ash pit. The vacuum cleaned up any mess after the glue was dry.
  I thus can tell folks visiting the layout that the ashes are actual ones from locomotives like those on the layout. A visit to any site that has operational steam can yield a bag of ashes for you, and it might be worth the wait.

Hints & Tips No.1639
 

  Alternative cutting mat  

  By Mick Savage
  

  Cutting mats are essential for most model makers but they can be expensive. An alternative is a piece of carpet tile. The synthetic, rubber-like backing material takes prolonged cutting
  without showing wear, and is very firm – essential when cutting delicate parts. If you can get a off-cut, or spot a clean one in a dumpster, it will cost you nothing! The woven side of a carpet tile is ideal for supporting delicate or painted models without scratching the surface.
  

 

Hints & Tips No.1640
 

  Cleaning Paint Spills  

  By Nelson Moyer
  

 Occasionally, paint drips and spills on work surfaces and floors under the workbench. Dried acrylic paint spots can be dissolved and removed using lacquer thinner. I recently laid my favorite
  paint brush down after use, and promptly forgot about it. The next day, I discovered the error. Remembering that lacquer thinner dissolves acrylic paints, I soaked the brush for a few minutes and blotted it on a paper towel. The brush was as good as new.
  

  Warning: Lacquer thinner is not suitable for all surfaces, so be sure you don’t destroy the surface as your remove the paint.
  

Hints & Tips No.1641
 

  Painting Track and Sleepers  

  By Rick Spangler
  

  All my track was initially painted the same color first sprayed with Rustoleum dark brown camouflage, then weathered with acrylics. I left the mainline and siding as-is, but the secondary tracks on either side received washes and dry-brushed acrylic tan craft paint. With any given brush load, there is more paint to apply at first and progressively less as I go. I use this to vary intensity of paint application of paint of each of the sleepers. Additional weathering was added with both acrylics and pastel chalk after ballasting was complete.  
  

  Things like rust staining and fuel spills that would affect the ballast are entirely done after ballasting and the weathering will differ between the main, industry tracks, and the engine service track.
  

Hints & Tips No.1642
 

  Stopping a Cutting edge Ruler from slipping  

  By John Hockley
  

  I had trouble with my metal ruler slipping so I bought one with cork attached to the bottom and it does not slide when I am using it as a cutting edge. You could also glue thin cork to a pound shop ruler to make a home made version.
  

Hints & Tips No.1643
 

  Keeping an edge straight when cutting  

  By David Brennan
  

  If you are a wood worker, you can use a sharp hand plane on styrene. Set the blade finely and lay the plane on the side on the workbench. Then elevate the plastic a bit with a scrap of plywood and shoot the edge so it is nice and flat.
  

Hints & Tips No.1644
 

  Lighting on a Portable Layout  

  By Roger Baker
  

  Because my layout module is on a hollow core door that sits on a folding table, it would be tough to install reliable wiring that would not be likely to sustain damage - that's why I make the lighted accessories self-contained and battery powered. And at $1 for each set with LED, batteries and hardware, it's tough to beat the price! Rechargeable batteries can keep the costs lower over all as well 

Hints & Tips No.1645


  Keeping Track in Contact with Wheels  Trevor Gibbs
  

  Fellow modellers have been experimenting with graphite to keep up electrical contact between rails and wheels. Do not use an ordinary pencil as there is a lot of clay in many "graphite" pencils but go to an art supply place and ask for a solid graphite art stick. They are not very expensive (I paid about $2 for mine at my friendly newsagent) and there is a noticeable level of improvement in performance although I still have some recalcitrant track that insists on needing cleaning.
  

Hints & Tips No.1646
 

  Express Trains in a limited space  

  By Mike Boyden
  

  A thought for those with limited space; we may long to run 10 or 12 coach trains and consider anything less behind an express loco  as non protypical, however there are probably quite a few locations where an express from London would split into portions for more than one destination. The Southern were very fond of this, for example a 12 coach train would leave Waterloo and on arriving at Bournemouth Central it would be split with 6 coaches, including the catering vehicle, going to Bournemouth West, the other 6 would continue to Wareham where a further split may take place, dropping 2 coaches for Swanage, and 4 continuing to Weymouth, some trains would not split at Wareham so 6 coaches would proceed to Weymouth.

The Weymouth portion would have the original loco from London so a 4 or 6 coach train behind an express loco was an everyday occurrence. 

The Atlantic coast express could split into more portions for destinations like  Plymouth, Padstow, Bideford, Torrington, Bude and  Ilfracombe.

So using rule 1 (“It is your layout”), make a scenario to fit your layout.