HINTS AND TIPS - THE FOLLOW ON
Posted
Full Member
Aligning Decals on Rollingstock Pt 2
By Several Modellers
I try to set the decal to line up with some linear feature on the model, as close as I can get it. Then I sight down the side of the model, parallel to the side. Any dips or bumps in the decal line are easy to see, and can be adjusted.
I do not use decal setting solutions until I am satisfied that the decal is set in place. (George Paine)
Instead of a line drawn with pencil I would just mark a few points measured from the roofline to help keep you on track. If they show through they would be easier to hide with weathering. (Joe Beltrame)
Posted
Full Member
To Hide the Seams on Removable Buildings
By Peter Herron
To keep the ground cover from entering the joint I decided to glue and spike some thin cardboard to the base which covered the seam and could be covered with material to hide it. I used gasket material which I had purchased to use to shim cork roadbed where needed. It is impervious to water but wetting it allows it to conform to minor contours. When it dries it is quite stiff. Now if I have to remove the building it will require little work to fix the scenery once reinstalled.
Posted
Full Member
If you want to experience using Waybill cards and need a holder
by Several Modellers
I tried out using waybills at each of my stations for my way freights. I made the holders for my cards from foam come, the first ones I used white and painted them black. The newer ones I used black foam core. They are hot glued together and lettered with stick on lettering. I mounted them with Velcro to the fascia. (Bob Reck)
I use binder clips to clip the car cards at the bottom of my fascia at or near where the car is located instead of fixed boxes. With the cards being held at their bottom edge, I can thumb through the top of them to see car numbers and destination information on the waybills. They do not stick out from the fascia like a box would and as an added bonus they are easily moveable and removable. You can also clip a card anywhere a car is currently located like on a passing siding where there normally wouldn't be a box. For the fixed industries on my layout, I plan to stencil the track ID above where the car card will normally be clipped for that particular industry. Just another option as you can set up a dozen locations for the cost of the clips (Charles Riley)
Posted
Full Member
Protecting yourself from Super Glue
by Bruce Considine
I learn a lot by my mistakes. The buildings you build usually are put together with super glue. If you get super glue on your fingers and thumb, it will take days to get it off. My solution is to spend a few dollars for Nitrile disposable gloves, ten to a pack. (not latex, one size fits all.)
They are $3 for 10 pairs where I live and it will be the best 30 cents you ever spent per pair! Just throw them away when they are done or holed.
Posted
Full Member
Taking Close photos of your layout
by Trevor Gibbs
I used to try to set my Digital SLR camera to try to get model photos of my layout until I saw someone using a Mobile Phone to take some very close ups of some flowers. I asked them what they intended to do with the image to which she told me it was for a “model†for her painting a still life of those flowers.
She showed me the image and the closeups of the veins of the petals etc were amazing. A little while later I wanted to take a few pictures of a structure on a friends layout, and noting it when I got home, the depth of field was terrific.
I tried the phone on my own layout and the pictures had more depth than I had previously taken and I was able to get it into areas I could not hope to get into with the SLR because of the slim profile of the phone.
Posted
Full Member
Starting Holes Accurately In Plastic
by Ron Wood
To make a small impression in the plastic as a starter hole for the drill bit, I use easily-made tool.
Take a pencil diameter-sized wood dowel rod and drill a hole in one end the diameter of a standard sewing pin. Nip off the head and glue the pin into the dowel rod. Then you have an easily held tool with which to make a precise impression hole for starting a drill bit. I use this when making grab holes and it always works.
A Note from Trevor - You can do a similar thing with a pin with the head cut off held in a Pin Vice or using a drawing pin
Posted
Full Member
Assisting Free Rolling Capabilities of your rolling stock
By Ross Matthews
Much rolling stock is fairly free rolling but I find that the friction of a steel axle in a delrin truck or plastic bogie can eventually wear anyway.
I have used a graphite pencil - an art pencil, not a writing pencil which has a lot of clay in its composition - to put a thin skin of lubricant on the needle points of the axle.
I have not tried to run extra length trains as a result but feel it helps the locomotive also operate a bit more smoothly.
Posted
Full Member
Using Dividers to Accurately Position Holes
by Wayne Toth
I use the pointy parts on a draughting compass, or set of dividers to "centre-punch" for drilling. The advantage to using the latter is that you can use it to "walk-off" identically spaced drilling points.
In fact, after a #11 blade in my X-Acto, dividers might be my second most-used tools for modelling. They are great for doing layout work directly on a model - grabiron-style ladders on a freight car, for example: set them in relation to the car's end and use one point to guide the tool, and the other to lightly scribe a vertical line to define the mounting position, then adjust the spacing to scribe a second vertical line indicating the width of the needed ladder. Next, re-set the points to the vertical spacing required, and "walk" the dividers, in-turn, up the two scribed lines. The result is perfectly spaced and perfectly vertical ladders
Posted
Full Member
Using Magnets to locate structures
by Greg Josephs
I use magnetic strips from fridge calendars etc to hold structures in place so that I can easily remove them for dusting and any maintenance. The magnets need to be relatively soft as lifting the structure could tear the floors from buildings. This makes it easy for cleaning and could be applied to portable layouts as well.
Last edit: by xdford
Posted
Full Member
Using Duct Tape for Ballasting Points/Turnouts
by Crandell Overton
Cut a length of 2" duct tape, apply it to the under-surfaces of the sleepers along the major axis (through route), and lay the turnout right side up.
Apply a sprinkling of ballast grains along the major axis, let sit a few seconds for adhesion to take effect well, then invert and shake loose all that can be ejected from the ballast that way.
Once the grains stop falling, insert the turnout in place in the track plan and ballast the diverging route and route around the frog and beyond to the exits opposite the points. This leaves the points rails free of binding grains, and the throwbar as well.
Posted
Full Member
Painting Cork Roadbed prior to Ballasting
by Several Modellers
If the track is already down, then I would not bother (I did not do mine, but I wish I had). If the track is not down, painting the cork either a color that generally matches your ballast or another dark color, will give the layout a more finished look (Joel Owens)
It does not matter what I use as roadbed, I always paint it so it has about the same colour as the ballast. Painting closes the pores of the roadbed so the glue does not get sucked up and hides the roadbed if there's a hole in the ballast somewhere. Michael Rosenheim)
Posted
Full Member
Making Paint to be Sprayed from your airbrush less thin
by Brian Nelson
If you have thinned your model paint too much, make a small shallow pan out of aluminum foil and pour the paint in. With it spread out in a thin layer the solvent will evaporate very fast. Keep a close eye on it so it does not dry too much, and do it in a well ventilated area away from open flame!
Posted
Full Member
If you are Instructing people how to operate your layout
by Bill Brillinger
I tailor my instructions to the people who are coming. If my visitors are not "super operations serious" then they get the relaxed instructions. If they are "operations curious" they get a more advanced set of instructions but they are mostly optional. If they are super serious and have been here before, they get the whole ball of wax by email in advance.
I use car cards for managing the freight, so everyone gets to become familiar with those to some degree. Usually I put the noob's on engineer duty and give them a conductor to handle the paperwork.
Posted
Full Member
A Quick Track Cleaner using a throwaway item.
By Joseph Skewes
I have a section of track that for some reason readily oxidises and the crud is heavy to remove but difficult to access with a full sized track rubber. I was ready to throw out some of my wifes emery boards when I realised that one surface was fairly fine so cutting one in half, I was able to use the board as a thin track cleaner.
Because there are two surfaces, I was able to get rid of the oxide quickly and bring the surface to a reasonable polished surface so hopefully, the oxide will not build up as quickly.
Posted
Full Member
A Few Hints making Awnings For Buildings
By Several Modellers
I use Tissue paper and a colour printer for awnings. To use Tissue Paper, you may need to tape some tissue paper to regular paper to get it through your printer. I use Phosphor-bronze wire for the frame. I use a graphics program to design the pattern, which means you can include lettering on the front fringe or on the main top of the awning (Howard Gardner)
I worked with paper to create an awning that could be folded and glued into the window opening.
Scan and edit the graphic image using Coreldraw or MS Paint or your favourite Graphics program to add stripes and colors as needed.
Print, cut and paste the copies onto a master sheet and head for the copy store to copy your master onto paper of the correct weight and base color. Cut out the awnings, fold and glue them in the window openings
FYI…Avoid using CA (superglue) glue…capillary action will "stain" your awning. (Bruce Hickson)
Posted
Full Member
A Few Hints making Mockups For Buildings
By Michael Liddicoat
Like many, I use boxes to represent buildings when planning scenes on my layout. Recently I have started to cover these in photographs of the relevant structures I am intending to model, printed on to plain paper. This allows me to think about combinations of buildings, colours, and the placing of track, roads and cameo scenes. It also means I have “buildings†in place while I get around to making them.
Posted
Full Member
Using Paint Trays for Super Glue and Pain
By Several Modellers
I use paint trays from a Reject shop which have six glazed “cups†for holding paint called paint pallets. The smooth plastic means that paint can be cleaned readily from the sides and the superglue can be located in the trays. Beng plastic, the superglue and paint last longer and in the case of the superglue, it is easier to locate than putting it on a sheet of plastic. (Steve Horan)
I use plastic bottle caps (either milk or soft drink) as receptacles for paint. They are similarly glazed and hold the intended materials and can be reused several times. (Jim Wright)
Posted
Full Member
Abutments for Bridges etc
By Several Modellers
If your design requires end supports for bridges, you would be very fortunate if a commercial product will fit unless you have built the layout around those products. If you want a concrete abutment, simply cut balsa, foam block, card or styrene sheet to fit and paint it appropriately perhaps with a thin coat of plaster.
If you want stone work, use some embossed sheet stuck on the outside or glue on sandpaper for a rough texture.
Posted
Full Member
Useful Package Recycling
By Michael Liddicoat
As it is the festive season, be on the lookout for useful food packaging. Party food packaging has supplied me several paint palettes with anything from 6 to 12 sections. They can be washed and reused or discarded once finished with.
Posted
Full Member
Perspective on Backdrops
By Trevor Gibbs
Some people try to add depth to their painted backdrops by trying to add perspective but in essence, unless there is only ONE possible viewing point, it is nigh on impossible to make it work.
Years ago, I saw an exhibition layout which was of a large country town and the backdrops were actual photos of a street parallelling the railway complete with houses etc. The pictures were conjoined so what you saw was a series of effectively triangular scenes rather than a flat shape with two vanishing points only for the depth. The pictures while photo-real, made it look like a pasted on series of pictures and there was nowhere that you could view the entire layout from.
However a city scene would be different with low relief buildings at the front so that looking down a street, you are forced to just focus on that street and the side view of the buildings sides would give some perspective that would only be spoiled by looking at it far away.
1 guest and 0 members have just viewed this.