HINTS AND TIPS - THE FOLLOW ON
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Making Signs for model buildings
From Lionel Strang (Canada)
I make signs from printouts using my computer then stick them to rectangles of styrene before mounting them to buildings etc. The white edges of sheet styrene can look very ordinary so I paint them black with a felt tip marker. The inconsistency of the pen is also enough to give a degree of individuality.
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Colour Coding your Wiring
From John Waitkus
A simple solution to "what wire goes where" is to color code your wire. Make sure that you use only one color for each type of connection. Some examples; Red for Block Power, Black for Common. White for Switch Machine Common, Blue and Yellow for Switch Machine Power left and right direction. This is important even for DCC layouts to keep the polarities correct such as Red for Outer and Black for Inner Rails.
Also, make sure you use a large enough wire size for the application. 18 gauge wire will work fine for layouts up to 4' by 8'. If your layout is any bigger, get a larger wire for your connections. This will assure that you do not get a voltage drop to the remote sections of your layout.
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Using Drywall Screws for Benchwork
From John Waitkus
When constructing benchwork, drywall screws are a very handy (and economical) way of attaching your benchwork. Since we are mainly using wood, get the ones with the coarse threads. Using a power drill with a phillps bit speeds the process.
Last edit: by xdford
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Keep your Locos Clean
From John Waitkus
One of the most common problems that locomotives suffer from is intermittent electrical contact. Most of the time this is due to the accumulation of "crud" (a mixture of oil and dirt). Use oil and grease sparingly. More is not better! Oil only as necessary. Frequently clean the places on the loco where electrical contact is made. This includes the wheels, motor contacts, and on some locomotives, parts of the frame.
Crud can also accumulate in moving parts of Valve gear of steam locomotives so take care that the buildup of oil-dirt-fluff does not build up to excess.
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Modelling Safely Pt 1
From Several Modellers
Model railways are fun! But remember that we need to be careful of what we are doing while having that fun!!
You need to be thinking about safety any time you are working on your layout. We use tools that can cut, chemicals that can be toxic, and electric devices that have the potential to shock us. The fact that there is the possibility of harm should not dissuade us from engaging in model railroading. Hazards can be anticipated and avoided by a little planning and common sense.
Keep your work area clean and well lighted. Use goggles or safety glasses when cutting or performing striking operations where there is any chance that a chip or piece might fly off towards your eyes. Always err on the side of safety!
It is really not necessary to go out and buy one of every tool there is in advance of your need for them. You can start with a very simple set of tools. But be sure that you have the right tool for each job before you start to do it since it is much easier and safer to use the correct tool for each process. Buy the more advanced tools individually as you need each one. Be sure that your tools are in good shape before using them. Check them out before and after each use. In particular, cutting edges must be sharp. A dull tool is an unsafe tool. Heads should not be loose on their handles. Striking faces should not be mushroomed or chipped. Generally speaking, most tools are a one time expense. Buy the best that you can afford. Cheap tools are usually not worth the money you spend on them. They are not made with precision. Cheap cutting tools don't hold a sharp edge. A dull tool not only is unsafe, it can ruin your project while it is cutting you! Some cheap tools have even come apart when being used.
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Modelling Safely Pt 2
From Several Modellers
Some of the paints that we use give off vapors that are toxic if breathed in large quantities. Experienced modelers will paint with an air brush in a spray booth that will exhaust any overspray to the outside. Beginners do not usually have that equipment, so be sure to work only in very well ventilated areas when painting. It is a good idea to wear a cartridge type filter mask that is rated for paint while working. Dust masks are not good enough - they will filter out the particulates but let the vapours through to you.
When painting inside, remember that the odours can infiltrate into the main part of the house to the annoyance of other family members. And the vapours are usually flammable so be careful of open flames - stove and water heater pilot lights, smoking etc. It is a good idea to wear gloves when painting. Avoid direct skin contact with solvents, many of which can be absorbed directly through the skin into the system.
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Modelling Safely Pt 3
From Several Modellers
We mostly deal with relatively low voltages. Direct current electricity is fairly simple to understand and low voltage circuits can be worked with safely by beginners. But it can also cause fatal shocks when abused, so be sure that you know what you are doing before doing it. Read and follow directions! In particular, do not open any mains voltage appliance (such as a power pack) unless you really know what you are doing. Make sure that the earth pins on all plugs are in good shape so that any stray voltages will exit to ground through the line cord and not through you!
In countries where they exist, it is a bad idea to use "adapter plugs" to plug a 3-prong plug into an old-fashioned 2-hole socket. If necessary, have the socket rewired - by a professional electrician unless you really understand 110 volt or 240 volt current. And absolutely under no circumstances should you cut the third, grounding pin off a plug to get it to fit a 2-hole socket.
When soldering, remember that the end of the iron is very hot! It is best to have and use a stand for your iron that is designed for the purpose of holding it safely. Melted solder is also very hot. When working overhead (usually under the layout) be careful that excess solder does not drip down onto you causing painful burns or cause eye injury.
When using power tools be careful to wear tight fitting clothing. Do not wear loose or flapping items such as ties or unbuttoned shirt sleeves that have any chance of being caught in the tool you are using. Keep your fingers completely out of the cutting area. Use a wooden "pusher" to control your work in the area of saw blades and cutting heads. Wear safety goggles at all times. Stand aside from the area through which the work might fly if caught by the machine and kicked back at you.
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Black Connecting Rods
From Several Modellers
Casey's gunblue can darken connecting rods depending on the actual metal used and could provide a thin permament coating (Ian Fisher -Liverpool & Burton-upon-Trent )
I have seen some amazing looking rods done with a substance called Neo-Lube. (I think that's what it's called) It is sold from a mail order magazine type thingy, called Micro-Mark. It is a powdered graphite in an alcohol. (Rod Cameron - Teignmouth)
I have used on a couple of locos a thick felt tipped black marking pen. Finish with a quick brushover of diluted steel grey paint.
Seems OK - try on an old loco first. (Robert Hall – Wigan, Lancashire)
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From David Youngs (Canada)
For extending the length of the Peco Point motor through baseboards, I squeeze mine with a pair of pliers and squash it at right angles to the movement.
There was a commercial mounting many (now gone) that dropped a tube over the pin and stuck a small nail down through the tiebar into the tube. As for getting the right size tube …
From Nick Wood (Newbury)
I replace my drive pin in the Peco point motor with a piecec of piano wire. A drop of Araldite and push home and allow to set.
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Sand Texturing, fairly easily
From Several Modellers
You will need a litre or two of acrylic paint in a sand colour close to what you require for your layout. You will also need a supply of table salt
- Paint the area you need to be sand textured, (Beach, Quarry etc) with a thick layer of the acrylic paint.
- Put a liberal dose of salt on the painted area and allow to completely dry. The salt will only stick when it is completely dry but the amount of moisture in the paint is not enough to dissolve the salt.
- If your scenery section is completely removable, tap the excess off into the rubbish bin, otherwise use a vacuum at a low power setting to remove the excess salt.
- Paint another coat of paint over the top making sure that any gaps are filled.
Last edit: by xdford
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Scaling Drawings Using a Word Processor
From Kevin Knight (Queensland Australia)
You need a model size picture to work from in that detailing or scratch building project. A method I have used in the past is to save a scanned drawing as a JPEG and insert it in Word although most word processors will be OK for this. This allows you to make the size of the picture fit the page or whatever you want really. If you scale the "page" on the screen to be the correct size for an A4 sheet, you can then size the drawing up to fit using a clear plastic ruler taped to the monitor or held there if you do not trust the sticky tape to come off cleanly.
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Making your own Rivet Press
From Rene Vink (Netherlands)
Etched kits often require small etched holes to be pressed out as a rivet. One option is to press the rivets out by hand. No matter how accurately you work the etch will bend and the rivets will be irregular. Professional rivet tools cost over $150. There is no doubt in my mind that these tools deliver superior quality. They'd better, for that price!! But such prices inspire me to find a solution of my own that will do better than hand riveting but will cost much less than a stock riveter.
The good news is that I have found just that solution. Basically I took a pair of long nose pliers, drilled a hole, installed the cut off head of household pin, countersunk another hole and that's it. Costs €4,95 plus one hour of work and works great. See the whole story on the tools section of my site http://www.modelrailroading.nl/
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Fake Fur Grass
From Adam Crolley ( Ohio)
I read in an Model Railroader a few years back now about using faux fur for tall grass or weeds. I tried it and it works great. Buy a yard or however much you need/want. Put white glue down and spread it in the area you want and place the material so that the backing is on top. Let it dry for about 12 hours then take a razor blade and slowly cut away the backing at what ever height you want.
I found a tan color that works with my autumn theme but you can dye the material. After cutting the backing off I used a cheap comb and ran it through the "field" to gather loose fibers. I then sprayed it with cheap hairspray and ran a comb through it again to stand up the "grass".
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5 Hints for Kit Construction
From Kyle Montgomery (Ohio)
Recently I have attempted to build a Truss Bridge kit. I'm still a novice when it comes to kit construction, and this was my first kit bash. Needless to say, I learned a lot. Earlier this week I was writing a post for my blog and tried to come up with 5 tips I would give a fellow beginner who was just starting out with kit construction.
Here's the list I came up with:
- Read the directions
- Have the necessary Tools
- Paint the plastic pieces
- Layout all the parts before you start gluing
- Be careful with the knife
A Note from David Starr, New Hampshire - Paint makes a tremendous difference in the looks of a model. Even if the plastic is moulded in the right color, it wants a coat of paint to kill the shiny plastic gloss.
(Thanks to Kyle for his permission… he has an interesting website at Ohio Valley Railroads)
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Fibre Optic substitute
From Richard Enlow (Mississippi)
Believe it or not TOP quality very heavy pound test clear or green or mauve or magenta etc etc Monofilimant FISHING line works like a charm. The trick is to Razor cut the ends very true to square. (That means the cut is perpendicular to the axis of the length) and have source light close to the receiving end.
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Modeling Dirt… Using Dirt
From Aggro Jones (California)
I use real earth to model earth. Locally I have dirt that fits my needs. proper composition, texture, etc. But it is the incorrect shade. You can pretty much adjust the color of dirt you have too the color you want. I have been doing this since the '90s.
As one would imagine, first you process the dirt. Gather the dirt from outside in a bucket. Add water and mush it into heavy paste. Then pour the paste on to a giant glass dish or metal baking sheet. Ignore the strange looks family members will give you and bake it in the oven for 1 hour at 450 degrees. That should kill the bacteria and any living creatures lurking inside. It also should be dry when you are done. If not just let it dry.
Crush it down into small chunks enough to absorb the next step. Take a large bowl, mix up various colors of cheap acrylic paint with water. By itself, the dirt I have is too dark and too gray. So to tone it I use a bunch of orange, yellow and white. How much added will vary depending on how much you want to alter the color. I used a lot in this heavy wash. I dump the dirt and wash into a big rubber maid container and blend it around well. Keep mixing it. Every day I give it mixing to keep it aerated. Eventually after a few days it will be completely dry and be nice and altered.
Crush it down with a blunt object. Fist, hammer, mallet, brick, whatever. Keep smashing it till you get what you want. I sift mine into various grades. To make it safe for use on a train layout, so you do not get metal bits into the locomotive motors. So we must put the dirts in large zip lock bags with several strong magnets. Shake it round, jostle it and what not and eventually metal particles cling to the magnets. Taken them out clean them off. Keep shaking them up in the bag until no metal particles are collected.
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Be Aware of Solvents
From Trevor Gibbs
A few years ago now, I built an exhibition layout as a memorial to a friend using a Foam base. It was basically done as a work in progress using Foam scenery . In the early stages I made the mistake of using some spray paint to paint a road way.. that was a big area and many overscale pot holes appeared.
The moral of the story… before committing to using materials as in H&T 802, do a test section on the material away from your precious work. It may save you a lot of grief later.
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Using a Bicycle Speedo as a Scale Speedometer
From Alan Jones (Queensland)
I model in HO so this may not apply to you but you will be within 10% or so in OO. I bought a pushbike speedometer which I plan to fit into an old boxcar. Evidently you can use it with a magnet on an axle and set the wheel diameter to 33" and it will read scale speed.
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Using Tooth Whitener as a Lapping Compound
From Trevor Gibbs
Some of the tooth whiteners (different brands in different parts of the world) are excellent mild abrasives for lapping together model gear boxes to make sure that parts are working well together when first fitted together or being run in. I work with North American based stuff so this is really useful for Athearn gears boxes, particularly the older ones. there is no reason why this should not work for the power trains of other model brands
Apply the polish sparingly to all contacting parts such as gear teeth, gear axles etc and a bit of gentle running for a short while, strip the gear box and thoroughly clean and lubricate all the parts with appropriate grease or oil. The running in process is sped up and your mechanism should be a lot smoother.
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Making Felt Tunnel Liners
From Several Modellers
You can make very effective tunnel liners from the dark grey static type foam that computer components often come in. The foam can be set at the height over the track and arched easily. Some modellers use a light coat of either plaster or PVA glue to reinforce the arch by suspending it over a large diameter tube to dry before locating over the track and scenery.
If your train happens to derail inside the tunnel, it will have a "softer landing" against the tunnel sides and your hands will have a degree of protection from stray bits of wire when fishing out your trains.
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