Hints & Tips No.1130
 
Making Rock Moulds
 By John Smithers (Geelong Victoria)
  I love casting plaster because I am able to carve features into the rock face. To make my own rock moulds, I use tube silcone which at time of writing cost about $7.00 a tube here in Australia. I cover a real rock with it and I cannot get much more realistic than that. However I also like to carve my own from plaster “rocks” or use crumpled aluminum foil to create a cast and archive the same effect with silicon.

Hints & Tips No.1131
  Checking Lighting Kit Installations
 By Will Holman (Kansas)
  Whenever I installed the lighting kits in my HO Walthers Superliners, I used a 9V battery. Place the terminals directly on the wheels of the car and check to see if you have good contact. I have been using this method on other applications and it never fails.

Hints & Tips No.1132
  Making a temporary Cradle
 By Chuck Semenuk (Ohio)
  A cheap, quick way to hold rolling stock while you are working on the bottom installing trucks, couplers, etc. - I have some 5/8" cove molding laying around; It makes a quick, adjustable cradle for holding rolling stock while you are working on it. The Length is not critical - my pieces happen to be cut 4" long. Larger cove molding may work equally well although I have not tried it.
 

Hints & Tips No.1133
  Simulating Truck Lights
 By Chuck Semenuk (Ohio)
  I just use nails to simulate lights where there are none on truck models. For this application I use ½" (12mm) brads with the heads painted orange for trailer marker lights, and small finishing nails with the heads painted red for taillights on trucks.
 With some heavy duty cutters, cut the nail shanks down. Stick them in a piece of foam and apply the paint with a small brush. When dry, place a dab of clear gloss over the paint.
 Drill matching holes in the appropriate location on your truck models - apply a little superglue if the fit is not tight. Use whatever nail head size and paint colors are appropriate for your model.

Hints & Tips No.1134
  Mounting point motors headache free
 By Jeffrey Olds (Devon)
  When mounting point motors, Seep or Peco on the mounting plate, you can spend a while getting the point motor all screwed in, and then you find that it is out by a small amount. So then you have to undo all the screws make new holes and realign it again, well here is a way of doing it without the headache.
 Get some Velcro and put it on the mounting plate and then put some under where your point motor will be. This way you can readjust the point motor as many times as you like, and if the point motor dies on you, quick unsolder and you can just pop a new one in.

Hints & Tips No.1135
  Kill Switches with DCC?
 By Bruce Leslie (MA USA)
 

 I am putting in a 4-track staging yard, and I am putting in kill switches for the following reasons.
  1. Sound engines. After a while, having too many of them all going at once is just noise.
 2. Illuminated passenger cars. It just drains power to have them on. If you are using incandescent bulbs, you are reducing bulb life as well.
 3. Selecting the wrong engine. If you are down by the docks and you accidentally select an engine that is in staging, you may wonder why your Dockside loco is not going anywhere until you hear the crash. If the engine is on a killed track, nothing happens.
 4. How much power have you got? Most of today's DCC systems can run 10 or more locomotives, even with sound. But if you have got a 9-track staging yard, and you're running 2 or 3 engine consists, well, you are getting close to the limit just idling the sound engines in staging. If your staging is on a separate circuit breaker module or built into an auto-reverser controlled loop, then the total current is limited by the module, not by the limit of your system or booster.

5. Kill    switches are cheap …about a dollar in the US (and Australia) at    time of writing. You will need some wire, too. But, doing the    kill-switch wiring, including insulating one rail, while you are    laying the track is a lot easier than going back and gapping the    track after it is all ballasted and surrounded by scenery. And if    you decide you do not like the kill switches, just leave them on.

Hints & Tips No.1136
  Cleaning Track with Wahl clipper oil
 By Harvey Macrae (BC Canada)
 
"WAHL Clipper Oil" works great for cleaning track. I have a track cleaning car, which I just put about 2 or 3 drops on the little pad. I then run that around the track two or three times and I have nice clean track again.
A Note from Trevor - There is some debate about the Wahl clipper oil but white spirit (NOT Methylated Spirit) does work as a great cleaning agent. I believe that this is what the old Triang Tack Cleaning Fluid pouches were full of. It is what works for you!

 

Hints & Tips No.1137
Making your own Ground Cover
By Harvey Macrae (BC Canada)
I have been making ground cover for some time using "RITZ" dyes. I just put some water in a 4 litre ice cream bucket, add my dye, mix in the sawdust, stir until well blended, spread out on a smooth surface to let dry..

A good hot summer day speeds up the process, set a tray (I use a shallow cardboard box) out in the sun, turning the mixture occassionally until dry. I then put in plastic zip-lock bags, and keep it until I need it..

As I have my own work shop, I have an abundance of sawdust.. I can run it through a heavy screen to get the large particles out if I just want a fine mix. It works great.

Hints & Tips No.1138
  Clearing Trackwork with Bachmann Wiring
 By Mark Lettler (California)
  Do not be afraid to cut off the sleeves on the wires between tender and engine on your Bachmann steam locomotives. I did it with a pointy Exacto  knife by wedging it  under the sleeve and carefully slicing upward away from wires. Now there is no more snagging of the wire on the point blades and closure rails and such and my derailments due to this have been reduced dramatically.
 

Hints & Tips No.1139
Keeping Traffic Flowing on Your Railway
By Mark Lettler (California)
How you design your layout's passing sidings, yard tracks, and return loops can have a major impact on train length. In this tip we discuss briefly what the issues are.
You can have trains longer than passing sidings and yard tracks and can deal with them, although they will slow things down a lot. But a train longer than a reverse loop will not work – the laws of physics says two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time — so the front of your too-long-for-the-reverse-loop train will collide with the back of the train once it reaches the end of the loop!
With passing sidings, the key is opposing trains. As long as one of the two opposing trains will fit, the other train can be any length — you can get the trains past each other with a bit of advance planning. But if both trains are too long for the siding, you'll need to do a double-sawby maneuver. Such a maneuver is fun once in a while but it would get old if it was standard operating procedure. This means passing siding length has a major impact on train length if you want opposing traffic to flow smoothly.
With visible yards on the layout, a too-long train can always "double the yard", which means you split the train in two and it takes two yard tracks. This practice is not uncommon on the prototype so it could be an acceptable operating procedure as long as you are aware that it will slow down yard operation somewhat.
Finally, too-short staging tracks can be a problem, since it will make you "double the yard" in staging as well. Requiring trains to do this in a visible yard on the layout is one thing, but requiring this in staging is going to get old, so the recommendation is don't. Staging track length has a major influence on train length.

Hints & Tips No.1140

Making of decals for buildings and structures Pt 1
By Bruce Leslie (MA USA)




Different techniques might be used for different signs. If you have a good, flat picture of the sign, you can make a decal directly from it. On the other hand, if your picture is from an odd angle, you might need some photo-shopping software to get a square-on image.

There are different kinds of decal paper. Get inkjet or laser paper, depending on your printer. They are not interchangeable. It is not that one works "better" than the other in certain printers. The wrong paper will not work at all. There is also "white" or "clear" background. Your printer cannot print white (unless you have an old ALPS printer), and light colors do not work very well, either. One trick that I have had success with is to paint a white background and then apply a clear decal over it. If the letters on the sign are black or a dark color, you can use clear decal paper directly over the wall surface.

Hints & Tips No.1141
Making of decals for buildings and structures Pt 2By Rob Noel (Iowa USA)
1) Scan the photo into your computer
2) Use a photo size/trim adjustment program like "gimp" (free on internet) or adobe photoshop to size it properly.
3) Go to Hobby Lobby and purchase a package of Testors or other brand decal paper either white or clear (probably white) located near the model paint section.
4) Purchase a can of Testors decal bonder as well in the same location (Total cost at time of writing, about $10 for both decal paper and spray can)
5) Print out "trimmed" and properly sized image on the decal paper
6) Follow the instructions on the testors can to "seal" the decal paper
7) DONE

[Hints & Tips No.1142
Making of decals (and signs) for buildings and structures Pt 3By Ron Solly (Adelaide SA)
 Where a notice, shop frontage, billboard etc. is required in white lettering on black ground (eg: BEWARE OF TRAINS) I use a spreadsheet programme like Excel, Open Office, Lotus, etc.
To get a Black background with a "white" font, I set words & fonts as normal, then select entire area around the words, appropriate rows & columns, and format cells with background & font colours at the same time. The Open Office spreadsheet part is good for columns being specified in metric 
That is also how I do my wagon/van numbers.

Hints & Tips No.1043
Car-End Weathering
From Brian Wedding
Weathered rolling stock adds character to any train or layout. Beyond applying a basic coat of dust and grime to the cars and wagons, you can further increase the authenticity by simulating wheel splatter on the ends. Examples of splatter include mud, dirt, road salt from grade crossings and grease. The wheels kick the dirt relatively high and create two dark streaks in line with the wheels and rails.
Using an airbrush or chalks, add a couple of dirty streaks in line with the wheels to simulate splatter. Each line of grime should be darkest in the middle, fading out a scale foot to either side.

Hints & Tips No.1144
Painting Brass and metal locos
By Mike Barone (Vancouver)
I have not used primer for painting metal locomotives for some time now. I did try soaking in vinegar many years ago but it did not seem to do anything. Now I use an abrasive blaster to make sure brass (in particular) is really clean, I scrub it with a scouring cleanser and rinse under very hot water. Do not handle any of the surfaces to be painted with your bare hands.
The present model paints are great for baking. After the paint is applied I bake the parts in the oven for a couple of hours at 175 degrees F or about 80 Degrees C. I find this not only dries the paint but also hardens it so that it becomes more chip resistant.

Hints & Tips No.1145
Keeping Polarity Correct when WiringBy Sebastian Lee (Illinois)
 Particularly if your layout has a number of “twists and turns”, I have found that wiring for correct polarity is a lot easier since I took a scrap vehicle and painted one side red and the other black. As I wire the layout, I push the vehicle around so I have a visual reminder of which wire goes on what side of the track.
 ( A Note from Trevor - You could just as easily do this with a clearance test car as outlined way back in H&T Number 216 and painting red and black lines on either side and you can also see any track flaws in the soldering. Thanks Sebastian!)

Hints & Tips No.1146
Imitation Raw SlateBy Brian Webb (Cornwall)
 Take one used pot/container used for polyfilla allowed to dry completely. Whack the dried plaster contents out of the pot and break up to whatever size you want - instant raw slate - then paint to desired colour.

Hints & Tips No.1147

Simulating an abandoned house
By Dianne Schembri (Nevada)
 My grandfather is an artist and helped me weather an old abandoned house. Here are some tips for anyone interested:
- You do not have to color a base color. If you want to show brick, color the red where you want it to show through , outline black bricks using a very fine paintbrush and add white highlights as desired. Make sure to add "veins" of color sticking out from the brick to make it look very old. Black and white work great for this.
-Where the brick has corroded away, mix black, grey, red, and whites and brush strokes from the top. Make sure to drip these colors from areas of natural weathering such as bottoms of windows and roofing.
- It is best to paint with a dirty pallet so that colors will be original and mix.
- Keep in mind that this house is dirty so add mud colors to the bottom of the house.
- For added abandonment, I placed a window hanging off the window seal. I also put the outside stairs on crooked and added brown roofing on top to make it look like at some point someone tried to patch up the roof.

 
Hints & Tips No.1148

Simulating Dirt using Powder Paint
By Charlie Allan (Ohio)




I recently bought some Powder Paint from a local craft store. I mixed black and brown in equal amounts into an empty "spice shaker". You know, the shakers that come loaded with paprika, oregano, etc. that have small holes on top for shaking out the spices. I spread my 50/50 mixture of PVA glue and water like I always do for scenicing an area and then shook on the Powder Paint. Before it dried, I added the usual other textures, using Woodland Scenics different light and coarse materials. When the area dried, I had what looked like real dirt. And, it was flat, like real dirt, without the "loft" I mentioned before. I also used this stuff to sprinkle over already-sceniced areas to blend colors together. This stuff is cheap and could scenic a lot of area. Tile grout could also be used to do this.

Hints & Tips No.1150

An Idea for Hiding Joints in Modular Layouts 
  By Brett Bateman (British Columbia)


I saw one modular setup that had a forest on velcro. They put down an uneven piece of velcro about a foot wide with a forest on it. I really had to look hard before I could find where the tables came together. It worked well.