HINTS AND TIPS - THE FOLLOW ON
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Wires and foam Pt 1
by Robert Tuckey
Having had issues feeding accessory wires and feeder wires through a 3/16" hole going through 6" of foam and a 1/2" plywood base, I got a stiff wire like a straightened out coat hanger. Put a crook in one end and feed it through the hole. Hook the power wires into the crook and pull them through.
The other way I did it recently through foam was to get a screw driver with a long shank. I made the initial hole "drilling" with the screw driver. I took the screw driver out, then just folded the end of the wire over the blade of the screw driver and punched it back through. Of course this was just foam and no plywood hole involved.
Last edit: by xdford
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WIres and Foam Pt 2
by Steve Redden
Get a box of drinking straws. You may need a slightly larger hole, but you should be able to push the straw all the way through, which will give you a smooth conduit through which you can easliy slip the wires. You may be able to find plastic coffee stirrers which are a bit thinner, but most of these are under 6 inches. Once you've run the wires, you can remove the straw over the loose end of the wires and re-use it.
Last edit: by xdford
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Wires and foam Pt 3
by Dave Nelson
I would suggest that you do it the same way seamstresses have been doing it with thread for centuries. A long needle with a hole in it. I made one with a scrap piece of rail. Just drill a small hole in one end.
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Wires and foam Pt 4
by Bob Robinson
Taping the wires to a wooden skewer, available in every super market, should work just fine. The skewers can also be used in various scenicking ways.
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Wires and foam Pt 5
by Wayne Williams (Florida)
I solved the issue of getting wires through very thick sections of foam. I just took a wooden dowel rod, round the end to a point and pushed it through. Choose a diameter that is slightly bigger than soda straws. Once the hole is in place, slide the straw over the next size smaller dowel rod and reinsert, leaving the straw in place as you go through.
If the section is greater than the length of one straw, put two straws on the dowel rod and away you go. You may have to tape the leading straw to the dowel, if so tape it a couple of inches short of the tip of the dowel. Once it is in place, position the dowel so the straws are where you want them, and remove the tape.
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Painting Track Pt 1
By Crandell Overton (Vancouver Island)
There is a probability function with turnouts of any particular kind or make when you alter them. You may do no harm, and you may do harm. Painting is one of those things that can do harm, particularly if the paint manages to get between any intended electrical continuity items. If you look at the points rails, and if they are loosely hinged with smallish joiners where they meet the closure rails 'this' side of the frog, and if their contact with the stock rails is iffy or intermittent, you can expect problems.
If contaminants of any description get into the throw bar area, expect problems. I also cover the throw bars and am careful spreading ballast, and I rarely paint forward of the hinge for points rails. The stock rails are something else, but points rails must be carefully painted.
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Painting Track Pt 2
By Mike Lehmann (Illinois)
I'm in HO with Shinohara/Walthers turnouts. All I did was put a piece of masking tape over the throwbar area to keep paint out of it and off the electrical contact area where the points press against the running rails. Painted, then I stripped the tape off and things worked fine once I cleaned the paint off the head of the rails.
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Painting Track Pt 3
By Jim Bernier (Minnesota)
I spray the track after it is laid (and before I ballast). Brush painting around turnouts is an invitation for electrical disaster. The paint gets into the rivets or rail joiners that connect the points to the closure rails and it is very hard to get good electrical pick-up after wards. I mask the 'hinge' area of the points and then spray Floquil Polly Scale #329 (Railroad Tie Brown). It is a perfect match for Atlas code 83 or Walthers-Shinohara code 83 ties. I then follow up with #11007(Rail Brown).. This has been only available in the solvent based Floquil line, but is being added to the Polly Scale line as #414416. I got tired of the smell and most of my mainline rail was done with Polly Scale #414140(Tarnished Black) sprayed with a very fine stream from my air brush. I use a painters edge along the ties as I go - It takes time.
Our club used 'rattle cans' of brown 'camo' paint from Rust-Oleum or Krylon to paint the track. The smell of the paint was bad, but the lacquer thinner soaked rags to clean off the top of the rails really smelled! It took about 4 work sessions to get all of the track in the 27' by 27' layout painted. Using Polly Scale, I can clean up the rail tops with 71% isopropyl alcohol from Walmart. I still wear disposable nitrile gloves when doing this. Even isoproyl will dry the oils out of your skin quite fast.
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Setting a Date for your layout using posters
By Mike Salfi (Canada)
When I wanted posters for my movie theatre that reflected movies in 1958 to match the era of my railway, I searched the internet for "movies 1958", and found countless movies along with posters for those movies (in Wikipedia), saved them, reduced them to an appropriate size, then printed them. Worked great!
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Keeping detailed layouts clean
By Dave Winter (British Columbia)
I found that I can keep my layout pretty fresh and new looking by spraying the whole thing with an atomizer of water, and a drop of liquid detergent, once or twice a year. In my scale it's the faded figures and dusty vehicles that show the most age but my basements pretty clean so this is enough to do the job. Our HO group has about 650 feet of track and completed scenery down at the local museum and we have found that this works there as well. We 'wash' it all down at the beginning of the summer tourist season and then again around Christmas. Works just fine and it also highlights all those 'dead cows and people' that have escaped our notice during the year.
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Making Scrap Metal loads
By Various Modellers
Loads of scrap metal for gondolas can be made up from pencil sharpener shavings. The shavings can be stained with Floquil rust to resemble large lathe turnings and there is no danger of magnetic attraction. Loads of baled scrap metal can be made up by compressing aluminium foil into small cubes; slop the dregs of the paint cleaning can over them for colour.
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Blackening Chain By James Skinner
Small chain can be blackened by passing over a match or candle flame for a few seconds.
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Making your freight cars less “squeaky†and “Rattlyâ€.
By John Thomas
You can put bits of old cotton stuff and wadding freight cars to deaden sound and increase weight very slightly to decrease loco noise that can be transmitted through couplers.
Hints & Tips - A call for more if possible
Hi All, I did receive a few extra Hints and Tips from the YMR Membership and I have found a few more also but we will run out by New Year … so please if you are "sitting on anything" don't be bashful, even if it is a different slant on Hints covered before…
Thanks to those who have sent me hints via PM… They will benefit us all,
Regards
Trevor
Last edit: by xdford
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10 Basic Rules when planning a layout. By Tony Edwards
These were written many years ago but they are timeless in their advice…
Have a basic motive or purpose of operation.
Operate realistically, by timetable if possible.
Choose appropriate power and rolling stock.
Aim for simplicity of construction and control.
Integrate scenery with track design.
Allow for future expansion.
Plan adequate operating bays.
Use as large curves as possible and as large as possible passing sidings.
Use grades for scenic realism and to permit more trackage.
Plan for portability to eliminate needless destruction in case removal is necessary.
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Representing Marble Buildings
By Tim Ross (Ontario)
You can get a reasonable representation of some types of marble by using small pieces of Laminex or Formica type laminates surplus to a cabinetmaker for building fronts etc. Cutting is a bit more exacting but the results are generally very good at normal viewing distance.
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Preventing Stray Soldering
By Mike Cheeseman
If you encounter difficulty in controlling the area over which you want solder to flow, try rubbing
the graphite from a soft lead pencil over the part of the surface that you want to solder to stay away from. Solder will not adhere to this area.
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Selecting Scenery and Foliage Colours Pt 1
By Richard Cowman
Colors will depend on your planned season. Lighter greens for spring. darkening and on to foliage colors for fall.
You should get a mix of fine, coarse, clump, etc, ground foam as nature is not all one size. I start with a coat of tan paint (only do a sq foot or two), then sprinkled on some fine and coarse ground foam in a couple of different shades of green (I'm doing early fall). Moved on to the next section and did the same. Don't sprinkle the foam on so that it looks like a lawn, have it thinner in some spots. You can get quite a lot done in a little time, just make sure to do a smaller area at a time so that the foam sticks well to the wet paint.
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Selecting Scenery and Foliage Colours Pt 1
By Richard Cowman
Colors will depend on your planned season. Lighter greens for spring. darkening and on to foliage colors for fall.
You should get a mix of fine, coarse, clump, etc, ground foam as nature is not all one size. I start with a coat of tan paint (only do a square foot or two), then sprinkled on some fine and coarse ground foam in a couple of different shades of green (I am doing early autumn). Moved on to the next section and did the same. Do not sprinkle the foam on so that it looks like a lawn, have it thinner in some spots. You can get quite a lot done in a little time, just make sure to do a smaller area at a time so that the foam sticks well to the wet paint.
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Hints & Tips No.1206
Selecting Scenery and Foliage Colours Pt 3By Richard Cowman
For some trees I have used poly fiber stretched over an armature. Spray the fiber with adhesive and sprinkle on foam.
In a Background forest. I make puff ball trees. If your book doesn't tell you how to do them, there is an article under "how to" (I think) above that will show you. After making a bunch of balls from poly fiber, I soak them in a 50:50 matte medium and water solution, then put them in a Zip-loc bag of ground foam and shake. Take them out, you can either spread them out to dry or paint a coating of white glue on your layout and put them right on. Make sure you use slightly different colors and mix them up as you place them on the layout. I also put in a few connifers in my forests, as that is what they look like here.
I have not used much lichen, but you can glue it on as is to look like bushes and brambles or you can put adhesive on it and add ground foam.
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