Hints & Tips No.332
Buildings as Low Relief
By Raymond Stewart (GA, USA)
I have colored a building I found on the Internet using MS Paint and gave to a friend as a backdrop building. It works fine. However you will need to place it on thick plastic or foam core board to keep it flat.
Hints & Tips No.333
Underground "Utilities"
By Tom Decker (Michigan)
Since I am building my layout on flush doors, I run wires for structure lighting and track power through the styrofoam scenery base. Just grind or file teeth on the end of a piece of 3/8"(10mm) tubing and chuck it in your electric drill. Bore through the styrofoam as needed, remove the tube to clear debris, then reinsert it and the wires will push through it easily. Pull it back out, leaving the wires in the hole.
 

Hints & Tips No.334
Early Steam Engine Repairs.
By Trevor Gibbs
Early die-cast and plastic steam locomotives are usually fairly “bomb proof” but can develop a bit of a gait in their movement. Make sure that both the worm and the gear are clean of burrs which may stop the motor from doing its stuff. The other concern is binding valve gear.
Gently remove your valve gear and using a “larger-diameter-than-the-hole” twist drill, twist it with your fingers to de-burr your valve gear slot where the side rods are screwed to the wheels… and do not over do it!

Hints & Tips No.335
Locomotive Tuning
By Ted Allan 
I recondition my locomotive motor armatures by carefully dismantling my motors, putting my armatures in a lathe. Before I had the Lathe, I used to use a power drill held in a vice. While it is spinning use some Aluminium Oxide paper to true and smooth the commutator.
I then clean out the slots using a pin, making sure than I can see the mica insulation and that there is no copper residue. I then reassemble and lubricate the motor sparingly. The result in smoother running is worth the effort.
 

Hints & Tips No.336

Making Diamond Tread in Brass or Styrene

By Graham Ross

By using an old file and a heavy vice, you can tighten the vice with the file and soft brass or styrene to make diamond tread pattern for scratch building. This is very hard on files so use old ones for this.

Hints & Tips No.337

Nail Polish as Insulation

By Harold Shelton.

You can use Nail polish as an insulator between wires. If you create bare wires close to each other, simply paint it on. It dries hard and will burn with high currents and voltages but is very durable for model wiring purposes.

Hints & Tips No.337

Nail Polish as Insulation

By Harold Shelton.

You can use Nail polish as an insulator between wires. If you create bare wires close to each other, simply paint it on. It dries hard and will burn with high currents and voltages but is very durable for model wiring purposes.

Hints & Tips No.338

Extending File Life

By Graham Ross

You can improve the life of your files by regular cleaning. Either use a cheap bronze wire brush as a file card or use some sharp edges to pick out the swarf in the file. It is also a good idea to run some chalk over your file which will help stop fragments building in your files teeth.

Hints & Tips No.339
Building from a Scale Drawing
By Trevor Gibbs
If you want to use a paper plan for a scratchbuilding project, overlay it with a piece of waxed lunch wrap. That way, the drawing is protected from glue and you can constantly check your work.
Hints & Tips No.340
A Newer Way of Mounting Containers?
By Ian Cant
If you are modelling containers either old or new versions, try using steel weights under the floor of your flat cars. Inside your containers, use a fairly strong magnet such as a rare earth magnet from an electronics store.
Your containers can then be removed and no unsightly single edged tape, glue or anything else, and your wagons or freight cars will have more weight for better tracking.
 

Hints & Tips No.341

Making Neon Signs

By Graham Ross

Fairly effective Neon Signs can be made by shaping wire to you required shape then painting your wire with luminous paint. The light about your building should give enough of a glow to light these in the dark.

Hints & Tips No.342

Using a Digital Watch.

By Robert Ferus (New Jersey, USA)

In N scale given the size a clock tower would take and how small watches are not at the moment, consider using a digital watch for a bank sign.

Hi Everyone,

I have been dragging my feet a bit with posting  Hints and Tips due to a couple of personal issues (wife receiving treatment but caught early and other duties as well) but also in part because the hints to the end of 499 went AWOL.  Happily, I found them, today in fact after the file I thought was accidentally destroyed on a Portable hard drive that died was also on one of my cloud drives!  So at the current rate we should have input for about 18 months.  Hope that does not worry you all too much and I have had a pretty good innings seeing I started helping Brian MacDermott (who started the Model Rail Express hints and tips column15 years ago!!!

I will still post two a week rather than every three days as I was … that would keep me a bit more in sync than what I was before!

Regards

Trevor

Looking forward to more useful tips Trevor - keep up the good work.

Hints & Tips No.343

Hang Your Controller

By Loren Hall (Washington State, USA)

Tired of your dcc controller laying on your scenery? I attached a 3M Command hook to the back of my Powercab, screwed a eye hook into the fascia board, now I can hang the controller instead of laying it on the table.

Hints & Tips No.344

Planting “Cabbages” and other vegetation in OO.

By Graham Ross

You can represent Cabbages by “planting” whole cloves from your spice containers and painting them green in OO scale.

Corn fields can be made using green toothpicks slicing down the sides to form the leaves then painting some bright yellow on top. This takes a bit of work but would look very effective.

Hints & Tips No.345
Planting “Cabbages” and other vegetation in N scale
By Mick Lovell and Graeme Goodsell (NSW N scale Group)
We made rows of Cabbages and Lettuce for the N scale “Illabo” exhibition layout here in Australia with dyed sawdust rolled into a ball. A vine growing over a back fence was made by painting a trace of PVA glue and sprinkling with fine ground foam.
We made ferns in hanging baskets from asparagus fern glued into a painted bead of glue and hung by fine wire.

Hints & Tips No.346
Climbing your Telegraph Poles
By Trevor Gibbs (Melbourne, Australia)
Using the ordinary paper staples, you can make maintenance climbing stirrups by drilling a staple into the pole then cutting it off with side cutting pliers. Thin but fairly durable.
 

Hints & Tips No.347

Bottles and Other Details

By Mick Lovell and Graeme Goodsell

For the “Illabo” N scale layout we created model drink bottles by heating and drawing out fishing line to make a bottle neck. A washing line has some shapes cut from white paper, dampened, crumpled and spread on a fine wire line… and if these can be done in N scale..

Hints & Tips No.348

Answering Questions… at home or at an Exhibition

By Roger Joel

How many exhibition layouts have we seen where the sullen operators skulk behind the layouts appearing to openly defy anyone daring to ask a question.

Yes it can get a little tiring answering the question 'How did you make the rocks on the layout', for the umpteenth time in a day, however I reiterate the idea of encouraging the future members of the hobby. A friendly response also helps to create a positive attitude at the exhibition and so hopefully encourages visitors to return another year. When exhibiting we always try to have at least one group member available behind the layout to answer questions.

Hints & Tips No.350

Communicating Your Layout
By Roger Joel, (Alton MRC)

Most layout builders establish a location and historical period for their layouts. Having done so they then fail to communicate this to the spectator or at best make a passing effort by pinning a scrappy piece of paper to any convenient part of the layout. The thought that you put into the study and accomplishment of the period and location deserves much better than that.
Anyone familiar with the Pine Bluffs exhibition layout will remember that we have adopted a fictitious newspaper for the period and fitted extracts to the front of the baseboards as do a number of exhibitors. These extracts are mounted in sloping panels which are positioned so as to be close to the item/mini scene to which they are referring. Of course it is not necessary for all exhibitors to go to these lengths, just make sure the information is well presented and visible is enough.

Hints & Tips No.359

Painting   - Applying Transfers and Decals
By Steve Cook (Alton MRC)

Pressfix or Methfix transfers, once applied, should be over coated with varnish to fix them permanently in place and prevent damage when the model is handled.
If the model has waterslide transfers, it is best to lay them on a glossy surface to minimise the visibility of the carrier film. To do this either paint the whole model or just the transfer area with gloss apply the transfer (decal) and finish with a satin or matt varnish to fix them in place.
 

Hints & Tips No.360

Communicating Your Layout

By Roger Joel, (Alton MRC)

Most layout builders establish a location and historical period for their layouts. Having done so they then fail to communicate this to the spectator or at best make a passing effort by pinning a scrappy piece of paper to any convenient part of the layout. The thought that you put into the study and accomplishment of the period and location deserves much better than that.

Anyone familiar with the Pine Bluffs exhibition layout will remember that we have adopted a fictitious newspaper for the period and fitted extracts to the front of the baseboards as do a number of exhibitors. These extracts are mounted in sloping panels which are positioned so as to be close to the item/mini scene to which they are referring. Of course it is not necessary for all exhibitors to go to these lengths, just make sure the information is well presented and visible is enough.

Hints & Tips No.361

Painting Pt 8 - Applying Transfers and Decals

By Steve Cook (Alton MRC)

Pressfix or Methfix transfers, once applied, should be over coated with varnish to fix them permanently in place and prevent damage when the model is handled.

If the model has waterslide transfers, it is best to lay them on a glossy surface to minimise the visibility of the carrier film. To do this either paint the whole model or just the transfer area with gloss apply the transfer (decal) and finish with a satin or matt varnish to fix them in place.

Hints & Tips No.362
Cassette Alignment
By Bob Hughes Crewe MR&ES
Solder a short length of paperclip on the outside of each rail at the end of the cassette. These clips will then engage to fixed track at the end of the layout providing both positive alignment and electrical connection. On a micro layout with short trains they don't need fastening down to stop them moving.
I have done this on the San Vince de Rey which is N scale but they will work with any track gauge or scale.

Hints & Tips No.363

Contoured Hillsides

By John Rutter - (Wirral & North Wales MRC )


On Corwen East we used a technique of re-using old cardboard tubes - kitchen rolls are particularly good, to form a lightweight substructure for "tall" scenery.

• The tubes were roughly assembled into the area to be filled and a rough contour marked on them.
• The tubes were then cut to the required length and angle and glued in place vertically with hot melt glue. We found that there only needs to be a run of glue where the tubes touch.
• Final trimming to contour was done with scissors.
• We used a rigid foam base, however, the fully glued tubes will, more than likely, be self supporting once set.
• The ends of the tubes were filled with scrap paper a to prevent leakage nd the whole covered in plaster bandage. It may be lighter to use PVA/kitchen roll. We found that the plaster layers became heavier than we would have liked.

Hints & Tips No.364
Staples as Lampholders
Several Modellers
Staples can be cut in half without being stapled and filed: these are then usable as lamp holders on locomotives, coaches and brake vans. You could create simple lamps from plastic sprue, even turning them with a power drill and using a basic file.
Hints & Tips No.365
Blue Tack
Several Modellers
We have found "Blu-tack" useful for making N gauge wagons and coaches heavier, as it has a high density and can be compressed into a small space. It is also useful for OO wagons.