Hints and Tips - The first 499

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Hints & Tips No.373
Modelling Brick Walls Pt 2
By Rob Pearce
Once I am happy with the colouration of the brick, I set about applying the mortar. To do this the wall must be laid horizontal. I then take a mixture of stone and white enamel paints to obtain the correct mortar colour, and thin them with roughly 3 parts thinner to one part paint. Using a fine brush I apply a drop of this into a corner of the mortar line, as accurately as possible into the recess. The paint is so thin that capillary action carries it along the recess to follow and fill the mortar lines.
It almost always happens that some of the mortar paint sits on the brick faces. This can be wiped off with a tissue before it dries, but not too soon or you will draw it out of the lines. It sometimes helps to very lightly moisten the tissue with thinners or white spirit. Now the wall must be weathered according to its age and location. For this I use the Carrs weathering powders, applied with a brush then dusted off by blowing on the model. Finally I fix the weathering with an airbrushed coat of matt varnish. The end result can look quite impressive.

Hints & Tips No.374
Preserving Your Foliage and Lichen for Tree Construction
From the Victorian Model Railway Society
One useful treatment for plants to be used on layouts when preserving them for use is this pickling solution. Take your ingredients as a pickling solution in the form of 1 part glycerine, 1 part acetone, 1 part denatured alcohol(methylated spirits). Immerse your lichen in warm water, soak for several minutes, remove and gently knead. After water is removed soak in pickling solution for 24 hours. Remove, Dry and colour.
Note that you will need to add more Glycerine to the solution as more plants are processed.
 
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Hints & Tips No.375
Bending Sheet Metal
From the Victorian Model Railway Society
When folding sheet metal such as 0.010" (0.25mm) brass you should scribe a line on the outside of the fold if you want the outside to be a 'square' corner. If you want the inside to be square and the outside slightly rounded (because of the stretched metal on the outside following the bend), you should scribe on the inside.
Hints & Tips No.376
Fencing 1
By Several Modellers
If you use a bought fence like Ratio's flexible fencing consider painting it whilst still in the plastic 'frame.' When you cut it from the frame, cut some 'planks' off, and some off on one side and half through on the other or have signs of rotting at the base so that it looks a little dilapidated.
 
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Hints & Tips No.377
Soldering Rails
By Rob Pearce
To ensure a sound electrical contact the feeder wires should be soldered to the rail. However, nickel silver is not an ideal metal for soldering. The slightest bit of muck will prevent it from tinning, and with this in mind I do not trust the solder joint as a mechanical joint. The solution I have adopted to these problems is to drill a hole in the rail.

This serves two purposes :
* The hole is clean, fresh and therefore "tinnable"
* The wire is held mechanically in place

I drill a hole with a 0.8mm PCB drill starting from the outside of the rail and at an angle of roughly 45 degrees down. This should be done between sleepers, and on flexible track try to pick the gap where adjacent sleepers are not linked. The hole then emerges from the bottom of the rail into open space.

This allows a feeder wire to be inserted from below. Allow the tip of the copper core to come flush with the outer edge of the rail (or just proud by a hair's breadth) and solder it in place. Use a hot iron with a fine tip, applied to the rail and wire end together, and fine flux cored solder directly into the hole. Gravity and capillary action will take the solder down and the whole operation is over in a couple of seconds. This means the heat does not have a chance to spread enough to damage the plastic sleepers.

If this is done properly the only visible sign will be a very small trace of solder on the outer edge of the rail. Once the rail has been painted rust colour (for weathering) this becomes practically invisible unless you know where to look.


Hints & Tips No.378
Making a Footplate
By Iain Lamb
I made a footplate specifically for a 4F but the technique will apply to other engines. Modelling one is quite straightforward. Firstly – as per the Hornby Instructions sheet – “From underneath, remove screw which attaches the drawbar to the tender chassis.

IMPORTANT – In this case and many others the locomotive and tender are permanently wired together. Do not try to pull them apart and take care not to strain the wires.
Turn the locomotive and tender onto their wheels and carefully lift off the tender body, from the front, to release the rear body clip. Using scrap paper make a template of the surface area of the cab floor and add 1cm to cover the eventual link to the tender.

Accurately cut the paper to give a snug fit inside the cab including the contours beneath the fire-box. When satisfied that a good fit has been created, cut back the extension to about 8mm from the end of the cab floor. Re-move the template and draw a curve at the tender end to avoid the eventual footplate catching the edge of the tender when on curves. On my model I came in by 3mm at the outer edges.

When you are satisfied that your template is correct use it to create from thin card or plastic an actual footplate. Try it for size and if happy glue to the cab floor. When dry, paint the footplate Matt Black. At this stage I also took the opportunity to paint the hand-rails (not forgetting the tender ones) using Precision paints tinlet No M 411 “Steel”.
 
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Hints & Tips No.379

Cats

By James Fenton

Yes, cats love to enjoy your railway. The problem is that they can break telephone poles, trees and bushes and leave cat hair. Most cats hate flea spray yet in small doses it is imperceptible to us. I found by spraying the layout weekly, the cat stays away.

Hints & Tips No.380

Fencing 2

By Several Modellers

This is not unique, but we think it is effective.
1. Make a 1mm square stick from some .040" Styrene Sheet for N scale or 2mm square stick for 00 by laminating the sheet..
2. Scratch it with a razor saw and paint it a mix of wood brown and olive green.
3. While that dries, get some strands of wire, preferably left over from wiring your layout. Attach it to a long piece of 2x1 left over from baseboard building (we all use it!) with 2 nails/screws whatever. Carefully, very carefully, run a scalpel blade down the length of wire slicing into the rubber coating. Peel 7 strands of wire from the rubber tubing.
4. Drill 1.5/2.5mm holes (depending on scale) into the layout where you need the fence to run.
5. With a blob of PVA on the end, stick the whole "stick" length into the hole and cut off at an appropriate height (guess!) with an appropriate tool such as flat sided sidecutters
6. Next, the wire. Loop a single strand of the wire around the starting fence pole at the base. Then carry the 'looping' on from post to post trying to keep it tight. If you take time and are careful with this then you will need no glue, not even of the wood type!
7. At the last post cut the wire off with aforementioned sidecutters, now permanently acquired) and aim towards ground level/ hedge.
8. Repeat process for higher up the fence posts.
9. Tweezers help - as always!
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Hints & Tips No.381
Telephone Pole Wires using Invisible thread
By John Schaefer, (VA, USA)
Buy the smoke colour of Invisible Thread. I use it for telephone wires (it will realistically droop without a problem), rigging wires on WWI aircraft, and it is also great for sewing on patches to my motorcycle vest.

It has a number of other uses as well such as detail wires for engine compartments, hydraulic hoses etc or sewing up the tear in your favourite couch.

Hints & Tips No.382
Making India Ink Washes
By Bruce Leslie, (MA, USA)
There have been many references to India Ink as a weathering medium. For washing for mortar, Put about a half-inch of water in a yogurt cup, and add a couple of drops of India Ink. The Ink is very concentrated. You will get a greyish look from the mortar. If it is not dark enough, give it another application.

The whole idea of washes is to add only a little bit at a time. Do not try to nail it on one pass. Remember, you can always add more, but you cannot take any away if you get it too dark.
 
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Hi All,

I have NOT been out of circulation but a bit of a computer problem made me think I had lost the remainder of the 499 Hints and Tips so I have not been posting them.  As if you have missed me and them anyway!  Last night I was looking through a cloud drive I have and there they were!  So I will be resuming them until you have the full set, most likely 1 or 2 every other day or more frequent.  I must admit to being distracted by the magazine (Railway Modeller Australia - railwaymodelleraustralia for the free download)  as wife has a few health issues and I have a heart rhythm problem courtesy of long covid so I am currently puting together magazines into late next year.

So expect a few H&Ts to com your way again after the hiatus.  For Penance,  here are a few in one block!

Regards

Trevor 

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Hints & Tips No.383
Modelling Rust
By James Fenton
I have read and heard of using a lot of substances to emulate RUST on models. Here is a trick that works fine for me… REAL RUST ! Yes, I just take a scrap of rusty iron, wet my brush, rub it on the rusty iron, instant rust paint. Seal with dullcoat. It is too easy!

Hints & Tips No.384
Modelling Barbed wire fence using Invisible thread
By John Schaefer, (VA, USA)

As with Tip No 400, buy the smoke coloured Invisible Thread. Tie a knot at regular intervals to simulate the barbs and use whatever you will for the posts - toothpicks, plastic or whatnot. It looks like wire and needs no painting and adheres well with
CA glue.

As we noted before there are many uses for this stuff and the 440 yards on a reel lasts a lifetime. There are brands of barbed wire fencing which is very scale looking but it is about 1/48 scale so those products are better for O and larger. Use the invisible thread stuff.


Hints & Tips No.385
Using Ice Cream Boxes and Containers
By Steve Searson
Another useful storage container for larger bits and pieces and "N" gauge stock. It will take coaches if card
shelves and partitions are installed or depending on the type of plastic used, your container can be used as a cheap source of sheet plastic.

 
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Hints & Tips No.386
Mounting a Hand Held Throttle Pt 1
By Nick Brodar, (MA, USA)
I was looking for an inexpensive and low profile hanger for my handheld throttle and uncoupling tools, I came up with this:
I picked up a steel electric box cover plate, and painted it a close match to my fascia. I stuck a magnet to the back of the throttle. Now I can rest the throttle wherever there is a magnetic plate

Hints & Tips No.387
Banishing Derailments Pt 1
By Several Modellers
A common problem for model train derailments is incorrect track gauge. A tight track gauge will cause the wheels to climb up and derail off the track. A wide track gauge will also derail your model train as the wheel flanges can not span the track properly.

Gauge can be adjusted by using spikes to hold the track down in gauge or by using a soldering iron to gently heat the rail, moving the rail to the correct position and allowing it to cool.

Check your points for sharpness when they switch. Some new switch points can be fairly blunt on the movable section
where it strikes up against the stock rails. This can lift or jolt the wheels and cause a derailment. A small file can be used to gently smooth the moveable part of the points to allow a nice smooth transition. Remember to check the gauge in both positions.



Hints & Tips No.388

Making a Backdrop 3D
By Bob Kingswell (Ontario)
For wooded areas near the backdrop, cut out the rough silhouette from 1/8" hardboard (masonite). Paint the rough side with a dark green foliage colour. Use ground foam to add some detail and dimension. Mount the completed forest about 1/8 - 1/4" from the wall: that way as you move around the location of the edge of the distant forest will appear to move, just like the real thing.
 
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Hints & Tips No.389
Mounting a Hand Held Throttle Pt 2
By Bruce Leslie, (MA, USA)
I use Velcro strips to hold my throttles on the sides on the side of the layout. this gives me a hanger which will not snag any users but can also be unobtrusive.

Hints & Tips No.390
Banishing Derailments Pt 2
By Several Modellers
Check your model train couplers. A snagging coupler will cause model train derailments. Some new carriages can come with unpolished couplers which can catch and force derailments. Even cast Acetal Hornby type couplers can have small rough edges on the coupler top.

Clean off any rough edges and in the case of Kadees or similar, adjust the couplers for proper centering. Also Hornby and other couplers are notoriously uneven in heights particularly with older stock. If necessary, settle on your own standard and ensure your couplers are of a universal height. Sometimes the mix of Bachmann and Hornby couplers can also be an issue… again try to standardise!


Hints & Tips No.391
Making an Urban Backdrop,.. easily!
By John Schaeffer (VA,USA)
You can easily make your own backdrop. Order some tourist information about the cities you are modelling, enlarge the photos in the literature either at your local photo shop or scan and make a collage yourself. This way, you can get exactly what you want.
However as an observation, if you look at a big city you cannot see past one or two buildings anyway. I would make my foreground city flats high enough to serve as a backdrop and just use a monochromatic haze blue masonite or blue foam backdrop and leave it at that. Less is more when it comes to a backdrop
 
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Hints & Tips No.392

Laying an S Curve

By Galveston Model Railroad Society

If you are making an S-type turn using Flexible Track, be sure to try to leave at least a passenger carriage length of straight track between the ending of the first curve and the beginning of the second. This will reduce the lateral forces on the vehicle and improve reliability.

Hints & Tips No.393

Film Canisters

By George Hims

An old Film canister can also be used for scatter. Just puncture the bottom, fill with scatter and then sprinkle over glue.

Hints & Tips No.394

Banishing Derailments Pt 3

By Several Modellers

Add extra weight to your vehicles. Many wagons ad coaches are too light and sometimes all the wheels do not contact the rails equally. By adding a small amount of weight to the cars your model train should run smoother and you will reduce if not eliminate derailments, especially on the tight radius curves.

Make sure you add the weight as low as possible to the car and in the centre, keeping a low centre of gravity.

Also check all your wheel sets for proper operation. Wheel sets that are out of gauge, not aligned or moving freely will
cause your model train to derail. Check your wheel sets and make sure that your carriages are not crabbing and forcing the wheel flanges into the rail, making it prone to derail. Carriages and Wagons should rock freely to take up any small imperfections in your track.
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Hints & Tips No. 395
Evening out your gradients
By Trevor Gibbs
Many of us start gradients from a flat base board and head upwards. This usually means that the grade is fairly steep. The earth itself it strangely enough not flat so consider this. If your starting point, say a station, for the gradient is slightly elevated by using sheet foam from your base board. Your gradient can start going upwards but the track it is crossing can go slightly downwards to achieve the separation. Using cut foam strip should also make the task a lot easier. I have use of a hot wire foam cutter so it is fairly easy if I need to cut gradients and angles.

So instead of having one steep load limiting gradient, you can have two relatively minor ones with more realistic length trains and a more realistic topography once you have scenicked your layout!


Hints & Tips No. 396
Modelling Snow
By John Schaeffer (VA, USA)
On a prior layout I used balsa filler. It is white, super easy to work with, and will not shrink, dries quickly, cleans up with water. I mixed in a little bit of fine silver "sparkles" from the craft store to give it the snowy shine look. It looked great! If I ever do another winter scene I would not hesitate to use the same method again.

Hints & Tips No.397
Making Cliffs using Tiles
By Bill Hambly
An alternative method of making cliffs is to use pieces cut from ceiling tiles. These are stacked and hot-glued together. The edges are roughened with a rasp and back edge of an X-Acto knife.

The tiles are then stacked at a slight angle as is often seen in nature beside a highway that has been cut through rock.

 
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Hints & Tips No.398
Banishing Derailments Pt 4
By Several Modellers
The smallest drop of light oil may cure a problem with your model train derailments. An unlubricated or snagging wheel, or coupler, can cause a slight tip over, or jarring, which can force a wheel flange to snag on the rail. Be aware that oil attracts dust and can damage paintwork, so make sure you use only the smallest amount required. Now you have no reason to put up with your model train derailing.

The process of banishing derailments usually comes down to a small bits of maintenance from time to time. With the quality most manufacturers are producing today, and some ongoing maintenance, you can make minimise model train derailments to make them almost seem a thing of the past.


Hints & Tips No.399
Painting Clouds
By Bob Kingswell (Ontario)
Use a sponge stapled to a stick for painting clouds. Paint by daubing , not brushing. Start with white latex with a tiny bit of the
blue used for the sky mixed in for the highest clouds. Add more blue for the bottoms of the clouds and clouds further down the backdrop.

Repeat with more blue until the clouds near the horizon are mostly blue. Add a touch of burnt umber to the blue mixture to add shadows to the bottoms of the highest clouds. This makes clouds that look more plausible than some pictures of real ones I have seen, without a whole lot of effort or artistic talent required.


With thanks to the Rensselaer Model Railroad Society, home of the New England Berkshire and Western


Hints & Tips No.400
Making Grass
By James Skinner
Faux fur can be made into a field of grass. The fake fur is teased with a comb and shaped with a razor and scissors. It can then be spray painted in browns and greens. Apply Ground foam or a static grass can to the terrain along with a few small rocks and stones .
 
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Hints & Tips No.401
Banishing Derailments Pt 5
By Several Modellers
Ensure every joint on your track is level, aligned and properly fitted. This may sound like it is common sense but poorly assembled track joints are responsible for many derailments. Run your finger across the joint. It should feel level with the
gap between the tracks kept to the absolute minimum.

Some modellers solder their track joints because this stops problems with expansion and contraction opening and closing of the joints. With a small file, create a continuously level track and have a beautifully smooth running model train by removing the burrs that result from drawing the rail near the joins.


Hints & Tips No.402
Lighting Your Layout
By John Schaeffer
I went searching on the Internet for information on model railroad/railway lighting and came up pretty empty. I eventually found useful information from doll house dioramas and theatre arts. Check those sources from the public library for more ideas.

I ended up with standard fluorescent fixtures hidden behind valances, with mini spot lamps to highlight selected scenes. Use the "natural daylight" type of fluorescent tubes as they are blue tinted and make all the difference in the world. Halogens are great, but be wary of the heat… these globes make a lot of it, so ensure you have adequate airflow around the buckets and an Air conditioning unit in the room that will handle it.


Hints & Tips No.403
A Lift Bridge for "Duck Under" Layouts
By Trevor Gibbs
If you are making a lift bridge or a drop leaf for a centrally operated layout, the most accurate hinge to use will be a piano hinge rather than door hinges. Piano Hinge will also be much stronger over the life of your bridge.
 
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Hints & Tips No.404
Another use for 35mm Film Containers
By Steve Searson
Usually thrown away or discarded, these little containers are very useful for storing small parts, Locomotive spares, nails and what ever else have you. A label describing the contents of the container produced from nothing more than a piece of masking tape, with a relevant description on the front will help

Hints & Tips No.405
Weathering freight cars, powders, chalks or washes?
By David Husman (NE, USA)
Any and all, separately or in combination, can be successfully used to weather freight cars and wagons. Washes are particularly good at modeling water borne weathering and powders are good at air borne/dust/rust effects.

Practice on some less valuable cars or old junkers to test the different effects that you can get with each weathering technique and media.


Hints & Tips No.406
Creating A Natural, Variegated Look - Pt 1
By Elmer McKay, (VA, USA)
There have been many articles that cover scenery methods great and small. You could read them all, memorize them ad nauseum, and still never get the "ultimate" scenery look. That can only come by practice, practice and lots of mistakes.


Think in terms of "less is more". Do not work trying to achieve an exact look but rather let the materials you are working with decide that for you. Do a little sprinkle of summer grass, then a dash of coarse autumnal color here and there. Now take a break for a day or two and then see how it looks. Add a bit of vertical - weed or bush- then take another break.

I do not know how anybody can scenic a layout effectively in one evening, I never could- it takes me many months of small additions to get it "just right". Remember it is easier by far to ADD than to TAKE AWAY and time is your friend in this case, not your enemy.

 
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Hints & Tips No.407
Polyester Fibre Fill
By Bob Kingswell (Ontario)
Everyone knows about the polyester fibre material that you can buy at the hobby shop for making trees & bushes. Just take a small clump of it and tease it out, then stretch it over the branches of your tree, spray it with cheap green paint, dip it into the ground foam and voila: a tree with that "leaves are mostly on the outer branches" look.

But did you know that the same material is available in big bags for only a couple of $ in the sewing dept of your local department store? It is sold for stuffing small items and for putting between the layers of a quilt. The only difference is that the stuff in the hobby shop is dyed grey and it is MUCH more expensive, and the stuff at the department store is white.

A quick dip in some fabric dye (let it dry before using it), or a spray with cheap black or grey paint after it has been stretched over the branches will remedy the whiteness.


Hints & Tips No.408
Matching Locomotive Speeds for Double Heading
By James Fenton
When you wish to run a couple engines together using straight DC in particular, most times two engines will be close , one will be slightly faster, not a perfect match. On the faster engine, add a pair of diodes reversed to each other in line with the motor.

This will drop .6 volt to the faster engine and also then slow it down accordingly. This will then cause the locos to be closely matched in speed.


Hints & Tips No.409 
Correction Fluid (Tippex, Liquid Paper etc)… as a filler?

By Steve Searson409
Believe this or not but these products can be used as a light filler particular for timber models for light scratches and small dents when they are going to be painted.

Hints & Tips No.410
Creating A Natural, Variegated Look - Pt 2
By Elmer McKay, (VA, USA)
Try to simulate nature if you can, and think about water and how it keeps things green, or the lack of it not as green. There are some ways that work for me. Ground foam is "stuff".

Dirt first. Very fine stuff and if necessary sift it. Next is ballast for track, because you rarely see dirt on top of ballast. Next comes the stuff that grows. Things grow from small to large, just like people. So the small stuff should be applied first, then work up to coarse stuff, and trees come last.

Do not try to get a full covering except for the dirt. You can also vary the colour of the dirt. As for foliage colours, the new stuff is generally greener that the older stuff, so that means fine darker green first, but also add some lighter green too. Do not use all the same colour for big stuff either. Some big stuff is really green, but do not over do it unless it just rained. If you are not planting a lawn, there are wild flowers around too, and ground foam that will simulate them. Use sparingly.

It is best to apply a lot of small coats of different types, colours, and sizes of stuff rather that one large one of the same stuff. As long as you have all the materials on hand, they can be applied and glued down at the same time. If you have a gully or depression, they are usually greener than other areas because they usually hold rain water longer.

The ground cover of a model railway is a model too, so proceed slowly, just like you would when assembling and painting a building.

 
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