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  1. tomstockton

    Hand-brushing with Tru-Color Paint?

    I'm considering an investment, to add Tru-Color Paint to my painting arsenal. There are times I like to hand-brush with paint; touch-up places, add weathering, etc. But I haven't found any comments on hand-brushing Tru-Color. Has anyone here ever hand-brushed Tru-Color Paint? And if so --...
  2. tomstockton

    Mixing Vallejo paint

    Folks, how do you get the plastic nozzle off of a squeeze bottle of Vallejo paint so you can mix the paint inside? I've tried pulling on the spout, but my fingers keep slipping off. And I'm afraid to pry with a screwdriver or pull with pliers, because I don't want to damage the tip. Any...
  3. tomstockton

    Finding who made an HO scale GE U-boat (B-B) with a Kato motor

    Hello, folks. I am helping the family of my late best model railroading friend catalog and begin selling off his HO scale collection. Among this morning's finds was a GE U-boat (B-B) with a Kato motor. It is factory-decorated as PRR 2501, in black (Brunswick green?) livery. And I'm not...
  4. tomstockton

    Current acrylic "Conrail Blue"?

    Do any of the current manufacturers (Vallejo, Tamiya, Army Painter, etc.) make a "Conrail Blue"? I do poorly in mixing colors to match another color, so if a ready-made substitute is available -- by whatever name -- I would appreciate learning about them. Thanks in advance. Regards, Tom Stockton
  5. tomstockton

    Brakewheel color

    As my fleet of HO rolling stock is predominantly Athearn "blue box" and Roundhouse cars, almost all of my kits have had the brakewheel in the black color of the molding plastic. And most of the time, I've tried to paint them in a color to match the ends of the cars. But in pictures -- mainly...
  6. tomstockton

    Paint in the bottle: shaken or stirred?

    With apologies to Mr. Bond, this has nothing to do with martinis... ;) How do you prepare your paints in the bottles for use; are they shaken, or are they stirred? (Or is there another option I'm missing?) I've tried several different methods; drop some BB's in the bottle (bad move -- they...
  7. tomstockton

    Vallejo conversion table

    Gentlemen, It didn't come up in my searches, or in some "mucking around" looking for one... But has anyone come up with a conversion table for Floquil and/or Polly Scale and/or Model Masters and/or whatever colors you've been using in the past to the Vallejo paint range. Vallejo seems to be...
  8. tomstockton

    The decline in the number of model railroaders?

    In a different thread, but still here in the General Discussion group, there is a thread discussing the varying amount of participation on this (and other) forums. But "hidden" in that is something I've never considered, and it ties into the header of this thread: "The decline in the number of...
  9. tomstockton

    Athearn "Blue Box" freight car parts - brake system tree

    Gentlemen, For years, I've been assembling Athearn "Blue Box" kits. They seem to fit my overall skill level, and the "clunky detailing" doesn't bother me. But I've accumulated a number of "leftover parts" that I don't know what to do with. The generic parts tree has five different...
  10. tomstockton

    Painting wheelsets - what color do you use?

    Gentlemen, I am in the process of updating my rolling stock to metal wheelsets. In the process, I'm taking time to paint the wheelsets (and truck frames, and couplers, and underframes...). I've tried Flouqil Rail Brown (in a pen), Woodland Scenics Steel Rail (also in a pen), two or three...
  11. tomstockton

    Adding weight to a sealed car

    This weekend at a model railroad show, I got a good deal on a HO scale Walthers (Con-Cor?) 40'-ish Airslide hopper. The gentleman who was selling it was several years older than I, and said he'd been a model railroader for 60+ years but was selling off some stuff to help make ends meet. So the...
  12. tomstockton

    Cloudy Tenax-7R

    Hello! After a too-long hiatus from the workbench, I picked up on an "old" project I'd started, working with styrene. I noticed that my bottle of Tenax-7R has turned "cloudy". Does this mean that it is "no good" or of limited use, or can I continue using it? While looking through my stash...
  13. tomstockton

    When NS and CSX split up Conrail...

    ...we know who got which trackage. Just curious, does anyone know how NS and CSX divvied up the motive power and rolling stock? I still see a lot of rolling stock with Conrail (CR) markings, and it got me wondering why it isn't at least "patched", if not repainted? Inquiring minds want to...
  14. tomstockton

    X-Acto #11 blades: sharpener or replacements?

    Gentlemen, I would like to get your opinions on this... Several years ago, I purchased a "knife sharpener" from Micro-Mark, which would allow me to re-sharpen #11 blades without removing them from the handle -- pretty convenient. The price was around $20 USD, so I got one. It has given me...
  15. tomstockton

    My Model Railroad Rules

    My Model Railroad Rules Preface: I found this on the Model Railroader Forums. The topic question was on NKP MOW colors, and found this in a gentleman named Rick's signature line. This was dated February 13, 2008. It so PERFECTLY sums up what I believe should be the rules on every model...
  16. tomstockton

    Kitbash a Walther New River mine into a foundry?

    Somewhere I thought I saw an article on kitbashing the Walthers HO scale New River Mine into a foundry. I've spent the last two days searching forums and Google for that info, but I have not found it. If anyone recalls that article and knows where to find it, would you please let me know where...
  17. tomstockton

    2012 RPM Meet in Collinsville, IL (St. Louis)

    It took me a couple of weeks to get my pictures edited, cropped, and compressed so they wouldn't take so long to upload or be seen -- but if you're interested, I hope I got this right so you can see them. Sorry, but this isn't a comprehensive look at everything that was there; I model HO...
  18. tomstockton

    Jig for drilling holes for grab irons?

    I'm looking for a jig for drilling holes for HO scale grab irons; no matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to get them lined up properly. I've tried a few searches, but haven't found anything. That doesn't mean it isn't there, it just means I haven't found it... If anyone knows of such...
  19. tomstockton

    Need help with year on Magnuson L series van

    While trying to get a little better organized (and getting rid of some junk), I came across a box of "miscellaneous stuff" -- including three Magnuson 439-951 L series vans. I'm pretty sure this is a model of a Ford L or LN series delivery truck, but I cannot figure out what year (or years)...
  20. tomstockton

    Photo retouching?

    Howdy, folks! I'm seeing more and more excellent pictures posted in various threads here on the forum -- thank you, and keep up the good work! And some of them are so good, I start looking for things that tell me it's a model instead of "the real thing". Which got me to thinking -- a...



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