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Geoff Bunza shows how to control up to 17 servos with an Arduino Mini Pro for about $5 (not counting the cost of servos.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAJFDnmD7YE Steve S

First, the sky isn't a single color. It's lighter near the horizon than it is overhead because you're looking through more atmosphere when you look toward the horizon. Also, clear blue sky in the Rocky Mountains will probably be a deeper blue than a hot, hazy summer sky in Atlanta. So what...

You could probably estimate it yourself by drawing it out on paper and laying out some track sections on it. The building is 9.25" wide. The middle track looks to be dead center. The other two are fairly close to the outer walls. Steve S

Back in the '90s, I'd occasionally go railfanning and I recall seeing an industrial switcher that was painted DayGlo green. I suppose they did it for safety reasons because it was impossible not to see it. Steve S

Here's the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis... http://binged.it/1QHAszF The track enters the complex by coming up Dorcas Street (bottom, center). It then splits into a 'Y'. Covered hoppers with grain go to the building at upper right. I don't know what the left part of the 'Y' is for...

There's a local park where I often go for walks that has an asphalt footpath. There are a few places where rain water washes dirt from the grassy areas onto the footpath. This dirt tends to be very fine, almost like talcum powder. It still needs sifting to get some of the larger bits out, but...

The yard looks a lot better. But you've got several S-turns that could cause problems. There are two on the right side where the main line jogs over. Try to keep the main line straight. Also, at lower left there's a stepped ladder. Keep the ladder straight like the ladder at the top of the...

This all reminds of an episode of Mythbusters when Adam had a 1/6th sized action figure (12" tall) and he needed to determine how much it should weigh. So he divided his weight by 6 and got 25 pounds. Jamie said "So you're saying it needs to be made out of depleted uranium." Adam was...

In the track plan in post #9, there are two unnecessary turnouts at the lower left. Just have the tracks curve in toward the turnouts. Steve S

The f-stop is a dimensionless ratio, which means it is independent of format. No conversion is needed. Steve S

Instead of styrene, you might consider PVC foamboard (a.k.a. Sintra). It has a slight texture to it which would be good for concrete. Keep in mind that aged concrete tends to be as much tan as gray. I think I've mentioned this technique before on this forum. I use a technique I call...

IIRC, the reason I didn't do the diagonal piece was that I was having trouble soldering three pieces together at a single point. If you solder two pieces together, and then try to add the third piece, you usually end up undoing the previous joint that you just did. I suppose a tiny dab of...

Yeah, I should have had a diagonal. I think those are even thinner than the others. For the gate, I soldered a piece of brass tubing to the end post. The gate post sits in it and swings freely. I have some other experiments that I tried that I'll photograph. I also can't remember the...

Model Railroader did an article about prototype fences back in the '90s (IIRC). They had extensive drawings and dimensions for the various types of fences and gates, as well as thicknesses for the posts. One thing to keep in mind is that the corner and end posts are thicker than the vertical...

Some people use those small neodymium magnets between the ties. You might try experimenting with them. They're not nearly as unsightly as the big Kadee magnets. http://s234.photobucket.com/user/Karhedronuk/media/DSCF4292.jpg.html

Looks like it's just frosted film. You can frost clear film by spaying it with Dullcote. Use one of those cheap report covers for the film. Steve S

If you have a Michael's or Dick Blick near you, they may have Faber-Castell art pens. I've never used them, but you can get them with a brush tip. I don't know how well a light color would go over dark paint. Probably not well. They would be better suited for dark trim over light base color...

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+remove+lettering+from+locomotive&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb

Inkscape is a great choice for decals. As a vector-based program, it's better suited than GIMP which is raster-based. Vector images are independent of resolution and can be scaled up without any loss of detail. Vector images are also easier to edit and manipulate. You can do things with...

I agree that injection molded people are rather bulky looking. You'd want to use the FUD or FXD material to get the most detail, but it's expensive. You'd also need a sprue to connect them because you don't want lots of tiny items getting mixed up with other peoples' items. That adds to the...