post your model RR tips........


Cyanoacrilate Glues
I work on a large plate of glass on top of the workbench
Put several drops of CA directly on the glass; puddle stays wet for a long time.
Use a straight pin (head clipped off) secured in an old Xacto handle as the applicator
When dry, scrape off residual with a straight edge razor blade.
When wet, don't forget and put the heel of your hand in the puddle! (from experience).
 
Don't build a layout you can't maintain yourself, or spend all your time maintaining/rebuilding.

WHAT?? You mean my layout is Toooooo BiiiiiiiG. You're right about the maintenance, the bigger the more you(ME) struggle. That's why we have Friends.;):rolleyes::p:):eek::D
 
To improve the reliability of Atlas Customline Code 100 turnouts.

1. Using a large fine file, file down the tops of the frogs. Most of the Customline turnouts are made with the frogs molded too high, and wheels will bump across the frog.

2. Take a small strip of .010" styrene, or some shim brass, and glue onto the INSIDE of the guard rails and onto the INSIDE of the wing rails. This will close up the extra wide clearances in these areas and result in better tracking of the trains wheels.

3. If the connections to the point rails are made of rivets, solder a small jumper wire across the gap between the points and the closure rails each point connects to. The rivets eventually work loose and loss of electrical conductivity is the result.

4. If you're really cheap, uuhh frugal, yeah, that's it, frugal. And you don't mind being a slight glutton for punishment, A much better overall improvement can be made this way. Carve down the entire piece of molding that forms the point of the frog. Then mix up a batch of epoxy, and fill the entire space of the frog with it. Spread it out until everything that makes up the black part of the frog is filled up to and slightly above rail height. When dry, (even if 5 minute epoxy is used, wait for at least 24 hrs has passed), first file the epoxy down to be even with rail height again. Then take a cut off hack saw blade, about 4-6" long, making sure the blade is aligned with the running edges of the rails, cut new flangeways through the frog. IIRC using a 24 TPI blade, (Teeth Per Inch), the flangeway will be very close to NMRA specs. Paint the finished frog to your specs. Result is the trains will track very much smoother through the turnouts and the reliability will be much better. You will have also replaced a very easily worn piece of plastic, the frog point, with a much harder, and longer lasting piece of easily replaced epoxy.

It should be noted, that this will work on any frog that is made of, or has plastic parts in it.

To help improve reliability on some Walthers/Shinohara turnouts where again the points connect to the closure rails, except instead of rivets, there are rail-joiners in place. The rail joiners will often work loose from the points. Solder the point end of the joiner to the point. This will prevent the joiner from working its way further onto the closure rail, and ensure a tight fit between the points and the closure rails.
 
If you're intent on modeling modern day with the latest and greatest Ready to Run offerings, a ski mask would be your best modeling tool.

:D:D:D:D:D

The only one I have is related to funding as well. Keep your purchases under fifty dollars and the Mrs. won't pay attention to what you're spending!:)
 
whenever you end up with a flaw or a CA glue mark on a model kit... grab the bottle of grimy black! Weather the spot, and suddenly it's not really noticeable.

Sorry, that's all I got.

Oh yeah, add a little hydrocal to your plastercloth to make it harden up more.
 
:D:D:D:D:D

The only one I have is related to funding as well. Keep your purchases under fifty dollars and the Mrs. won't pay attention to what you're spending!:)

Sorry bro, but you just got lucky. I on the other hand had the same thoughts and since I worked a yard job on midnights, and the ex worked during the day, I'd just stash my little Athearn and Roundhouse boxes on teh top closet shelf since they all look the same, and she never said a word. I figured she hadn;t noticed the collection growing by one or two here and there. She used that against me when we split. She had been keeping an inventory list all along. SNA---H! :rolleyes:
 
That's just not right!

She knows that I spend money on this hobby. She just hasn't taken the time to add it up............or has she?:eek::D
 
The piece inside (don't know what it is called) of a tire valve looks like a auto transmission. Good for junk yards.
 
One of the best modeling tips I've ever come across is a mental exercise...

Look at a scene in the real world -- really pay attention to every little detail -- and then think about how you would model that scene.

* What would you use to make that building with?
* How would you model the uneven ground?
* See how that old automobile is dented and rusted?
* Notice how dust from the ground attaches itself to the lower parts of buildings.
* See the litter and trash in an abandoned lot, or alongside a loading dock.
* Look at how almost everything has a dull sheen -- how rare it is to find something glossy.

You just might be surprised at how start to notice things like that -- and how much adding those things you notice will make your layout look more realistic!

Regards,
Tom Stockton
 
Anyone who is or lives with a diabetic on insulin, use the caps that come with the needles.
Painted black or silver can be used on roofs for smoke stacks or pipes.
 
Small stones that you come across sometimes in parking lots or roads. I keep a empty coffee can in the truck and borrow some. great for use on the layout ,glue together [white glue] construct walls,great for riverbeds and along the banks.Also on the bottom or along the sides of piers wheather in water or on land.
 
some times the best solution is not always the most direct solution....

meaning if your having a hard time with something get creative and find another (alternate) solution to complete your same task...
 
Scotch Tape Rolls

The spent Scotch Tape Rolls when stacked and glued together make great small fuel tanks. I've even used a stack of five to make a small lighthouse for a harbor setting.

Brent
 



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