Recent content by shorttimer

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    With all the talk about air compressors for air brushes I have a question.

    Back in 83 I needed to have an air brush set up that made no noise & produced no water vapor. At the time I was friends with a guy who was heavily into Karting. He used 20 pound C02 bottles & a regulator for his race tools instead of a compressor because electricity wasn't always available. I...
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    Quick Easy Tall Grass

    Thanks, Gator. Another great tip.
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    Two New Scenery Tutorials

    WOW Pete! Simply amazing. Bookmarked!
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    Quick Easy Tall Grass

    I purchased a 'lot' of 240, 2" chip brushes on egay for $60. I guess I got 2 1/2 lifetimes worth of tall grass & handles for something else. Thanks for the tip!
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    Sagebrush for tree armatures.

    I don't think this would not be a good time for sage brush, but I could be wrong. It would seem to me that the end of summer would be the best time to try to find it. It's everywhere in rural parts of Ca, Az, NM, Tx,Nv and a whole bunch other places. Unfortunately it's really bulky. I've seen...
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    Tips for laying ballast...

    I tried bulk ballast from user name twl1469 on evilbay for my soon to be n scale layout. I'm very happy with it & it was dirt cheap (pun intended) @$9 for 10 pounds. Many colors. They ship in a 'postal one rate box', so you can get close to 25 pounds shipped real cheap. It looks just as good as...
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    Steel wheels on rolling stock...Who makes 'em?

    But don't you have to do special wiring for reverse loops, sidings, signals & the like? If it does, I know I'll not be alone when the wiring starts.
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    Steel wheels on rolling stock...Who makes 'em?

    The majority of my rolling stock is Atlas, with maybe 60 or so MTL and the remaining a mix of Bachman, Roundhouse, Con-Cor, Minitrix and a few others I can't remember off hand. I don't know what I was thinking, but right after x-mas, I went nuts & bought 10 Sp & UP engines & about 200 misc...
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    Affordable Layout Table Materials

    My local door shop gives away (free) the old doors the take off. Some are still pretty good. A cheap renew is to laminate a fresh 1/4" Luan door skin over the whole thing for about 11 bucks. It's a fine grade plywood sometimes made from mahogany. I also use it to remake a dastroyed card table...
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    Sculpting road bed

    In most of Ca we can't get either the pink or blue foam. It apparently does not pass some sort of code. I heard that several years ago the local train shop ordered a whole pallet. It was the only way to get it. Storage seemed to be their biggest problem. I would love to get my hands on some &...
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    Best way to obtain N scale gear while living in a rural area?

    My only local source of train stuff is 20 miles away. I want to support them, but after I drive there and back, it's far cheaper to buy on line & have it arrive at my doorstep. Like 50% cheaper. You have to shop around for the great deals, but they're out there.
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    Best peco track prices online?

    Contact Sunrise hobbies & do an off evilbay deal for around $125 for a box of C55 flex. They've got killer prices on turnouts as well.
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    Steel wheels on rolling stock...Who makes 'em?

    Today I emailed FVM for info about the 2 styles of N wheelsets they sell. They were quick to respond. One is more prototypical narrow tread design & the other is slightly wider. Said the wider ones work on anything & the narrower ones have to have the track work spot on. Has to do with where it...
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    What I Model & Why, How About You?

    @ wombat: I'm on your side of the fence about the creative side of modeling. I think, to the average person, they would be much more impressed with how well a scene is made to look (realism) instead of if the time period is a little off. As a side note, the track I have chosen is Peco code 55...
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    What I Model & Why, How About You?

    The new what: Actually I haven't even started it yet, but very soon. I have been collecting n scale for 40+ years and have only layed it out a few times, over the years, on a table or piece of plywood. When I first began collecting I wasn't too careful about what I got, so I ended up with a...
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