These are made from the used up instant glue tube’s.
Cut the end off and stuff some plastic plants in them.
good for centre island road’s front of homes and such. and more bikes.
Kim”
“I take old foam pillows, and take pieces from it and add to a blender.
ThenI add a little water, I add my color and a little elmers glue. blend it up good, strain it then put it on parchment paper you know the kind they use for baking.
Tthen I squish it together and let it dry.
It will be formed so you can tear of pieces of clumped material.
Dave”.
“Hi
A very good material to make rushes and very cors grass around pond/lakes is deer hair.
It comes in slighley diffrent shades fron dark brown to very light brown and for a 5′ x 5′ peice from a fly fishing / tyeing shop will set you back about £3.00 (one of my friends is a game keeper at a country house, so we split the entire hid between the two of use, thats a LOT of dear hair)
Simon”
“Thought I would share this with you.
The old Tri-ang trains were notorious for poor running especially scale speed until a guy on youtube (chambs123) came up with the idea of upgrading the old Tri-ang controller.
I just completed the project myself and thought I woudl share it with you.
Hav eyou ever seen a Tri-ang or Hornby run this slow or smoothly? Who needs DCC?
And you can run about 12 locos off the one controller.
Charlie”
A big thanks to everyone.
That’s all for today folks.
Please do keep ’em coming.
And don’t forget the Beginner’s Guide is here if today is the day your day dreams start to take shape.
Thanks for all the modeling tips. Here are a few more:
Cutting cork roadbed – We all know that cork roadbed is tough to cut. Sear’s sells a great rubber hose cutter (looks like a large set of pruning shears). It cuts through cork roadbed like butter with a clean straight edge.
Nails/Pins – For “dry fitting” new track, use Woodlands Scenics 2” foam nails. They are 2” long pins that have a “T” on the top. They fit through the holes in the track and are easily removed and replaced by track nails.
Nails/pins – Small nails and pins are tough to pick up on a flat surface. Go to the automotive parts store and buy a magnet on a telescoping wand. Just sweep the magnet over the nails pins for really fast and easy pick up.
Thanks,
Knighttrain”
“Al,
I used aluminum foil to make rock landscapes.
Spray the foil with the colors that you want it to be, then crinkled it up and then shape as desired. depend on the size of the mountain, you may need to built a support behind.
I have a 1 x 4 “curb” around the perimeter of my platform and covered it with the foil.
In one location on the back wall, to cover it, I used large sheets of foil, mounted it on large sheets of cardboard, and “stuffed” various places to give it a 3 dimensional look.
Also, I used roofing shingles for my roads. and for grass, I gathered sawdust from the lumber yard and dyed it with Rit (green) by getting various textures of sawdust, I can have a smoothly cut lawn, or a heavy, thick hay field
Karl”
” The first step in any model RR is to get piece of grid paper spaced out in 1′ squares and design you layout on paper first making sure you have enough room for what ever industries and what not, keep in mind that you need space for you trains to run from one point to another to keep it real.
Tom Pres. CEO & mostly janitor…Narragansett RR On3, Gn15 and soon to be indoor G Scale”
i really enjoy seeing all the different layouts and what others are doing.
I have had trains all my life, mostly OO gauge and where I grew up in Cleveland, a friends dad had the basement of the house set up in OO for his son and “us” kids. In the upper attic an HO layout for the adults.
My experience in scale model RR layouts is minimal and so contribution will match, but maybe someone can use them….
I am currently in the process of setting up an HO layout in the ManCave.
I m trying to use as much “stuff” that i have collected over the years. For my base I have 4 standard 6′ x 30″ tables that i picked up at the “club” stores for less than $50.
Our kids are grown now, but both had to do CA Mission projects for school. For some of the landscape we used 24″ x 24″rolls of grass covered paper and 15″ x 24″ brick pattern paper (which goes on sale after the projects are due) I found some in a box up in the attic along with Styrofoam i kept in different shapes from large purchases (a tip i saw early on).
I hit the local lumber and building material stores for EP insulation to cover the tables ( extruded polystyrene insulation my biggest layout building expense so far).
They had scraps but i just went with the 2″ x 4′ x 8′ sheet $25. They cut the sheets to 30″ x 6′ for free and they fit right on top. I tacked them down with hot glue along the edge and is secure so far. Being in a corner helps stabilize the layout.
Looking at the different card board boxes everything comes in, i have been using them to make tunnels and for backing for some of the paper print outs offered on previous links.
As i was going through the attic boxes actually looking for something else i came across Christmas decorations and the moss/grass sheets i used for nativity scenes. I remember that they were getting worn and decided to recycle them for the layout. I cut them to cover the Styrofoam blocks.
I keep pics of the ManCave RR layout as i go along and will post if i come across an inexpensive interesting tip!
Thanks!
Frank”
“Hi Al
Yes I have one tip, use green tee leaf’s as ground cover as alternative to the norm. you can also mix other types of tea leaf to vary the area that is to be covered.
Also very small coloured stone used in craft work, found in cheep shops etc is good if small enough for N gauge.
Cheers Mike”
“Hi Al
I have been receiving your great tips for a couple of years now and thanks to you and all the other railway guys I started my own layout. I have attached some pictures of my layout “Scoobton Basset” and I would be grateful for any comments and tips our friends can offer. I think I am about half way through. Can I also thank Arnie and Dave for the inspiration and know how especially Dave on lights and point motors.
Many thanks
Peter”
And lastly, I think the talented Dave has been on the sherry again – either that or it’s April Fool’s day:
