Scratchbuilding Tips

Posted on May 4, 2013 by admin

scratchbuilding for model railwaysHave you seen the latest edition of the Australian Model Railway Magazine yet? It’s the April 2013 edition and not only does it celegrate 50 years of publication but it also has some great articles and three in particular caught my eye.

Scratchbuilding for railway modellers
Two of the articles are of great interest to anyone who models Australian outline. The first one, by Andrew George, begins on page 33 and it’s all about modelling buildings that use Colorbond for cladding.

Not only do you some tips on what material to use to get something close to the correct spacings in both N and HO but you also get some tips on how to produce the correct colours too.

The second scratchbuilding article by Garry Kahler. It begins on page 42 and is for anyone (like me) who has always wanted to build models of prototype passenger cars but has never been brave enough to start because of all those window spacings and roof curves.

Garry gives you a complete list of the parts and tools you will require for this scratchbuilding project and then walks you through the steps you’ll need to follow to produce a NSWGR ACX composite sleeping car. Will I start one? Maybe this time I will.

A unique tool
Even if you’re not into scratchbuilding you will still be interested in the third article … especially if you’ve lost more than your fair share of coupler springs somewhere on the floor around your hobby desk.

Graham Larmour shows you that the tool you need is a large plastic box witha large hole in each end. The holes are big enough to allow you to slip a model into the box and also big enough to allow you to put your hands in so you can work on the model.

Once inside the box those springs can bounce around as much as they like but they’re never going to escape.

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It’s in the Detail

Posted on May 3, 2013 by admin

Here’s a video of an operating HO model diorama where, after a while, the trains begin to blend into the background but you won’t even notice that because what attracts people to this diorama is the detail.

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Riding a Narrow Gauge Layout

Posted on May 1, 2013 by admin

As video cameras become smaller in size I’m sure we’ll see a lot more video like this one that was shot on the layout of a well-known narrow gauge modeller here in Australia.

Video shot at this level gives us a unique look at any layout and I’m sure that it won’t be long before many modellers are working on the scenery even though what they’re working on may not be visible from the edge of the layout.

So sit back and enjoy a few minutes riding a narrow gauge layout.

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Coffs Harbour Jetty & Breakwater

Posted on April 11, 2013 by admin

I visited Coffs Harbour in 1974 and again in 1978 (it might have been 1979) and on both occasions I had a chance to look around the railway yard on the eastern side of the station. On the second visit I also got to wander out onto the breakwater.

On the first occasion the Maritime Services Board shunter was working within the station limits and some of the wagons that were being shunted suggested to me that the MSB loco was being used by the Railways to shunt the yard.

On the second occasion X214 was the shunter and I have a vague recollection that the MSB shunter was locked in a shed.

The photos below were taken during those 2 visits to the Coffs Harbour jetty and breakwater.

Click on the thumbnails to see the big pictures and more information.

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A Useful Modellers’ Tool

Posted on March 31, 2013 by admin

Every modeller needs tweezers in his tool kit. Picking up coupler springs, detail parts etc. is just about impossible without a pair of tweezers.

But here is a modeller’s tool that take things to a whole new level. These tweezers come with a light that you can turn on when things you’re trying to pick up are a little hard to see.

The video will explain how they work and you can buy them right here on Model Trains n Things – just follow this link.

Posted in Scratchbuilding | 2 Comments

Loads for Your Model Trains

Posted on March 25, 2013 by admin

How many open wagons (or gondolas) have you got on your layout?

How many of them are actually carrying anything? If you’re looking for some loads for your model trains then read on.

Here in Australia there was a time when you might find just about anything loaded in a real open wagon. I’ve seen timber … wool bales … beer kegs … farm machinery … oil drums … sleepers (ties) … containers … pipes … steel sheets … and probably a whole bunch of stuff that I’ve forgotten.

That’s quite a variety of loads that you could pop into your model open wagons … although putting together prototypical loads for some of those items can be quite involved (you would be amazed at how much sawn timber or how many bags of wheat the railways could fit into a 4-wheel open wagon) … but there are still a lot of open wagons running around our layouts carrying nothing but air.

The official New South Wales Railway's loading diagram for a bagged wheat load in a 4-wheel wagon

However, here is a video that will walk you through the very easy steps needed to build some modern prototypical loads for your open wagons … loads that you can remove and replace quite easily.

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A New Tool for Railway Modellers

Posted on February 23, 2013 by admin

a valuable tool for railway modellersWell I guess this image of my digital camera has already give you a major hint about what this new modelling tool really is and of course a camera has been an important tool for any modeller ever since the camera was invented.

We’ve used cameras to record locos and wagons, buildings and general scenery but I wonder how many modellers use their digital camera to get in close to look at important details on parts … or use their camera to record the steps they’ve taken when they’ve had to dismantle a model and it might be a little while before they get round to putting it all back together again.

For both those purposes just about any digital camera is ideal and you certainly don’t have to have anything nearly as fancy as my base model SLR digital. All you really need is a camera with the ability to be adjusted to take close-up photos and you’re good to go.

The symbol for the 'close-up' setting is common to most digital cameras

I found just how good a camera can be when it comes to looking at detail parts the other day when I wanted to ask a general question on an N scale board about part of the coupler arrangement on more recent Life Like locos.

I had the part that you see in this next photo and it could go back into the loco with the shim facing towards the bogies or towards the headstock of the loco. So I took a photo and posted it on the board and it wasn’t until I looked at the image as it appeared on the message board that I noticed that the brass shim was actually held in place by two quite small lugs (that you see highlighted by the arrows) on either side of the main part of the assembly.

So if you have a very small detail part or a very small replacement part that you have to fit to a loco or some rolling stock then take a photo of it … download it to your computer … and have a good look at it to make sure you’re not missing something simply because you can’t see it.

And if you have to pull something apart to replace a part … or modify the model … then photograph the steps you’re taking. That’s advice that I wish I had taken over two years ago.

Back then I pulled apart the couple mechanism and mounting on another Life Like loco to switch over to Micro Trains. I got interrupted part way through the job and it was only the other day that I went back to finish the job … and found that I had thrown out a very important part.

I remember seeing that part on my hobby desk about a year ago now and thought that it was just a piece of a sprue from that I didn’t need to keep. If only I had kept a visual record of the work I had been doing I might have had the sense to go through the photos of my work before being throwing that piece away.

Oh well … I guess that just goes to show that age is no impediment to stupidity … and maybe a digital camera can help you be a little less stupid.

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One Modeller’s Hobby Desk

Posted on January 19, 2013 by admin

Like many others, I’m always interested to see how and where other railway modellers do their model building. I know that many modellers simply don’t have the space for a dedicated hobby desk or work bench while others have the luxury of quite extensive workshops.

The Workshops Rail Museum at Ipswich near Brisbane (here in Australia) has quite a large model railway display that runs a lot of scale models of Queensland prototypes and here is a photo I took … during a recent visit … of the work bench used by the modeller who maintains and builds those models.

The only thing not shown in the photo is a small drillpress (the type you would buy in any hardware store) that’s located off to the right of this photo. I hope it will give you some inspiration if you lack room or you’re just starting to think about setting up your own hobby desk.

the woprk bench for a professional model builder

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A Visit to the Workshops Rail Museum in Ipswich

Posted on December 30, 2012 by admin

Last Thursday my very understanding partner took me to the Workshops Rail Museum in Ipswich west of Brisbane. It’s the first time I’ve been there and, even though I was very disappointed in what I found, it won’t be the last.

The Workshops Rail Museum is part of the Queensland Museum and is operated by the State government and this is the description that Google lists for the Museum’s website: “The Workshops Rail Museum in Ipswich, Australia is a wholly interactive authentic heritage and cultural experience located at the birthplace of rail …”.

I went expecting to see plenty of interesting exhibits and while there were some that were very interesting … and my partner and I have plenty of photos to share – thanks to her telephoto lens that could reach into the rafters … overall we left feeling that the Workshops Railway Museum is missing the point.

Now before I go any further let me say that I really do understand that museums need to attract young kids. Their exhibits need to be interesting and encourage young kids to take an interest in our history but Thomas the Tank Engine is not a part of our history and Thomas was EVERYWHERE!

There were historic locos, wagons and carriages all through the main exhibit that were covered with faces and some were even numbered for Thomas’s railway. Almost everywhere you looked there was something to do with Thomas and while I see the need to attract kids with something that they can relate to, once they’re in why not tell them in words and pictures the far more interesting story of the real Queensland Railways?

The longer I live in Queensland and spend time researching the Queensland Railways the more I find that suggests that the Queensland Railways has an amazing history that is yet to be told … and the Museum isn’t even trying to tell it at the moment.

The Museum could afford to purchase various operating and non-operating models of Thomas but there were scale models of the real QR locos running around without sideframes on the bogies.

Perhaps what I’m trying to say can best be summed up by repeating a comment I left on a post on Facebook from the Workshops Rail Museum. The Museum was leading with its chin by asking what it should do today and one commenter suggested that they should remove all those Thomas faces so I added my 2 cents worth

I have to partly agree with Thomas Wyndham – I was there for the first time on Thursday and a all the TtTE stuff was disappointing and a little insulting too.

The story of the Queensland Railways is the story of extraordinary commitment and even bravery in the face of very tough conditions and yet the Museum is missing that story entirely.

Where’s the story of building the line west from Cairns? Where’s the story of how hard it was to fire a steam engine out west in the middle of summer?

Where’s the story of how a small, ill-equipped and cash-strapped railway did amazing things during WWII?

I understand the need to attract kids but I personally think that the Museum is going too far in the wrong direction.

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section (insult me if you like but just do it politely and without any strong language :)

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Remember that sickening feeling …

Posted on November 13, 2012 by admin

… when you dropped one of your prize locos on the floor?

Well imagine how much worse it would feel if you dropped the real thing.

There’s plenty of chatter while the loco is being lifted off the ship … but aftwards there’s nothing but a deafening silence. I’m sure we all know what they were thinking.

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