How To Apply Ballast

Many people ask me how to apply ballast even if they have done it before. They must not be satisfied how theirs turned out so the very best way will be presented here. I use several techniques and each one has an advantage over the other as the desired effects or the situations vary. A neat looking roadbed is a major accomplishment and very satisfying to look at when finished.

The Art of Applying Decals

The art of applying thin film wet decals to models is one that only gets better with practice. If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. Patience and persistency will allow you to produce models that look as good, if not better than the models in all your favorite magazines. I am sure many people have many different methods of applying decals successfully. The methods I use were mostly developed by trial and error and lots of query at every hobby shop I’ve gone to.

Using RTV Molds For Creating Scratch-Built Models

RTV (Room Temperature Vulcanized) Rubber molds are simple to make and can allow you to cast several identical detail castings for your scratchbuilt models. RTV Rubber is a two-part mixture made by Dow-Corning. It comes in various styles. I find 3110 the easiest to use because it does not require an expensive vacuum pump to decompress air bubbles.

Tree Construction Technique

Use anything that looks like a miniature tree of the scale, height, and species you want to model. I prefer sage brush twigs for larger deciduous trees like mature oaks and cottonwoods. For birches and smaller deciduous trees, I use pieces from a decorative broom I bought at a Ben Franklin craft store. You can, of course, use anything that looks like a tree, from yarrow and goldenrod weeds; to herb and tree roots; to manufactured cast metal and plastic armatures.

Building A Trestle Span

Recently, I decided to add a new canyon to my N-scale layout. The plan was to build three separate trestle spans across my new canyon, after I build my new canyon of course! This was my opportunity to create a steel sub-girder trestle 280 feet long and 75 feet tall, plus two main line trestle spans, 200 feet long and 50 feet tall! Not to mention the possibility of some deep-water scenery and maybe a chance to model a boat.

Choosing A Railroad to Model – Economy Through Selectivity

Model railroaders normally choose a specific railroad to collect or model. Many modelers choose the railroad whose trains they watched passing by as a child. Advanced modelers may invent their own fictional railroad, but this requires that the modeler paint and decal his or her own trains. So this not something I recommend for someone new to the hobby unless they already have a background in building, painting, and decaling other scale models.

Largest Model Railway Display in the World

While volunteering at the Twin City Model Railroad Museum I was introduced to a fantastic model railroad website and I want to share it with you: Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg. This site is all about the largest model railroad layout in the world.
The layout is located in Hamburg, Germany and visiting it is certainly on my [...]