El Cheapo's economical modeling techniques

[Anonymous]

Okay, my wife works at Dollar Tree and I get serious satisfaction from finding new ways to expand my model railroad in cheap yet interesting ways. Just thought I'd share a couple ideas and see if anyone else would like to give their own...

1. The little tubs that Crystal Light drink mix comes in (Wal Mart and others have their brands), make great disposable cups for paint. You get four to a large size container, and the container itself is great for shakers for ballast/flocking.
2. Sewing needles, painted gray, make perfect HO scale parking meters.
3. Old locomotive shells (you can find junk locos for this at next to nothing), are great for making AC air handling units. The various vents and access panels can be cut up and put together with some scrap styrene to make very convincing models...and the small access doors make nice coal hatches for those turn-of-the-century structures!

Love to hear your ideas![:D]

[West Coast S]

Surplus Athearn power trucks can have new axles and wheels installed for use in S scale.
Common bond paper, trimmed to the correct width and coated with epoxy is just the ticket in replicating sheet metal jackets for steam power, you can even work in a few wrinkles.

Dave

[Medina1128]

Take a small piece of styrene sheet and scratch it up with a small metal brush. Stain with a Q-tip dipped in alcohol and a mixture of black and brown acrylic makes easy wooden grade crossings.

[oleirish]

Empty cat food cans are great for the odds and ends you get when modeling a railroad,allso make good brush cleaning cans.emrey boards are great files around the railroad,for plastic ECT,ECT.got to have tooth picks around or your not modeling,closepins are great for holding small parts for painting,I like the needle idea for parking meters[^],old toothbrush for parts cleaning,Q-TIPS a must,I found that 1.5inch black carpet tape make good roads(HO).I guess there is a lot of things that we use around our model railroads that I can't think of right now.[:)][:)]
JIM

[pcarrell]

For storing little parts I have used those pill containers that hold all your pills for a week at a time. You can even use it for similar items such as having one type of coupler in one slot and another in the next and so on. That way everything is in one place but still sorted.

[cacole]

Empty yogurt cups are very handy for storing small parts, mixing small amounts of plaster or paint, and many other uses where small amounts of dry or wet materials need to be stored. A magic marker can be used to label the contents on the lid or side as necessary.

[jkeaton]

Dollar store bamboo skewers make dandy tree trunks, especially if distressed a litte with the side of file or razor saw blade - just add chunks of horsehair packing material or old fibrous furnace filters or lichen, and you're off to a forest! The dollar store should also have the cheap spray paint, cheap hair spray, maybe even the cheap florist's fibre materials you need for this project - not to mention the cheap craft paints for highlights.

Jim

[Anonymous]

Rather than pay big bucks for small pieces of packaged styrene plastic, go to Wal-Mart or Home depot and buy the pre-made yard sale/home for sale/keep out/ etc signs they have. Same stuff at 1/10 the cost for the amount you get.

Mike Tennent

[pcarrell]

A blender, some foam from an old seat cusion, some water, and some dye. Mix well and air dry. Instant ground foam.

For a finer grind use more water.

Use different mixes of dye colors for variety.

DON'T USE THE WIFES BLENDER!!!!!!!

[BurlingtonJohn]

I am in the process of the final design phase of my layout. Track planning programs and graph paper just don't work for me, soooooooo

I have a large amount of Bachman EZ track that is used exclusively under the Christmas tree (works great around a 5 year old). Some of the curved section are 35 1/2" radius .... I plan on 36" curves on the main, so it is a simple thing to lay out the sections of EZ track on the floor to get an idea of where the benchwork needs to go, if the clearances will work etc.

Beats the heck out of trying to tape down flex track, etc.

Regards,
Burlington John

[TrainFreak409]

Got to love cheap modeling tips.

[:D][:D][8D][8D][:p][:p][:)][:)]

~[8]~ TrainFreak409 ~[8]~

[Medina1128]

We're not CHEAP! We're THRIFTY!!

[Anonymous]

Talk to your electrician buddies the tape rolls that 3m electricl tape comes in are great parts containers.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ironpenguin

Rather than pay big bucks for small pieces of packaged styrene plastic, go to Wal-Mart or Home depot and buy the pre-made yard sale/home for sale/keep out/ etc signs they have. Same stuff at 1/10 the cost for the amount you get.

Mike Tennent

That's really awesome!![8D] I didn't realize those things were made of styrene. Any idea where to get something a bit heavier, like .060 thickness?

[ham99]

I use the pill bottles for track nails, electrical connections, etc. I keep a few of my wife's divided diet dinner trays for the parts when I am assembling model structures. The clear measuring cups on top of the large soap bottles are used for mixing glue/water for ballast and foam grass. WalMart sells a toothpick shaker that puts out one at a time. A $5 garage sale wheeled utility cart stores my airbrush/compressor under the layout when it's not in use. WalMart 44-cent acrylic craft paints for scenery and weathering.

[oleirish]

OH[:D] All most forgot if you need wire check the naborhood for the telephone company working,Ask if you can have there old telephone lines as they pull them out.GOOD sorce for as high as 50 par cable works great for wireing under the lay out!!![^]
JIM

[pcarrell]

I have suggested this once before, but it seems to fit here, so here goes.

If you use styrene (maybe those Wal-Mart signs (great tip by the way) for doing your roads, don't forget to keep some of the flat (or I guess you could use round) toothpicks around.

Just glue the toothpicks, end to end, down the center of your proposed roadway and then glue down the sides of the styrene road on top of it. Instant crown in the road! [8D]

I'll go back to my corner now.

[pcarrell]

Sorry, I just have to come out of my corner once more, and then I'll stay there, promise.

When you buy a dress shirt (I'm assuming you do once in a while) often the collar will be supported by some clear styrene. Thats good for a couple of windows!

OK, back to the corner! [8D]

[Anonymous]

I've read of a technique for making tar paper roofs using tissue paper soaked with black paint, which sounded way too tedious. So I found an alternative, which is really fast, easy, and IMHO looks great: masking tape. Use a narrow roll (the one inch kind) and lay down parallel strips on the roof, slightly overlapping. Spray paint it and you're done! Doesn't get much easier than that!

[Anonymous]

Used and unused sandpaper works for roofs on structures. (Depending on what you used it for and what type of roof you're modeling.) I use a couple of tackle boxes for storage. (Cheap at K-Mart.) Also, you can pick up wood shavings from where you have cut some wood and glue them to something solid and you have an instant woodchip load for your woodchip hoppers. (You may need to measure whatever solid substance you use, to fit inside the woodchip hopper right[:D])

[Medina1128]

I found some real small clothes pins at the dollar store. They make great clips for holding parts together. I also made a parts holder from a piece of 1x2. Screw a section of 1x2 that's about 12-14" long to a 8x8" square of 1/2 or 3/4" plywood. Drill .035" holes about 2 1/2 to 3" apart completely through the 1x2. Alternate sides so that the holes are at right angles (90 degrees) from the next hole. Cut lengths of wire hanger (the thicker the better) and stick them through the holes. Glue some of the small clothes pins, mentioned above, to the ends of the hangers. I tried alligator clips, but the teeth in the jaws tend to mar wood or styrene parts. I use this to spray paint small parts instead of blowing them all over the place. You can rotate the hangers to whatever position you need, and bend them to whatever angle you need... Total cost: about $1.00 for the clothespin clips and maybe another $195 for a bunch of wire hangers. How's that for cheap.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Medina1128

Total cost: about $1.00 for the clothespin clips and maybe another $195 for a bunch of wire hangers. How's that for cheap.

I hope you meant $1.95.[:D]

[snowey]

stick 2 short peices of wire or 2 peices of a straight pin into the roadbed, or the layout surface if the track isn't on roadbed, (if you have foam for a layout surface, this is simple!!) and paint them black for a track bumper that's virtually invisible.
To have one that's visible, use an old wheelset or a truck, or a cheap car or that you put some dents, etc. in.

For buildings in S scale, use HO buildings with roadbed underneath. The sizes are close enough that all doors, windows, etc. will look right.

[Medina1128]

Oops... unless they were Rodeo Drive hangers, yes, I did mean $1.95...

[Anonymous]

Florist oasis foam is also great for painting stuff that's small. you just stick it in the foam and paint away. I also use it to make mounds of gravel, ballast, coal, etc. There was an article in a recent MR that explained this technique, but it recommended the pink insulating foam board; however, oasis foam is a LOT easier to cut and shape. The article mentioned using a plastic fork to hold the mound while you paint it, which is another great cheap idea.

I like the idea of using the 44 cent craft paints at Wal Mart. I use them exclusively. They're water based, cheap, any color you can imagine, and thick enough to avoid running, especially when painting small parts, i.e. figures.

[Anonymous]

Forgot to mention, while on the subject of past MR articles: there was a cool tools article a year and a half ago or so that had a really handy idea for painting trucks. Take a 1x2 and a 1x4, both cut about 26 inches long. Glue and screw the 1x2, small edge up, to the 1x4, right up the middle lengthwise. The 1x4 forms the base. Then tap in small finishing nails, small enough for the truck pivot holes to fit over, at 2 inch intervals along the edge of the 1x2. That's it! Just put the trucks over the nails, and you have a perfect truck painting jig. The 1x2 is just wide enough to hold the trucks in place so they don't move on the nails. You can do six sets this way. I made one myself and it's great!

[Anonymous]

Go to Lowes and buy a bag of Garden Plus Patio/Paver Base. Pour it through a sifter and you have enough ballast and small rocks to complete a good-sized layout. It costs about $2.50 per bag.

[Anonymous]

My local watering hole has 1 oz plastic shot glasses for when things get busy. Great for mixing small quantities of paint. They're clear so it's easy to see if the paint is fully mixed. Washable, stackable, and since I'm a good customer, free.

[JoeVoisinSr]

Next time your at your favorite home improvement store, Lowe's, Menards, Home Depot, go to the paint section and pick up some of the colored paint chips.They come in every color you can imagine and when cut to size they make great window blinds or curtains, and they're free. Doesn't get any better than free. Joe Voisin Sr.