Paul D Jimmy - Line the inside with kitchen foil and you'll greatly enhance the lighting in there.
Jimmy - Line the inside with kitchen foil and you'll greatly enhance the lighting in there.
I was going to suggest brown paper, which is available at home improvement stores in large rolls for not a lot of money. In CT, we also get newpaper-like circulars distrubted more or less weekly, which also work.
Foil would definitelyimprove the lighting, but it's expensive, and it seems to me that it's reflectivity would greatly diminish after you began spraying.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
I'm designing my own homebuilt spray booth.I am planning to use scrap paper to line the sides, so you can actually take them out if needed.
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).
Yep, paint solidified in the bottle. My brain wasn't functioning fully when I posted that earlier
Jimmy_Braum Has anyone come across a solution to preventing/fixing "frozen" paint?
Has anyone come across a solution to preventing/fixing "frozen" paint?
As in paint that has hardened in the bottle? I'm anal retentive about my paints. I never open one for the first time until I'm ready to use it. I gently agitate every bottle about once a month. If the paint isn't very liquid, I add a few drops of thinner and mix thoroughly. This keeps 'em healthy and ready to use.
Note that, since switching to Vallejo acrylics, this hasn't been a problem. Just give 'em a quick roll between your hands. I still have quite a few bottles of Polly Scale and Model Master to use up, though, and I'd rather use 'em than lose 'em.
When we bought our house about 7 years ago the basement was a modelers dream. All the mechanicals were under the stairs, and the original owners built 2 closets in the unused space one of which I turned into my work space. I built a small work bench and shelves to hold rolling stock to be built or repair and another one to hold all my loco's. I built small shelves to hold all my tools so all I had to do was look up and there they were. I also put a lock on the door so when I was done nothing was moved or missing. I have a extra Digitrax booster with a piece of test track on the bench built on the very front for programing locos and it helps as a catch all for those flying parts. An old desk chair serves as my rolling seat at my work bench and to roll under my layout for repairs and maintainance.Jim.
Terry,
Thanks a bunch for the photo. Now I've (finally!) got it. I think it will help me a lot with my current project. Being impatient I'm off to the hardware store to look for springs. I like the drill motor holster, too.
Roger
Terry
Here's a photo (if I can upload it correctly):
Switch in front is from a WWII B-17 bomber.
PVC holster:
For Kadee coupler springs, I too use a piece of thread through the spring so it doesn't fly away, to install the spring I use an exacto knife. Place blade between spring coils to pick it up, insert one end and then compress spring to install, the remove thread.
Terry: Sorry to be dense.
",,, in front of it several wires stretched between screws." Did you mean several springs instead of several wires? What type if springs? Where did you get them?
No photot. I have a piece of scrap wood with a dowel support for the solder roll, and in front of it several wires stretched between screws. Just push the wire into the middle of the spring to hold it temporarily to sodler. Then pull it out.
Trick is to get the right stiffness for the wire's gauge (which is why I have one for 12AWG and 18AWG, some at 90 degrees to others.
To keep Kadee coupler springs from springing off to the far corners of the world, get a piece of sewing thread about 2 feet long. Place the spring on the midpoint of the thread so the thread is around spring and will hold it. After the spring is in place, gently pull the thread free of the spring.
George V.
I am in the middle of a wiring project and am intrigued by your #2 tip but I am having a hard time visualizing it. Can you elaborate and/or post a picture?
http://www.micromark.com/spring-grabber,7636.html
AltoonaRailroader This is a great thread. Much to be learned. Does anyone have tips for re-springing a Kahttp://www.micromark.com/spring-grabber,7636.htmlhttp://www.micromark.com/spring-grabber,7636.htmldee coupler? I've found the tooth pick method to work well, still not full proof though.
This is a great thread. Much to be learned. Does anyone have tips for re-springing a Kahttp://www.micromark.com/spring-grabber,7636.htmlhttp://www.micromark.com/spring-grabber,7636.htmldee coupler? I've found the tooth pick method to work well, still not full proof though.
Fools are too ingenious to make something COMPLETELY foolproof. However, these tools work even better than toothpicks:
(see next post for link -- this is the most frustration I have ever eexperienced trying to use this site with a tablet.
This is a great thread. Much to be learned. Does anyone have tips for re-springing a Kadee coupler? I've found the tooth pick method to work well, still not full proof though.
I have used blocks of wood cut down to the correct shape and size of the hopper it's meant for. I then shape packing foam into coal loads, and sprinkle a coal material on the top creating a realistic load.
hon30critterchutton01 Thanks for the suggestion about using the truck screw holes to hold rolling stock while painting. Great idea.
Thanks for the suggestion about using the truck screw holes to hold rolling stock while painting. Great idea.
Final potentially useful tip that I use (and have mentioned) and could be helpful. Run a lenght of plastic gutter along the front edge of your workbench (ends capped) to help trap and capture errant parts that drop from your fingers/tweezers/pliers etc. (parts that go SPROING...not so much). I painted mine white, which in retrospective is not helpful in locating pieces of white styrene that drop when scratchbuilding, as the temptation to temporarily store tools like knifes, files, brushes, unused styrene strips, etc. in the gutter during projects is far too great to resist. Probably should have painted the interior hot pink, a color that I rarely find I use. Actually, the X-acto knife tends to reside in the gutter a lot, to prevent it from rolling off a shelf or ledge and into feet flesh - yes I know about the triangle piece you can put on the knife handle to prevent it from rolling, but I think it seems cumbersome.
chutton01
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Southgate OK, so we all know Pelle Soeeborg's freight car paint cradle concept, with the bent wires stuck in a block of wood. OK, I wasn't feeling as ambitious, so I simply drilled holes in wood (again with the drilling of holes in wood), one post is fixed, torward the end of the block, and the other holes are spaced out so posts can be placed into them at the right distance to fit in the screw hole in the freight car's underframe. That's nice you say, but so what? Well, turns out 1/8" aluminum pop rivets, with the (pointy) shank facing up, fit fairly well into the screw hole in most HO rolling stock. The pop rivet head goes into the hole in the block. I recommend filing off the point on the shank a bit for safety Let's see a picture of that?
OK, so we all know Pelle Soeeborg's freight car paint cradle concept, with the bent wires stuck in a block of wood. OK, I wasn't feeling as ambitious, so I simply drilled holes in wood (again with the drilling of holes in wood), one post is fixed, torward the end of the block, and the other holes are spaced out so posts can be placed into them at the right distance to fit in the screw hole in the freight car's underframe. That's nice you say, but so what? Well, turns out 1/8" aluminum pop rivets, with the (pointy) shank facing up, fit fairly well into the screw hole in most HO rolling stock. The pop rivet head goes into the hole in the block. I recommend filing off the point on the shank a bit for safety
Let's see a picture of that?
It works well enough:
chutton01 OK, so we all know Pelle Soeeborg's freight car paint cradle concept, with the bent wires stuck in a block of wood. OK, I wasn't feeling as ambitious, so I simply drilled holes in wood (again with the drilling of holes in wood), one post is fixed, torward the end of the block, and the other holes are spaced out so posts can be placed into them at the right distance to fit in the screw hole in the freight car's underframe. That's nice you say, but so what? Well, turns out 1/8" aluminum pop rivets, with the (pointy) shank facing up, fit fairly well into the screw hole in most HO rolling stock. The pop rivet head goes into the hole in the block. I recommend filing off the point on the shank a bit for safety
One I've stolen from somebody recently; take a small mixing cup, cover the opening with a small square of aluminum foil forming a bowl-like depression in the foil. Put a few drops of paint in the bowl (for brush painting), when done remove and toss the foil. No real need for further clean-up (well, except the brushes)I've been using this when applying washes, guess it should work with most paints, at least water based ones.I'd like to claim I invented the alligator-clip-on-a-post method for holding small parts when painting or soldering, but of course I didn't (and neither did Cody Grivino), because I just realized (derp!) that I have owned a "Helping Hand" magnifier w/ clips for decades now, years before I soldered some Radio-Shack clips onto some lengths of thin brass tube, and stuck them in holes drilled in a wooden block (as you may surmise, I have a number of blocks with such holes drilled in them, some holes sized to hold 1/8 tube/rod, and some sized to hold toothpicks - they are somewhat multicolored from various paint sprays nowadays).OK, so we all know Pelle Soeeborg's freight car paint cradle concept, with the bent wires stuck in a block of wood. OK, I wasn't feeling as ambitious, so I simply drilled holes in wood (again with the drilling of holes in wood), one post is fixed, torward the end of the block, and the other holes are spaced out so posts can be placed into them at the right distance to fit in the screw hole in the freight car's underframe. That's nice you say, but so what? Well, turns out 1/8" aluminum pop rivets, with the (pointy) shank facing up, fit fairly well into the screw hole in most HO rolling stock. The pop rivet head goes into the hole in the block. I recommend filing off the point on the shank a bit for safety
More on clamps . I use the alligator clips from voltmeter leads to clamp somewhat thin stuff , the teeth hold things on place , or I have some where I have flattened the teeth to prevent marring. I also use those big black paper clips called Binder clips , they come in lots of sizes and are great for clamping plastic parts to a work board to keep the part from moving while glueing etc.
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
I use a 9V battery to test electrical connections on HO passenger cars for lighting. Just place the terminals in between the two rails on a piece of track and make contact. It's quick and easy.
Will
A paint pallete for mixing multiple colors for brush painting to get that 'just right' effect - a cheapo plastic ice cube tray cut down to 4 or 6 little wells. Reduces clutter and won't tip over like bottles can. Then apply to a sheet of Evergreen .005 styrene to test before applying to a plastic model.
That same sheet of .005x6x12 goes through my desktop printer trouble free for making signs. Print then cut to size. Used Google Translate to make bldg signs in Chinese for the Chinatown section of my city scene. 保羅
A piece of coat hanger wire between 2 eye-screws inside a paint booth or any prop for suspending ladders, etc for spraying. Can also slip the wire through an office supply binder clip for holding a building side by the mold sprues.