The OG Tipster

[ogtipster]

Hi everyone. I'm the OG tipster. Actually you all are the OG tipster. Here's my idea. We all have tips from time to time to share with each other. Why not have a special place to post these. So I have created a new member, the OG Tipster. You all can use this ID and here is how. Log into ebay as: ogtipster. The password is: ogone1. Once you are in you can post pictures to go along with the tip. The pictures will still have to be approved, but we are usually fast there. Tell me if you like this idea. So here's the first tip which I modified from an article in O Gauge magazine. "Easy and affordable building lighting." Using a brass rod and affordable Life-Like lamps with wired sockets 433-1215, you can follow the schematic for construction. Replacement screw-in bulbs are 433-1213. Bend the brass rod to form a loop and right angle at the bottom. Make it long enough to go up through a 3/8" round hole in the benchwork and into the building. Cut the socket lead off the socket and solder the socket to the brass rod. The other lead comes from the bulb. Insert the assembly from below and secure with a screw acting as a contact terminal. See schematic. These can be connected to any lighting bus in parallel. The result is easy replacement of a burned out bulb and no disturbance to the building and surrounding scenery.

[ogtipster]

Tipster here with another bit of wisdom for your perusal. I told you before about making window curtains with tissue paper as I did for Saulena's, but that is sometimes hard to do in smaller scales. Try this instead. Use aluminum foil. It holds wonderful wrinkles and once painted will become quite rigid. You can then attach the curtains with "Goo" or CA. And here's another quickie. Strip the insulation off an old extension cord, paint the stranded wire with concrete colored paint (white is too stark) and when it dries you have the perfect model rope for your clothes line. And you always wondered what to do with the clothes that usually come in the Kibri, Faller and Vollmer building kits. Just use a dab of CA to attach the clothes to your new line and wait for a sunny day. I can almost hear the underwear snapping in the breeze. :x

[ginzokid]

If any of you get the desire or nerve to build a Campbell wood trestle or bridge, I just read this tip on saving time laying the track. The usual method is to spike or glue bare rails to the wooden ties you have glued in place on the stringers. Tedious, but fun for me. After gluing 3603 ties to a stringer, one might tire easily and get disgusted. Anyway, the ties on a trestle are much closer than ties on the ballast. To simulate this without gluing all those ties and laying separate rails and worrying about the proper gauge, just cut the web joiners on flex track between the ties and slide them closer together. Cut off any excess rails, you will waste about half of the 30" length, and glue the plastic rails to the trestle stringers directly. Fast and in gauge. I'm going to try it next time on a Howe truss bridge I am going to build for the On30. This should even work for the Walthers plastic trestle in N scale. B-)

[crazyd37]

I have been using a product for people that sew for my window curtains. Hem binding looks like fine lace and is almost the right width for n-scale curtains. You can even cut it in the middle to make it look like a pair of curtains. Comes in lots of colors too and goes a long way. Used some other types of this product too. Just look in the notions department at any store that sells fabric. ie Walmart...

[flaretired]

I just read this thread and thought you might like what I do for small Parts. I use Forceps. They come in all sizes, I even use them for heat sinks. Chuck 🙂

[ginzokid]

Good one Chuck. And when Forceps are too big for the job, try alligator clips for both purposes. These come in many sizes; smooth and serrated jaws too. B-)

[ginzokid]

Due to a mistake I made today, I have a new tip. When staining wood with any variety of stain, be sure you put the wet wood on WAXED PAPER and not regular newsprint. The wet wood will stick to the newsprint and make your life miserable. It will not stick to the waxed paper. Simple, but I had a brain fart and almost ruined a bridge today. See, it's not so much about the learning, it's about the remembering. I think I can still ride a bicycle though... I also suggest the use of waxed paper for drying the parts of any kits you may be pre-painting. Sometimes I use sections of an old plastic shower curtain liner. Paint doesn't stick to the vinyl surface either, and they make great drop cloths. Cheap, er, frugal too. I must have saved at least $36.24 by now reusing the shower curtains. We get ours at the Dollar Store and pay, this does not compute really, $2 for them. (Why does someting at the Dollar Store cost $2?) If they last a year, great. Then they are mine for drop cloths. B-)

[ginzokid]

I read a great tip today in one of my magazines, O Scale Railroading actually. You know those pesky tiny little teeny weenie very small screws we all deal with in model railroading? You know how hard it is to get them started in the holes just right, if you can somehow even position them in the holes with some of our "meat hooks" we call fingers. Vaseline. Simply dip the end of the proper screw driver in a little vaseline, then put the screw on the end of the driver and "presto" guide it into the hole without having it drop off and disappear into oblivion. A lot cheaper than those sometimes expensive and fussy spring-loaded screw starters. I have several of the mechanical starters but I'm going to change to the vaseline method. And I always thought spit was the best glue....but it never did work on starting screws. I've been "playing with trains" for 56 years now, and I just learned something new today. Makes me wonder why I never thought of it myself before or heard of it. B-)

[ginzokid]

Hey Dot, Wally World didn't have the hem binding, but we just had a Michaels open up here, a Home Depot too. We are coming of age guys! Anywho, I found a whole bunch of different patterns of lace edging at Michaels for $1.69 for 4 yards on a spool. I bought two patterns and will incorporate them into the Idaho Hotel with all its hundreds (I exaggerate a little) of windows. Thanks for the tip. B-) & :x

[crazyd37]

I got another tip last weekend and almost forgot to share it here! We went to a wedding and you know how they sometimes give out those little favors wrapped up in see through fabric. Well this fabric is called "toulle" (sp????) What a great curtain material it makes. And to top it off, alittle goes a long way! The bridesmaids tell me it comes in many colors too and is super cheap! Dot

[ginzokid]

Model Railroader, August 2005, page 122, has a neat article on a simple station to measure height of couplers and car weights and wheel gage all in one place. Should work for any scale with the proper adjustments. You guys know you can go to your local hobby shop and "browse" the magazines. Shop owners hate this, I know, but if you find any article that any of us suggest in these postings you might be enticed into buying the mag. I'd rather subscribe being so far away from civilization. Count your lucky stars to be where you are. So, if I suggest an article, check it out for free. Another tip; if you shop at the LHS often enough, the guys behind the counter just might let you photo copy the article without buying the mag if your budget is tight. You would have to pay for the copy I'm sure... B-)

[ginzokid]

The Tipsy Tipster strikes again! Because of a comment Dot just made, I thought of a time saver for you guys when planning a layout. I'm sure you have done this yourself at some time, but I thought I would put it in print for the record. When planning a space on the layout to determine if a structure would fit into the area designated for it, I used to go to the trouble of photo copying the plans if they were full size or photo copying the actual parts for the same purpose. Now I just use the kit parts taped together as you can see in some of my pictures for the planning stage. Actually, the longer they stay there, the better. I can see the relationship of building to track to surrounding space. And I can move them around to my liking. Same idea, different method. Who says you can't re-invent the wheel.... B-)

[ginzokid]

While making Saulena's for the CJ, I thought about my method for doing walls and I'm going to tell you about it now. Some of you may already do this and I'm not taking credit for the idea since I can't remember when I started doing structures this way or if I read it many moons ago or what. It is simple. No matter what material you are working with; wood, plastic or urethane castings; always trim the walls, prime the walls, test fit the walls, paint and weather the walls, install the windows and doors after the weathering is done, add the curtains and shades and then glue the finished walls together. It's much easier to paint, weather, etc. a flat wall on the bench than mess with a whole 3D structure. After the walls are put together, you can always touch up any blemish. I do all this work with spray cans for the most part with the parts laid out on the floor on top of our old discarded shower curtains. They have a large area that catches the overspray and therefore the basement carpet is still pristine. Beats spreading out a mess of newspaper sheets. And the parts do not stick to the plastic shower curtain like the newspaper when wet with paint. I also build a lot of the structures on top of wax paper taped down to my work bench on top of the actual plans or on top of my cutting mat. Glue no stick; paint no stick. Too much for one night? I have more tricks up my sleeve yet! B-)

[ginzokid]

A couple of quickies for you that I used on the Red Eye Saloon. 1. The window curtains are actually lace trim from a 4 yard spool purchased at Michael's for $.99. There are tons of patterns to choose from so you can find mash small enough for even N scale. I just cut the length I needed and glued it in place with whit glue. I didn't bother with open windows on this building, but this material would be great for "billowing" curtains. 2. The paper signs on the saloon are "distressed" by lightly rubbing them with fine sandpaper. Then here is the key. To get rid of the white edge after you cut out the sign from the paper sheet, trace over the exposed white edge with a black marker. Once glued to the building with white glue, the white edge will not show. B-)

[dl85vette]

For those that haven't used CA adhesives yet, ALWAYS read the directions. We are never too old or too much of a male to do that. CA glue cures due to moisture. So it glues fingers intantly. I have even felt the fumes reach my eyes. Hard to explain the sensation. (result of a lot of glue on the surface) Do not use it 'glass' surfaces ex: windshield on car models. It fogs off clear parts unless sparingly affixed to certain ares. Even the fumes will ruin the surfaces. Found that out many years ago on a car model. I don't solely rely on CA glues for my projects. I still use testors plastic glue for larger plastic to plastic bonds. Anyone into modelling projects should have; -styrene glue (testors or bondene is it, from Plastruct?) -CA adhesive (great for small parts or instant adhesion) -white glue (kids craft glue or Microscale crystal clear,etc) good for clear parts. -2 part 5-minute expoxy ( great for disimilar surfaces ) -2 part metal epoxy or liquid metal ( great for bonding metals together such as Alan Curtis Models rolling stock kits) Anyone wanting to add feel free. Dave

[ginzokid]

Adding to Dave's list is a very important bottle of CA Debonder or acetone. Always keep it near when using CA. Also for wood kits, I prefer yellow carpenter's glue. It is stronger than white glue. There are 3 types of CA: instant, medium and gap filling or thick. I use mostly medium and a spray accellerator for quick bonding. Works great on dis-similar materials like metal to wood. We could write a book on glues alone. B-)