Hints & Tips No.551

Etched Number Boards and Road Signs

By Russ Straw

I was playing around with some etched road sign plates and coincidentally some number plates from locomotives. The instructions told me to hand paint the raised lettering but I was having a hard time keeping the paint on top of the letters and not running down between. After stripping and starting over, painting them and letting the paint dry really well, I decided to shave off the paint over the raised lettering and numberings and trim the edge with a razor. I then "painted" the lettering and numbering with Gun Blue to chemically blacken the exposed brass and made the numbers and letters stand out.

From Bob Knight - Another tip is to paint the main colour of the background and place the raised letters down on wet/dry sandpaper with some water. Sand off the paint on only the raised detail and then use the chemical bluing.

Hints & Tips No.552

Weighting Down Locomotives more effectively

By Tony Burzio

In adding weight to locomotives, you can use Tungsten, which weighs about 50% more than comparable sized lead sheet and has the advantage of being non-poisonous.  Powdered Tungsten can be bought from golf shops and can mixed with a resin or white glue and poured into locomotive shells.

From Peter Nolan - Fishing Shops in the US also sell a mouldable tungsten putty which is useful as extra weight.

Hints & Tips No.553

Exterior Concrete Grade Plywood for base boards

By Mike Sheridan

I use 'shuttering' plywood for my boards. It probably has a different name in the US - it's used for making moulds to pour concrete into on building sites, so is pretty damp-proof. However, it does not have a nice veneered surface (can even have shallow knotholes in it) but as it gets covered in track, ballast, buildings and scenery that does not matter and it is a lot cheaper than the 'good' (furniture grade) stuff.

Hints & Tips No.554

Using a Multimeter 101 Part 1 - Your Electrical Safety

By Several Modellers

Many modellers buy multimeters but do not have much of a clue as to how they should be used.

ohm meter to check electrical resistance and if a circuit exists (more on this later), an ammeter to measure electric current (but something that is seldom done) and a tester for diodes and transistors.

The cheaper multimeters come with a variety of markings, but the first you should take notice of is the 'highest AC voltage'. Turn your dial from 'off' to the highest AC voltage and hold your prods in your hands on the insulated red and black handles. Hold the prods to each side on your track. Why? You are checking for the presence of any voltage and by this you are safeguarding yourself against any stray mains voltage, however unlikely, there is a possibility of this occurring.

Checking for mains voltage is a good habit to get into every time you check a circuit, regardless of where the power points are, or if you think a circuit is disconnected from mains supply. The voltage will be rectified for the meter and will be safe. And importantly you will be safe if you know it is there.

If you have an old analogue meter without an 'off' position, leave it set at highest AC voltage at all times.

Hints & Tips No.555

Bus Wire for DC or DCC

By Trevor Gibbs

Regardless of whether your layout is large or small, DC or DCC, drop sooner or later you are going to be affected by voltage. The rule of thumb is that the longer and thinner the wire is, the more resistance it will have. You might have 12 volts at the power source (your throttle) but by the time it gets to your engine, it may have dropped quite dramatically. Even one volt will reduce your engine speed very noticeably.

So, while you cannot totally eliminate aberrations in voltage supply, for your furthest points away, use thicker wire from your power supply to your track. If your layout is wired in sections, run a pair of wires under the length of the section and drop short lengths of wire from the track to the pair of wires, known as “bus” wires. This will reduce your voltage drop and end your reliance on rail joiners as your only means of electrical conductivity.

Hints & Tips are given in good faith by contributors. MREmag suggests that readers take all suitable precautions when working with any material mentioned in the series. Readers should also verify for themselves that the information given will be valid on their own layouts or models and the processes described, safe.