All these are great ideas!
Ken, what are you going to use for chain link fence posts? You’ve got enough mesh in that pic to fence your whole layout. [8D]
BXCARMIKE, the embossed foil is another great idea.
Thanks Guys!
grande man,
There was a short article in MRR years ago (Oct.'59, I think) entitled “It’s the Little Things”. A lot of what we see in everyday life hardly gets modelled but when it does, it makes a scene stand out.
Doug
Well I already posted these once, but dumpsters…
And here’s some construction signs
and here’s chain link fence and orange safety qwik fence. I use the silver colored fiberglass window screen. Don’t forget pallets on loading docks, a few minutes and some wood strips.
I was thinking maybe some of those tiny nails where the ‘head’ is just a slight bulge at the top (I don’t know exactly what they’re called by professional carpenters though[:I])
Ken… I think your talking about " finish " nails.
Stan.
In inches, what is the correct dimensions for HO scale ties?
Thanks!
How about sewing pins. Just cut the head off and CA your chain link material to it. I had it on my old layout but i dont have any pics[:(]
dharmon, I like those dumpsters! Are they just styrene? I must have missed that last place you posted those, all though I saw those construction signs before.
Noah
Atlas Code 83 ties are about 1 1/8" long. We just matched the balsa to a tie from a piece of flex track for a pattern.
Another cheap detail idea is to get some rock and keep hitting it with a sledge hammer until it’s real fine and can be used for HO gravel.
A friend makes some really realistic “rocks”, the kind that you would see poking up through a field. He takes tree bark chips, uses a belt sander to flaten one side, a wire bru***o shape the edges, paints them appropriately and voila, instant rocks.
Great ideas guys! I especially like the tree bark rocks. I’ve seen that in N scale and it looked good.
Little grande man thought of this one. Our small cattle operation needed some detail. Look closely, that’s one messy cow (and a spotted bull at that![:D]). It was done with spots of acrylic burnt umber.
Couple tips on cheap scenery items. For crossties on the sides of the right-of-way or stacked, I use wooden matchsticks cut to proper length and stained with my brush cleaning fluids which are usually a brownish black.
For tarpaper roof patches I use tiny pieces of masking tape painted flat black or dark flat gray.
grande man Those look great! And at a great price!!!
underworld
[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]
Thanks! Are we talking crossties or cow chips?[:D][:D]
I hope if you have a layout up they’ll work for you as well.
I like to use fine grit sandpaper for tarpaper roofing. Cut it into strips, paint it grimy black and glue it to your roof.
“Cheap” the only way to go. My favorite motto. My two are: I work in a food plant. The honeycomb type hairnets make good chainlink fence when sprayed with hairspray. I also save all sprues from kits. I have a whole drawer full. They make cheap downspouts for buildings and industrial piping. Also piles of pipe behind industries.
Both are freebies, the BEST kind of cheap.
Hey!! [(-D] We’re not “cheap”, we’re “thrifty”…
After years of model railroading, I accumulated a lot of steam engine parts, Particularly cylinder assemblies and old rods and wheels. Scatter them around your engine terminals and roundhouse. Stain them with Floquil rust. With crossties, the new ones should be black on account of being saturated with creosote. Stain them with black India Ink. The old ties being replaced are brown and splintered. Stain them with shoe polish. Any large part that might be salvagible should have wooden runners under it. usually brown or gray weathered wood. Strip balsa can be used for all these effects but regular ties used in handlaying are cheap by the bagful!