Does any body else have model railroad cure all or is it just me?
Mine has to be weathering. If i painted that tiny window but seem to get the trim color on the building color and the building color on the trim on a million or so times( give or take a few hundred thousand) i say, " a little weathering there and you’ll never notice" and you won’t.
Maybe I’m nuts but maybe you have a cure all.
To quote the old carpenter’s maxim, a good coat of paint will hide a lot of mistakes.
Especially if you fill the cracks with caulk first. [swg]
Enjoy
Paul
One of my favorites: Caulk and Paint- and make it what it aint!! So does that mean I am an “old” carpenter?
And the NUMBER ONE cure-all for model railroad ills is…
…and the envelope, please…
“There’s a prototype for anything.”
My ‘cure all’ is - run the train faster and nobody will notice any of the defects![;)][(-D][}:)]
Dave
When I was new to the hobby and was having derailing problems one of the old timers told me to turn the car around. I be darn if it did not hide the problem! Reason i used the word hide, I now know what the real problem was.
I guess mine would be the cheep magnifier lamp I bought for $16. It sits on my workbench, and I pull it out when I’m doing very detailed work. When I can see what I’m doing in a “zoomed-in” view, I can assemble and paint much more accurately than with just my bifocal-assisted eyes.
I am ALWAYS using my magnification visor. It’s the #1 most used tool in my tool box.
As far as cure-alls, I would have to say that when things aren’t working out well assembly-wise/installing-wise and I’m tired, it’s time to put it down and come back to it when I’m more fresh and rested. Unfortunately, I seem to have to relearn that lesson on a regular basis. [D)]
Tom
So true that weathering works quite well. But, if you really screw up, like cut a window operning the wrong size or somthing like that, a nice looking sign over the mistake can simetimes do the job. Also “patch work”, making it look like a repair job, does well too. And, if that doesn’t help, there’s the old scenery screen/cover-up" that does well too.
I have a structure that I actually sawed in half after it was built (I actually bought it at a train show already built). I thought better of the surgery after the fact so I glued it back together. I used the old “ivy growing up the wall” trick to cover up some of the seams; the ridge cap on the peaked roof covered up most of the rest and trim finished out the cover-up. I have about as many tricks like this for as many mistakes that I have made on construction and I have made plenty of them!
I’ve got a cure-all.
Use a level when building your benchwork! [:P]
My cure all is that I show it to my wife and kids as a test They usually can’t find the problem so I feel better about it.
If they do spot it, the answer for me is to walk away, come back tomorrow, and inevitably, there will be a solution - usually means more work, but how great do you feel when it works out!
I don’t pay much attention to level for my L-girder benchwork itself. It’s the subroadbed that needs a level reference. Lazer levels are great tools when setting up long grades.
“obligatory nod to cheap magnifying glass as MVT (Most Valuable Tool) for modeling work”
I’m in total agreement on this. Time after time I will read some one on the forums ask a question. Then have some one tell them that is not done or is not correct. Then I will go and search for it an sure enough it does exist.
What is really nice is when a forum member told a questioner that there is no more TOFC usage and there are pictures all over the net of TOFC in modern usage.
I’m in total agreement on this. Time after time I will read some one on the forums ask a question. Then have some one tell them that is not done or is not correct. Then I will go and search for it an sure enough it does exist.
What is really nice is when a forum member told a questioner that there is no more TOFC usage and there are pictures all over the net of TOFC in modern usage.
It wouldn’t surprise me if I was one of them ‘old timers’ what told you that.