Under $5 Challenge

Here’s another:

Stripped wire from wiring the layout(free,left-overs) and a roll of 3/4" "toule " from wally’s($.97)CA glue(on hand) Silver spray paint(on hand). Instant chain link fence:

Terry

I’ve got a ton of popsickle stick projects. None more that .10 worth of lumber and paint. The saw was a bit of an investment though.

Station Platform

Rock Ridge Boardwalk

N-scale Coal Mine Trestle (The coal hopper was given to me broken at a train show)

In fact, the whole diorama was less that $10.

I’ve got to try some of these ideas…

How about this plow?

Tyco Flatcar: could get at a buck at a show, could be any flatcar you want.

Caboose body, could be around a buck, doesn’t need to be specific. Think mine’s a Tyco also.

Paint, don’t really know how much, but probably not enough to hit the $5 limit.

Couplers, how much do Kadees retail for nowadays?

Altogether, probably not more than $5, and definetly less than $10![:)]

LCL Ramp:
-3"x21" strip of basswood: $1.50
-30’ roll of annealed wire (safety rails): $1.25
-12" HO Scale Chain: $1.75
-Yellow and brownish paint: On hand for several years

Chain Link Fence:
-1/8th yard of thule (bridal veil material): $.16
-box of toothpicks: $.99
-aluminum paint: on hand

The Walnut tree fell over free, complements of a wind storm.

The logs were free, cut as part of the clean up.

The 1 inch boards were free, cut in a potable sawmill demonstration and used in a furniture project.

The scrap was free. I used 1/2 bottle of left over wood glue and two razer blades in the chopper. The track is not included and the engine house was a freebee at the end.Also 5 cents for the bandade needed after cutting all that scale lumber.

I wanted to post pictures of my working single and double light poles but my web site is temporarily shut down because I exceeded my “quota” of visitors for the month. Even without pictures:

  • Single light pole - $1.95 (pole, 1.2mm incandescent bulb w/wire, lamp shade)
  • Double light pole - $3.25 (pole, two 1.2mm incandescent bulbs w/wires, lamp shade)
    Tom

hey, what did you use to paint that foreground track?

Greg, it’s Floquil “Rust”. This particular paint is not a water-based paint. You need thinner to clean up afterwards, and presumaly to thin, although I haven’t gone to that point to be sure.

-Crandell

I love this thread chip. I am always on the lookout for stuff to make things cheap even though I have not started the layout yet. Today I picked up some nice tree trunks for log cars, cost nothing because my bush died this winter. Match sticks for lumber what .50 wally world, lots and lots of tule or whatever that bridal stuff is. 500 yards on ebay for $40.00 for our wedding 2 years ago. a dozen astilbee plants at the local home and garden show in feb was around 5.00, trees for life now. Since we have to do a lot of painting in the house I now have a good source of oil tanks thank to the 3m painters tape in the 2.5 inch wide stuff. Replaced a tone of cabinet knobs in the house so the old ones will be turnout knobs for the layout. You get the picture.

Mike

The station was scratch built from parts, wood and paint that I had on hand. If I had to buy the paint new the cost of the project would then exceed $5.

Peter Smith, Memphis

I am definetly bookmarking this thread! lots of good ideas!

Hello I see some ideas I can use and have some to give. First is my round house floor.

skinny sticks .99 craft store left over walnut stain and ash from the fire pit for color .00

next is a scrap load from left over tinfoil

this is a tank for bunker oil made from old tanker 1.00 I beam .98

this one maybe over the 5$ mark but not sure I bought a tanker kit for 15$ but it had 2 tanks but only parts to make one so I used it for my diesel fuel.

have a nice day Frank

Hi spacemouse

I mentioned a while ago in a thread on current or was it proposed projects I was working on a large scale cottage 16mm=1’ a popular garden railway scale in the UK

Total cost so far $3 I don’t expect to break the $5 budget by more than $2 if at all not bad for a large scale Model RR structure still in progress.

The base broken battery tray from work free

Walls and chimeny foam packing from new fridge free

Timber framing old engineering drawing book covers from work free

Paint from old wargames days on hand used before it was throw out time for the paint only just

Wood filla and glue left over from home reno job used rather than waste it.

Roof tiles from self stick floor tiles $3 bought specificaly for the model

Door and window frames cut from coffee and ice cream sticks I did have to pay for the ice cream and coffee some left over thin strip plastic was used but that was left over from something else.

Lead work will be from coffee tin foil seal and brass tape from electric cable when I can find out a bit about Medievil roofing lead work

This is not a small model but the house its self would in reality would probably just about fit in most living rooms with room to spare.

We will not mention the wooden skewers stolen from the kitchen to re-enforce the chimeny

regards John Busby

PS once properly finished I might outlaw and lash out and buy a bird to sit on top of the chimeny.

But I am too scared to find out how much they cost large scale details tend to be expensive but if it adds the polish to the model I might do it.

Nice one Space Mouse. I have got to find some that growing around and pick it or transplant it. One of the guys at the LHS was doing that exact same thing one day to put trees on their small shop layout. WOW!!! I was totally impressed with them. It was quick, easy, inexpensive and looked amazing. He even showed me how to take small stir straw and blow the ground foam off the stems. AWESOME!!!

Now I just need to find some sedum. :frowning:

unfortunately, this is an older picture- best one I’ve got of it. My beautiful F-7 is a glory Hog! The little station on the left is a bachman set I picked up for around $3-$4. I assembled it by the instrucion after some modifications: I shingled the roof with brown construction paper and took some concrete block strips I had in the scrap box to make the foundation of the loading dock. add a little paint and weathering and Presto! instant freight station for under $5!

Now I have been reading this thread with great interest and adding great ideas to my brain…but I have to say this is just way clever. and looks very real. I thought it was shreaded aluminum foil or somthing but pencil sharpener shavings… way to go

Good job. If you don’t have a bottle of india ink, I am sure one could borrow a drop from someone. The bottle I have is probably 30 years old. I do not know what a bottle would cost if you had to buy it today but I have a feeling that it might push the project over the limit.

Peter Smith, Memphis

At a garage sale, I spent ten cents and bought a soft vinyl plastic log cabin toy, apparently from an Indians and Cavalry set. Cut it down half an inch to make it a reasonable height for N scale, and lodged a stick crosswise in it because it skewed out of square. The Grandt line windows set me back a buck and a half, and the air conditioners were about half of a three-dollar California Freight detail set. Used scraps to build a roof since it didn’t come with a roof. My printer was not working at the time I built the model so it cost a buck to print out a color print of the graphics I made on the computer. And of course, the cars and other details don’t count, they are just extra details. But it started with a ten cent garage sale toy.

I like this thread a lot…

These are in Australian Dollars so the cost will be “cheaper” for you who are stateside. I made a few ground signals which are outlined on http://xdford.digitalzones.com/modelrr11.htm. Consists of a Kadee coupler insert (left over after putting Kadees into Athearn boxes etc.) A Bi Directional LED (about 50 cents here) Two switches and three Diodes (about $1.80 each for the switches here and about 30 cents for the Diodes) and of course the wire to connect.

I made a track shed using a Yoghurt container so cost virtually zilch apart from gluing etc although it is very crude as it got done in a heat wave. Check out http://xdford.digitalzones.com/modelrr13.htm and go halfway down the page.

Making searchlight signals using brass tube, bi directional LED and turned styrene disks for the face. http://xdford.digitalzones.com/construction%20of%20a%20model%20railway%20signal.htm

You could even use yoghurt and margarine/butter container plastic for the turned disks saving a few more cents.

I have also made street lights using yellow 3mm LED’s (5-10 cents each) a resistor (5 cents tops) sequins ($1.00 for 50 therefore 2 cents each) and wire. Some lights I have used brass tubing while for shorter lights I have used recycled lollypop plastic tube being about the right length read height, painted black. They are on a web page but I have to reupload the file so here it is anyway

http://xdford.digitalzones.com/model%20railway%20lights%2001.htm

By the way, really liked Tylers page! What size is your layout? There are quite a few great ideas on the pages Tyler has written.

Regards from Down Under

Trevor www.xdford.digitalzones.com FYI

I’m a big fan of low or no cost projects. So, this is a great thread.

The farm on my old layout had woven wire fence made from left over window screen. Posts were old straight pins the wife had given me when she got new ones. Which I painted then weaved through the screen. Wood for gates and some fencing came from some scrap paneling that the laminates had came apart on. They were thin enough to cut with a box knife.

I build a cattle pin, loading chutes and feeder out of the same scrap paneling laminates, match sticks, some scrap balsa and a piece of left over corrugated roofing.

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showphoto.php/photo/9814/ppuser/4309

The building in the scene came out of a yard box of train stuff I got for $5.

I built a grain elevator one weekend out of scrap 1 ½ PVC pipe, some cardboard [tops], coffee stirrers [down spouts n auger tubes], scrap wood [grain leg, shed and base], piece of dowel rod [distributor] loading spouts in the silos were old kitchen match sticks and some pieces out of the junk box [ladders, door n such].

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showphoto.php/photo/9812/ppuser/4309

Other than some hot glue sticks, paint and Elmers, which I keep around, was less than $5

My other hobby is woodworking [mostly with used or scrap lumber] and some times I have to rip a board down and end up with pieces 1/16 or 1/8 thick. Then I clamp a guide board on the scroll saw and cut whatever width I want. In 20 minutes I can make 2 hand full of close to scale lumber.

Yard sales and flea markets are also a place to find cheap material for future projects. Sometimes you can find buildings, trees, cars and such for $5 a box. I’ve got 3 or 4 box fulls, I plan on improving or cutting up for other low cost projects. Another good thing is you can box