Me I would like to see more tips that don’t cost a arm and leg ,more how to do with stuff laying around your house or in your yard and maybe some more tried and true ideas from other MR hobbyist
Agreed. I think it’s more important for the articles to demonstrate that you can stay in the hobby in hard economic times than to stimulate the economy of a few well-positioned advertisers…
There’s a lot of guys out there who are out of work, so they have time on their hands, not money.
Lee
Painting, decaling, and weathering!
Ron,
Uhhhhhh…Maybe that’s where the forum fits in? I’ve gotten a number of good MRRing tips from the folks right here…and it’s been FREE! [:)][tup]
Tom
Have you checked out the articles above? Lots of good information there.
Enjoy
Paul
Hi
Yes I agree more simple tips that cost nothing but are so helpful.
First an article whith some basics about cutting sanding, modifing existing part in plastic or cardstock which we all have on hand from old package or recycled ones.
Including in this article some basics about mounting scratchbuild part square, how to take special measurements and some basics about geometry.
Some tips to give to this basic materials a look from concrete pilaster to old wood or any existing materials.
How to modify a wire to take the look of a tube a gutter or anything else.
Now we have the basis to do everything from nothing.
Now comes very simple scratchbuild projects like building a small shanty or a small coal bunker added on a house or a small shed added to a structure; the list is never ending.
These small projects could be done whith very few items or leftover parts.
I use myself lots of these tips to upgrade or modify some existing structure.
Same could be done for upgrade some old rolling stock, some will agree whith me in this post[{(-_-)}]
The very few bucks invested in these small but great projects could upgrade the look of your structures and layout much more than a high priced kit which anyway needs lot of details to be great.
I will also publish a post in the next coming days about the restoration of a very old Rapido building which had a lot of memories for me but is out of the details and style of construction we expected today.
Anyway this restoration and upgrade is made whith just a few plastic parts and some scratchbuild details.
Marc
Maybe a little more coverage on N scale issues, now that the scale is deep down in its adulthood?
MR´s current project layout is a good start, but to see more of it in the future would be nice!
The problem with any magazine today is catering to the reading audience. Read the posts on this forum for a few days and you quickly realize the diversity of the modelers who post and read. Generalized magazines don’t/can’t meet all the needs of all the modelers. For example, I am a Santa Fe modeler, have been most of my adult life except for a short sojourn into freelancing in the early years when I modeled a fictional Mojave Western and Oklahoma Northern. So I probably spend more time reading publications that focus or are slanted toward Santa Fe modeling. Narrow gauge leaves me cold, other things like short line modeling also leaves a chill. So there is little in MR each month that is of real interest to me, yet I continue to buy and read it, perhaps from habit more than need. The new issue is a case in point, nothing much in the content to hold my interest. But two months from now, it may contain many things of interest.
Another example is the current project layout. Good for beginners, but my present layout was started in 1983 using then technology, has been updated with DCC and other goodies, but is still a “finished layout” and other than a few changes here and there, will remain the way it is until I die or go to the nursing home. So again, MR doesn’t have a lot for me on a regular basis. I think I read it more out of habit (since 1959 or so) than anything, and just to see what is going on.
The point is, there is not a person on this forum or subscribing that will have all their needs met and fulfilled each month by any magazine. It is simply a reference source to me and a way to keep in contact with the hobby.
Bob
Kind of agree here with this.
Although the trend seems to be that they’ll get closer to that.
A little budget sensitive kitbash/scratchbuild project every so often would spice it up too.
pastorbob:
The point is, there is not a person on this forum or subscribing that will have all their needs met and fulfilled each month by any magazine. It is simply a reference source to me and a way to keep in contact with the hobby.
Agreed but,they should have a wide enough interest over the 12 months to keep everybody interested in coming back for more.
They start to improve then they take a step backwards…
I haven’t seen anything since my last issue(July '09) that would make me buy a issue or renew my subscription and I have checked each monthly issue since July.
Over all I think the content is pretty good. Few months ago they did a article on making trees. Used some of there tips and I just made my best batch ever.
Cuda Ken
I was looking at the contents of older issues, and I saw something called “Back to the Basics.” I think that and another J. Armstrong Trackplan like series would do very nicely.
I suggest that there are enough common topics to keep everyone interested in every issue. Seems like we all have to build buildings, scenic stuff, weather things, create mountains and water, wire track, use scrap to make things, glue, paint, operate a RR, build bench, be creative, etc. And all those neat things requested in the responses so far.
But I suppose a problem… not a lot of that stuff relates to selling $200 locomotives, elaborate DCC applications, error free turntables, $40 detailed freight cars, $35 detailed figures & cars, beautiful trestle bridges, manufacturer’s name exposure, etc … which pays for printing, color photos, staff, internet presence, and black income for a magazine publisher.
Thank goodness the forum exists to take care of a lot of what we need.
Hal
Besides centerfolds ( of layouts of course)
I would like smaller type layouts, not the old N-scale in a suitcase ones. but ones that just fit in a small space… Also what would be cool is a page or 2 features on layouts from the past , how they look today… One of my favorite layout features was of a fellow named Dan Slyvester from way back when who was building a Denver and Rio Grande narrow gauge layout in his condo , was not done yet, but would be great to see how it looks today
I would like to see detailed drawings of railroad buildings and railway related structures.
Reviewing old Model Railroad magazines I noticed a number of detailed building drawings that would be great for scratch building projects.
I think creative techniques would be nice, something that breaks the mold, but works just as good. I also think a trackplanning section like John Armstrong would be very likable. I think there should also be a basic section in each magazine to prevent any new MRR from picking up the mag and feeling overwhelmed. For the trackplanning thing, I think Iain Rice would be a prime candidate.