A list of a lot of little things that may help with saving time and money and in the process maybe add to your modelling skills and the things you are able to achieve. The materials listed here, and their usage, will also be found under the 'Materials' heading.
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B.
Bluetac : Very good for holding things temporarily in place, or even permanently in some cases. I use a tiny little spot under the feet of my figures so that they can easily be moved to new locations without marking the original spot.
Buttons : Good for many kinds of wheels, pulley's etc.
C.
Chalk : In various colours can be ground up and used for weathering.
Coffee grounds : Keep these and dry them out and the result makes a very good scatter material.
Containers : You will need containers of all shapes, sizes and materials for all the bits and pieces that you will inevitably collect. You can't have too many, believe me.
Craft knives : You don't have to lash out here with the big bucks to get you started. Try the plastic ones with the snap-off blades that are sold in all the tool places.
Cutting mats : Again not essential but they are kind to your craft knives.
D.
Double sided tape : If you get a short length of this material and stick one side onto a flat surface, thick card, wood or similar, then the exposed sticky surface is ideal for standing your small people and animals on whilst painting them. When the paint is dry the figures are easily plucked off the sticky surface. The piece of tape can be used time and again. You could of course use any sticky tape and just apply a little glue to the tape backing to attach it to your holder with the sticky side up.
F.
Florists wire : Brilliant for making tree trunks in any scale also for hand rails, signal operation, fencing wire etc. Comes in varying thicknesses.
G.
Glass work surface : I use an old piece of plate glass off a discarded coffee table but for many years I used the side window from a scrapped car. Makes a very good work surface, flat and level. Easy to clean off dried paint and glue.
K.
Kebab sticks : Good for telephone posts, ground posts, fence posts, canopy supports, hand rails etc all depending on the scale you are working in.
Keep it clean : This doesn't just apply to the track and rolling stock wheels but to the whole layout. Don't let bits of rubbish and dust accumulate as it's the first thing that viewers see, either of the layout itself or in any photographs you take.
Knife blades : Try and get into the habit of putting the blade cover back on when you have finished using it, or sliding the blade back into it's holder. These blades are deadly when they come into contact with the users flesh.
M.
Matchsticks : Same as kebab sticks, again depending on scale, wagon loads of cut timber, timber stacks in yards, it's imagination time. Matches come in a wide range of thickness.
Masking tape : Has a textured surface that takes paint well, good for wagon and truck covers.
O.
Old track : Keep the rails for old girder work, abandoned rail lengths in old workshops, scale dependent once more.
P.
Paint brushes : Take great care of these, cheap or expensive. Don't let them dry out whilst dirty. The cheaper ones are good for 'sweepìng up' in odd corners and cleaning dust off locomotives, or anything else on the layout.
Paint Stripper : Want to get rid of that old colour scheme on your model then use this.
Painting figures : Click on the link for an excellent article on painting the figures on your layout. Painting Figures
Peco point motor mounting : When mounting the motor from beneath the baseboard through the large hole that is needed all your ballast can soon vanish through it. So before clicking the four legs of the motor to the point lay a thin piece of card over the hole and pass the legs through that before clicking to the point. Paint the card first, roughly the same colour as your ballast.
Pegs : Can be used as clamps for the not too delicate work.
Pencil - soft : A really soft pencil can be used as a simple weathering agent, just run the pencil over your object and then gently rub the lines with your finger.
Press studs : Come in different sizes and make excellent wheels. Depending on scale they could be for hand trucks, luggage trollies,
hand wheels, steering wheels, wheels on cranes, small wagons and much more.
S.
Sawdust : It's uses are extolled elsewhere, under 'Projects' 'Scatters' , but do keep a bag handy even if you are not going to use it straight away.
Shellac : Use for sealing PVA joints and weatherproofing your card models.
Soldering : Help with this most necessary of tasks on the model railway.
Sticky labels : Similar or same as the kind you stick on food bags. Apart from their obvious use to tell you what is in your boxes they are great for window frames and bars as they slice very easily when laid on a sheet of glass, good for all scales.
String : The very thin kind can easily be made to represent hose pipes when painted as well as ropes and cables. Scale dependent again for string size.
Suede brush : The metal kind that is. Brilliant for cleaning off rolling stock wheels.
Syringe : I use one of these to place my 50/50 water/PVA glue to stick down scatter and ballast, very precise in use. I use a thicker needle for the glue and a very fine one for placing small drops of oil accurately.
T.
Tea bag strings : The strings that come with some tea bags are the ideal size for thick and thin ropes in both 00 and N gauges.
Tea leaves : Same as coffee grounds. When dried very good as a scatter. material.
Tips & Tricks : Dozens of them from a Wargamers site. Many of them good for us.
Tips : Ten good ones. An American site but applicable to all.
Tissues : Apart from wiping up a spilt mess, good for paint brush wiping, making curtains and frosted glass for your windows.
Toilet paper : As above but cheaper.
Toothpicks : As match sticks and kebab sticks. Different scales, different uses but all good. Apply minute blobs of glue, grease or oil.
Track cleaning : People use many things but some of the most common are a soft bit of cloth moistened with rubbing spirit or meths, the Peco, or other type, track cleaning rubber, which I favour myself. Or you can buy all types of things to either attach to your rolling stock and let that push it round the layout or there are purpose built trucks and wagons with the same purpose. Finally there is the electronic type which a lot of people swear by. Whichever you go for do not neglect track cleaning as it will make a world of difference to your rolling stock performance and don't forget the trucks and coaches, their wheels also get dirty.
W.
Weathering : If you want to add a bit of weathering, making things look dirty or well used, things like pavements, walls, concrete etc then try this, it's FREE. Find a small glass container, or plastic, put some water in it and whenever you do any work with water colours, doesn't matter what colour, use the water in the container as the first cleaner for your paint brush. After awhile this water will become a muddy, grey, horrible messy colour but ideal for a spot of weathering. If whatever it is that you are weathering has highlights then put a wash of the mucky stuff on then lightly wipe it off again to see the effect.
Wheel cleaning : On trucks and coaches it is easy as the wheels are free moving but it can be difficult on power driven wheels. I use a shoe box full of soft cloth and turn the locomotive upside down on this and then I have a twin wire lead which I fasten to the live track with crocodile clips and the other two bared ends I touch to the motor's wheels to move them to a new position for cleaning. For the cleaning itself I use an old metal suede brush.
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