build a little easier (easier is not the proper word here–perhaps less difficult would be a better choice!).


This model made use of nut-bolt-


Micro-Mark pliers (left) are great for installing pins in a trestle bent or other wood frame- work. All sorts of small clamps are needed for model building; these clip types (right) will hold the trim securely when the joint at the peak is cut as well as when it is glued in place.


drill and some cyanoacrylate (okay, CA to you young whippersnappers out there; us geezers still call the stuff by its original moniker) to hold it in place. As the size of the stock gets larger, so, too, can the pin—up to a point. You do not need an .080″ rod for quarter-inch square stripwood when .030″ works fine. Where bridges and trestles are concerned, I highly recommend pin- ning every (and I mean every) butt joint. Even the “cheap” motive power is expensive these days, and a bridge fail- ure should not be in your future. Micro-Mark has a nifty set of pliers specifically designed to hold varying sizes of pins. I haven’t a clue as to how I got along without them. Wait, yes I do! I bent a lot of pins and taught my family a whole new language in the process. Pins usually work fine without pilot holes in wood. but not with styrene. Pre-drill a proper size hole for each pin. Where appropriate, drill an on-size hole for some styrene rod, and pein over the ends with a hot soldering iron. Believe me, this method of attach- ment is a lot stronger than it seems. Through a lot of trial and error, I


have concocted several paint mixtures that more or less match the several stains that I use. Where the bright sil- ver head of a pin shows on the finished model, I touch it up with one of these colors and it mostly disappears. These colors also come in handy for doors and windows. When all else fails, use rusty brown and let the darn thing show. In the old days (they were not all that good, so I’ll just use old), before Grandt, Tichy, Campbell, and the like, we had to make our own windows. Muntins are about ³/₄″ square and less. My first scratchbuild, an HO brewery, used ¹/₃₂″×¹/₃₂″ (the smallest available at the time) stripwood for muntins. Good grief, that was 2³/₄″ square in HO. After laboriously gluing them in place, they would fall out if you looked at them cross-eyed, so I went to ¹/₁₆″×¹/₁₆″, which made them even worse. They, at


RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN


least, stayed in place. I was 14 and woefully uninformed on technique. A few buildings later (don’t ask me


why, but I was hooked), I began to dice the ¹/₃₂″ square in half and glue these little slivers to cut-to-size clear acetate. The wood was pre-painted, and the window looked a whole lot better. I must admit that each window of aver- age size took about an hour and a half, but I was feeling pretty good about the results and I even impressed some of the “old heads” at the local hobby shop. No, I never attempted large round-


house windows. I was a glutton for punishment, but I was not that crazy. I was just old enough to drive, and some of these guys were really old, like 35 or 40. It was fun while it lasted, but Cliff Grandt (and now there’s Tichy, too) put a stop to this window nonsense for good. I, among others, rarely scratch- built another window.


When disaster strikes and you have to repair a dropped plaster wall, chunks of stripwood can reinforce the joint where there would be glue only on the broken surfaces. When you have to put Humpty Dumpty back together, dirty up the windows so no one can see the hideous looking (but strong) repair work inside. I probably should have cast another wall, but laziness took over, since I had a lot of work in that wall already and was not in a mood to start over. As it turned out, the cracks and repairs looked very realistic, and my slothful ways were rewarded. In my, let’s just say many, years of


model building, the most complicated building that I ever attempted was the Chama, New Mexico, coaling station on the former D&RGW narrow gauge now operated by the Cumbres & Toltec. The hours spent studying the prototype paid off in that I at least understood what went where, and why. Using commercial plans (Mike Blazek, 3351 Nevada Ave. Costa Mesa CA 92626), it was the best $24.00 I’ve spent in a while. Mike helped me over a couple of humps, making the


washer castings (n.b.w.’s) for more than cosmetic reasons. I cut the tangs as long as possible to act like miniature nails. A lot of the timber connections were pinned as well as glued. Pins or small lengths of brass wire go a long way in the stability department. When I cannot drill all the way through for cosmetic reasons, I place my finger tip right where the bit would come thru, then drill gently with a pin vise un- til I feel the presence of the bit, just be- fore it pokes thru and into my finger. A safer way is to wrap a narrow piece of blue tape around the drill bit as a “stop” at the desired length so it doesn’t go through. Then, drill gently until you reach the tape and you will have a hole that is the right depth. Now cut that pin in the other piece just shy of the thick- ness of what you just drilled. Use the ad- hesive sparingly on the pin and surface. The joint will be very muscular. Not all models can be made bullet-


proof. Some, by their nature, are just plain delicate. Where things cannot be seen, don’t hesitate to use something strong, like metal bar stock, to add some insurance. I have an Sn3 truss bridge that is mostly held together with cyanoacrylate,


memory, and


n.b.w.’s. There are some pins in places, and the center (hidden) stringers are brass bar stock. Those pricey 2-8-2’s are not going into the river. I try to build my structures so they will sur- vive a trip to the floor. In most cases, its own weight will not cause too much damage. An errant elbow or some fool’s meat-hook, not so much. That would likely cause the need of substantial re- pairs and no amount of cautionary building methods will save you. My basic philosophy has always been to slightly over-build where possible, use attachment aids where I can get away with them, and generally make the model as robust as possible with- out compromising the looks. Where they are unviewable, as seen through a window, make your bracing good and stout.


Even in N scale a ¹/₄″×¹/₄″ stick or two will serve you well. Even with cyanoacrylate, a few clamps (even for a minute or so) will help the attachment and keep you from gluing your finger to the project. A No. 11 blade, some dull structure colored paint, and a little weathering will usually take care of the skin you’ve left on the project. You know how I know this. Next month, we will dig into color a


bit. This is a topic that can cause folks to come to blows, so I really love it.


71


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