Accessory Tips

 

Tip #1 - Rooftop Water Tank
A common site on large old buildings is a rooftop water tank. These tanks hold water for building sprinkler systems and for other purposes. Most any storage tank can be used, provided it blends in with the size of the building that is supporting it.


Tip # 2 - Workman Adds Realism
A man repairing a water storage tank can be a real eye catcher. Glue a small square of aluminum foil to a flat area on the tank. Glue a man with hammer, next to the patch. Put a small box or suitcase next to him for his tools. Put a safety rope around him and tie him to the railing.

Tip # 3 - You Can Be Mr. Home Improvement
Many homeowners now use small yard lights to brighten driveways, patios, or sidewalks. Grain of Wheat Bulbs can be used to simulate this.

Drill a series of small, regularly spaced holes in the desired locations of your layout.

Wire the bulbs together in series. Install the bulbs in the holes and connect the bulbs to your power supply.


Tip # 4 - All Lights Are Not Created Equal
When you have a number of buildings clustered together and they have interior lights for night scenes, use this tip for more variety used in each structure. If the lights are wired in series, the amount of light given off by the buildings will be different.

Tip # 5 - Use Wire Colors Consistently

The following tip can help you to be consistent with your wiring which may make it easier to trace future problems.

When hooking up the track leads, consistently use red wire for the outside rail and black wire for the inside rail. If, due to confusing loops of the track it's hard to tell which rail is which on some areas of your layout, try this; place a finger on the outside rail where you first hooked up the red and black wires. Keeping your finger on the rail, trace your way to the track section in question.


Tip # 6 - Easy Oil Rig
Oil rigs are a common sight in many parts of the country. Combine a Life-Like Flashing Light Storage Tank (#8205) with the National Oil Company building kit (#1331). Assemble the building kit according to directions. Remove the storage tank from the top of the tower. (But save it for use in other projects!) Create a scene like the one shown next to a railroad spur.
Tip # 7 - Give Your Railroad A Reason For Being
Just like the full-sized world, your miniature freight trains should have a reason for existing. Your layout should be designed so that specific cars can be transferred from location to location in a prototypical manner. This simulates the movement of real loads from industry to industry.

For example, hopper cars and dump cars could be transported from an operating coal tipple at the rock quarry to an operating gravel unloader at the coal yard.

In the same way, the Mt. Vernon Manufacturing Company could be used as a factory producing bathroom fixtures that would need to be shipped in a boxcar to the Clapper Mill Plumbing Supply Company for sale to customers.

Tip # 8 - Paper Signs
I have found some current catalogs to be of some use, or at least the ones that sell the reproduction signs for Coke and Pepsi. First cut the sign from the catalog over size, that is, leave extra material around the edges. (Note: if you have a scanner, scan in the photo to make duplicates first)

Then trim the excess with a new No. 11 blade. After it is trimmed, flip it over and very carefully sand the edges. ( If you want the sign to be aged, sand until some holes appear and rough up the edges)

After sanding, take some 3M Spray Adhesive and shoot some on the back of the poster or sign. Using a tweezers, apply the sign to your model building or fence. Within a few minutes you can weather the sign with white chalk dust to make it look like it is faded. You can also lightly sand the face of the sign with some very fine sandpaper so it looks like it is old and torn.

Another idea for signs:

When I needed window signs for my corner drugstore and a couple other business's, I searched the internet for metal reproduction signs and movie posters. There are a number of sites that deal in nostalgic signs and old movie posters. These sites generally feature good, clean photos of their goods. Although the images are small on the web, when downloaded and reduced to N or HO scale, they look great!


It usually helps to print them out using a high-quality color laser printer. For most people, that may mean taking a diskette or CD to the local quick copy place, such as a Kinkos, to get the best reproduction. I recommend placing as many images on the sheet as possible, allowing space to trim them out. An 8½x11 sheet will give you dozens of signs, billboards and movie posters. As for paper stock, coated paper (like magazine stock) will keep the image sharper, but may not run through some copiers. Work with the copy center staff and they may be able to help on that.


To print on actual window glazing, I recommend Highland 904 overhead transparency film for laser printers. This film has a piece of paper attached to the edge that keeps the transparency from fogging as it goes through the machine. Regular transparency film will work, but usually the plastic fogs from the heat. Printing directly on the windows works well for things that are "painted" on the glass, such as a tavern name, but for posters hung in the window, the signs usually look too transparent to be effective. I tried painting the back of the transparency with white paint, but it didn't look very realistic.


The advantage to using a color laser copier for these signs, whether printing on paper or plastic, is that the image won't smear or rub off like it can with an inkjet printer.


One other suggestion … those nostalgia websites have a wealth of information when it comes to painting old Coke machines, gas pumps, and other antique items when you can't quite remember how they looked. And if you're into building your own scale vehicles, any Google search for that model year of vehicle will bring up dozens of websites with prototype photos of your vehicle. It's an excellent way to see those stock paint jobs from the 40s, 50s and 60s.