KMCE Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 For building finishes, I use Scalescenes https://scalescenes.com/ . Both OO and N gauge covered. They have a few freebies, so you can have a go without any cost! I have bought and built a few of the buildings and they are both good value and give very realistic results with minimal input - instructions are good, however it is important to get the card thickness right. For the heavy card, I get mounting board from the local craft shop (c. €10) for an A1 sheet, however it does go a long way. I get good use from the "Scratchbuilders yard", as they provide, brick, stone, timber finishes, roof tiles, etc which are good value and you can print off as many times as you like. Brief note - use an inkjet printer rather that laser, as the quality of print is generally better. Regards, Ken 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted September 6, 2023 Share Posted September 6, 2023 Dried Spaghetti for downpipes and drainpipes, paint ang glue on Chinchilla dust bath from pet shops, I used it for the ballast on my layout, cheap and effective 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhb171achill Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 On 6/9/2023 at 9:54 AM, Murph said: Dried Spaghetti for downpipes and drainpipes, paint ang glue on Chinchilla dust bath from pet shops, I used it for the ballast on my layout, cheap and effective I’ve heard of coarse gritty soil, sieved and washed, being used for ground cover and ballast. Cost: €0. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Davey Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Here’s my contribution to this very useful thread! Due to impatience, my current project progressed beyond the stage where it was still straightforward to add lighting to the buildings, so I started thinking of alternatives. I was looking for miniature lights which could be placed individually in rooms and I found a set of 10 tiny key rings on Amazon, for only £7.00: So I took off the metal key ring parts and using double sided tape, I fixed the torch parts to the underside of the roofs of my buildings: Yes, it’s not as straightforward (or as professional) as flicking a switch to turn all the lights on and off, but it’s considerably cheaper and does not involve complex wiring! In fact, it doesn’t involve any wiring 6 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinner75 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 (edited) Brilliant idea! Nice bit of 'thinking outside the box' that. You could always give them a light wash with a yellow, to tone down the ice white light to a more old-time yellowish glow Edited January 31 by skinner75 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Davey Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 3 minutes ago, skinner75 said: Brilliant idea! Nice bit of 'thinking outside the box' that. You could always give them a light wash with a yellow, to tone down the ice white light to a more old-time yellowish glow I was thinking it gives me an excuse to buy a box of Quality Street then I will have lots of shades to choose from!!! 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinner75 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 3 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said: I was thinking it gives me an excuse to buy a box of Quality Street then I will have lots of shades to choose from!!! Or back in the day, a bottle (glass) of Lucozade, with the orange plastic wrapper, that you could take off & look through for an orange-tinted view of the world! 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broithe Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 18 minutes ago, skinner75 said: Or back in the day, a bottle (glass) of Lucozade, with the orange plastic wrapper, that you could take off & look through for an orange-tinted view of the world! I found this sticking out of a spoil heap after some work at the Quakers' Bridge level crossing on the Nenagh branch a couple of years ago. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironroad Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Remember when we had soft metal toothpaste tubes? We used to open and flatten the tubes and cut them into thin strips into which we made small indentations to represent bolt heads and used them to represent metal strapping on the bodies of wagons the sides of which were constructed from strips of card. I was reminded of this recently when it occurred to me that the soft metal seals on wine bottles could be similarly used. We also used sellotape cut into very narrow strips to represent window muntin bars 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tullygrainey Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 4 minutes ago, Ironroad said: Remember when we had soft metal toothpaste tubes? We used to open and flatten the tubes and cut them into thin strips into which we made small indentations to represent bolt heads and used them to represent metal strapping on the bodies of wagons the sides of which were constructed from strips of card. I was reminded of this recently when it occurred to me that the soft metal seals on wine bottles could be similarly used. We also used sellotape cut into very narrow strips to represent window muntin bars Imagination and ingenuity - the best tools any modeller can have! 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 On 31/1/2024 at 12:40 PM, Patrick Davey said: I was thinking it gives me an excuse to buy a box of Quality Street then I will have lots of shades to choose from!!! Sorry Patrick, all Quality Street are wrapped in paper now 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Davey Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 3 minutes ago, derek said: Sorry Patrick, all Quality Street are wrapped in paper now Yeah saw that but am hoping the thicker paper will help tone down the brightness (a cheap resistor!) as well as give the orange 'sodium' glare....... will be checking this later 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Davey Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 So it turns out that the new style of paper on the Quality Street sweets works a treat for what I was trying to achieve! As I had hoped, it helps to dull down the brightness of these lights, and also adds the distinctive sodium glare: 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broithe Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 8 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said: So it turns out that the new style of paper on the Quality Street sweets works a treat for what I was trying to achieve! As I had hoped, it helps to dull down the brightness of these lights, and also adds the distinctive sodium glare: Sweet! 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Davey Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Broithe said: Sweet! I was worried in case I was getting a bit toffee-nosed….. Edited February 7 by Patrick Davey 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tullygrainey Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 Quality work! 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Davey Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 1 hour ago, Tullygrainey said: Quality work! Glad to get it wrapped up though 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galteemore Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 (edited) Certainly coming up Roses. Edited February 8 by Galteemore 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broithe Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 59 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said: Glad to get it wrapped up though Time for a Celebration? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galteemore Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 Yes, well done to all the modelling Heroes on this thread. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Davey Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 Look out for more posts After Eight tonight. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galteemore Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 You are really spoiling us, Ambassador 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Davey Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 5 hours ago, Galteemore said: You are really spoiling us, Ambassador Had to Google that one........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERW1 Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 I really shouldn’t have driven ye all away from that “to lighten the mood” topic. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Derry Road Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 (edited) Hi All, anyone using liquid poly for joining plasticard, reserve a small amount in a small jar with lid, add plastic scraps and cut up waste pieces and add to liquid poly leave overnight then stir when required, makes liquid plastic to fill any gaps in plastic kits/joints. TDR Edited March 2 by The Derry Road 5 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinner75 Posted Monday at 08:45 Share Posted Monday at 08:45 My brother picked up a couple of packs of modelling clay in Mr. Price for the kids to make stuff with - it could be pressed into service on a model railway I reckon 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERW1 Posted 12 hours ago Share Posted 12 hours ago Just watched the YouTuber Lawrie Rose (Lawrie's Mechanical Marvels) turn builders' sand almost identical to expensive modelling sand by cooking it. I'm not joking. This video at about the 10:25 timestamp. Very interesting idea, as he states builders' sand is very cheap (May be more expensive in Ireland, it's the kind of thing we'd do. Don't know though, never had to buy builders' sand). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironroad Posted 4 hours ago Share Posted 4 hours ago 8 hours ago, LNERW1 said: Just watched the YouTuber Lawrie Rose (Lawrie's Mechanical Marvels) turn builders' sand almost identical to expensive modelling sand by cooking it. I'm not joking. This video at about the 10:25 timestamp. Very interesting idea, as he states builders' sand is very cheap (May be more expensive in Ireland, it's the kind of thing we'd do. Don't know though, never had to buy builders' sand). Builders sand usually has a high moisture content, so he's drying rather than cooking it. If going down this route I would suggest using washed sand as is used in kids' sand boxes. A 15 kg bag is probably the smallest quantity you can buy but it is a very cheap. eg https://www.landscapedepot.ie/product/glenview-playsand-15kg/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broithe Posted 25 minutes ago Share Posted 25 minutes ago 3 hours ago, Ironroad said: ... washed sand as is used in kids' sand boxes. Kids have sandboxes now? Actually, that's a great idea - it will give them better traction on frosty mornings, as they walk to school. Just make sure to keep topping them up weekly from October to March. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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