The Rule 281 series,
Your guide to realistic signaling and operations.
Volume 1 - CTC Machine Operation
Running time 42 minutes Color NTSC

Now lets be clear. I am an amateur modeller and downright uninformed when it comes to "How a railroad runs". That's no secret and it is my path to knowledge that drives me to write for this site. This DVD solved for me an entire facet of how signaling grew from a primitive system to an advanced traffic control system. More then that, I see how it applies to my railroad.

One of the things I like to have while watching a Model Railroad Tutorial are moments of epiphany like “Now why didn’t I think of that,”  “Oh, so that’s how you do it,” and  finally “You got some nifty looking jigs dude…” .  I experienced plenty of those moments while watching Jeff Johnson’s “Steam Loco Weathering Clinic” DVD. 

When looking back on "the time you got hooked on the hobby", one often remembers an article, mentor or clinic that was the moment. I have to say these DVD's hooked my neighbor. And they hooked him good. I am completely amazed by them too. Who'd have thunk it, Jim a model railroader.

But that's what happened and I can not get rid of him now. Thanks Joe, this is supposed to be a solitary hobby, isn't it? Well, the guys at the Club liked it, Jim liked it - heck me and the Boy watched it a few times. Now, I am not one of those replay junkies. I get bored quick, but Joe's DVDs really get ya. Each project I have done in the last two months has given me a reason to watch a clip or two. The dirt roads, zip texturing ingredients, right down to "what was that website ?"...

When Ron gave me these DVD's to watch and review, I had no idea what I was in for. In this set are 4 DVD's, equaling 7 hours. It was almost information overload! In this package Darryl Huffman takes the viewer through a complete scratch build of an old-time miner's bar, from design and planning to final assembly and weathering.

This is a great video that will teach you how to use pigments (aka: weathering products) in a very, very complete way. No Airbrushes just a plain brush and Mig products.

I saw the review of the On30 annual and thought I'd add my take on the latest HOn3 annual. I just recently got bitten by the narrow gauge bug and am in the process of building a small narrow gauge layout. I've been looking for good info on narrow gauge modeling and picked up the Narrow Gauge & Modeler's Annuals. Unfortunately, they are very much for larger scale folks (S to G), and most of the stuff they really like doing I would NEVER do in HO scale (like make your own nuts and bolts - I have to be really stoked just to use Grandt Line NBW castings, let along make my own!) So, when I found the HOn3 Annual by Carstens, I was really happy. Not only was the cost very reasonable, but it was absolutely filled with GREAT articles on modeling in HO narrow gauge! I honestly have not seen another magazine like it, in a long, long time. Of course, it is 12 months worth of info jammed into one magazine, but this one annual had more good narrow gauge info than several years worth of Model Railroader.

On30 in not a new concept. In fact, thirty-inch modeling in both O and HO scales has been around for many years. However, since Bachmann began releasing their line of On30 models of logging and mining equipment, the scale has really boomed in popularity.

Photo by Russ Watson

Since 2006, Carstens Publications has given this narrow gauge community a resource for fine model building and inspiration with the On30 Annual.

Upon first glance I noticed something very refreshing - All advertising has been relegated to either the front or the back of the publication, leaving us to enjoy uninterrupted reading. The Design of the Annual is quite nice. The articles are very well written and are accompanied by many photos and illustrations, making them easy to follow.



Photo by Brian Nolan 

From layout tours like O.J. Rivas’ Texas Creek and Southern in the 2006 Annual, to step-by-step scratch building projects such as Scratchbuilding the Wash Basin Bridge by Russ Watson which can be found in the 2009 Annual, the 80+ page Annual is filled with interesting articles that will appeal to both the beginner and to the Master Model builder as well. My only complaint is some of the backgrounds are a little busy or dark, sometimes making a story hard to read. 


 
Photo by Chris Lane 

Now, the material is written for the On30 modeler, however the content is perfect for all narrow gauge modelers, regardless of scale or gauge. Standard gauge modelers might want to consider reading as well, especially if you are modeling a shortline or industrial railroad.

If you have not had a chance to read the On30 annual, I encourage you to pick up your copy online at www.on30annual.com or at your favorite hobby shop. The 2010 Annual will be available November 1st. 

 

I have had the good fortune to be able to try out two Badger airbrushes. It has been a while since I used a Badger Airbrush, as I use mostly other brands in my daily work. I am a professional Airbrush artist with freehand Airbrush on vehicles as my # 1 specialty. Of course I didn´t just become an Airbrush painter overnight, it started when I was young.

The Eclipse CS from Iwata-Medea is not the first time for me using an airbrush. In fact I have used a single action airbrush for quite a while now. Still, this is my first foray into dual action airbrushes. I have been told to forget about that old brush as dual action is the way to go.

In light of this info, I am not going into this review alone, because I am new. I have invited a good friend and airbrush artist and model designer Mark Williams of Imagine That Laser Art to walk me through the features of this brush.

We have another Badger airbrush review. This time the dual action Anthem 155. Follow along as Fred Jr. reviews this product.

Sometimes things go better the second time around.

I bought a cheap (and I mean cheap) airbrush kit at a model railroad show about 10 years ago just to give airbrushing a shot.  Well the “shot” was blank.  The airbrush didn’t work and that was the end of that.

During the “Dark Ages” of model railroading, distressing a building’s walls required a lot of tedious and hand-cramping work. In order to make the finish on the structure more closely represent wood, the modeler would show the impressions nails leave, when driven into wood.

Sometimes you need specialized tools to improve your finished product. I found this to be true. I needed some nice tweezers and searched for a good supplier. CML Supply stood out the most for me. CML's selection of tools is unique compared to traditional hobby tools and the prices are very reasonable. I will be releasing a series of these reviews in the next two weeks. We will showcase other suppliers as well in the future. If you need one of these let CML know Ron sent ya...

Scratchbuilding using card stock or paper is a cheap and efficient way to fill up your layout with structures. I used to get my ruler, straight edge, protractor and calculator to convert real dimensions into HO (1/87) and then draw them on card stock or photo paper. The lines were never straight, the dimensions were off sometimes.

"And now for something completely different..."

Ok That's maybe just a slight exaggeration. But I knew I was on to something different when I got a chance to review (and play with) a Badger 360 Dual Action airbrush. The "360" comes from the fact that you can rotate the front nozzle so it functions as gravity, side, or bottom feed airbrush. You essentially get 3 airbrushes in one. This means you don't have to buy x number of brushes to get the advantages that each different style of brush offers.

Now that I've got your attention, read on...

Tamiya Paint Stand Set Review

When we received word that Tamiya was sending us a package, we were very excited. The anticipation grew to the point of day-dreaming of paints of all sorts. When the day arrived, we opened the box and found, a paint stand.