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4 Model Train Questions
Here are questions from four blog readers who are wanting some advice. Perhaps you can help one of them.
John asks readers:
Baseboard Scatter
"Can anyone suggest a scatter material for a 6 foot x 4 foot baseboard which is reasonably priced?"
Alan asks:
Lighted Trees
"I am looking for either a place to buy, or a way to make, some lighted Christmas tress for my O Gauge layout. I was thinking of adding a larger type tree to my town park area and would like the effect of having it lit. Does anyone know of a supplier of pre-made lit trees that can be wired into my layout?
Vincent asks:
Making Smoke
"How do I make smoke (not from an engine) in a burning building? Thank you."
John asks readers:
Rotex Scale Model Trains
"Does anyone know of ROTEX small scale model trains sets? If so,is there a club or group that has special interest in Rotex trains? Thanks."
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Lighted Trees – Go to the 99₵ store and look for the cheesy little fiber optic trees. If the tree is too tall, just remove the bottom section to adjust for height. Be sure to pay attention to how the fibers all meet above the different LEDS inside the battery base. Wrap the fibers near bottom with brown tape and insert the fibers through the layout, with the LED board under layout.
TREES LIGHTS — tree lights I found was at Michal’s ( a craft store) but, they also have battery power light you can add to a tree you make. I work with a lot of gages. N,HO,S,O and LGB Buck Mechancisville,Md
SMOKE the house that on fire on one of my layout is Light sray painted (black) cotton pull up on a very fine wire and inside the housesome sprayed red in middle and yellow around the red and use a brush to hi-lte yellow with red flips on it.
Buck Mechancisville,Md
lighted trees – go to “modeltrains4u” on e-bay they do a reasonable array of fibre optic cable.(when installed only one bulb required)
The same smoke generators that make smoke for steam engines are available seperately from your local train shop or internet store. Some kit manufacturers combine the generator with a building to create a scene kit. One that comes to mind is the “burning IRS building” kit. We have also used this technique to create factory chimneys that smoke.
Hi John
Your question on how do you make smoke for a burning building.
I used an oil burner from a locomotive, it will need some modification to fit and to make it look realistic.
1 non vented (fire not broken through) make some vertical & horizontal slits in the roof slates so smoke can escape, allow smoke to exit between roof & walls as there is always an air cavity here
2 omit window glazing (in a real fire glass explodes)
3 somtimes you do not see flames but for more realism i added a flickering fire from a dolls house
4 fire crew place a couple crouching firefighers at a doorway these will be testing for a hot door & looking for a point of access, free standing firefighters with hose reels, couple of fire engines, police to keep onlookers at bay, a police car & ambulance
5 for vented fire cut up roof slates and sprinkle inside building as roof will mostly colapse inwards, add a few chard roof trusses
finally test fit, weather building with a black wash (heavily where smoke escapes)and add flashing lights to emergency vehicles
happy modelling ian
Right now you can buy a variety of small too huge xmas trees at almost any department store . I have a huge ceramic villagem collection of houses and small shops which i wanted decorated with lights so i got some bags of various size trees and started putting my own lights on them. You can buy small electric plugs too replace the battery opperated ones , i simply cut off both ends of the elect. and the lights and solder the wires together . Then place them in my village, plug it in and wala lighted xmas trees on every homes yard family and friends love it so ive been forced into building trees for lots of people so far (4 years) no complaints except they want more ha ha.