Here are 5 of the hundreds of useful model train tips available to members inside the Online Model Train Club. If you join before Christmas you will qualify for the extra bonus Christmas gift, but time is fast running out. Read about the other bonuses here.

Rob’s ideas: I mix window cleaner (Windex) to thin my acrylic paints when using an airbrush. It dries quickly, but be careful the window cleaner brand doesn’t contain harmful chemicals like ammonia as they might damage some plastics.

Pat’s idea: I haven’t got an airbrush so I uses brushes to apply paint, but they can leave brush strokes. To get a really smooth surface I apply several coats and use fine wet/dry sandpaper between coats. I also thin the paint slightly between each coat and use a finer grade of sandpaper as I come to the end of the process. I also use rubbing compounds on some jobs.

Cedric’s idea: I use white spirit instead for those expensive thinners from art shops. Each time when washing brushes I keep the dirty old used thinner and pour it in an old jar. After a while the paint sinks to the bottom of the jar and the thinner is relatively clear again. I reuse it.

Noel another keen member of the online Model Train Club suggests…

From my days in the retail trade we like to add movement to our window displays to attract interest. A local retired electrician use to wire up little electric motors to make things move. I have used the same idea on my railroad. I have a little figurine of a man with a chain saw cutting through a log and a boat in the water rocking gently. It only takes a little electric or battery motor mounted under the benchwork with the shaft of the motor attached to the the object that needs to move. You need to be a little ingenious, but the effect can be very interesting.

There are hundreds more great ideas inside the online Model Train Club like this one…

Peter’s idea: A road disappearing into the distance can look impressive when done well. It can also look strange if it hits a wall and stops abruptly. To overcome this I bend the end of the roadway material up and twist it towards a point to the side. I then add some greenery on either side to hide it a little and give the appearance of the road weaving off into the distance.

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