The Museum's Modelling Tips Page

Stripping Athearn 'blue-box' paint:

I wanted to relieve an F7A/B set of their CN 'zebra stripe' livery for replacement with CN's olive/yellow scheme.  After reading varying opinions on the merits of 99% Isopropyl Alchohol (I.A.), I'd also heard about using (what's called up here in Canada) 'Pine Sol' all-purpose cleaner.  I believe it's also known as 'Simply Green' in the U.S., and apparently Kirkland's 'All Purpose Cleaner' (available at Costco) is the same thing.

I was given a large square glass container with rubber-sealed lid (!) courtesy of Ikea ($6.00 CAN!) so I picked up a large bottle of Pine Sol, (it's more environmentally-friendly and doesn't lose it's potency when exposed to air like I.A.).  I emptied the bottle in the container, placed the two shells in it and put on the lid.  Six hours later I scrubbed the shells with an old toothbrush (using about the same pressure as brushing your teeth) and 99% of the paint was removed!  After rinsing with warm water, washing the shells with a hand soap and rinsing again, there was a small bit of leftover residue on the shells.  As this residue can be easily scraped with a fingernail, I figure another hour or so in the Pine Sol, followed by another cleaning, should take care of it.

Aside from the pungent odour an easy and not-unpleasant task at all.  Now, what to do with those four bottles of 99% I.A....

An alternative to cork roadbed:

I'm only a 'newbie' in the hobby, but I've discovered something that works absolutely great at completely deadening extraneous sounds of running trains - flashing insulation!

I built my first layout on a 4' x 8' sheet of particle board and after hearing my dad's trains running on bare plywood I wanted to avoid getting that 'echoing sound' from the wood.  I looked at cork roadbed, but thought it might still be hard enough to produce a smaller version of that sound.  I also thought of mounting my track directly to foam insulation board but after tapping it with my fingernail I found it may also produce that echoing.  At the same time I spotted a roll of thin insulation and because it looked close to the same height as cork I bought a roll to test.

It turns out this insulation is exactly the same height as HO scale cork roadbed, and after fastening it to the particle board with 3M spray contact cement (mind the fumes - make sure the area is well-ventilated!!) and laying track the only sounds heard were the wheels on the track, and the clickety-clack of rail joints!

I applied it by cutting the insulation into 8' strips, spraying both the particle board and one side of the insulation with the adhesive, allowing it to become tacky to the touch and placed the insulation down, being careful to keep any kinks out (not hard to do because it is quite easy to work with).  I then 'rolled' the insulation, using a 4" paint roller and firm pressure to ensure a clean and solid bond.  I continued this process with each successive strip, carefully aligning each with the previously-applied strip, until the entire 4x8 sheet was covered.  After allowing it to dry overnight, I then laid and wired my track and, using a utility knife (the kind that have retractable blades) and sharp blades, cut along each side of the trackage at about a 45-degree angle (to simulate roadbed) and removed the excess insulation with a putty knife.  Surprisingly, it comes up easily in spite of being glued with contact cement.  After three years of varying degrees of temperature and humidity it showed absolutely no signs of deterioration or coming unglued.

At about $8.00 CAN for a 6" x 240" roll, it's a lot cheaper than cork.