Airbrush cleaning tips and techniques

Color photo showing how to flush siphon on a color bottle assembly.

Airbrushing is a facet of the hobby I really enjoy. I’m sure some of my interest in painting is because my father and grandfather were auto body repairmen. I grew up around paint and paint equipment. One of the many lessons I learned from them was to take care of your tools. That’s true whether […]

Read More…

Improve ready-to-run freight cars with a little paint

MRRNS0917_01

Improve ready-to-run freight cars: A few weeks ago I bought an N scale freight car at my local hobby shop. The car was a bright yellow Milwaukee Road covered hopper by Trainworx, and besides the marvelous detail, it had two other features I’ve come to look for on cars: metal wheels and body-mounted Magne-Matic couplers. […]

Read More…

Car Swap Project part 9: Lessons learned

brown and blue plastic model boxcars displayed together on a gray background

Car Swap Project part 9: Lessons learned: Once the last clear coat had dried, David and Seth sent their cars to Gerry for a class photo before he distributed them all to their new homes. After spending several weeks on the project, the three friends share some fun photos and a few of the lessons […]

Read More…

Car Swap Project part 7: Gerry’s creative touch

Car Swap Project part 7: Gerry’s creative touch: In this episode of our Car Swap series, Gerry explains how he completed the HO and O scale Bona Vista cars for Seth and David’s layouts. Starting with prep work and a few of decaling tips, Gerry then dives into extensive detail about weathering the two boxcars. […]

Read More…

Car Swap Project part 6: Seth’s techniques

Car Swap Project part 6: Seth’s techniques: With the decals finally printed and distributed, it’s time to start the actual work of completing the cars. Seth, Gerry, and David each have their own techniques for doing this kind of work, so parts 6-8 will cover each modeler’s efforts in detail. Seth kicks things off with […]

Read More…

Car Swap Project part 5: Printing decals with an ALPS printer

Black printer and tan computer, featuring a tower, keyboard, mouse, and display screen

Car Swap Project part 5: Printing decals with an ALPS printer: As the three friends endeavor to make custom boxcars for each other’s layouts, Gerry Leone, Seth Puffer, and David Popp embark on printing custom decals. There are several easy ways to print your own decals, just as long as you don’t want white lettering. […]

Read More…