N Scale Moving Vehicles

I've been contemplating for a while how to animate N scale vehicles without resorting to the tres' expensive Faller Car System.

This morning, it occurred to me: what about T-scale engines and track with an N scale vehicle shell?

"T" Gauge is smaller than Z scale and not very good for operating trains so much as watching them go around in circles (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), as they are so tiny (and new) that they require magnets to hold them to the rails. At 3 mm, this makes them 1/3 the size of N scale with it's 9 mm track. Hence, I would think a T scale motor mounted on a truck could fit comfortably inside an N scale car, allowing it to be operated in a road trolley/traction fashion.

For about $21 plus the cost of the vehicle itself (and track), you could have a working, animated N scale vehicle.....

Paragon Heating part 2

Built this little out-building from parts left-over after the Paragon Heating kit build:

Paragon Heating

Walther's Cornerstone "Paragon Heating" modular building kit was my latest project:

Hotel Part 3

Almost finished with the hotel. I found some cheap grain of wheat bulbs on eBay  direct from China, and wired a couple to some 9 volt batteries. Two together at 4.5 v each gives a pretty good light that doesn't bleed very far at all. In fact, I had to bring them right-up to the windows just to show through the blinds. I just wish I had installed more bulbs, to light more windows. Hmm.

Homeless Shelter

I turned one of the kits that didn't sell today into a Homeless Shelter & Soup Kitchen, and reposted on eBay with 100% of the proceeds being donated to a local Bangor-area charity. I've scheduled it to "go live" at 8:45 PM Eastern Standard Time, as I believe that auctions ending after work ends will be the most successful (this gives the Pacific Time people just long enough to get home and check their computers). I'll post the eBay link once it goes live and everyone can actually "see" it.

Glue

I've graduated to using 3 different glues in the construction of my model kits, based upon their unique properties:

1. CA (Super Glue) for construction - assembling walls. I've tried plastic cement, but didn't like the results.

2. Testor's Clear glue for installing clear plastic. CA "crazes" the plastic, turning it milky white, and it will not come-off.

3. White glue (Elmer's) for installing window treatments. Testor's dries clear, which is great for installing the windows, but is very thin and quickly soaks through any paper you may install on the inside of a window. White glue however can be spread very thinly along the edges, thin enough so it doesn't have time to soak through before drying. Plus, white glue when it's very thin dries just as fast as CA, and doesn't really show-up in the window the way it would if you were using it to secure the window in place and smudged a bit in the middle.

I've also used white glue as crack-filler in places, and painted over it once dried. It works pretty well at hiding some flaws in construction.

February 2012

Here are some pictures of the four kits I currently have listed on eBay: