The first thing you need to know when calculating gradients is that it doesn't matter which unit of measurement you use. If you prefer inches, use those, if you prefer centimetres, that's fine too. The only rule is that you use the same unit...

There are a couple of manufacturers of building lighting out there that claim their products are easy to install. But can a layman do it?Well, there are laymans, and then there are laymans. But for the average Joe, installation is no problem...

The best glue to use for setting ballast in place is one specifically designed for that purpose, such as Noch's Ballast Glue or Deluxe Materials' Ballast Bond.Whether or not it is really necessary to use such a product is another question, and...

Pre-shading is an advanced painting technique used by modellers to give their models depth.It involves painting parts of a model with a dark colour to represent shade. Pre-shading is applied after the primer but before the top coat.In...

It's almost normal for a model railway locomotive to be purchased, played with, stored in a loft for a couple of decades, and then rediscovered later in life. But will it still work after many years of dust, damp and spiders?Much of the answer...

In modelling, scatter is a general term used to describe any scenic material that is fine enough to be sprinkled onto a diorama.There are many different kinds of scatter available with a multitude of textures and colours to represent a range...

Deciding which glue to use when attaching plastic models to a baseboard is tricky enough at the best of times, but when your baseboard is covered with scatter, it can be a real head-scratcher.Fortunately, this is one time when there is no big...

Model railway 21-pin decoder sockets are easy to recognise. They are usually located on top of a circuit board inside the model and feature 21 pins approximately 5mm in length. The pins are arranged in two parallel rows, one row of 10 and another...

Seafoam trees are a natural product for modelling trees in any gauge between OO and Z.Seafoam comes from a plant that grows in such a way that it closely resembles tree structures. Seafoam can be used straight from the box to represent the...

For anybody who doesn't know the difference, code 100 track is the standard OO gauge model railway track. Code 75 track has smaller rails to better represent the prototype and is usually referred to as finescale track. But can the two types be...

There are many ways to strip paint from a model, some modellers have had success using IPA alcohol, others have ruined their models using brake fluid. But the best way to ensure a safe and reliable way of removing paint from a model is with the...

In the UK, an A1A-A1A wheel arrangement was used on some early designs of diesel railway locomotives, most notably the Class 31.A locomotive with this type of wheel arrangement has two bogies (one at either end of the loco) and each bogie has...