Papier-mache has been used over a chicken-wire frame to create hills and mountains for almost as long as the hobbies have existed, and it does a great job too, providing a hard shell on which you can apply paint and add scatter to give a realistic...

A 'fogman' was a railway worker tasked with laying detonators (fog signals) on railway tracks during snowy, foggy or other low visibility weather conditions to warn drivers of signals, speed restrictions or track works ahead. Fogmen often had...

A 1Co-Co1 wheel arrangement is essentially a Co-Co wheel arrangement with an unpowered, articulated pony truck attached to it. This extended bogie design is used to better distribute weight on larger locomotives.A standard Co-Co wheel...

In 1845, legislation was passed resulting in the mandatory introduction of mileposts on our railways. The new posts were to be set at 1/4 mile intervals and measure the distance from a designated location along the route (usually a large station...

Often, railway modellers talk about the importance of bringing their scene to life, but what does this mean? and why is it important? Bringing a scene to life when everything in that scene is motionless is not an easy task. What you are trying...

It is not advisable to use 3-in-1 oil to lubricate your models, especially not the fine parts inside their mechanisms. This is because different oils are good at different things - some clean, some protect and others lubricate.3-in-1 oils are...

A 'Pacific' railway locomotive is a steam engine with the wheel arrangement 4-6-2. What that means is the locomotive has four smaller, unpowered wheels (two on each side) at the front, used to lead it into curves and provide stability, six larger,...

If you are a modeller, then you have likely heard of PVA glue, but you may not be aware that PVA comes in many forms and is known by several names such as wood glue, white glue, school glue or carpenter's glue. These names suggest that PVA glue...

By the early 20th century, the railways had grown to such an extent that competition was fierce and the market was fast becoming saturated, as a result, the railways were not run particularly well or efficiently. Just how wasteful the network had...

Wagon turntables were similar in principle to full-size ones used to turn locomotives, they were however smaller and performed a different function.Wagon turntables were as the name suggests only large enough to accommodate wagons (or other...

Primers are a special type of paint used to prepare surfaces that are to be painted. The primary purpose of a primer is to create the best possible surface for a topcoat of paint to adhere to. Primers are also handy for creating a consistent, even...

Static grass puffer bottles work by manually charging model grass fibres with static electricity. When the charged grass is then sprinkled onto a diorama prepared with glue, it will stand on end giving a realistic portrayal of grass.The process...