In the early days, railway tracks were made from iron, but cast iron was considered to be too brittle and wrought iron too soft, so in the end, it was decided to manufacture the rails from steel. Steel can take on many colours, although we...

Introducing the most useful piece of kit that any modeller could have in their toolbox. It is called a helping hand tool but sometimes masquerades as a third-hand tool. It delivers what its name promises: a helping hand!A helping hand tool is...

A lot of modellers like to add detail to their models. One of the things you can do to add realism to your model is to accentuate its panel lines. Panel lines are the gaps or joins between the panels that make up the outer shell of a vehicle,...

Panel lines can help give life and realism to a model. These are the gaps or joins that you would see on the real-life prototype of a model between the metal panels that make up its bodywork.All large forms of transport have their outer...

NEM couplings are part of a universal coupling system for model railway rolling stock. They were introduced as a solution to the many different types of coupling from various manufacturers not working well together.They consist of two parts,...

The chances are that if you have ever tried to research what an epoxy resin is, you were bombarded with phrases like monomelic or oligomeric. Equally, the chances are that if you knew what monomelic or oligomeric meant, then you would know what an...

Although N gauge is very popular (and for good reason), it can't be denied that the most popular gauge on the UK market today is 00, therefore manufacturers produce and sell a significantly higher volume of 00 gauge products than N gauge, this, in...

Think back to when you were a child and you acquired your very first 00 gauge train set, complete with a whole oval of track, a tank engine, up to as many as three wagons and a controller. It was probably one of the best days of your life. Now...

After spending hours preparing and painting your models, it is quite understandable that you would want to protect your hard work by sealing the paint afterwards. The best way to seal your paint is with a model varnish, they are readily available...

When deciding which Airfix kit to buy most people will understandably want to choose one that is relevant to their capabilities. To help guide you through this decision Airfix kits have a skill level printed on their packaging. But this is only...

When building a plastic kit model it is normal for the parts to come out of the box arranged on a plastic frame. This frame is created by plastic flowing through a channel called a sprue. The model parts are attached to the sprues with little...

Wheel slip is not a problem that's unique to our model railway layouts, engineers in the real railway world often pull their hair out trying to overcome the problem too. So what lessons can we learn from the engineers to help our little trains get...