if you want to carve some scenic bits, like suitcases, boxes, bed-rolls you might try to use eraser-gummies.
easy to carve and easy to paint.
Les seeā¦what havenāt ya coverdā¦ Bob got my HArdware store styrene trick and my dress snap ideer is all over these days.
(1) Big ol honkin pens make nice smokestacks,
(2) Plumbing caps are great for steam domes,
(3) Poster frames are also good for window glazing, a bit thicker than report covers and one will last forever.
(4)If ya know someone who is on O2 therapy at home oxygen cannulas are a great for tubing, (one guy used a used catheter for steam pipes on a mallet once, I found that to be just a bit icky)
(5) Walmart toy aisle, source for all sorts of bits
(6) Christmas decorations can be a good source for bells
Prolly the BEST scrounge/recycle resourceā¦BACHMAN BIG HAULERS/ANNIES mwuhahahahah!!!
And Iām sure Iāll think up more stuff as I look around THE BUNKER today!
I no longer replace the blades for my Xacto knives. I have an old whetstone and sharpen them as needed. I find they cut just as good as a brand new blade. I havenāt put in a new blade in years.
Jean saves me the lids from all the containers we use, and I use them to mix paint or glue, then throw away when they get too messy.
Iām amazed at the stuff you can find on the internet. I was making some fruit crates for another ventilated boxcar. I wasnāt happy with the free ones from Ozark, so I Googled fruit crate labels and found about a zillion of them. I scaled them to the size of the crates Iām making and printed them out. Ozark was set up 4 to a sheet of paper, I was able to get 8.
When I was a model airplane builder, I had a piece of electronics grade āceramicā next to my stone. Whenever the knife didnāt cut like I wanted, Iād hit it with the ceramic a couple times. I found myself sharpening brand new xacto blades. I have no idea where to find one of those now. That was a broken piece swiped from a wastebasket at the electronics company where I worked.
I have a ceramic sharpening stick. Works great.
Ralph
Here is a great sharpener, ceramic and carbide: http://www.duluthtrading.com/search/searchresults/69099.aspx?feature=product_1&kw=sharpener:&processor=content
Also a great little wire bender: http://www.duluthtrading.com/store/departments/tools-shop/hand-tools/28011.aspx?feature=P8034-C68161-L2&processor=content
FWIW
I like that extra crotch gusset in their pants. Hmm, not sure I should spend $60 on a pair of bibs right now.
There is another use for those soda cans that many of us use. We slice the top and bottom off and run them through one of those paper u that I got at Michaels. Makes great corrugated roofing.
Another great use for coffee stir sticks. If I recollect correctly, we have a list member who built a livestock train car with them.
To extend the time you have to use a two part epoxy, take one of those beverage cans out of the refrigerator, turn it upside down, and mix the epoxy in the depression you find in the can bottom. The cold of the the can dramatically slows the reaction of the epoxy, giving you much more time to fiddle with the parts you are trying to stick together.
After reading all of these ideas Iāll be saving even more āstuffā than I already was. Now Iām really in trouble; my wife already complains Iām a hoarder
We live on 2 1/2 acres. Weāre both hoarders and that way we have plenty of space!
Doug Arnold said:I've tried to think about this with an open mind. But what are you going to do when you fill the 2 1/2 acres up? Does the "moderation in all things" apply with the fact that you don't have 10 acres? Please be careful. Let us know when you are down to only a square foot to stand in.
We live on 2 1/2 acres. We're both hoarders and that way we have plenty of space!
Youāre right. We canāt fill it all up because we wouldnāt have room for the house, train layout and the solar panels!
The center out of cash registar rolls make good chimneyās. I think it was Bruce that made a post on this.
Most of the materials used for the construction of my railroad were ārecycledā. The Scottish pine timber baulks (3ft. long mostly, 6" width and 3" deep) were off cuts given to me for burning on my fires, the concrete blocks used on curves were from a demolished wall, one bridge was a metal culvert (used for car driveways as drainage) - this resonates wonderfully when trains pass over it. My two tunnels were made from scrap lumber and are waterproof: the portals made from lightweight insulation blocks. Track and ballast were purchased new.
This has given a solid, well engineered ROW and apart from a small amount of ballast has needed little maintenance in over three years.
The few Buildings are made from waste foam insulation or unwanted plastic toys - such as a barn and a couple of small structures. Newer buildings are being supplied from unused Bachmann 1:22.5 stock (boxcars and a stock car). The second hand value of these cars is small and quite honestly the wheels which become usable from these cars make good replacements from plastic wheels which is a good bonus indeed.
The savings made naturally gave me more money to spend on rolling stock. lol
Another trick to add to the list is smoke fluid. I use the lamp oil you can buy at walmart. It will last you a very long time and cost less then buying a small bottle of smoke fluid. I just take the lamp oil a use a small bottle with a dropper. (I find the gas drop bottles for infants work great)
Did someone mention the wooden coffee stirrers??? They are well for every sort of wood planking and boiler cladding on upright boilers. I got a whole refill package of them for free at the MD fastfood restaurant in the next bigger city! That will last for ages !
cheers Joe
I have made a habit of rumaging thru thrifts stores looking for any odd and end things that can be used especailly for a cheap price, Like I picked up some strange looking metal hanging things for flowers or something that work great for church steeples and I paid $2 for 3 of them, small plastic storage trays to make the small mining ore cars (hand carts). And I think what will be the best of all for me is some steel wine racks that will become a steel bridge. I think I paid $5 for 2 of them and all I have to do is butt weld them together and whala a 36" bridge.
I even look for things I can use when I am at the auto junk yard, nothing like using some real transportation stuff to build for the trains.
talking about auto junk yards:
modern mirrors each have two slow running 12 V motors inside.
and the central locking system of cars provides watertight switchmotors.
I found that dried blood makes a wonderful substitute for rust when weathering your stuff. Donāt askā¦ 
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