Author Archive: John Cubbin
Manfrotto 244 Variable Friction Magic Arm
Previously I’d written about using an inexpensive (e.g., eBay) softbox setup for both my train photos and for my general work lights
Painting Kato Unitrack Rail
In a recent article, I applied Kato ballast to HO, N and Z scale track and I was pretty happy with the results. Here’s the link to that article: https://www.raildig.com/useful-tools/kato-unitrack-ballast-for-ho-n-z-scale. What I was less happy about was the rail itself, specifically my paint coverage of the rail sides, there was still too much underlying shine […]
A Little Halloween Ambiance
Just a little bit of Halloween ambiance for our visitors… almost 3 hours of fun sound effects for October 31st, enjoy! Play while you’re handing out candy or better yet, while your working on you’re layout and remember… if you’re not having fun, you’re probably not doing it right :) Happy Halloween everyone!
Dave Meek | On30 Thunder Mesa Mining Co.
During a recent YouTube poking around session, I came across a model railroad video that just made me smile. Not that I wasn’t impressed with the On30 scenery (I was), and not that I didn’t appreciate the quality of the video production (I did), but the video just made me happy enough to watch it […]
Walter Vail | Showcase Miniatures Nn3 Shay
To model railroaders not familiar with narrow gauge modeling, can you give us a little background on the prototype of your Class B Shay locomotive kit? Actually, there is not one individual prototype for this Shay. These locomotives varied within their class according to many needs of the individual owners. Many prototypical engine designs went […]
Kato Unitrack Ballast For HO, N & Z Scale
I recently needed to build several small scenes in HO, N and Z scale. For ballast on my custom pieces, I tend to use natural materials such as soils and sands, often grinding and sifting it myself. For these pieces however, I wanted to go with a readily available commercial option instead. As I may […]
OrthoTape Plaster Cloth For Scenery Building
I recently built a handful of small scenes to use as “sets” in order to photograph some of our upcoming products here at Raildig and I decided to go with plaster cloth for creating the terrain. I was just about to order some of the hobby-branded plaster cloth but at the last minute looked in […]
Two Union Station Track Plans For Ztrack Magazine
In recent months, American Z Line has been producing an amazing amount of heavyweight passenger car bodies in a wide variety of road names. Rob Kluz over at Ztrack Magazine thought it would make for a fun project to come up with a Union Station-themed track plan as a place to highlight these models, then […]
Mobile Devices, New Article In Model Retailer Magazine
What’s the newest, old chestnut in model railroading? Sort of a vague question, but I’d suggest it’s the idea that younger people aren’t currently involved, or getting involved anytime soon, in model railroading. The biggest reason given for this seems to be the draw of mobile devices like our smartphones and the siren song of […]
A Visit With The PRR GG1 Locomotive
Several years ago I had the chance to visit the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, home to a pair of Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) Class GG1 electric locomotives. These GG1s were No. 4800 and No. 4935, nicknamed Old Rivets and Black Jack, respectively. Ryan C. Kunkle, Supervisor of Visitor Services at the Railroad Museum […]