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Author Archive: John Cubbin

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Add Roofing To Our Pizza Layout Buildings

Add Roofing To Our Pizza Layout Buildings

We previously added a little age to our MTL laser kits and we were going to tackle the decals next but decided instead to add some custom roof work to these buildings. The thinking was, it would be better to have these kits basically finished, except for final weathering, before we applied our decals. This […]

June 7, 2015 More
Aging The MTL Kits

Aging The MTL Kits

Just a quick post tonight as it’s already 3:40 AM, seriously, how do I manage to lose a couple of hours whenever I’m working with trains and kits? Missing time aside, I thought I’d take a few photos just prior to the decal work I’ll be doing on these kits. I’ve added the Grandt Line […]

May 27, 2015 More
Pre-Decal Paint For Our Yard Kits

Pre-Decal Paint For Our Yard Kits

For some time now, I’ve wanted to make my own water slide decals and I think the Micro-Trains kits I’ve built for the pizza layout are some great decal candidates! Late last year I picked up an HP Color LaserJet for work but (much as I hate to admit it) have yet to try my […]

May 23, 2015 0 Comments More
MTL Laser Kits For The Pizza Layout

MTL Laser Kits For The Pizza Layout

After getting our Kato Compact Unitrack grungy in the last article, it’s time to look to the structures for our pizza layout. Since I’m working on the idea of a yard-flavored scene with this layout, I looked at the Micro-Trains Line Yard Structures Kit that includes 3 kits with relatively small footprints. This kit set […]

May 11, 2015 0 Comments More
Getting Kato Unitrack Grungy

Getting Kato Unitrack Grungy

It’s time now to get our sectional track attached, weathered and ballasted on our layout base. On a layout this small I find just a single pair of feeder wires is sufficient to provide even power across the whole layout. I could use Kato’s own Terminal UniJoiner for the job but I really do prefer […]

April 25, 2015 0 Comments More
Wireless Ambient Sound For The Pizza Layout

Wireless Ambient Sound For The Pizza Layout

On our N scale pizza layout I wanted to add some fun, interesting elements beyond what we’ll be doing with scenery. The first two things that popped in to my head were lighting and sound. We’ll get to the lighting as we build the scene so for now I decided to start with the sound […]

April 12, 2015 More
A Planet Locomotive In Brooklyn, New York

A Planet Locomotive In Brooklyn, New York

I think the aspect of model railroading that appeals most to me is trying to recreate the history and archeological feel of the real thing. I find abandoned railroad tracks, trains and buildings fascinating, even long disused earthworks can tell a story. Compared to other countries, here in the US our historical and archeological timeline […]

March 28, 2015 0 Comments More
Model Railroading Work Lights

Model Railroading Work Lights

I had written previously about buying a softbox lighting setup for taking our train and product photos, here’s that article. I’ve had this same setup now for a couple of years and for a very inexpensive rig, I’ve been surprised at how well it’s held up. This 3-piece set included 3 softboxes measuring 24” x […]

March 18, 2015 0 Comments More
N Scale Pizza Layout Base

N Scale Pizza Layout Base

After weighing the size options for our pizza layout, the decision was helped along by a Google search for “round, galvanized tray”. As this is going to be something of an industrial scene, I thought a galvanized metal base would be a nice compliment to the scene above. I came across this 18” wide galvanized […]

March 15, 2015 0 Comments More
Our First Pizza Layout

Our First Pizza Layout

In our previous article, I talked about some of the benefits of building small model railroad layouts, very small layouts, which include the pizza and micro varieties. We now get started on a new pizza layout in N scale here at Raildig.com and I have to admit, I’m really looking forward to this project. Hopefully […]

March 2, 2015 0 Comments More
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