Sheldon,

You wrote "I don't own a piece of Kato because it is all newer than my era, 1954." Are you saying that you don't own any Kato passenger equipment? I ask because Kato has produced a number of diesels for your era.

Craig

When I bought my first Bachmann steam engine, the electrical connectors were an immediate concern; they were clearly fragile. Before I so much as removed the locomotive from the box, I went to my toolbox and retrieved a curved sprue cutter. After connecting the tender, I gripped the ridge on the male connector with the blades of the sprue cutter and rocked the tool slightly. The connector came out without event and I then knew I had the means to assemble/disassemble these units without risk to the wiring harnesses. Haven’t had a problem since.

I don't have a Home Depot close by. I wonder what the prices are like; I'm in the market for a left-angle drill.

Three conductors indicates single pole, double throw.

Craig

Actually I have mr. Minkwitz' site bookmarked and I view it often. I agree that his scenery is tops.

I removed the Realistic Water and repoured it after making some changes. Looks good, finally. Thanks to all who responded.

Glenn,

I'd venture to guess that Rich's post was actually directed to the originator of this topic; I don't think he meant to address you.

I'll reiterate and say that I don't think cost or brand should be the deciding factor on an airbrush purchase, or any other tool purchase, for that matter. If a tool is well designed with good tolerances and fine machining it is a good choice. Provided that parts (needles, tips, lost springs or O-rings, jars) are available for the model selected and it is built of durable, quality components, I don't see how you can go wrong regardless of brand or price tag.

I’d be interested to learn of Jack’s ultimate selection.

Craig

That is remarkable work, r0bert. The road number looks ink-stamped. Is that a stock smoke stack?

Craig

I've installed plastic joiners on EZ Track turnouts and I can tell you that aligning the rails and KEEPING them aligned can be a huge pain, especially if you have multiple turnouts at a given location. The track on EZ Track tends not to be well secured to the roadbed at the ends, especially on turnouts. A few drops of glue and a clamp can solve this but my advice is to do what Woody suggested. Use QUALITY, thick metal joiners at each turnout joint and then, at a more stabile location on the turnout, cut gaps as needed. Fill them with whatever suits you (plastic, styrene, epoxy...) and solder some feeders.

Craig

I outgrew my single action siphon feed airbrushes very quickly and gave them away. I thought I'd need them to cut my teeth on but they were actually a wasted step, in my view. Dual action airbrushes are not at all complicated; you push down for air and pull back for color. A little experimenting with needle sizes and tips is helpful. Though I often use my dual action siphon feed units, my preference is my dual action gravity feed model.

I agree with Sheldon that waterborne acrylics notoriously dry in the airbrush (or touchup gun, for that matter) but I still have a use for them. I use POLLY Scale.

I also agree with LD that an airbrush compressor is not entirely necessary. Campbell Hausfeld oil-free models are an economical alternative and they will operate other hobby-oriented air powered equipment such as touch up guns and brad nailers. You need a moisture trap if you buy one of these. I think they're on the loud side compared to units designed for airbrushing but they do have some quiet models in their upper end.

Brand is not as important as design. You want a durable unit with machined metal components. Any one of the brands you listed would be an excellent choice. Over the years I've learned that some units are produced in machine shops and assembled by the companies you mentioned. You might be surprised if you pay a visit to airbrushcity.com. They are the first manufacturer of the majority of their products and they buy from the same parts distributors as some of the major brands do, then assemble and market them under their own brand. The prices are very good and so is the service.

Craig

I use terminal blocks. Guess that's the electrician in me.

The page took about half a second to load for me. My connection speed was roughly 6.8 megabits per second at the time. I suspect some of the others may be on dial up. If that isn't the case then perhaps there were some technical issues with your host earlier.

Brad,

Thanks for replying. I do own an airbrush and I felt I had the cavity looking like I wanted it. But, short of a well-maintained swimming pool, there aren't many bodies of water that allow you to see the very bottom with any detail. I was hoping for less transparency. I wonder if a spray of flat oil between layers would improve the realism.

I don't own that book but I have read it. And I've studied some websites that featured his work. I lost the bookmarks to those sites (and many, many others) in a computer crash and would like to have them back if anyone knows of any.

Thanks again for your response.

Craig

I've just poured 1/8 inch of Realistic Water into the small pond on my nephew's new layout. It looks pretty good right out of the bottle but I'd prefer that the bottom of the pond was...murkier. I don't want to see it, at least not as clearly. Does anyone have experience painting this stuff between coats, or otherwise treating it for the reasons outlined above? I'll be pouring a second layer tomorrow. I wonder what a piece of Saran wrap would look like between layers. Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Craig

Did the other 23 have dynamic braking?

Sheldon,

I'd like to see your ground throw info as well, please.

By the way, I sent you an e-mail about a week ago.

Craig