I think we all have realized that this hobby can be expensive at times. I, for one, have tried every avenue possible to cut costs when possible. Whether it is buying used rolling stock on eBay or racking my brain for ways to avoid paying sticker prices for certain items. So I had this idea to start a thread to see ways that others have used everyday household items to substitute them for special "modelling" items. So share methods, household items, or anything else that you have used in the past to save greenbacks for other items (like, you know, locos). Hopefully us rookies can all learn something here. My example was using matchsticks for wood siding on a barn I was building. I bought a box of 300 matches for $1 at Wally World as opposed to paying $6 plus shipping for 14 pieces of strip wood. I used a razor blade to cut the match heads off and disposed of them in a can full of water. Then I glued the match sticks to a cardboard template and viola! Ok go
There's a couple of strange things used in this photo: On the forest floor, the bluebells are made up from a kitchen sponge ground up in a blender and sifted through a tea strainer. The new stay soft sponges have to be microwaved first to harden them, only about a minute +, or they'll start to catch fire. Found out that out through error. I also used a pale pink sponge to make mountain laurels. The redbud is made with sand from a sand art set I found in the toy section of one of the last dime stores in this country. Had to blend both shades of awful pink to get the right color. With a 50/50 mix it came out looking better
I wish I had a picture of it, but in the sawmill I built for my club, I used a cheese grater to grind down some real douglas fir bark to make chunks of bark left behind in the log yard. G/F at the time came over to my house and walked in on me doing this. She looked at me and said, "Please tell me you are throwing that cheese grater out when you are done."
My wife bought a mop with a replaceable head. Didn't work right. Was going to throw away the spare replacement heads (mop handle is still a good stick...) Became a barrel vault roof- Used on a long portside cargo shed to hide staging tracks.
There was a guy who used to write articles in the Teen Association of Model Railroaders newsletter about using (uncooked) spaghetti for scenery items such as highway lights and guardrail posts.
I've made some storage tanks out of the plastic tubes that our end mills/cutting tools come in from work, we toss them in the trash anyway, asked the boss if I could take some home, good to go....
Lilac branches make great (and free) logs - I made the firecracker antenna for my RS-2M using a piece of cat whisker stuck inside of a piece of electric wire insulation - -Mark
Years ago, I got some make-it-yourself window screens. Had some kind of non-metal screen, aluminum channel frames that could be cut to size with a mitre saw (I used my modeling razor saw), corner clips and a kind of fluted soft plastic "tubing stuff" to hold the screen in the channels. I took some of the leftover tubing stuff, put wire inside to stiffen it up and made "Roman" style fluted columns for a scratchbuilt bank. Not an everyday item but a New Year's Eve item, those champagne-bottle shaped confetti poppers. I used one as a stand-in for a scrap burner at my creosote treating plant, before buying a more accurate model. Again, not an everyday item--- when foam started coming unglued (arrow) I used a 12,000 year old fossilized mammoth thigh bone to weight it down for re-gluing...
Hang On To As Much Of Your $ As You Can. As I am like most of the rest of the workforce, working my tail off for my paycheck and trying to keep as much as possible in my pocket, I'm always looking for other ways to use stuff on the layout. CONTACT LENS CLEANING SOLUTION BOTTLES make great dispensers for various chemicals. Diluted white glue for ballast & scenery adhesive. Alcohol/water mixture for adhering ballast & ground cover. Wally-World has a WW brand of drink mix (IE Kool-Aid type) that comes in 2-quart packages, in a plastic container with a snap-on lid. Good for storing anything small. With proper packing, it can store that super-detailed engine or car DAMAGE FREE. You can drop the container ON THE CONCRETE FLOOR. And that engine in it, will not be damaged. NEVER throw out old used up toothbrushes. Good for scrubbing off lettering, paint, etc etc when doing a strip lob. Use the toothbrush for any scrub job and then toss it in the trash. Watch you construction sites dumpsters for 2x4's. 2x6's, assorted lumber. I'll usually approach the job site Foreman and explain what I want to look for. ALWAYS get permission (and the Foreman's NAME) before you look over the job site. I'll get the OK and then come after hours, (daylight, NOT night time) or on a weekend. Again have the Foreman's name, because the way thieves are stealing COPPER & other assorted items, you will get checked on by Security and/or Police. Along this same vein, I've picked up all the blue/pink Stryofoam I will ever need, just by offering to pick up a job site (throw stuff in a dumpster) if I could keep excess/cut pieces of said Stryofoam. My wife calls me THRIFTY, I just say I'm CHEAP!!
I use the bottles from pool testing chemicals for my droppers. Screw off top and flip open/close "dropper". One for alc, one for white glue mix, and one for matte medium mix. Another nice freebee is the cup that the icing comes in with the frozen buns. After washing, it is good for holding water for dipping brushes, mixing and holding small amounts of paint while your working. They clean quick and easy and are ready for the next assignment.
Great thread! I too subscribe to extreme N-scale economy (when possible). I love that mop head roof, nice work! My hollow core door (free, covered with STP stickers) eventually housed a layout on each side. Just flipped it over for a new surface. Dirt and rocks and scree are free for the finding out there. I've got a whole inventory of teeny bags of various ground covers and materials. Some of it is terramium gravel, some came from my roof, other stuff I've found while out camping or railfanning. Have some real coal from a chunk I found. I've had good luck making paved roads from card stock. Many signs are easily made on a computer/copier/printer. Interior window treatments can be made from barcodes or plain/colored paper. Storage tank (center) made from soda bottle caps. Propane tank is carved junk sprue: ...And it was painful, but I glued in hundreds of teeny sticks to make this real N-scale truckload of branches :wideeyes: :
I'm surprised nobody came up with the old T tissue, paper towel, or wrapping paper cardboard tubes. Silos, and vertical or horizontal tanks depending on size, and concrete culverts of varying sizes. And then there is my favorite for logs and tree trunks, the Azalea bush. The bark texture is a nice grain size for N scale.
The four silos seen at the back are made from left over kitchen drain 'Tail Pipe Extensions'. The shed here was build from left over parts in the junk box. The tar paper roof is made from toilet paper. The white tanks are made from PVC pipe couplings with styrene on top, the fence is made out of silver Christmas ribbon.
