We've had similar threads before but I am not sure where they might be. You could check the How To Forum. Always good to revisit old ideas and get new ideas anyway.
Gas station sign from craft store jewelry “findings” earring blank, tubing... Saw shop sign extended over awning, from earring blank. Buzzsaw shaped graphic on sign from old HO scale Missouri pacific buzzsaw herald. Drill press from old Rapido coupler lefover from MicroTrains magnematic conversion Toilet bowl from 3mm plastic craft bead, carved; toilet seat from thin slice of insulation from heavy gauge electrical wire.
If you have an old watch lying around, you can take the guts out of it. The gears make great details such as sawblades at a sawmill. Or even, an old sprocket at some type of factory.
Let's not forget straws. They come in different sizes. Make good pipe loads. Burger King has black straws. No painting required. Bahama Breeze does too only in a larger diameter. Visit a party store. They generally have straws and stirrers in black for the "Over the Hill" crowd. McDonald's coffee stirrers can be made into a coupler pic in just a couple of minutes.
This tarp is Kleenex tissue soaked in 50/50 water/white glue and then painted Pullman green. Fairly believable. Here is another one made same way........
Very cool stuff going on here! I love the quick and easy tarps, and especially the toilet! so much detail in such a small space
How about packing some weight inside the straws? Deep enough that it cannot be easily seen. Perhaps BBs, or split shot fishing weights. Or?
All my pipe loads travel in gondolas as that seems to be the practice in this area. May be a shippers perogative but I can't recall seeing any pipe on flatcars. That being the case, hiding the weight is easier as the weight should be as low in the car as possible. You do not want a top heavy car. Add a piece of metal to the underside of the load or use steel rod inside the bottom row. You can also 'hollow out' the bottom row of pipe and add a weight there.
The replaceable/ reusable plastic lid from a box of raisins was used as a form around which to build a heavy equipment unloading dock, adapted from Santa Fe System Standard Plans.
That`s looks really great. I'd be interested to see before and after photos to see what that part looked like before joining the N scale universe.
nah, cats missing part of a whisker are the greatest! they stumble around, and the dog (and owner) get a good laugh
Blocks of N gauge 2x4 scale lumber as N gauge models of Lionel O-gauge Train cars. Old 35mm film case (remember those) as concrete water tank, for the type of water tower they built during WWII to save steel for the war effort. Not N scale: garbage can and a LOT of imagination to represent a locomotive boiler. (1956 snapshot, playing “Great Locomotive Chase” on backyard handcar railroad.
Flat toothpicks for retaining wall and stairs Thin hydrocal broken for the flagstone path Pea Gravel from the park for the rock landscaping Wire for clothesline Colored paper for wash
PVC pipe plus cardboard cones = grain elevators. Some of those "print it yourself" signs someone mentioned earlier: -- ink jet + photo paper + scissors
Everyday items? Everyday? It seems like at least every OTHER day I get a credit card offer with a FAKE (sample) credit card... or an AARP membership card or a card for AAA. I can't afford to charge many modeling supplies on a REAL credit card. But on fake credit cards- why not use the cards as a source of cheap plastic? Doesn't work too well as a building material. I thought they might but most most seem to be a laminate of thin plastic and cardboard that doesn't cut too precisely. However, the cards are okay as a base for sticking figures and small objects down to paint. Better than cardstock. And you'll have to admit, gimmick stuff in the mail is an EVERYDAY item.
