T-J Model Trains and Things in Pasco, WA keeps a large inventory of detail parts in stock, including DA & DW. They bought the Precision Scale company a few years ago when it was going out of business.

Long story, but my elders told me that DullCoat was simply clear lacquer with talc added to get the extremely flat finish it is known for. This talc has two side effects, 1) it lightens the finish alr

Varnish is a generic term for transparent finishes, originally used on wood surfaces such as floors or boat decks. Traditional varnish was made up of a mixture of phenolic resins (rosin) an oil, such

Oops! One to many "R's" there in the subject. -- John

This has probably been covered here at one time or another, but . . . I was wondering whether metal running boards (a/k/a roofwalks) on freight cars (mainly boxcars) should be painted or left in plain

Steve -- you are right! and the Kadees are numbered and stenciled as H34as. -- John

Yeah. I thought they were ACF 1958s. -- John

Check out Bowser's webpage. They are advertising these as H34s! -- John

I saw an ad that just came out for Bowser "H34" covered hopper cars. First, I noticed that PRR was not one of the road names offered, which makes sense since the PRR H34s (300) and the later H34a/b/cs

Oh, almost forgot. Smoke box & ash pans - Graphite and Oil. And of course cab roofs and tender decks - Oxide Red with or without black added (depends on the specific model I'm doing). But Bruce Smith

I have it easy, doing PRR steam, DGLE. I make it up using 1 part Scalecoat (I or II) Brunswick Green and two parts black. For the underframe and the like, I use straight black or weathered black. For

I have been using two Pastruct products for several years now. Part # 91731 is a vacuum molded 3-tab shingle and part # 91656 is a random wood shake shingle also vacuum molded. They are listed as 1:10

Slightly off topic but . . . the Strasburg Railroad has complete wheel manufacturing and repair capabilities including an 80" wheel lathe. They did the driver work for the UP's 844 and 4014. -- John

I use the two chisels made by MicroMark specifically for this application. I have both the 4mm and 2mm wide tip tools. I find the 4mm wide one more useful. A Dremel turns too fast and melts the plasti

I can't remember for sure, but I think this car is correct for a Lehigh Valley car (85xx series)? But with an Apex R/B. --John

Caveat - Lacquers and water don't mix!!! Anyone who works with furniture knows that blushing and water rings are two problems that come up with lacquer finishes. Since Testor's Glosscoat and Dullcoat

Just one more problem with acrylic finishes. Doesn't happen with Scalecoat I/II and Testors Dullcoat. Problem is most likely due to the incompatibility of water based and solvent based products. Altho

Yes. I have one of the grabs from the US Army cars that were stored at the EBT yard in Mt. Union. Funny thing is that it was just bolted to the side of the car - no sort of backer plate on the inside,

Speedwitch is not Ted's full time job. When he is on business travel, etc. it sometimes takes a while for him to respond. -- John

Aleene's was originally developed by 3M to glue foam insulation to wood or plywood. It's sales were poor compared to Liquid Nails so 3M sold the formula to the current manufacturer. Per its original p