1: Painting- wash all plastic parts in mild soapy water to remove oils and the mold release agent used at the factory. This will help make the paint adhere.

2:If you've got old track you don't use anymore, set up an abandoned track in some spare space. Conceal the ends of the tracks by putting them on the edge of the layout or in tunnels. You can extremely heavily weather the ties with a dark gray wash and paint the rails Floquil Rust Brown. Put some under maintained ballast (make it look messy) down, and create weeds between the ties with ground foam of lichen. Try breaking some of the ties out from the bottom with an X-acto knife and throw some 'trash' around the scene.

3: Try adding peeling paint to buildings! Use a fine brush and dab on small amounts of rubber cement. Paint the model after the cement dries. Then, use rubber cement pickup (make your own by letting a puddle of rubber cement dry overnight on aluminum foil. Roll it into a ball.) to remove the rubber cement on the building.

4: Put shades in windows. Use black construction paper at different heights to cover the inside of building windows. White glue or tape in place. Do net get any glue on the window- glue it on the inside of the building and make the piece large enough to be glued on its edges.

5: To make a small layout look bigger, use view blocks. Things such as trees and buildings can make a layout seem like many small scenes, like the real world, instead of one huge one. Mountains work excellent, too.

6: If your layout has roads, try to put 'patches' the 'cement' like real cities do when an area is cracked. Paint a newer area a darker color, and don't weather it as much.

7: When assembling building walls, use a cookie sheet and magnets to hold up the walls. It works best on right angles; as it won't tip over.

8: Add mortar lines to brick buildings. Use 1 part flat white latex paint with 1 part tap water. Put this over the entire wall and wipe the surface with an old rag. The paint will stay in the cracks.

9: Paint buildings belonging to the railroad company the same color, just like you'd have a paint scheme for locomotives, make one for buildings too. Don't make the town like the railroad though. Use this only for things like service yards, towers or trackside shanties.

10: For better performance, try weighting your cars. The NMRA recommends (for HO) 1/2 ounce for each inch of body length and 1 ounce extra. Too much will ruin an engine. For weight, use nails, lead or fishing sinkers. Try to conceal it inside the cars. See choosing and buying.

11: When you're taking something apart and have small screws, etc, laying around that you don't want to lose, stick them to a piece of upside down masking tape on your work bench.

12: Cut a foam block with a hole in the middle for cans of paint to sit in so they cannot be spilled.

13: Put 2 or 3 BB's in the jar of paint to help in mixing.

14: Use clothes pins as clamps while parts dry.

15: Put a rubber band around the handle of your hobby knife so it won't roll off the table when you're working.

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