Modeling Supplies

Most model railroading articles, whether its on here, in a magazine, or anywhere else, assume that you have a full set of modeling tools and that you know where to get everything you need for the project that the article is talking about. Well what if you don't? That is what this article is for. I am going to share some of the places that I get my modeling supplies.

Our first stop is Walthers. Walthers has been around for over 75 years and has turned into basically a model railroading mall. They have their own line of locomotives, rolling stock, and structures, and they carry other manufacturer's products as well, including paint, decals, tools, scratchbuilding supplies, and anything else you can think of. They publish a reference book every year which is a product listing of everything they carry in your scale. This book is an excellent reference to see what's out there. However, I rarely order directly from Walthers. Their quality is good, but their prices are high. I use the reference book to see what products are available, and then I shop around for lower prices. However, there are two reasons to order from Walthers. One is that they often have sales on their products, and when they do, it's very hard to find a better price than their sale price. Another reason is if you are ordering products from several different manufacturers, you probably won't find them all on the same website other than Walthers. You may find them cheaper on three or four websites, but by the time you pay shipping for all the different websites when you order the stuff, you might as well have paid the higher Walthers prices and ordered it all at once for the same bottom line.

You can order paint and decals from Walthers as well, but I don't like to. My local hobby shop has Pollyscale's full line of paints. Pollyscale makes modeling paints for brushing or airbrushing. They make railroad-specific colors, such as railroad tie brown, Boston & Maine blue, and Reading green. Chances are, if you are looking for a specific color, Pollyscale has it. I don't know if you can order direct from Pollyscale, because I have always bought my paint at the hobby shop.

I order my decals direct from the manufacturer because Walthers doesn't carry my favorite decal manufacturer. I order my decals from Highball Graphics as often as possible. These are some of the best decals I have ever used. They slide off the paper with no problem at all and they sit flat on the model and the clear parts completely disappear so they look like part of the model, the way they should. Highball Graphics carries mostly New England road names, but he has a lot of other generic stuff, like reflective striping, that can be used on anything. Also, if you need custom decals, he is willing to print them up, all you have to do is send him an email. However, Highball Graphics doesn't have everything I need, and if another manufacturer carries what I need, then it is cheaper than ordering custom decals. If Highball Graphics doesn't have it, I turn to Microscale. These decals are also very good. The prices are fair and the selection is just amazing. However, the website can get difficult to navigate, so when you find something, make sure you bookmark it so you can find it again.

For structures, I prefer those made by Walthers, Pikestuff, and DPM. Walthers makes a little of everything. Pikestuff makes modern corrugated steel structures, which are modular by design and can be kitbashed with little effort. DPM makes brick structures that are good for downtown scenes. I get my DPM structures from my hobby shop but I order my Walthers and Pikestuff structures from modeltrainstuff.com. This website has great deals on everything they have. They don't carry everything, but what they have is priced very well, and when they have a sale the prices are just unbelievable. I recently ordered some Walthers coal cars from that website at half price.

Tools can get tricky. There are tools that are specific to the model railroading world, which makes them expensive. However, most tools are actually pretty generic. The trick here is to not buy tools that are marketed for modeling if you can avoid it. With only a few exceptions, these tools are generic tools marketed for a specific purpose, and most people won't know the difference. As a result, they cost a lot more. I bought most of my tools at Harbor Freight Tools. This is a tool store all over the country. The tools they carry are no-name brands, so they are cheap, but they are just as good as any name brand tools. Good tools to get are various pliers, files (one set for plastic and one set for metal), wire strippers, wire cutters, scissors, a razor saw and small miter box, small screwdrivers, small clamps, a hobby knife and assorted blades, rulers, calipers for measuring, and safety glasses. Some tools, however, really are specific to modeling and can only be found online, in a craft store, or your hobby store. These include track cutters, a scale ruler, and some glues. For plastic, I use a plastic solvent cement made by Plastruct. I use cyanoacrylite adhesive, or CA, for gluing wood or metal or for bonding dissimilar materials together, such as plastic to wood. This is basically super glue, and can be found just about anywhere. I use a decal setting solution from Walthers for my decals. When I finish a model, I spray it with Testor's Dullcote to seal everything together and get rid of the shiny sheen of the plastic. This is also available at most hobby stores.

Electronics are similar to tools, in that if you order electronics marketed for the hobby it will cost you a lot more. There are two websites I like that carry electronics that can be used in the hobby but are not marketed for it. First is allelectronics.com. They carry just about anything electronic you can think of. I found this website looking for resistors. However, they don't have much for lighting, which led me to find led-switch.com, which carries just about every LED you can think of. Because they are not marketed for a specific purpose, they cost next to nothing. One advantage to getting electronics marketed for modeling is that the manufacturer determines the size of resistor you need and includes it in the package or sells it separately. However, with a little bit of simple math, you can figure that out yourself and get the discount electronics. Maybe one day I will write an article on finding resistor sizes.

I hope this reference helps. James and I are working on a new and improved Links section to the website, which will have one section devoted to modeling. Right now there are a few links in there, but we are going to sort it into categories so you can find what you're looking for more easily. We also have a OBT Favorites section, which has our personal favorite websites for ordering supplies or finding prototype information.