This page has a list of links to suppliers of services and products you might find useful in building many model railroad products, including those from Rail Yard Models. About halfway down this page there is a discussion of the materials and construction techniques used for our products. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of a "Craftsman Kit," this will help you understand.
Custom Builders Have you seen a Rail Yard Models kit you would love to own, but don't feel up to the task of building it? Try contacting one of these custom builders! Please visit their web sites to view examples of their fine craftsmanship.
Thoroughbred Railroad Models offers custom kit building services. The owner, Lenny Harlos Jr., has offered to build your Rail Yard Models kit to your request.
Custom building and weathering services for freight cars and structures by David Schroedle. David is also a member of the Weathering Solutions.net modeling consortium.
A group of custom builders that offers a full line of assembly through painting and weathering services for craftsman kits of all types and manufacturers.
Tools Precision model building required specialized tools. The following companies produce tools that you may find useful for building your railroad models.
This company is well known for their wide selection of model building tools and supplies. Many of the tools helpful for building Rail Yard Models kits (and others) can be found here.
Manufacturer of the Hold and Fold photo-etched part bending tool.
Modeling Products Listed below are links to products you may find helpful to your modeling efforts. Many of these manufacturers provide the fine components used in Rail Yard Models kits.
A-Line/Arrow Hobby, a division of Proto Power West, is a diversified hobby products retailer and manufacturing company producing a high quality line of precision HO locomotive power chassis, model vehicles and vehicle detail parts, intermodal containers and cars, and an extensive line of railroad detail parts.
Adair Shops produces a variety of weight sets designed to add weight to your rolling stock. Many of their sets increase the weight without being seen. Adair Shops have also introduced several HO scale steel plate load kits that would be a great addition to our G47 gondolas.
Boulder Creek Engineering's mission is to create a new level of operating fidelity for model
railroads using sophisticated yet simple-to-use technology. They offer products that drive realism into your operating sessions, and
no soldering or computer programming required!
Plano is one of the best known producers of photo etched metal parts for the model railroad hobby. Check out their web site for their full line of products to enhance your models.
Rail Graphics offers custom decal printing services to the model railroad industry and individual hobbyist. Their web site displays examples of their work along with their guide to submitting your own artwork for custom decals.
Rail Yard Models uses Reboxx 33" and 36" wheelsets in it's HO scale kits. These wheels offer enhanced rolling characteristics compared to plastic wheels. In addition the semi-scale width improves the appearance of the models without sacrificing tracking capabilities. Reboxx offers their wheelsets on graduated axle lengths that allow for perfect fit in just about every type of sideframe.
Tichy offers a wide variety of detail parts as well as a several other items including doors & windows, structures and complete freight car kits.
About Our Products What is a Craftsman Kit?
A craftsman kit is not a "shake the box" model that goes together in a few hours. These models usually are composed of many parts, details and some times raw materials such as brass wire or structural shapes. The benefit of this is that you will have a very detailed model, comparable to or better than brass in most cases. In addition, the assembly process gives advanced modelers places to make modifications to produce spectacular results, or even model different prototypes.
A craftsman kit is a model that requires intermediate to advanced skills to assemble. Typically, the modeler will need to perform steps such as cutting and fitting parts, cleaning casting flash, drilling small holes and bending wire. In all cases, fininishing the model will require painting and decaling skills.
Working with Urethane Parts
Like styrene, urethane can be cut, filed, drilled and sanded quite easily with the same tools used when working with styrene.
Urethane plastic is unlike styrene in several ways. The most noticeable difference is that it will not bond with solvent type cements. Joining urethane parts or bonding other materials to urethane requires using cyanoacrylate (CA) adhesive, Cyanopoxy or other bonding agent like contact cement. CA is the recommended adhesive for urethane.
Because of urethane's resistance to solvents, it can be painted with just about any of the common model paints without fear of the solvent attacking the surface.
Sometimes urethane parts can warp. Subjecting them to high heat is usually what causes this. Leaving a urethan (or styrene) model in a hot car is almost certain disaster! Warped urethane parts can be coaxed back into position using the same process that warped them in the first place. heating the part with warm to hot water or a hair dryer can usually provide enough flex to gently move the parts back in to place. Work slowly and with low heat levels until you become familiar with the characteristics of the material.
Working with Etched Metal Parts
Etched metal parts have become an integral part of many of our kits. They are not just for details any more. They offer strength in areas where a urethane casting would be too flimsy if made close to scale size. These parts also offer the ability to fabricate extensive see-through types of perforated metal applications such as roof walks and brake or end platforms.
Etched metal parts are found using three types of metal:
Brass: This is the most common. It is inexpensive, etches well and provides a fair amount of strength. It is the typical golden yellow metal familiar to most modelers.
Stainless Steel: A bit more expensive than brass. It is used where a bit more strength is required. Stainless steel parts will deflect and return to position better than the other two materials used. (More elasticity) This makes them useful for roof walks where they are only supported at widely spaced intervals.
Phosphor Bronze: This metal usually is used where strength is required. It is a very stiff material characterized by a reddish-brown color. Phosphor bronze is used where the softness of brass and the springiness of stainless steel are not useful. Small section parts formed by folding phosphor bronze into angles or channels are exceptionally strong.
There are four operations to address when working with etched metal parts:
1. Removing from the fret
Large parts can sometimes be removed by twisting at the small tabs that hold the part to the fret. This can impart distortions to otherwise flat parts, and should only be used on truly large and stiff parts.
The preferred method is to cut the parts off the fret with a knife. Lay the metal on a hard surface such as a steel plate or thick glass. Use a curved tip blade to sever the tabs that holds the part by pressing down on the knife while holding the part. If you don't hold it, it can sometimes achieve escape velocity when the knife cuts through. Not a problem for large parts, but small ones can easily get lost.
Once the part is free, it may be necessary to clean up the tab stubs with a small file. In many cases, the tabs are located on the tips of mounting pins, and will be hidden when assembled. No cleanup on those is required.
In addition to the above method, sprue nippers can be used to remove brass and phosphor bronze parts from the fret. These metals are much softer than the stainless steel used for the nippers and will not harm them. Using nippers to remove stainless steel etched parts is not recommended.
2. Bending and forming
One of the great benefits using etched metal brings to kit construction is the ability to form some rather complex shapes. These shapes are typically achieved by bending the metal part along etched "fold grooves." These grooves serve three purposes; they fix the position of the bend, they make it easier to bend the metal in that location, they allow for a very crisp fold line.
There are several commercially available etched metal bending brakes available that greatly simplify the task of bending parts. Etch Mate from Mission Models
If you don't have one of these tools, there are ways to make the folds with common tools you already own.
Large panels can be bent or folded using a steel rule and a hard surface as a bending brake. Position the part with the groove just a bit past the edge of the rule. Then, while holding the part and rule together, press down the exposed portion of the etched metal part on a hard flat surface and gently bend it to the desired angle.
Smaller parts can be bent using smooth jaw long nose pliers or heavy duty tweezers. 3. Cementing & Joining
Etched metal parts bond very well using CA and Cyanopoxy type cements. In cases where metal parts are joined together, it is sometimes possible to solder them. This is not recommended if the parts are already attached to the model. It can be done if a suitable heat sink can be placed between the work area and the plastic.
4. Painting.
Etched metal parts provide a superior surface for paint application. In most cases, the parts have been chemically stripped of the photo resist used in the etch process. This leaves a very clean surface to paint on. The usual cleaning steps used before painting any surface are still required, but usually nothing special.
