Thin Branch Series: Backdrops part 4 – Clouds

Jay Smith painting a bird.

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page In our final backdrop painting installment, artist Jay Smith shows you how to add clouds to the sky of your model railroad. To complete the scene, he also provides tips for painting simple birds. Look for Jay’s other backdrop-painting videos on MR Video […]

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Becky Chestney’s Christmas layouts

Three layouts are a lot to fit into one article! Enjoy the additional photos of Becky Chestney’s three Christmas layouts in this video slideshow; visit the 7 x 15-foot O gauge Disneyland layout, the 4 x 5-foot prewar layout dominated by Standard gauge, and the 4 x 6-foot “Postwar Central” that features both O and […]

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Jay Cain’s innovative O gauge layout

Jay Cain’s innovative O gauge layout

Jay Cain’s O-27 empire was one of the last O gauge layouts to be featured in our sister publication, Model Railroader. This new 12 x 30-foot O gauge layout reflects his wealth of experience in the hobby, along with his artistic and mechanical talents and vast imagination. […]

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Cody’s Workshop: Episode 9 – Stripping paint

black-and-white photo of Cody Grivno wearing a white jacket and safety goggles on head

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Just in time for Halloween, Cody shows you two ways to strip paint from models in his latest visit to the “MR Laboratory.” He also shares some scary tips for preparing resin models, cutting coupler trip pins, and painting locomotive numberboards. And watchout […]

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Video: Athearn Trains HO scale sound-equipped reefer

Cody Grivno

This HO scale refrigerator car from Athearn Trains models a Fruit Growers Express (FGE) prototype. The model also includes a SoundTraxx decoder that reproduces the sounds of the refrigeration unit. Follow along as associate editor Cody Grivno shows how the car’s placement in a train affects the clarity of the sound. Cody also reviewed the […]

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