To understand what a DCC decoder does, we must first take a look at how DC and DCC work.DC stands for Direct Current, this is the way modellers have been controlling their model railways for years. You have a controller which sends electric to...

A third hand tool (often referred to as a helping hand tool) is a clamp like device that sits on your worktop. Its function is to help you with those awkward modelling jobs where an extra pair of hands would be an advantage.Third hand tools...

There are many types of Epoxy Resins, they all contain roughly the same properties ending up as a very hard-wearing plastic-like substance, but they cure in different ways to facilitate different types and uses.Epoxy resins are mainly used as...

Paint not only comes in different types (acrylic or enamel) but will also produce different finishes. These different finishes are described as gloss, matt or satin. Regardless off paint type gloss paints will give your model a nice shiny finish,...

There are different types of electric motors, the type that most modellers are accustomed to is the one that makes their engines move. This type of motor is known as a solenoid motor. It is a crude and basic motor that works by passing a current...

Installing a model building on a layout is often referred to as planting the model. On the surface this is quite a strange phrase as the words plonk, place or put would all be more descriptive, but, try to think of it another way, if you plonk...

Cameo scenes are traditionally the preserve of Hollywood and the film or stage industries when an actor or actress gets a short appearance in a production. But our little trains are stars too and the phrase is being increasingly used within our...

Gunpla, are plastic models depicting the numerous characters and vehicles from the 1980's TV series "Mobile Suit Gundam". The name Gunpla is an amalgamation of Gundam and plastic.Mobile Suit Gundam was an animated TV series produced in Japan...

When turnouts are operated by point motors, they require the same forces applied to them as they would do operated by hand, to move the point blades force needs to be applied, but the rest of the time no force is required and the blades sit quite...

The era system was introduced to model railways so that modellers could easily identify what period in history a model's prototype would have been seen in the real world. Most of us will already know when the majority of locomotives were steaming...

A DPDT (Double Pole Double Throw) switch allows two completely separate circuits to be controlled by just one switch. They can be used as on/off or on/on switches.There are many situations on a model railway layout where a DPDT switch can be...

A footplate is a footplate! or so you would think! The definition of a footplate in the dictionary is "the part of a steam railway engine on which the driver stands" and that is most people's understanding of it. But there are some interesting...