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...

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...

NMRA stands for the National Model Railroad Association which is an organisation in North America that was set up to regulate and monitor standards within the model railroad industry.Founded in 1935, the NMRA's main function is to introduce...

Baseboards are made up of three elements. Starting at the bottom and working up, there arethe supports (legs), on top of the supports sits the framing (baseboard frame) on the very top of all that is the top surface (board on which you...

An SPST switch is a simple on/off switch. SPST stands for Single Pole Single Throw and it is the most basic of switches controlling a single piece of equipment from a single power supply.In a model railway scenario, this switch is used to...

Self-closing tweezers are regular tweezers but their default position is closed just like a clothes peg.There is nothing complicated about their design though, in fact, self-closing tweezers are more straightforward than a clothes peg with no...

NEM stands for Normal-European-Modelling standards. NEM standards are decided and maintained by an organisation called MOROP which was formed in the mid-1950s and is made up of numerous model railway associations and enthusiasts throughout Europe....

Choosing a brand new Revell kit to build is an exciting time, all of those shiny pictures on the boxes make you want them all. But some kits are more complex than others, some come with paint and glue whilst others don't. So which one is right for...