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Tip Of The Day – 84

Modelling Tip Of The Day – 85

This Modelling Tip Of The Day is an ongoing series, in which we’ll be posting a modelling tip that may be of use to the newbie right up to the seasoned modeller. Today’s tip is:

Download Kits

In recent years, an other form of model railway kit to come on to the market is the download kit. Download kits as the name applies is a kit which is contained in a PDF file, in which you purchase & download & save on to your computer. The beauty of the download kit is that it’s very cost effective, instant delivery via email, can be printed off & built as many times as you wish.

All you need is a reasonable printer, photo paper, & card. You can use card packaging from the likes of your cereal boxes & the like, or greyboard card which can be found here: https://www.scalemodelscenery.co.uk/gb002-1mm-a4-greyboard-pack-of-10-1800-p.asp

The kits contain, full instructions, template layers & texture wrap layers.

Open the PDF file to access the kit, & set your printer scale settings to 100% or actual size. The download kit will contain what we call base layers which contains the shape templates. Set your printer to grey scale as the template layer is just black & white usually. This will save on ink. Print these layers onto normal A4 paper. Then glue on to Card using the likes of a glue stick, uhu glue, etc. Once the glue has set, cut out the shapes on the template layers.

For the texture wrap layers, set the printer back to colour & set image quality to it’s highest/best settings. Print off on to 100gsm photo paper. The texture wrap layer is glued on to the template shapes, again use the likes of a glue stick, uhu glue etc.

For assembling the kit sections together, use the likes of Deluxe Materials Roket Card glue which gives good strong bond & joints. The beauty of of the download kit is if you make a mistake, simply reprint the sheet needed. Download kits are easy to customise & ideal for scratch building. If for example you are building a long retaining wall, you can build a wall as long require by printing off extra sheets. Thus making it a very cost effective way of building a layout.

One other tip once you’ve built the download kit is to seal it, this prevents the prints from fading & sunlight damage etc. Use an aerosol mat spray varnish or similar to seal the completed kit.

If you haven’t done so already, check out the range of download kits in the club shop. From texture sheets for scratch building, to building kits & accessories there is something for most layouts!

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1 Comment

  1. ClaytonCanuk

    Good tips and very useful information.

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