Wiley's Bench Time - Model Railroading Podcast

We’re coming to the Craftsman Courtyard at the Great Scale Model Train Show in Timonium Maryland next month! We talk about coming to the show and a little bit about what we’re going to be doing there including some clinics, and building some stuff right at our table! So if you’re coming to the show be sure to swing by and say hi to us! Here are some of the show links:  Craftsman Courtyard FB Page...

Todd talks about making scale newspapers to scatter around your street scenes, structures and dioramas. These are super easy to create and they make a realistic real-city look. This is something that we can all do and the best part is... It's extremely affordable! Are there any other details like this that you've added to your diorama's or layout? Make sure to visit our site any time for more grea...

Fine Scale Freak shirts are available now! Enter code FREESHIP919c4799d at checkout for free shipping until 9/22/2019:  https://hoscalecustoms.threadless.com/designs/fine-scale-freak Have you ever wondered if you REALLY need all of the media and mediums that we seem to collect? Now don't get us wrong, it's fun to get new stuff and we are in no way telling anyone that you shouldn't buy new material...

Excuse the lame and awkward introduction from Brett!  This week Todd brings a flashlight to the toolbox talk and discusses how he uses one around his work area in the dark crevices and corners to find parts dropped around the workbench. Here's the scenario... You drop that little window or chimney, or even (gasp) a piece of cut-to-fit acetate. You know it hit the floor but you either have a dark f...

Dave Yale from Dave’s Model Railway Stuff joins us on the show this week and we’ve been waiting for this interview for quite some time, so we were very excited to talk with him. Since my Dad and myself are very new and interested in the idea of 3D model printing and very unaware of the process this turned into a BIG Q&A session with Dave and fortunately he was extremely patient and willing to answ...

We go over a bunch of awesome topics and questions from our Patrons this week and covered a lot of awesome areas and some new topics. We also cover some of the new benefits our existing and NEW patrons will receive including monthly contests for craftsman kits and model building contests! You can learn more about how to support our show and how to become a Patron here: https://patreon.com/hoscalec...

We're talking about how we both use wooden clothespins to hang instructions, reference materials, photos, and really whatever we need to from our workbench this week. Todd has a metal workbench, so he tells us how he easily and quickly glued some small magnets to the back of the clothespins and just pops them onto the metal bar at the top of his work area. Brett has a home-made wood workbench so h...

This week we had a very awesome guest on the show! A first for our show of this type, a model railroading hobby shop owner and a hobby shop that LOVE! Todd's been to Mainline Hobby Supply a bunch the past couple years and Brett has made a few of these trips down to the shop with him. Every time we visit Mainline Hobby Supply we end up spending wayyyy too much time there and our wives definitely en...

Brett talks about using a lighter (can be replaced with other heat sources like heat gun) to heat up the plastic body of the Ford pickup truck that he's working on right now. This is a simple way to add some body dents to vehicle models and can certainly be used on all scales for adding dents, dings, and gouges to models! Please take extreme caution and wear all proper protection and work in a wel...

It's nearing the end of summer here in our world and we take some time in this episode to talk about what we did this Summer both on the layout, with our projects and what we did that wasn't model building or sitting around the layout. That's right, we talk a little bit about what we did this fine Summer that didn't deal with building models and trains.  We also go a little into the importance of...

This week we have TWO tips for you and we let Todd run with his toolbox tip first. Todd goes into the importance of having a spare roll of paper towels stored around the workbench but placed in a location that doesn't get in the way. Now Todd isn't a Bounty or Brawny man, but even when he's using the discount or store-brand, there are a multitude of uses of a couple rolls of paper towels for aroun...

We’ve done a little housekeeping this week and finished updating a few things you might notice throughout the HO Scale Customs world. From a new website design, podcast intro (might change this up from time-to-time still), new youtube video, and some upcoming changes to our Social “look and feel”, we’re trying to just add some fresh paint to our look. Not a big deal, but just in-case you notice so...

Have you ever used a wire brush to distress or add wood grain to a piece of lumber on your builds?  If you started out using the old-school wire brushes that look like toothbrushes (and that Brett apparently thinks really is a toothbrush), then you know the frustration with fraying and bent wire bristles. Well, Todd talks this week about the ease of distressing with the use of a file card instead...

This week we jump into a wide range of topics including some VERY good questions from our Patrons including topics such as: Use of airbrushes Cleaning models and layout without breaking Here's a link to the Micro Shop Vac nozzle set Brett was talking about Our views on model building now that we're eyeball deep into these old-school builds Color selection and painting techniques for Brick Brett al...

We're talking junk this week on the Model Building Toolbox Talk! Here's a simple way to add some seaside, waterside, pond, river alleyway, "wherever-way" junk to your model railroad and diorama scenes. The best part about this tip is that if you've built a kit or two, you definitely have some scrap scale lumber laying around. So you're halfway there just hoarding these extra scrap lumber pieces. I...

This week we were pumped to have Dave Meek & Jake Johnson from  Crescent Creek Models to tell us all about the new Walt Disney's Carolwood Barn O Scale kit that they've just released.  As you both know from their previous appearances on our show, both Jake & Dave have impressive modeling backgrounds and have built a career around their art and craftsmanship. So it is only fitting that they've turn...

I was looking around for a free resource to uncover old ads and print samples of the time period in which my dad and I model, and I discovered the world of archived newspapers in Google!  If you head over to books.google.com , you'll not only be able to find some really current books to read, but you'll be able to search through the archives of old newspapers and magazines that they've worked to a...

Are you excited? Because this episode we get to talk to Doug Foscale of FOS Scale models about his annual release of his limited run kit. And this year's limited run is pretty spectacular! Rust Rock Falls is the 2019 limited release HO Scale kit from FOS Scale models and its only available for a short time, because once he sells 200 of them, they'll be "sold out" and your only chance of getting on...

We were fortunate enough to have Doug Foscale of FOS Scale Models on this week's mid-week model building toolbox talk to tell us about how we can all use taskboard to create streets, sidewalks, walkways, docks and more. We've already know about the use of taskboard and actually have started to use it within out city for sidewalks and such, but Doug took the idea and added to it on this episode by...

This week we were very excited to bring Lance Mindheim onto the show! We have had many listeners request us to get Lance on and we finally were able to schedule some time to get together with him and chat modeling with him. Lance provides a lot of great information on his blog at LanceMindheim.com   and from his books over at his bookstore (links are on his site for all books).  He also has anothe...

This week for our mid-week episode we talk about the use of the American Flag (and other international flags) in your models and model railroads. There is also an importance to make sure you're using the right American Flag for the era that you're modeling! For more on the different versions of the flag that our nation has used you can check out this site on the American Flag historical timeline ....

Last weekend was a VERY special weekend for us and a lot of other great modelers that we met. We got to tour George Sellios' Franklin & South Manchester layout and meet & talk with George! On-top of that, we also got the chance to visit Doug Foscale and hang out with him for a while on Friday afternoon. Doug showed us his shop where all the work behind the FOS Scale Models kits are created and it...

Our recent visit to see George Sellios' Franklin & South Manchester brought a TON and I mean a TON of ideas into my sights that I want to attempt on our own layout.  Now, I am realistic and I know that it will never look like what we saw this weekend and any attempt to do so will either end up looking like a blatant copy OR will never be what his layout is. But what I can do is take his techniques...

We're VERY excited to finally see the Franklin & South Manchester layout and we discuss how much it means to us to be able to get to see this layout for the first time. This is such an iconic layout and myself and Todd have drawn so much inspiration from it, and to be able to finally see it, it's going to be AWESOME! We're also very excited to meet up with some of our listeners up in Massachusetts...

Mid-week we're talking about how we save parts from other kits we build and how the parts we save are better off when they're organized in a way that we can easily find them later, when we actually need them. It's so easy to save things that we'll "use for later" but the hard part is actually remembering you have them for that later time when you intended to use them. We're sure this is a problem...