Scratch Building Model Railroad Structures

In this video, Allen Keller talks with Don Cassler about scratch building model railroad structures. Many modelers struggle with getting started on their layouts because they are uneasy. The financial investment they have made in their kits and materials can make them wary to actually use them. The beauty of scratch building is that the cheapest of materials can be used to create a great effect. Strip woods, metal, plexiglass, and especially styrene are great for scratch building model railroad structures. It is not the materials that are truly important in your builds, rather it is enjoying the process and finding inspiration from observing real structures to take back and use in your layout. Scratch building model railroad structures always creates one of kind results that are quite pleasurable to make.

In this video, learn how to maintain your specialized tool for scratch building, specifically the Northwest Shortline Chopper. A modification can be made to your Northwest Shortline Chopper to reinvent the slot where the blade enters the board. This will provide a sharper and cleaner cut for scratch building model railroad structures. This simple trick will create a cutting edge for your razor blade that will never go dull.