Like many boys, I became interested in trains when I got my first model train set. I vividly remember setting it up on the floor of my grandparents’ living room on Christmas morning and watching my train go around and around. Both my model railroad collection and my modeling skills have increased exponentially since then, but I will be forever grateful to my late grandparents for making that train set possible.

Bachmann’s Rail Chief HO Scale train set has been around in various forms (although it’s name may have changed) for decades and for good reason. It’s the easiest way to get a young person into the hobby of model railroading because it has everything they will need to get started in one box. There is a locomotive, four cars, power pack, signal bridge, miniature figures, railroad signs, street signs, telephone poles, and enough track included to make a 47″ x 38″ oval.

Bachmann’s E-Z track includes nickel silver rail (the industry standard) attached to molded gray roadbed. While some modelers do use it on their permanent layout, E-Z track is designed to provide a stable setup for running trains directly on the floor or on a table. It’s easy to setup and disassemble for temporary operations.

It’s not a problem at all to add turnouts, wyes, and crossings later on if you become bored watching your train run in circles. Most hobby shops carry a wide selection of E-Z track and accessories.

Bachmann Industries has really stepped up their game in recent years and has been working hard to shed its image of a “toy train” manufacturer to a “model train” supplier. Bachmann’s products are certainly not in the same league as Athearn, Walthers, and Scale Trains in terms of prototypical detail and build quality and they don’t pretend to be. Instead, they balance functionality and durability, which is exactly what a train set that will be operated by a child needs to be.

You can spend a lot more on a Digital Command Control train set with highly detailed locomotives and rolling stock, but you really shouldn’t. A simple Direct Current (DC) set like this with fewer details to break off due to careless handling is the best way to get a young kid into the hobby. If it sparks their interest, they will have the rest of their life to build super-detailed models and program DCC CV codes in $300+ locomotives as their skills progress.

I became a subscriber to Model Railroader in sixth or seventh grade. I took a hiatus while in college, but resumed my subscription after I graduated and still receive it every month to this day. I love walking to the mailbox and finding a new issue of Model Railroader (and its sister publication about the prototype, Trains) waiting for me.

While the magazine is undoubtedly thinner than it was in its glory days in the 1990’s – I still have and reference my older issues – , it is still a solid publication that advocates strongly for the hobby. The staff does a fine job of recycling popular topics without making the reader feel like he is re-reading an article from two years ago.

Model Railroader is geared toward the novice and intermediate modeler. Railroad Model Craftsman and Model Railroad Hobbyist (a free digital publication) are more suited for advanced hobbyists, although their production value feels cheaper and I don’t enjoy reading them as much as Model Railroader when I just feel like casually browsing to get ideas for my layout or next rolling stock project.

The magazine’s product review section is one area that could be improved. There is an inherent conflict of interest when the magazine is reviewing products manufactured by prominent advertisers in said magazine. The result is occasional milquetoast reviews of products that the hobby community is less than impressed with because of incorrect prototype details, dimensions, or paint.

When it comes to the knives on my workbench, I spend the extra money on a well-built X-Acto knife that isn’t going to hurt my hand and that will give me the control that I need throughout an evening of modeling. I have found that off-brand blades work just fine when used in a quality knife.

Cutting instruments in general are not a good place to try to save money, but these BCS blades are an exception. I tried a few cheaper brands of chains for my Stihl MS290 Farm Boss chainsaw before I gladly started buying the OE chains again, even though they cost twice as much as the knockoffs on eBay. The cheaper chains dulled exponentially faster even in soft woods and didn’t sharpen well. I once went through almost a whole package of 10 cheap hacksaw blades from Harbor Freight trying to cut a simple piece of rebar in my garden before I wised up and stuck with a name brand.

There just isn’t enough performance difference between these blades and the name brand X-Acto blades to justify paying five times more when you consider how often you change (or should be changing) your #11 blade. If you’re unfamiliar with the nomenclature, a #11 blade is a general purpose blade and the one you think of when you think of an X-Acto knife.

While a name brand blade is undoubtedly going to hold its edge a bit longer, these PCS blades fit a variety of hobby knives just as well. Given the lower cost per blade, you’re more likely to dispose of it when it starts to dull rather than trying to keep using it like you might with the more expensive blades.

The X2000 is my primary hobby knife. I looked at X-Acto’s higher-tier knife, the X3000, but didn’t like the idea of in-handle blade storage. I rely on feedback from the material I’m cutting; blades moving around inside the handle would take away from the solid feel that I want my knife to have.

I’ve had the same knife for more than four years and have yet to had a blade come loose due to the handle loosening by itself. This, along with user comfort, is where most cheaper hobby knives fall short of the X-Acto brand.

The rubberized grip is nice to have when you’re a couple of hours into a modeling session. I also prefer the thicker grip that the rubberized model provides. Metal barrel knives feel nice and are fine for occasional work, but they tend to hurt your hands if you’re going to be working with them for any period of time.

My favorite thing about this knife is the slight bump on one side of the grip that helps prevent the knife from rolling off my workbench. The last thing I would want as I relax and build my models is to look down and see a #11 blade sticking straight down into my new luxury vinyl plank flooring that I installed just a few months ago.

As with the rest of the X-Acto line, the X2000 is equipped with a safety cap, however it comes loose too easily to be relied on as a safety feature. You basically need to store and handle this knife as if it didn’t have one.

I’m very satisfied with how this knife performs with the PCS #11 blades. Click here to read my review on these affordable blades.

Adding a quality airbrush and committing to its mastery lets you take your modeling and projects to the next level.

Hobbyists use airbrushes for:
– Painting the model cars, aircraft, ships, and trains
– Weathering the above models
– Painting scenery and track on model railroads
– Painting fishing lures

The primary advantage of an airbrush over a can of spray paint is the control that it gives you, both in terms of the rate of paint application and the type of paint itself. Even spray paints designed for scale models deliver too much paint at once and don’t allow you to control the flow with any level of precision. With canned spray paints, you’re limited to the colors and finishes offered by the paint manufacturer.

Don’t be intimidated by jumping right in with a double-action (dual-action) airbrush. While a single-action airbrush is still going to give you much finer results than a rattle can, you sacrifice a significant amount of control when you can’t control the flow of the paint independently of the air.

I didn’t fully appreciate the quality of Japanese engineering of this unit until I disassembled it for cleaning for the first time. The components fit together so precisely. For what is a relatively simple tool, it’s quite impressive how well everything functions. With that being said, it is imperative that you promptly clean this brush with water or the appropriate solvent each and every time you use it, as the needle and nozzle will quickly become fouled if you neglect this basic maintenance.

You get what you pay for with air compressors, just as you do with airbrushes. While I have an older compressor that still serves my present needs, I recommend this airbrush/compressor package that includes the Iwata HP-CS airbrush and a Medea compressor if you’re looking for a good mid-level combo. This is an outstanding dual-fan compressor from a reputable manufacturer.

The cost of a moisture trap is relatively low for the peace of mind it provides when you’re counting on your airbrush to deliver a quality finish, as compressed air condenses and sends small amounts of water through the hose mixed in with your air supply. The result is “fish eyes” in your beautiful new paint job. I use and recommend Iwata’s inline moisture filter. I personally don’t like the way that the pistol grip filters change the ergonomics of the brush.

I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the top three airbrush brands: Iwata, Paasche, or Badger. I looked at and handled the latter two before deciding on the Iwata HP-CS for its build quality and the way it fit my hand. A quality airbrush is a tool that will serve you for decades if you take care of it.