In the series 'Notch 8', the American Trainmasters TV presents many different model railway tutorials. From weathering to 3D printing, from building to detailing, everything is covered in this extensive series.
Learn all the tips and tricks from the best model railway builders from the United States!
Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

‘Notch 8’ - Model Railroad Tutorials -cover.jpg

‘Notch 8’ - Model Railroad Tutorials

Part 1: "Blue-Box" & Brake Rigging & More

We're revved up with a new TrainMasters TV exclusive series! Trevor Marshall hosts, with techniques for super-detailing, painting and weathering locomotives and rolling stock from award-winning modelers from across North America. In our first segment, Efram Ellenbogen upgrades an Athearn "Blue-Box" SD40-2 with an Overland brass chassis. There's more to it than just swapping out the old mechanism, and he has some great tips for making the transition go smoothly. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

"Blue-Box" Overland chassis upgrade

Model builder Efram Ellenbogen returns to the TrainMasters TV studio to do more work on his Athearn "Blue Box" SD40-2. Who would have thought that replacing cast-on rooftop fans with detailed parts would have been so easy? Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Athearn "Blue-Box" roof fan upgrade

A TrainMasters TV exclusive series. Trevor Marshall hosts, with techniques for super-detailing, painting and weathering locomotives and rolling stock from award-winning modelers across North America. In this episode, professional modeler Pierre Oliver shares his techniques for adding detailed brake rigging to freight car underframes. Part one of two. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Underbody brake rigging, part 1

A TrainMasters TV exclusive series. Trevor Marshall hosts, with techniques for super-detailing, painting and weathering locomotives and rolling stock from award-winning modelers across North America. In this episode, professional modeler Pierre Oliver shares his techniques for adding detailed brake piping to freight car underframes. This is part 2 of 2. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Underbody brake rigging, part 2

A TrainMasters TV exclusive series. Trevor Marshall hosts with techniques for super-detailing, painting, and weathering locomotives and rolling stock from award-winning modelers across North America. In this segment, professional modeler Pierre Oliver returns with techniques for installing etched-brass ladders on a boxcar. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Installing freight car ladders

A TrainMasters TV exclusive series. Trevor Marshall hosts this video series with techniques for super-detailing, painting and weathering locomotives and rolling stock from award-winning modelers across North America. In this segment, professional modeler Pierre Oliver wraps up his contribution on freight car detailing by showing us his techniques for installing coupler air hoses. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

 Installing air hoses

Part 2: Airbrushing with Alan Houtz

On Notch 8 over the next few months, professional painter Alan Houtz will share his experience with the tools and materials he uses to airbrush contest-quality models. In &ldquo;Airbrushing 101&rdquo; we learn about getting comfortable with the different types of airbrushes and the simple process of keeping them clean. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Airbrushing 101 with Alan Houtz

Professional painter Alan Houtz demonstrates how easy proper airbrush cleaning can be. Host Trevor Marshall also brought in his own personal airbrush (that he accidentally gummed up) for a complete strip-down cleaning demo. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Proper airbrush cleaning

In the second segment in our Notch 8 series on airbrushing, professional painter Alan Houtz shares some tips on outfitting your spray booth set-up and does a complete strip-down and cleaning of Trevor Marshall&rsquo;s own personal airbrush - and finds a surprise inside! Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Airbrushing 102 with Alan Houtz

In the third segment in our Notch 8 series on airbrushing, professional painter Alan Houtz demonstrates tool handling and spraying. Beware of wet paint! Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Airbrushing 103 with Alan Houtz

In the fourth and final segment in our Notch 8 series on airbrushing, professional painter Alan Houtz demonstrates simple weathering techniques that will help to get cars off the workbench and onto the layout quickly. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Airbrushing 104 with Alan Houtz

Part 3: 3D printing at home

3D printing technology is changing how hobbyists build models, but we have only scratched the surface of what it can do for us. In this four-part series on Notch 8, guest Jeff Pinchbeck demonstrates how his printer has solved several modeling challenges. In this first session, he discusses the discovery process and the learning curve involved in putting this fantastic tool into service. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

3D printing at home - Part 1

In the second of this four-part series, Jeff Pinchbeck discusses some techniques and work-arounds that he&rsquo;s learned to get the most from his machine. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

3D printing at home - Part 2

Many people see 3D printing as the ultimate solution for making models such as structures and detail parts. Trevor and Jeff investigate ways to use the printer for parts &ldquo;under the hood&rdquo; of our models. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

3D printing at home - Part 3

As the quality of 3D printers improves, the goal of making our own models is in sight. But in the meantime the existing technology can make some excellent tools for scratch-building what we need now. In our final episode on 3D Printing at Home, Jeff and Trevor discuss ways to use the printer for making fixtures for holding things in place. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

3D printing at home - Part 4

Part 4: Assembling flat resin kits and more

There&rsquo;s a lot of information stenciled on the side of a freight car. Rolling stock builder Pierre Oliver gives us some insight into why all those abbreviations and numbers are required, in preparation for lettering our own models. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Deciphering freight car data

Rolling stock builder Pierre Oliver takes us through the process of lettering a boxcar using waterslide decals. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Applying waterslide decals

Did you know that the majority of resin freight car kits are still sitting on shelves, unassembled? What&rsquo;s holding us back? Rolling stock kit builder Pierre Oliver show us how easy it is to put together flat-cast kits. Part 1 of 2. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Assembling flat resin kits, part 1

Did you know that the majority of resin freight car kits are still sitting on shelves, unassembled? What&rsquo;s holding us back? Rolling stock kit builder Pierre Oliver show us how easy it is to put together flat-cast kits. Part 2 of 2. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Assembling flat resin kits, part 2

Part 5: Weathering Steam

Alan Houtz from Iwata-Medea airbrushes discusses how steam engines get grimy, and shows us methods for weathering passenger locomotives. Part 1 of 3. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Weathering steam, part 1

Alan Houtz from Iwata-Medea airbrushes discusses how steam engines get grimy, and shows us methods for weathering freight locomotives. Part 2 of 3. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Weathering steam, part 2

Alan Houtz from Iwata-Medea airbrushes discusses how steam engines get grimy, and shows us methods for weathering freight locomotives. This time around Alan tackles a yard switcher and weathers it to represent a locomotive that is reaching the end of service. Part 3 of 3. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Weathering steam, part 3

Part 6: Kits & More

Pierre Oliver from Elgin Car Shops shows us his process for mounting trucks to resin freight car kits. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Mounting trucks on resin kits

You may know Pierre Oliver from his appearances in our Notch 8 segment, but did you know that he designs and markets resin freight car kits as well? Pierre talks about Yarmouth Model Works and shows off some of the most recent releases. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Yarmouth Model Works kits

Mounting couplers on resin kits is easy, if you know a few simple tips. Pierre Oliver from Elgin Car Shops shows us how he does it. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Mounting couplers on resin kits

Pierre Oliver has installed thousands of grab irons on freight cars. He shares his secrets for fabricating wire grabs and getting them on the car straight and true. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Installing grab irons

Pierre Oliver has the solution for attaching etched-metal running boards to freight cars for the long haul. But first - Are they running boards or &ldquo;roofwalks&rdquo;? Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Installing running boards

Alan Houtz from Iwata-Medea demonstrates his masking techniques for airbrushing paint on a passenger car. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

How to do paint masking

Part 7: All about weathering

Are your railroad&rsquo;s loads riding around on pristine flatcar decks? Dirty them up with help from Pierre Oliver and a handful of artist&rsquo;s oils. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Weathering flatcar decks

Rust and grime, in little time. Pierre Oliver brings out his oil paints to add streaking effects to his boxcars, fast and easy.
Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Simple weathering with oils

If you&rsquo;re modeling the modern era you&rsquo;ve got lots of white tank cars on your layout - and they&rsquo;re going to get dirty. Pierre Oliver has his oil paints out again, and he adds typical weathering effects to tanks. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Tank car weathering with oils

Pierre Oliver has recently started using AK Interactive enamels to weather his models, and he shares his findings. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Weathering with AK enamels

Pierre Oliver has found that Pan Pastels are one quick and easy way to get a freight car fleet weathered and into service. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Pan pastel weathering

Stock cars aren't boxcars when it comes to freight car weathering. Pierre Oliver shares his helpful techniques and tips to illustrate the subtle differences between Eastern road and Western road stock cars. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Weathering stock cars

This time around, Pierre Oliver has a grab-bag of weathering techniques that you can experiment with. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Weathering potpourri

Pierre Oliver usually adds weathering to his rolling stock with a brush, but he also finds his airbrush handy for quickly toning down plastic models. Base weathering your fleet with an airbrush doesn't have to be hard -- watch Pierre demo super-simple techniques for putting down a fast base upon which to add more dramatic effects using other techniques. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Super-easy airbrush weathering

Part 8: Super detailing & More

Pierre Oliver brings his stable of adhesives to the table with a focus on what's best for use on rolling stock. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Adhesives for rolling stock

Tony Sissons is the author of the book, "Diesel Locomotive Modeling Techniques". He shares examples of some of his work and talks about his approach to prototype modeling. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Meet Tony Sissons

Author and modeler Tony Sissons uses a fantastic arsenal of tools to create highly-detailed models and he is happy to share them with us. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

 Super-detailing tool box, part 1

Super-detailing tool box, part 2

There are several manufacturers that make very good diesel pilot plow parts. But Tony Sissons likes to take his plows to the next level. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Fabricating pilot plows

Part 9: Modeling work cars & More

Tony Sissons - author of the book, "Diesel Locomotive Modeling Techniques" - is in the Notch 8 Hot-seat. We present him with a photo of a prototype freight car and ask him to show us his weathering techniques for getting a model car that looks like it. Can he meet the challenge? Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Weathering Hot-seat - part 1

Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Weathering Hot-seat - part 2

Not sure of the best way to renumber freight cars? Modeling author Tony Sissons has a magic trick for making those unwanted numbers disappear! Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Renumbering rolling stock

Four part series from Roger Chrysler showing in-depth how to model work cars more accurately. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Part 1: Introduction to modeling work cars

Part 2: Turning freight cars into work cars

Part 3: Work car undersides tips and tricks

Part 4: Weathering work cars realistically

Part 10: A mix of tutorials

We catch up with Efram Ellenbogen and look at some of his new superdetailing projects -- and the modeling tricks he's employing. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Catching up with Efram

Bob Fallowfield has amassed a large roster of freight cars that accurately reflect the traffic that CP Rail would have moved through Southern Ontario in 1980. In part one of this three-part series he takes the guest seat and talks about his thought process for making the sometimes-difficult decisions about what rolling stock to acquire. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Developing a realistic roster

It&rsquo;s the details that make the difference when you&rsquo;re establishing an era, and that&rsquo;s not just the case with structures and vehicles. Bob Fallowfield shows how super-detailing out-of-the-box freight cars can go a long way in setting the time and place for your railroad. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Beyond out-of-the-box

The art of weathering freight cars isn&rsquo;t just about which paint and chalks to use. Bob Fallowfield talks about the philosophy behind his weathering decisions. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

Notch 8 Speaking of weathering

In our new Notch8 series reboot, host Bob Fallowfield and Rick Sutton delve into photographing prototype structures for later use as the basis for a photo laminating structure model. Rick introduces us to the prototype structure he's going to build using photo-laminating techniques and shows us how he photographed it. Credits: MRH Magazine / Trainmasters TV

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