What's your model railway phobia?

[rhysapthomas]

I don't have an airbrush either, but it has alway seemed to me that they'd be a right pain to clean up.

I second that great tool love the finish but hate cleaning stripping down all the tiny fiddly bits lot to be said for spray cans

Really though I hate ballasting only done about 6ft or so horrible job

[DELETED]

Grr, NGF search does not recognise the word "phobia" so it took some trawling to find this again.

I have some nervousness -ballasting I really enjoy now I have a ballast spreader.  It works 1000% better than a teaspoon etc whilst still needs allot of dressing afterwards I gave up on dilluted PVA also -WS scenic glue for me all the way plus a pre-soaking using an eyeglass cleaner bottle etc.  But it never looks as good afterwards as when it's freshly laid 

My N gauge phobia is DCC ready locomotives (I'm a diesel era modeller and DCC user).  I think reliability peaked at China split chassis, they are serviceable very easy-enough, body detail better than Poole era but they have no lights and may be a compromise to some but they seem to keep working -so easy to convert though.  Newer stuff may be more accurate, fancy working lights (which usually stop working), the electrical side of it is much more complicated, fewer axle pick-ups, more complicated internal pick-ups, PCB's and copper spring strips to motors rather than soldered wires.  Even good runners out of the box seem to suffer after 6 months.  It's gone backwards for me and I can't tell enough difference between old and new at 4' viewing distance.  I'm not happy with triple figure price tags for reduced raliability and user-serviceability so purchasing any new loco is a real big deal for me now -don't want the extra detail if it doesn't work as well as it used to!  I think I bought one new locomotive this year and luckily it works out of the box.  I'd love a new class 25, 31 and 33 but seeing as my old China split chassis ones work great I can't justify risking buying another on a whim at the price they are now

Rich

[Sprintex]

Grr, NGF search does not recognise the word "phobia" so it took some trawling to find this again.

Strange. I put "phobia" into the Search and ticked the box for "Search in topic subjects only" and this thread was the second result in the list


Paul

[Bealman]

Rich:

Interesting points in your post, and very valid, I feel. It does sometimes seem to me that reliability has been sacrificed for detail!

[Pengi]

Breaking the fragile connections between coaches. Particularly, farish voyager and Arnold ICE 3

[Malcolm Hunt]

Like Chetcombe I have an airbrush. I got it out last week to repaint a jinty. Time spent spraying model = 2 minutes. Time spent setting up, mixing paint, testing, cleaning and putting airbrush away = 1 hour.

I don't really have a phobia about using the airbrush it's just all the set up that gets me down. It's only worthwhile if you use it quite often. Weathering powders are so much easier to use.

I'm thinking I might be trying hand painting for some livery changes. I've realised now that unless you've got a whole batch to do, hopefully in the same colour like a rake of stock or a few locos, it does seem a lot of effort.
I've heard somewhere that a 50/50 mix paint /thinners can give a good finish, and I'd be using gloss as a colour base to accept transfers, then maybe buying a spray can of matt sealer to top it all off.
In fact, can somebody please direct me to the painting topics on these boards?

[Malcolm Hunt]

Taking Dapol locos apart and reassembly makes my toes curl!
I took one look under the bodyshell of my 52 western (2D-003-006) which just needs its lights fixing to work in both directions, and it was a 'nope!'
I also have my 45xx (ND-014) in pieces now and she'll stay that way until I've done the BR late livery on her, but oh the smallness of all the fiddly bits and pieces! I was lucky enough at my club that I saw the pipework under the right hand cab steps come away and brought it home wrapped in paper. I've since discovered that it did actually snap because of how the remaining pipes look on the other side, mounted as they are on the rear underside of the internal tank weights.
The other thing I've found is the difference in the structural finish of the motion gear which is floppy in the middle of the right hand con rod, and how the left hand piston rod slips off the sliders as though the tolerances are way off- nightmare!

[paulprice]

Spending MONEY

No seriously, its seeing BR Steam or Even worst BLUE buzz boxes pulling PO wagons and Pre Nat stock

Especially when I run my Prototype Deltic on my LMS layout

[Snowwolflair]

Like Chetcombe I have an airbrush. I got it out last week to repaint a jinty. Time spent spraying model = 2 minutes. Time spent setting up, mixing paint, testing, cleaning and putting airbrush away = 1 hour.

I don't really have a phobia about using the airbrush it's just all the set up that gets me down. It's only worthwhile if you use it quite often. Weathering powders are so much easier to use.

I'm thinking I might be trying hand painting for some livery changes. I've realised now that unless you've got a whole batch to do, hopefully in the same colour like a rake of stock or a few locos, it does seem a lot of effort.
I've heard somewhere that a 50/50 mix paint /thinners can give a good finish, and I'd be using gloss as a colour base to accept transfers, then maybe buying a spray can of matt sealer to top it all off.
In fact, can somebody please direct me to the painting topics on these boards?

Like you for years I always painted in gloss for transfers, however I have now started to put this idea aside unless the model should be gloss and I now rely on decalfix decalsol and the mat and eggshell finishes from the same range.

I just find that gloss paint is very hard to get a very thin coat(s) to achieve an opaque enough coating - particularly yellow, where an eggshell or mat paints can do it in one coat.

[Jimbo]

Dismantlaphobia.

Meaning: Fear of having to dismantle a layout (Again!).

Cause: Fear of moving house.

Symptoms: Lack of incentive to build something permanent, creative block.

Remedies: Post suspect jokes on forum, drool over other members layouts/models, build Metcalfe kits on kitchen table.

Possible temporary solution: Build a small test track type layout I can carry off under my arm.

[LAandNQFan]

My phobia is fissuraphobia - a fear that a gap between the base of a building and the ground, or between a bridge and a road, or between one scenery module and the next, or between the backscene and the scenery, or at the corner of a building, inter alia - will spoil the whole illusion and scream "IT'S A FAKE!" 

[daffy]

I have recently discovered that I have developed a fear of my wife saying 'No!' when I mention another railway purchase may be in the offing.

She is the guru of the budget, a real master of the spreadsheets, and has all essential spending mapped out for many years to come, and makes budgetary allowances for practically everything, from birthdays to holidays, to replacements for stuff that will wear out or fail. She even has separate spreadsheets entitled 'Disaster Budget', such as major unexpected expenditure if we need a new car, or if any aspect of our finances should falter or fail.

Whenever a bill arrives, or something crops up, she will invariably say "It's in the budget", or "It's covered". She truly is a marvel.

So, my newly acquired taste for all things n-gauge might be considered something of a quirk in the budget. However, so far, not so.

But I have a fear.....

[Jimbo]

I have recently discovered that I have developed a fear of my wife saying 'No!' when I mention another railway purchase may be in the offing.

She is the guru of the budget, a real master of the spreadsheets, and has all essential spending mapped out for many years to come, and makes budgetary allowances for practically everything, from birthdays to holidays, to replacements for stuff that will wear out or fail. She even has separate spreadsheets entitled 'Disaster Budget', such as major unexpected expenditure if we need a new car, or if any aspect of our finances should falter or fail.

Whenever a bill arrives, or something crops up, she will invariably say "It's in the budget", or "It's covered". She truly is a marvel.

So, my newly acquired taste for all things n-gauge might be considered something of a quirk in the budget. However, so far, not so.

But I have a fear.....

I have the same 'affliction' as your Wife and it's not a bad thing at all, I know what I've got/haven't got down to the last penny checking statements and balancing on a daily basis/planning ahead etc BUT my model railway interests do sometimes do battle with the 'spreadsheets' !  :'(