To aid assembling parts with CA as well as to avoid unintentionally bonding a model to something, I assemble the parts on the surface of an old stainless steel ruler. The CA bonds to the stainless just enough to help hold parts in alignment while they set, but it's easy enough to gently pop them off the ruler with the tip of a sharp knife.

I've read lots of advice, howto, intro, and helpful things on the internet about modeling railroads.

But nowhere is there any information for the beginner, [ ... ]

Hopper Weathering Clinic II
By Bill Mock
December 2009

So here's how those BN Hoppers turned out after the surface rust dried. Not bad. I'll [ ... ]