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Today I was preparing some paint for airbrushing. The jar of paint was old, and I had to strain out some lumps. There was still a little bit left after I was done mixing, but decided to throw the rest of the bottle away. Even though it was clear the bottle was nearly gone, I still had to think twice about it. There was still enough to do some touchup paint on something, perhaps to paint a few hats on some LPBs, or use for weathering. But surely the paint would be dried up by the next time I would need it.

I am guessing I am not the only "ultra thrifty packrat" model railroader. I have saved scraps of brass, and even have a drawer full of "bits and pieces" of styrene. Those bits and pieces come in handy when all I need is a tiny scrap to plug a hole or make a small detail.

What's funny is - if I were painting a wall and had an ounce of paint left over, I would proclaim the can empty and chuck it. Yet, at the hobby shop I pay 3.50 for an ounce of paint! Eek Or if I were insulating my attic with foam and had a 4 inch square piece left over, I'd chuck it. Yet on my layout, I have been saving any piece that looks large enough to be useable until my scenery is done.

I guess what gets saved relates to the scale of the project I am working on. And a model railroad is a very small scale!
Excellent observation, and now that you mention it, I am exactly the same way!

The other day I was driving and there was a smashed vacuum cleaner on the side of the road. I thought "I should stop and get that, I could probably use the plastic for something on the layout."
I guess you could say it's all a matter of scale.

Tom
Gary S Wrote:Excellent observation, and now that you mention it, I am exactly the same way!

The other day I was driving and there was a smashed vacuum cleaner on the side of the road. I thought "I should stop and get that, I could probably use the plastic for something on the layout."

AND YOU LEFT IT? The motor could have been quite useful! Icon_lol
How many times have you hesitated to throw away something like the cover off of a spray can, thinking, "this would make a great storage tank"? How about those small paper cups that you get at places like Arby's for you sauces and ketchup? I save them all, makes a great thing to mix epoxy in.

And yes, I have a tub of blue foam chunks in all sizes, and a box of styrene cutoffs as well. I always remove and keep all the screws from something I'm going to throw away, and never throw away small jars or empty spray bottles. Even before getting into modeling, I saved just about every baby food jar that we had. I lost most of them after moving several times, but I'll be darned if we're going to have another baby just to get more jars... Nope
ezdays Wrote:How many times have you hesitated to throw away something like the cover off of a spray can, thinking, "this would make a great storage tank"? How about those small paper cups that you get at places like Arby's for you sauces and ketchup? I save them all, makes a great thing to mix epoxy in.

And yes, I have a tub of blue foam chunks in all sizes, and a box of styrene cutoffs as well. I always remove and keep all the screws from something I'm going to throw away, and never throw away small jars or empty spray bottles. Even before getting into modeling, I saved just about every baby food jar that we had. I lost most of them after moving several times, but I'll be darned if we're going to have another baby just to get more jars... Nope

Crap!! I need to tell my brothers to save their jars!! (Does baby food still come in glass jars?)
ezdays Wrote:, and a box of styrene cutoffs as well.

How many times do I need a 1/2" length of 1/8" styrene whatever ?
Enough times to make saving all the "cutoffs" very worth while. There's just something about opening a new package for so short a piece. I like the feeling that I didn't have to buy, another package of, in order to complete a project.
I even have my styrene bits separated as sheet, strip, rod, and tube. No, not down to size or thickness, but at least to type.

As for paint ? If I look at a bottle of almost dried up, just a drop left, paint, and remember that.....to quote Billy Joel, "I knew it complete when I wore a younger man's clothes", it gets trashed.
Apparently..You guys missed the "From The Cab", of the last issue of the E-Mag.
Just in case you forgot, or you missed it. Here it is again:http://www.the-gauge.net/magazine/oct09/Oct09.pdf
I have boxes of styrene scraps...some of which are 9" long. What usually happens is I forget to put the extra back in the packaging and soon thereafter I have a large pile of assorted styrene strips. Periodically, I'll sort through them and refile them in the appropriate packaging. Recently, when building a passenger car frame (88 pieces of 4"x6" and 2"x6" styrene), I thought I'd run out of 4"x6" material until I checked the scrap boxes.

I never allow paper bags to go to the trash/recycle bins...it is too valuable. The same holds for lumber and foam scraps (and, for a while, any type of cardstock packaging material). It is a touch absurd...and I've been actively working over the past 6mo-year to do less of it.

Additionally, I am an absolute pack rat when it comes to guitar stuff, computer stuff, and any model railroad products (including used flex track and life-like trainset cars). It's all worth more to me in storage than it could ever fetch on the open market 2285_
Quote:I am guessing I am not the only "ultra thrifty packrat" model railroader.

Ummm....there's a redundancy in your statement there...or at least that's the way this modeler thinks! 35

EDIT to clarify: I thought 'ultra thrifty packrat' was just wrapped up in the definition of 'model railroader'!

Galen
As mentioned in my earlier post, it's all a matter of scale. I did a little math using my fingers and toes and worked out that the average jar of Poly Scale paint contains approximately 300 HO scale gallons of paint. When the price is viewed in that light, we're really getting a bargain. However, that's not really accurate either. Does anyone know how to scale down dollars to HO? Nope

Tom
One dollar...divided by 1/87......
I know what you mean -- I can totally relate! I hate throwing out stuff & wasting things that cost so much money. I have definitely reused things and have been glad that I'd kept them, be it paint, pieces of sidewalk or scenery card (for brick walls, etc.). I need to get a larger 'bits & pieces' container though, to help me keep everything sorted.

Due to lack of space, however, I do have to get rid of some of the larger items. You can only use so many chunks of foam & wood, so I often chuck those.

Rob
nachoman Wrote:
ezdays Wrote:How many times have you hesitated to throw away something like the cover off of a spray can, thinking, "this would make a great storage tank"? How about those small paper cups that you get at places like Arby's for you sauces and ketchup? I save them all, makes a great thing to mix epoxy in.

And yes, I have a tub of blue foam chunks in all sizes, and a box of styrene cutoffs as well. I always remove and keep all the screws from something I'm going to throw away, and never throw away small jars or empty spray bottles. Even before getting into modeling, I saved just about every baby food jar that we had. I lost most of them after moving several times, but I'll be darned if we're going to have another baby just to get more jars... Nope

Crap!! I need to tell my brothers to save their jars!! (Does baby food still come in glass jars?)

Plastic tubs, mostly, with neat little snap on covers. Thumbsup

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What's wrong with reusing things in applications other than what they were initially intended to be used?! Wink 8-)

Hey, that's just being resourceful! Thumbsup Big Grin