Hello All,

I'm working on the Artesania Latina, Powell St, San Francisco Cable Car kit! Aside from the many mistakes, and lack of detailed information in the instructions, its coming along fine! Definitely an advanced modelers kit!!! 

The manufacturer had provided small brass, 1.0 mm x 5.0 mm nails, with a large flat head, to resemble brass rivets. But, they wont mushroom down like they should, to do the job. I'm using a small upholsterers hammer and a steel anvil, but the nails,  just want to bend over.

I had a container of these brass paper fasteners laying around for years.  Looking at them, they shouted "roof vents!"  Here is how I used them for ventilator caps:

If there is one thing that makes N feel like the unwanted tag-along little brother of model railroad scales, it's the availability of RTR vehicles. Particularly modern cars, and more specifically, North American cars.  This makes putting together a modern layout (say, 1990s+) somewhat challenging.  It seems as though Ford is the only company which has licensed its vehicles in N (Atlas), and even those are few in number.

Way back in the mid-1980s, I created a bunch of HO scale, mini dioramas of desert scenery, featuring the types of plants and terrain found in parts of the Anza-Borrego desert of San Diego County. These were sealed under glass domes and given to various family and friends for Christmas.