Scrubber Car No 15 in "O" scale part 6

Back to my model of a Brisbane scrubber car for awhile and I am still waiting for the Brill 21E side frames. So I decided to mask off where the side frames are to be glued and press on with the painting regardless.

I had airbrushed the cabins brown as per the prototype by using a fine jet on my airbrush and poking the nozzle in through the windows. There was a certain amount of over spray as is clearly visible in the first photo. I mask up all the openings from the inside and all goes easily in the beginning but as you progress there are fewer and fewer openings to work through. I leave the doorway till last and that masking tape has to be fed in through a hole in the roof. A set of dental picks makes it easier to insure that the tape is sealed well and no paint can get under it. I find it amazing how far an airbrush can force paint into the smallest of gaps.


I wanted to depict the car in a very faded grey. What one would expect from too much exposure to the sun in a subtropical climate. These days I'm using Tamiya Acrylics and I find I have to blend colours to get what I want. My first blend looked good in the bottle but once on the model it was way to light. It could have been almost mistaken for white. So back to mixing and my second attempt came out OK but still not exactly what I was after. The ads have been ready for some time so I have put them on and the result can be seen in the next photo. I am still trying to determine when Coke and Fanta became available in cans in Australia. I believe it was generally available in the US in the early 1960s and this ad was on the car in March 1969 and I don't think it was very old at the time the photo was taken.

I took the opportunity to paint the internal cab fittings shown in the last photo but making most of them may have been a waste of time. With the roof on and the brown colour it is too dark to see well and when the motorman has been fitted it will be even worse. Looking through the door in the centre photo the air cylinders and the air compressor are just visible. The built in toolbox and locker are at the other end. I suppose that at least I will know that they are in there.


Now I have run out of work for the time being so I have no excuse to not get back onto the layout modules.

Advertising Car No 71 in "O" scale part 3

As the trucks for my two 4 wheelers have arrived, I decided to do some more on No 71.

I painted the model by first airbrushing the inside light grey. Then I had the difficult job of masking all the openings from the inside. I was able to do the windows using tweezers and reaching in through the doorways. The doorways were done last by feeding the masking tape in through a hole in the top of each cabin. It probably took two hours to do the masking and two minutes to airbrush the green.

I got a good match with the green and was very pleased with it. The green in all the photos I have has a bleached appearance. Sadly when I over sprayed the model with the clear coat the bleached effect disappeared. So I will have to try to recreate the effect when I weather the model later.

The photo shows my current progress. The truck isn't in place in the photo and all the glazing still has to be done followed by adding the the controls and of course a motorman.

The view through the motorman's door shows the original ten bench bulkhead complete with the original seat back which was still in place on the prototype. Above the door is the flag holder which was made from a piece of brass tube with the centre filed away. The flags will be printed on paper and glued to a piece of brass rod and will be removable.

Still a lot of work to do but I am pleased with the way it is turning out. It is a model of an unusual prototype and I hope it will create some interest when people see it.

A Modular Layout for "O" scale trams Part 3

I've been doing what all modellers do! I've been fiddling with a number of different ideas and consequently I haven't achieved much for awhile. While I have been waiting for the side frames and the trucks for my two 4 wheelers I have been looking at the end boards for my modular layout again.

I didn't realise that it was May the last time I worked on them. How time flies. The tear drop back scenes are in place. These will extend above the roadway the width of a sheet of A4 paper. Space is really restricted on these end boards so I intend to glue photos of Brisbane houses to these boards to make a continuous scene. I'm going to have to go out and photograph some suitable houses very soon.

As I said space is very restricted and the next photo shows the footpaths tapering away to nothing on these end modules . Both boards have been given a thin coat of mat varnish to seal them so I am ready to put down the plaster roadway.


The 1/4" holes are already drilled for the steel rod I have for the span poles. I have created a problem for myself now. The inner row of holes are so close to the back scene that I can't get a drill in to clean them out after I have plastered the roadway. No sure what to do but I have a friend who can weld a 1/4" drill to a rod for me and get it to spin true which is something I can't do. That will let me keep the drill chuck above the back scene.

The end modules are not that far from being finished and I have been thinking about the rest of the modules. They will have full with footpaths so I'm thinking that the next two boards will be a typical 1950s/60s set of suburban strip shops with their false fronts and awnings that came out to the curb. Often the awnings had holes cut in them to fit around the span poles. But I had better finish these two end modules first.

Plus my trucks for the two 4 wheelers have arrived and the truck side frames can't be too far away either. So hopefully I will be back on those models soon.

Scrubber Car No 15 in "O" scale part 5

I have been finishing off what will be the visible interior details on the car. That is the items that go in the two motorman's cabs. They are ready except for painting and in the photo they are from top left, the built in tool box and built in clothes locker which are at one end of the car and in the next row the air compressor and air tanks that are at the other end. Between them are the two controllers and in the bottom row are the goose neck handbrakes, air valves to control the grinders, the valves to turn on the water and finally the air brake valves. Everything is made out of styrene except for the goose necks. As per my usual way of doing things these are only a representation of the real thing. As everything inside the cabs is painted in drab brown none of the items are going to stand out and they should look ok.


The photo in part 1 of this thread was taken in 1965. When you tell people you are building a particular model additional information often turns up unexpectedly and this was the case here. Four photos turned up showing it's transportation to the Tramway Museum in 1968 and the photo below shows No 15 being unloaded at the museum . Here the Coke Cola ad is different from the 1965 photo. Obviously soft drink started to appear in cans sometime after 1965 but before 1968. In Australia at least.


This seemed a more interesting ad for my model so I have been working on the new signage and the result is in the last two photos. One for the sides and the smaller one for the ends. I leave the ads this size and do the final sizing in Paint Shop Pro when I print them.


I really can't do any more on this car and No 71 until I at least get the side frames back from the caster. Hopefully my next post will be back building my layout. I hope!

Advertising Car No 71 in "O" scale part 2

Time for another progress report. The pieces all went together without too many problems. The photos show the progress so far. Now I'm at about the same stage as I am with No 15. I'm waiting on the side frames and the trucks before I can go on with either model. These are great little trams to build as there is a minimum of interior detail so construction goes quite quickly. And not much to go wrong. There is still some work I can do in finishing off especially around the headlights.

The photo in part 1 shows a different ad on the car from the one I intend to use. As the trams were operated by the Brisbane City Council, I thought it appropriate to use a City Council Loan ad. Al Brisbane trams had flag holders above the motorman's door and when a Brisbane City Loan was open the cars flew flags which said just that. The flag photo started off as a photo from an existing one at the museum and like the ad for the car side it has been heavily worked on with Paint Shop Pro.

Advertising Car No 71 in "O" scale part 1

My scrubber car has come to a halt at the moment as I can't finish the body until the power units and side frames arrive. And as I have only sent the Brill side frames off to the caster this morning it could be awhile yet.

I'm still not well enough to get back onto the layout for awhile and as I have ordered two power units I have decided another 4 wheeler is in order. Looking for something that ran in the 1960s and a little different as well I chose to start building Advertising Car No 71 as seen in the first photo. This photo was taken in the mid 1960s.

No 71 started life in 1915 as a "Standard 10 Bench" car No 71 as per the drawings below and was converted to an advertising car in 1954. I have been unable to find any drawings for this car in the museum archives but I have a number of photos of 71 and a set of drawings for the original 10 bench cars. It's obvious that as much as possible of the original car was used in the conversion. The original roof was reused along with the two motorman's bulkheads. The chassis was unchanged and I suspect the central eight seats were left in place as well. The front and rear seats had the horizontal part removed but the backs are still clearly visible attached to the bulkheads in the photos. The frames for the signs were stood out from the original sides, obviously to clear the edge of the roof.

I have developed out all the parts by reference to the photos and using the 10 bench dimensions. If I'm not correct no one is going to be able to prove me wrong.




So now to cut out the pieces and start gluing them together.

Scrubber Car No 15 in "O" scale part 4

I felt up to a short visit to the museum the other day so I got into the back of the shed and took my camera inside No 15. I'd say that no one has been inside in 20 years and I had to fight my way in through spider webs and dust. Fortunately all the equipment is still in place and I was able to photograph the air tanks, air compressor, the built in tool boxes and the upright locker. These are the items that will be visible through the open doors. So armed with the photographs I made representations of these items. They are not 100% accurate but everything was assembled from what ever scrap I could find in the scrap box and as the view of them will be limited they will look the part.

The first photo is these items almost ready for painting. The air tanks and the compressor will be black and the wooden tool box and locker will be the same brown as the inside of the car.


The next photo is the body assembled about as far as I can go until I get the mechanism and the Brill side frames done. I've been told that the mechanism could take up to 6 weeks to arrive and I haven't got the side frames ready for sending off to the caster either. I'm reluctant to even work on the steps as these may foul on the side frames. I can work on the controls which are quite complex in these scrubbers and also the roof details. So I still have some work for awhile.


The last photo is the motorman's view of the controls that I need to start on now. These cars didn't have destination boxes so the red handle on the right is connected to a large red arrow outside and the motorman would point to the direction he wished to go by turning the handle to the left or right when approaching a signal box.

Scrubber Car No 15 in "O" scale part 3

The joys of modelling. I decided to start assembly this morning but discovered to my annoyance that I had laminated the side layers together the wrong way round. I needed my open doorway to be at the front left and I ended up with them both on the wrong side instead. I was able to salvage the display boards but I have had to cut out new sides and now I'm waiting for the glue to dry.

In the mean time I have finished working on the advertisements for the model. I have used a free copy of "Paint Shop Pro" for years and upgraded it recently to "Paint Shop Pro 10" when it was also became a free give away for awhile. I did try "The Gimp" as an alternative as it is free and very good but totally different in how it does things. The learning curve was to steep and as I was already familiar with PSP I have stayed with it.


I scanned in the best photo of No 15 I could find and using PSP I cut the ads out, corrected the perspective and then resized them to fit the model. What I ended up with was something rather blurry but by creating a second layer above the first, I redrew the ads. Everything has been totally replaced except for the coke bottles and the glass. These have been fiddled with and enhanced as best as I can but retained. I figure when they are on a moving tram they will look ok.

Scrubber Car No 15 in "O" scale part 2

I always found the layer method of construction a bit on the tedious side. Drawing all those overlaying pieces accurately one layer at a time. That all changed when I discovered CAD software and now I actually enjoy developing the parts for a model. Fortunately Brisbane trams were fairly angular and by drawing each overlay on a different layer and using large amounts of copy and paste the work goes quickly. The first two drawings are for most of the pieces with all the 1mm and 0,5mm pieces grouped together.



To transfer the details to the styrene, I have settled on printing them on to printer paper. To fix the paper to the styrene I spray the back with spray adhesive. When the shine goes off the adhesive I lay the sheet onto the styrene and press it down. Only one surface has been sprayed and the paper stays on long enough to cut the pieces out but comes off easily when I'm finished.


All went well and I spent the morning cutting all the pieces out as can be seen in the photo above.

The last photo shows the pieces after all the overlays have been glued together. It isn't very apparent in the last photo but the display boards complete with the full length hood for the lights are already in place on the sides. This display boards sit clear of the sides by about 2" on the prototype.

Everything has been set aside for a day for the glue to fully dry before I can start the assembly. So to keep busy I'm going to get on with recreating the Coca Cola ads for the model.

Scrubber Car No 15 in "O" scale part 1

I have managed to lay myself up with damage to my ribs for the last couple of weeks so no work has been done on the layout. But I have been able to sit in front of the computer so I decided to start work on a new model.

My choice of a scrubber car might seem a bit odd but I wanted a break from bogie cars and as I'm only building models that ran in the 1950-1969 period I have had to rule out all the old time 4 wheelers.

No 15 started life in 1898 as a Standard Combination Car, was converted to a scrubber car in 1932 and was "modernised" in 1947 into the car as seen in the attached photo. On the closure of the network in 1969 the car was transferred to the museum where it is today.


The photo shows the car in the mid 1960s. The wooden chassis of these original Standard Combination Cars were only 6" wide. When it was converted, the wider passenger body was removed, and the new body is only the width of the chassis. This makes it and it's sister (scrubber car No 14) the narrowest cars in the Brisbane fleet.

The central area between the bulkheads will conceal the Bull Ant motor and I will attempt to model the air cylinders, air compressor and lockers etc in the exposed areas. All together a neat little tram that shouldn't take too long to build.

A Modular Layout for "O" scale trams Part 2

Both end modules have been framed and the curved edging has been fitted. The track has been laid on one of the boards and I will take a break in construction for awhile while I test all the trams on the 12" radius curve. I don't expect they will all work first off as I think I will need to do some fiddling with the wiring that joins the trucks together. There is a hugh swing with "O" scale on a 12" radius curve and consequently a lot of movement is required in the wiring. So far I haven't been able to find a wire that has the sort of flexibility that suits me because my models are very light weight. The answer may be added weight or more flexible wiring or both.


The 12" radius curve is what I would call a minimum radius curve with no room for error. To ensure accuracy I made a 32mm track gauge which was also a trammel along with a second 32mm gauge from flat aluminium strip. The photo above shows the gauges in use along with a couple of pieces of steel bar which roughly hold the rail in place ahead of the soldering. The 60" curve was eye balled and the 18" radius curve was laid out with a cardboard template. The rails, it took 6 lengths for this one module, were all pre-curved around various size tins so they were very close to their final curvature.

The next photo shows an overall view with all the track down. The lighter tear drop section in the middle will be cut out now that the track is laid so that the curved back scene can be fitted. The darker colour on the rest of the layout is the sealer to waterproof and protect the wood so I can apply the plaster road later without any problems. There is 9' of track on here so I intend to break the track up electrically into two equal length sections in case I have a need for it later. It will be pretty hard to do when the track is embedded into the roadway.


I wanted to see what a tram would look like on the 12" curve and the last photo shows a Brisbane drop centre doing just that. This view will be lost when the central back scene is in place as a tram on the loop will only be able to be viewed from outside the circle.

I need to drill the holes for the span poles next and locate them in some way so I can still find them after the plaster has been applied. This are is fairly tight area and once the central back scene is in place I wont be able to drill the holes for the inner poles as they will be only millimetres from the back scene so they have to be done now. The back scene will protrude above the baseboard the width of a piece of A4 paper. Coloured photos of a Brisbane street scene in landscape format will be glued to the back scene. Hence the need for a couple of millimetres gap to the inner span poles.

Now off to spend awhile testing and fine tuning my trams.

A Modular Layout for "O" scale trams Part 1

I have decided to start building a modular layout to run my trams on. I have always been fond of the dog bone style for exhibitions as all of the trams running are visible for all the time which is better for viewer interest. Initially it will be only a continuous loop with no point work but 3 or 4 trams will be able to tail chase each other using fairly simple automatics. Later more complex track work can be built on additional modules if I feel so inclined.

I decided that the straight sections would be 450mm deep as this gives me a reasonable width roadway and two footpaths as well. The rear scenery will be on a separate bolt on section so that the scenery can be changed without affecting the track and overhead. I wanted the front to be flat so I ended up deciding on a distorted tear drop shape for the balloon loops.

This is where track design software comes in handy. I use XTrkCad and a few hours experimenting with different ideas resulted in the track plan below. The overall size is 3' 6" x 2'6" The return loop radius is 12" and the upper entry curve is 18" with the lower entry curve being 60" The baseboards follow the curvature of the track and end up 1'6" wide where they will join onto the straight sections. The track centres are 3 1/2" where they leave the board. Pushing cardboard cut outs of Brisbane trams back and forth over this point shows no problem with overhang and no problem hitting a tram on the other track.


The last photo shows the baseboards having just been cut out with a jigsaw. The two pieces of board were screwed together and cut at the same time. I must remember to flip one of the boards over before attaching the pine under frame otherwise I will have two right hand ends. The inner tear drop shape will be cut out after the track is laid and a curved back scene will be fitted. But at the moment it is still required to provide the centre point for laying the track. The five odd shaped slits are where the timber frame passes underneath. The frame would get in the way of the jigsaw so I felt it was better to clear those areas now. They may be hard to see because the pencil is fairly light but the radial pine frames, that will be at right angles to the track, are positioned to provide support for the span poles.

Now I have to cut all the timber for the framing and the strips to form the curved edge around the module and glue them into place. Then I can think about the best part. Laying track.

A early version Drop Centre in "O" scale part 7

This will be the last post in this thread as this model is finished and it will be time to move on to other projects now. I am very pleased to have won the "Best Scratch Built Loco" award at this year's Brisbane Model Train Show with this model. So to celebrate here is another photo of the finished model followed by a photo of the inscription on the trophy.




There is one thing I still have to do to this model. The 3 pole Mabuchi motors I'm using are very variable in performance. I have run into the problem of their wide speed variation from motor to motor before. I suspect this is from poor quality control during the manufacture of the permanent magnets. With the two trucks set up on my test track, one truck ran at close to twice the speed of the other one which is one of the biggest variations I have seen in a long time. The direction didn't matter. I have a good supply of these motors and one day I will have to swap motors in and out until I get a pair that run at about the same speed.

At the moment the tram runs smoothly with the faster truck trailing and tends to surge slightly the other way around. One day!!

A early version Drop Centre in "O" scale part 6

It has been a long time since my last post, My wife and I have been to Perth and Western Australia for a holiday. There was the planning for that to be done and after we got home I have been assembling our tram museum's display in preparation for this coming weekend.

But I have still managed some time for working on my latest model. Sadly I kept forgetting to take photos as I went along. As I may have said before, a couple of firsts for me with this model. It's the first time I have built an "O" scale tram in styrene and the first time I have airbrushed a model with acrylic paint. I used Tamiya paints and there was nothing close to the Brisbane colours I wanted so I had to blend them myself. It wasn't all that difficult a job because, checking the museum's fleet of trams, no two greys are the same. So it was a case of getting a shade that fitted in the middle somewhere and I'm happy with the finished result.


The figures came unpainted from Micro-Mark in the US. Not knowing what I was going to get I only ordered one pack and I should have ordered more. They are ideal for my scale of 7mm/ft with the figures measuring around 40mm or a scale 5' 8" They have been eating too many Big Macs though.

As supplied the seated figures were too inclined and it was necessary to cut a slice out of their midriffs to make them sit more upright. Brisbane tram seats were never meant for relaxing on. The figures in the cabins are standing figures that have been cut off through the thighs so their heads are the right height above the seat.

The motorman had a new hat made from Milliput and his arms had to be cut off and re-glued so that his hands were on the controls. He has one Milliput hand as well. The hand in question had to be turned through 90 degrees. As I was glueing it back on I was holding it with the tweezers when if flicked out to vanish forever.


Sadly Brisbane's trams were neglected during the mid 60s as it was known that the end was in sight. Surface rust was starting to appear and the trams we generally starting to look untidy. I have used weathering chalks to try and create this effect.

The museum has a fleet of 24 Brisbane trams of which only 6 are fully restored and operational. The remainder are as they were when they stopped running. Many still have the old ads attached. This has been a marvellous resource for me. No 231 is in the museum collection. To finish up here is another photo of 231 in service in the 1960. This photo was posted on TDU some time ago and I can't remember the name of the photographer. I hope he doesn't mind.


It's poor condition is painfully obvious in the photo.

A early version Drop Centre in "O" scale part 5

Not a lot to talk about at the moment. The weather has been somewhere between 30 and 35 degrees C for the last few weeks and along with the rain the humidity has been above 85% at times. Not exactly suitable for airbrushing a new model. But I have fitted the brass safety rails across the windows and all the roof detail. Also a set of my homebuilt controllers and handbrake handles are in place in the cabs. This is where the all over grey colour scheme really makes life easy. I have deliberately left out the seats as it is easier to hand paint the floors dark grey after the rest is airbrushed I can then glue in the seats later. For me, it makes a much neater job. the additional brass work was polished on the original trams so that will all be added later as well.

The two photos are general shots showing the roof details and the window safety rails which have been added since my last post. The controller and brake handle are just visible inside the cab. These cabs were very spartin on the handbrake cars. Basically the cab was empty except for the above mentioned items and the overhead breaker. No seats and no instrumentation.


Again I placed too much trust in the original plans and I'm not happy with the headlights. They are too large and I think I shall have to file them off and redo them. Not a big job and I can do that while I'm waiting for the weather to improve. Meanwhile I'm looking at bulk producing a number of maximum traction trucks for my next few models. Then I really have to start a layout.

Making some handbrakes in 7mm/ft

I figured as I had just finished a number of controllers I had better make some goose neck type handbrakes to go with them. My current project, the old style drop centre along with my next couple of planned projects, were all non-airbrake cars until the end and with reasonably open cabs controllers and goose neck brakes were always going to be necessary.

I like mass producing items like these because once I have everything set up the work goes quite quickly. With 14 of each now I won't have to think about these things for a couple of years at least.

Brass seemed to be the only way to go and it was obvious that I was never going to get the taper on the goose neck so I didn't bother. The first photo shows the "kit" of pieces I cut before I started. There is one short piece of brass tube missing from the first photo. More about that later. I made up a very simple jig with some fine nails to bend all the brake handles as well as the "V" brackets that held the brake unit to the front wall.



Then I soldered the short section of tube to the brake handle in the appropriate place. My favourite flux is "Yorkshire Flux" I'm not sure if it is still available but I was given a small bottle many years ago. It never seems to go off and not being an acid, clean up afterwards is minimal.

With the brass tube in place I soldered the bracket in place and epoxied a ring cut off a length of styrene tube to the base to represent the ratchet. Then I had a problem. I wanted to make a token effort at least to represent the knob on the top of the goose neck. My first attempt was to use epoxy. I hoped that it would form a tear-drop shape and look the part when it had set. It was not to be and that idea was a complete failure. It might have worked with 1 hour set epoxy but the 5 minute stuff went off too quick.

My next attempt which was also a failure was to try and model them with Milliput. The knobs were too small and wanted to stick to my fingers more than they did to the end of the brass rod. So I ended up cutting another 14 short brass tubes and soldering then to the end of the handle.

So everything ended up a bit squarish but that still suits me. I have never pretended to be a master class modeller. When I used to fly RC model aircraft my favourite was "Stand Off Scale" and that is still the way I prefer to model. If the proportions are correct and the model "sits" right and most important of all, runs well, I am very happy.

The finished hand brakes.

Making some controllers in 7mm/ft Part 2

I decided it was going to be easier to make the controller handles in one long strip instead of trying to shape them individually as in the first photo.

I then cut them up and glued a short piece of rod on to represent the wooden knobs. The switch for cutting out a faulty motor was done with another short piece of rod as was the reversing levers. This was a mistake when I look at the finished controllers. The reversing levers would have been better done with a couple of pieces of flat section to closer represent the keys as they are basically flat anyway, reasonably thin where you grab them with your hand and broader where they connect to the controller.

I think I will sand the current ones off and do them properly but having just finished 14 controllers over the last two days I'm not full of enthusiasm to do that right now. I will have to correct two though so I can get back onto my droppie model.

The last photo shows them ass together on the bench. There is some variation which is normal when each one is made individually but as they will never be seen together I don't think is really matters.

I need some brake leavers as well so I hope to mass produce some of those as well. I think that they will have to be in brass so a visit to the hobby shop will be next on my agenda.

Making some controllers in 7mm/ft

I needed a pair of two motor type controllers for my new model so it seamed like the time to batch produce a few. I'm making a generic type controller but I'm basing it on one that was common to the drop centre trams. The first photo shows a top view and this type had an extra switch on the top plate to switch out a faulty motor. Others used in Brisbane required the front cover to be removed as the motor isolation switched were in the bottom of the controller.

I laminated a number of strips of styrene to build up the size required for the body of the controllers and let them thoroughly dry before sanding to shape with my new sanding sticks. The two smaller strips are for the top plates which on the full size controller overhang the sides by a good 1/2". When originally built these trams had open driver's compartments and I suspect this overhang was to protect the internals from rain.

I expected trouble snapping off the individual pieces because of the thickness and allowed extra material for the rejects but it went without any problems at all and I ended up with enough pieces for 14 controllers.

In the last photo the top have been glued to the bases and most of the sanding done. I can see a few problems to fix up. It's amazing what shows up in a photo that is not apparent when you are holding the piece in your hand.

So some more sanding and then onto the detail on the top. Handles etc.

Sanding sticks

I had to go to the museum this morning to measure up a couple of controllers as I am going to mass produce enough for six or seven trams. While I was there I made good use of the bench saw as, now I am back using styrene, I needed to make more sanding sticks. My old ones seem to have become "dispersed" over the years.

I sliced a 1" strip off an old piece of pine then cut that into a number of strips 5/32" thick. I cut the strips down to 12" long and a quick hit with the belt sander to put finger grips into the wood and with my controller dimensions I was off home again.

I laminated a number of pieces of styrene together to build up to the size I needed for the controllers and had to put them aside to dry. So I thought I would get on with making the sanding sticks.


I use wet and dry emery paper for these things which I buy in the 11" x 9" sheet size. I cut off a number of 1" wide by 9" long strips of 80, 180 and 800 grit because that is what I had in the cupboard and glued them on with a very thin coat of contact adhesive. Ideally they should be ready to fall off when they are worn out but it doesn't always work out that way. I made plenty of sticks and when I'm out next I will get a couple of more different grits to give me a better range.

I find the home made ones are sturdier, last longer and are much cheaper that anything from the hobby shop.