I love a challenge. Preferably the sort that involves eating several delicious cakes and deciding which one I prefer. Or drinking a nice mug of tea with a biscuit. No chance of that in the latest BRM. No, someone on RMWeb suggested months ago that it wouldn't be possible to build an etched kit in the two-hour challenge spot. They were wrong. All you need is the right kit.
The PH Designs etched mobile phone mast is just such a kit. Well designed, it goes together well with no fiddling. Painting is simple too - spray with grey primer and whack some Humbrol 147 on the antennae things.
Job done in just under the time limit. Looks good too, all inspired by the same kit being used on Peter's Street which is featured in the same issue.
It's winter time at BRM headquarters so I was presented with a couple of different manufacturers snow and ice making products and told to go away and do something with them.
The result is a pair of small dioramas with vans in country lanes. It makes me feel chilly just looking at them.
The products are from Deluxe Materials and Precision Snow and Ice. Both are different beasts but produce excellent results. If you are a keen winter-look modeller, I'd suggest that they are complimentary too so you could use both.
Finally, the big project. A small layout suitable for beginners.
Edgeworth is that most unfashionable to concepts, a GWR branch line. Not only that, one built to a Cyril Freezer plan that is 50 years old. Well, sort of. We've fiddled with it a bit but the basic concept is still a 9ft layout with a 6ft scenic section.
Since Beginners layouts are in vogue at the moment, and I've expanded the brief a bit and included a little walk through my own layout history to show I don't get everything right and discussed what goes on inside the barrier at exhibitions too. Something for everyone in the free supplement I hope.
More on all of this over at the British Railway Modelling website.
2 comments:
Edgworth has something of Wallingford about it, or with corrugated iron buildings could become Llangynog
The phone mast certainly looks the part.
I'd imagine that a lot of "street furniture" kits could be built quickly (bus shelters - benches - bins) - but some of them probably wouldn't be too difficult to model from scratch, based on info from manufacturers' websites / catalogues.
The "build a layout" supplements make good reading - and I'm sure the later parts will also be worth looking at.
I know some people used to have a "pop" at Cyril Freezer "branch line terminus" plans - but I'm sure people would learn a lot more building one of these than they ever could throwing together one of those Noch "instant layouts".
The related RMweb thread should also be interesting.
In view of some of us on RMweb having electrical backgrounds, I'm sure there'll be loads of stuff about the importance of keeping wiring neat - labelling everything - and producing up to date wiring diagrams.
None of this stuff is difficult to do - but it's amazing how often even people who should know better seem to forget about it until it's too late.
It's also amazing how hard it can be to fix / maintain layouts if this stuff is forgotten - as evidenced by "Help! Scary wiring!" type threads on a number of model railway forum sites.
Forewarned is forearmed, as they say.
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