Thursday, July 29, 2021

Smoke & Steam

Many months ago, Warners decided to produce a coffee table style magazine for prototype railways. 

Although very much a side-project for the team, we picked some of the best authors we could find and then left our boss to talk to them about producing some material. 

The aim was something deeper than a magazine, allowing both articles and images space to breath on the page. The result is pretty impressive. 

One issue with anything like this is making sure the information is accurate. When you have an expert writing, unless you are also an expert, how do you know if they got it wrong? Well, the solution was a "peer review" process where articles were circulated between the authors for comment. After that, a little tweaking to make sure it all read properly and it's good to go. 

Sourcing the images was (I am told) a bit of a nightmare, but there are plenty in there that won't be familiar to everyone. I particularly like the shots around Dover docks, offering plenty of inspiration for detailing a B4 tank.

My part was to pen a small modelling feature on weathering steam locos. While this is primarily a prototype magazine, very few enthusiasts don't have a bit of an interest, and we are a model railway publisher too...

Full details on the World of Railways store.  It's not currently available in the shops.

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