Model Rail 245 March 2018

[grahame]

Odd that no-one has mentioned the latest issue - I received mine on Monday.

 

I thought it is a really good issue. The best for some while now.

 

However, one thing I didn't really get and felt didn't really work was to print all the photos in the Masterplan article in black and white. Were they all really only originally monochrome pics? I'd have preferred to have at least some in colour to enable the points being raised and made about them to be viewed with reference to their colour as well as their shape and form. That would give a better idea of what colours to model them in. Certainly things like decay and decrepitude (the theme of the article) have their own colour palette and can be difficult to replicate without good colour reference.

 

G.   

[Steamport Southport]

Odd that no-one has mentioned the latest issue - I received mine on Monday.

 

I thought it is a really good issue. The best for some while now.

 

However, one thing I didn't really get and felt didn't really work was to print all the photos in the Masterplan article in black and white. Were they all really only originally monochrome pics? I'd have preferred to have at least some in colour to enable the points being raised and made about them to be viewed with reference to their colour as well as their shape and form. That would give a better idea of what colours to model them in. Certainly things like decay and decrepitude (the theme of the article) have their own colour palette and can be difficult to replicate without good colour reference.

 

G.   

 

 

Quite possibly.

 

You've got to remember how expensive colour film and especially colour slides was back then. Not just the film but the processing. You probably wouldn't waste what colour film you did have on things like signal boxes and track if you only had a limited amount of money.

 

It's one of my regrets that I didn't take photographs of "ordinary" things rather than concentrating on things like preserved steam and celebrity diesels.

 

 

 

Jason

[grahame]

Quite possibly.

 

You've got to remember how expensive colour film and especially colour slides was back then. Not just the film but the processing. You probably wouldn't waste what colour film you did have on things like signal boxes and track if you only had a limited amount of money.

 

 

Most of the pics were taken in the 1980s. They're not steam era snaps as they feature diesels and were taken of locations that had been left to become run down over time. Colour film wasn't particularly expensive then - I was using colour film exclusively from the 70s. I doubt all those just used in that article were only B&W.

 

G

[Steamport Southport]

Most of the pics were taken in the 1980s. They're not steam era snaps as they feature diesels and were taken of locations that had been left to become run down over time. Colour film wasn't particularly expensive then - I was using colour film exclusively from the 70s. I doubt all those just used in that article were only B&W.

 

G

 

I know.

 

 

But film was still very expensive to many people well into the 1980s, if not the 1990s. Not everyone had money in the 1970s and 1980s to spend on colour film. That was the era of the three day week, endless strikes and millions on the dole. I certainly couldn't afford colour.

 

 

 

 

Jason

[grahame]

But film was still very expensive to many people well into the 1980s, if not the 1990s. Not everyone had money in the 1970s and 1980s to spend on colour film. That was the era of the three day week, endless strikes and millions on the dole.

 

I know. I was there. The winter of discontent was at the end of the 70s and the last miners strike was in the early 80s. By the mid 80s days lost in strikes had returned to very low levels. But colour film wasn't particularly more expensive than B&W and by then B&W processing had become a minority and specialist that the costs were no longer cheap.

 

None of the people I knew taking photos in the 80s and 90s were using B&W.

 

G

[Butler Henderson]

There were certainly photographers using black and white film in the 1980s - knew a number of the photographic club at college and those who photographed railways were it seemed heavily influenced by Colin Gifford.

[Dzine]

Quite possibly.

 

You've got to remember how expensive colour film and especially colour slides was back then. Not just the film but the processing. You probably wouldn't waste what colour film you did have on things like signal boxes and track if you only had a limited amount of money.

 

It's one of my regrets that I didn't take photographs of "ordinary" things rather than concentrating on things like preserved steam and celebrity diesels.

 

 

 

Jason

Hi Folks, Yes the images are all black and white originals.  It was a tough time back then, I could only afford black and white to negatives only, no prints!  Some of the images are published for the first time and I have thousands of others that have never seen the light of day.  I still remember those times in black and white in fact many locations, like Rose Grove, appeared to be devoid of colour.  You'll notice in the text I've thrown down the gauntlet to model in black and white or at least largely so, for me, it's a very dramatic palette, given the subject.  Some modellers, like Richard Stott's Staly Vegas, already embrace the concept.  Regards Paul 

[hmrspaul]

... and publishers wouldn't accept colour prints for reproduction - and ruined slides by Shellacing them to a drum to scan them before printing. Some of my best colour slides never recovered from the MRC Datafile treatment. B/W print film was something that amateurs could develop and print, the ability to develop and print colour film was far rarer.

 

Paul Bartlett

Edited February 16, 2018 by hmrspaul

[The Stationmaster]

There were certainly photographers using black and white film in the 1980s - knew a number of the photographic club at college and those who photographed railways were it seemed heavily influenced by Colin Gifford.

 

I was using B&W film (as well as colour) in the 1990s - with the right film you could still get better quality for reproduction in b&w than you could with many colour films although Agfa Professional was pretty good.   I reckon - without getting them out to count - that I took around 800 -900 b&w photos between 1992 and 1994.

[rue_d_etropal]

Paul, the important thing is that you took the photos. They record a time , gone, but not forgotten, and there are also techniques for adding the colour if required.

I remember you doing some similar themed layout designs in another magazine 10-20 years ago. Never can have enough involving industrial scenes, but that is partly because as a southerner, I only moved up north in the late 80s, so missed much of it.

[terrysoham]

I think that some of you are aware that I suffered a stroke three weeks ago. It has been a bit of a struggle not helped by having to fight iTunes all the way to renew a subscription to both BRM and Model Rail. Apple has tried to explain how to sort it out using Manage Subscriptions - the email explanation covers a sheet of A4 . And, of course they explain, it is my fault that I have buggered it up - nothing at all to do with their crap software. Believe it or not the first instruction is to download their new operating system!

 

 

Finally, without going through the Apple instructions, I have managed to get both magazines onto my iPad.

 

Of course it goes without saying that my digital edition of the Railway Modeller downloads without any problems- I suspect because RM has avoided dealing with iTunes. Is there a lesson here that other publishers could take note of?

[Butler Henderson]

Pity no one spotted the MSWJ 2-4-0 had lifted off the chassis at the cab end, and the bent out step, before publishing that photo as the largest photo in the article. Nice to see what was once common practise, seemingly often involving chopping up B12s, is still possible today.

Edited February 18, 2018 by Butler Henderson

[dibber25]

Pity no one spotted the MSWJ 2-4-0 had lifted off the chassis at the cab end, and the bent out step, before publishing that photo as the largest photo in the article. Nice to see what was once common practise, seemingly often involving chopping up B12s, is still possible today.

 

Unfortunately, it was a last minute photo and I wasn't able to be present to check all was well when it was taken. (CJL)

[rue_d_etropal]

I almost did not see the articles about actual layouts this time. A good selection of 'how to' articles.

One thing though, could we have some new ideas on painting and weathering. Using enamels is ancient history. Other modelling hobbies are now almost exclusively using water based paints such as acryllics. Ditch the enamels, I have found that it is easier to wash cheap brushes in water, then keeping the dirty water, as cheap weathering liquid. You can build up a good quantity of gunge, which can be applied, and allowed to run down using gravity to where the muck/rust would actually collect. There are also some very low cost emulsion paints in most DIY shops, available as test pots. Good range of colours these days. Just have to prime plastic  or metal with a good acryllic primer. Military /wargameing people recommend using Halfords grey aerosol primer, but for small jobs any good matt grey acryllic does the job. Not sure why grey works best but it seems to stick better than other colours. Then you can paint using any water based paint such as emulsion paint. A lot cheaper, and these days, a lot easier to get hold of.

 

Like the suggestion of the Metropolitan loco as a r2r one. Plenty of different railway companies , liveries etc.

[Ruffnut Thorston]

Interesting conversion, the MSWJ 2-4-0.

 

In a book published in 2008, a K. Chadwick made one from a Hornby Dean Goods, and a tender based on a Patriot Ringfield power unit, a B12 tender chassis, amd a mostly scratchbuilt tender body.

 

This was volume 2 of "Model Railway Building on the Cheap", published by Silver Link.

 

Along with the earlier volume 1, published in 2007, these two books take RTR models, and chop them into other locos, using some parts that were possibly easier to get "back then"!

 

Some of the models have now come out as RTR....but at a price.

 

It is still possible to get some fun from making your own!