I decided that I wanted my own, bespoke control panel to work the new layout and that it should compliment it in its appearance.

I wanted to keep the wiring to a minimum and use dpdt switches to work the points, one side of the switch to work the points and the other to work the indicators on the control panel. I'm very grateful to rmweb member martin_wynne for his post regarding the use of these and individual capacitors - I used this method on the old layout and it was very successful. Having scoured the internet pricing control panels, I realised that with some carpentry assistance, I should construct my own.

Initially I was going to buy all-new, panel mounted Gaugemaster controllers but as money was getting tight, I opted to use the existing H & M Duette and bought a second, non-working one for £13, which actually turned out to be working perfectly. I would have used the original A3 controllers but they are big, bulky and don't give great control at low speeds, the H & M transformers were reliable and proven but I wanted these to be panel mounted and not just to look like two Duettes thrown into a box together.

First job was to strip a Duette to check the feasibility of my plan.

I decided to use new toggle switches in the new panel and not try to re-use the half wave & resistance switches. Once I had the basic plan worked out, I had a box fabricated and sent off for some aluminium sheets cut to size.

The controllers were then drilled and mounted into the new panel.

Having stripped the Duettes, I removed and scanned the fascia panel, this didn't go too well, scratches and dents were evident so I ended up practically re-drawing most of the panel.

First attempt looked a bit bland so I decided to add some colour in an attempt to make it look more Dublo-like.

The design was printed onto self-adhesive vinyl using my inkjet printer, sadly this stuff works better on laser printers and tends to smudge, this made sticking the vinyl very difficult and resulted in air bubbles, most of which have now gone. Finally several coats of Halfords clear lacquer were added to protect the panel.

With the Duettes working, I started work on the main panel.

To be fair, the panel is over-engineered and the aluminium is too thick! - It took ages to punch, drill and file all the holes needed.

After many evenings burning the midnight oil, I finally finished the panel.

I've gone with Dublo colours and used a HD loco box as inspiration for the blue & white lines on the panel. The ammeters control the two main running loops so that I can keep a close eye on things.

The turntable, TPO, shuttle module and lights will also be controlled from here and electrical connections are via one 3 amp plug and a 37 pin parallel lead.

I should say that this isn't something I'd recommend doing unless you are very conversant with electronics and handy with a soldering iron!