Hello and welcome,

I had started writing out my introductory post on here when I was called away from my laptop, it locked itself, refused to unlock and decided to update Windows for two hours when I tried to restart it instead. Rather thrown my off my stride, but there we go. I'll probably keep this brief, maybe add more detail tomorrow...

So a couple of years ago, I attended an exhibition in Milton Keynes, and there was one particular layout there that stood out, primarily just because it was set in the pre-grouping era. Different colours, different trains, different vibe... And since then, it's been a reoccurring theme in my model-based scheming to give pre-grouping an attempt myself. Mostly, I've pushed the idea back down again on the basis of my lack of talent, tools and that helpful spares box that everyone else seems to possess, always containing a vast array of useful items for any project. But lately a couple of things have changed:

1. I've moved to London, and no longer have space to have a model railway, as such, on the go.
2. I figured that, if you never give these things a go, you never end up building up the tools, experience, spares box, etc.
   

My current circumstances feel ripe for a bit of workbench-focused modelling and experimentation, which is something I've not really tried before.

My pre-grouping railway of choice is the Midland and South Western Junction Railway, which I've taken a particular liking to ever since I started looking into why I could find lots of pictures of U Class Moguls at Cheltenham St James - Cheltenham being where I grew up. To my mind, it has a very interesting history and quite elegant locomotives too - although that could be par for the era...

Naturally, the success or failure of me attempting a MSWJR project is dependent on whether or not I can produce some suitable trains for it. There are some kits in existence of a MSWJR flavour, but I gather they're not particularly easy to work with. I think, here, 3D printing is going to be my friend. Although I lack practical skills in the world of modelling, I am generally pretty handy with CAD and did some modules on designing for additive manufacturing at university. Combined with the knowledge on here, it seems like a more realistic route than the Nu-Cast one...

I expect to learn more in the coming months, but my experience with Shapeways so far is that finer details on the printed models can be quite vulnerable to the rather extensive sanding work that is required to achieve a good finish. With that in mind, my Plan A is to use the modelling software to create and print a simple body shape to keep everything nicely in proportion, and build up the detail manually - boiler bands from plasticard, purchased buffers, rivet transfers, etc.

I can't promise regular updates. Or progress. Or even that I achieve anything at all. But we'll see how it goes. For now, it's definitely bedtime...

Mpeffers