dpgibbons

Good idea. See eg the Forced Perspective tutorial here

Indeed, that's what I used - although it's not quite so accurate on the smaller scale map available on NLOS, so Anthony's method may give better results in this case.

I have brush-painted Railmatch acrylic straight out of the jar on top of auto shop etch primer and found the results disappointing. The paint appears to dry almost instantly rather than self-levelling, and I get a rather lumpy finish that readily flakes off despite 3 coats. I'm wondering if I should be using thinner and/or retardant. Any suggestions please?

FYI, 88D Models will have a 7mm kit out shortly - see here

The 1:2500 (25ins/mile) Ordnance Survey maps available at NLOS here are large scale enough to provide building ground dimensions. The largest scale they have available for Penmaenmawr is only 6ins/mile (below) but that may be good enough (attached) - the dimension in blue is 79m. If it isn't, you could take out a 1 month subscription for GBP10 at https://www.old-maps.co.uk/ and screenshot their 1:2500 maps for the entire area that you are modelling. I hear us SEQ locals might be getting a visit to your layout soon - I look forward to it!

Two months on and it's ready to paint. I sourced replacement buffers from NMRS Models and transfers from the HMRS GWR Wagons sheet. I'm still wondering about the livery though - brown or black under the well sides? None of the reference works make it clear.

My LRM RSU was supplied at my request with the arrangement you describe, so that I could use a standard female PC mains lead with an Aussie plug.

The Slaters PO wagon kits are a much easier build and a good place to start. The only real challenge is getting everything square and figuring out a few gaps in the instructions.

I'm building a Slaters GWR 4W coach kit with sides pre-painted in the elaborate lined pre-1902 livery. These cost GBP60 more than the unpainted versions, but you would pay several times that for a professional job of such quality. Simpler liveries are a more realistic DIY option. These are definitely not beginners kits, as they have many fragile etched brass chassis parts and require some soldering, sheet cutting and tricky brass folding. I worked my way through a few plastic and brass wagons first.

There are numerous YouTube videos about doing this using flux, such as this one

I've had a similar experience. My impressions is that Osborn's are selling online without a reliable real-time stock system, so allowing orders for items that aren't in stock - a recipe for extra workload on staff and disappointed customers.

You'll find a laser-cut kit, such as the one below, a much better solution that a 3D print. Note that the track is inset into the base so that you don't need to lower the baseboard to match rail heights, and it has gates at each end and a removable roof to hold stock in place on the rails and to prevent it rolling out. https://yorkmodelrail.com/shop/tools-and-storage/mls052-storage-n-gauge-cassette/

Sounds like you had a lot of resistance in your RSU circuit. In that respect a baseplate is much better than clips, although you then need to offset the heatsink effects with insulating measures like the use of paper as mentioned above.

I assume you are looking for a laser-cut design, in which case you'll need a 2D vector-based file format such as svg or dxf.

Ian is one of the top professional model painters, and I'd highly recommend his book (A Modellers Handbook of Painting and Lining - Wild Swan). He summarises the topic in a lengthy YouTube tutorial here, starting about 1hr 31 after a more basic painting tutorial by Tony Wright.