sumo

Okay, I am going to say it. Mine arrived this morning and they are about a third of the size I expected. I checked the end of the box to see if they were N Gauge. Putting it all down to a Spinal Tap Stonehenge incident. Apologies to the purists. Mike

Thanks for the explanation. As you say, hidden entrance. Behind a construction fence and needing a detour. There was a Scout fundraiser and a drama group running at the same time. Chaos. But when I arrived there was nobody about so I couldn't ask anyone. It was also the reaction from the organiser and desk that annoyed me, making out it was my fault or I hadn't made enough effort. Anyway, thanks for the response. I have put the day down to experience.

For clarification, I was commenting on signage within the site. I saw the banner!!! After the main entrance there was absolutely no indication of where pedestrians should go. And it is a huge college site.

I used to live on Downham Road. Closest ever show! But now in Bexhill. I will see what I can do!

Arrived at the show on foot. Building site. No signage. After twenty minutes trying to find the entrance I almost gave up. I can't easily walk at the moment. Finally found someone to guide me in. Immediately spoke to an organiser who basically gave me short shrift. "Not difficult to find the entrance is it? Do you have a ticket?" A graduate of the Ratners customer service school. Five official witnesses, none of whom agreed with me enough to speak. To add to that the show was very disappointing. £10 entrance, £14 cabs, £18 train from Bexhill. Seven hours travel. The previous show was one of the best ever. Today was my last.

First time viewing SA in the flesh. Wow. Worth the trip to Uckfield. Worth the risks. Wow again.

Saw the layout today at Uckfield. Absolutely stunning. Best 2mm effort I have seen - the rolling stock is out of this world.

If it makes anyone feel better, it is a broad phenomena across many hobbies. My other main hobby is model soldiers and sometimes they are queueing up to moan about facing colours, tank armour, buttons or epaulettes. I have also heard it at craft fairs and, of course as Woody Allen will tell you, at art galleries (although the artist is rarely present to receive the advice). It can be to impress a co-viewer, it can be to make a point to a disliked company, or it can be because the critic has nobody else to talk to. I have been a critic for nearly forty years. It is a controversial and solitary vocation. It can be done well but that is not easy. My usual comment is that however bad, almost everything has something good.

Surely the worst is when they say nothing at all and walk away. Or never stop in the first place.

Cameo 4. Reduced it as much as seemed possible and it still does the detail.

Hello Paul It may just be us left.... I am sure an expert will be along in a moment. I attach one of my recent newbie experiments with the Cameo 4. The small circles are 4mm and I have gone to 3mm. Rectangles are easier. This is 10thou plastikard. Mike

Can I just say thanks for all the posts here. I haven't read them all, but I have read enough to get me over some hurdles. I have a Cameo 4. I have had it for almost a year but I procrastinate and a pandemic happened. I have slight nagging doubt that I should have jumped straight over 2d and gone to 3d. It is now set up and I am moving towards understanding some of the possibilities and limitations. Broadly, It seems better at straight lines than curves, and it seems better at big rather than small. I can probably live with that but may end up selling on. One of the projects I had was to cut a stencil for my 'company' logo on On30 or cut out small letters. Software has been interesting. I have worked in Corel Draw since... oh... version 3.0. Corel shafted me recently, so I am looking to jump ship. But I can get output from Corel to other formats (except DXF) so I can still play around with existing files. From Corel I move files to Inkscape, then save to DXF, and finally to Studio. They do sometimes change size seemingly at random. I have worked out that if I upgrade Studio I can go straight from Corel to Studio using SVG files. So my current plan is to create basic shapes in Studio and cut direct. Easy. Anything more complex I will probably build in Corel and try and get it across at the right size. Then the big hurdle will be cutting anything above 10thou plastic. I have some ideas and have noted the Slot 2 information.

Thankyou all. I spent a happy Sunday cutting right angles! This forum is so good for this type of support. Mike

Okay, with you all now. Cutting mat plus plasticard is still square but thicker. Brilliant. Derrr.

You have understood it perfectly. I think I need the depth of the blue line to be shorter. In an ideal world. Or, quite likely as self taught, I am doing something wrong. I wondered just now if I should be raising the workpiece to fit?

Thanks so far! Brain in gear! I forgot to say that I had glued a piece of plasticard to the Eileen's square which pretty much worked until it fell off.

Please forgive me asking something that probably has an obvious answer. I work mainly in plastic and thin woods. I am pretty ropey at marking out and cutting square lines or scribing. I need a (set) square that will let me do this easily. I believe it would be an engineer's square, of which I have three (!) I have a flat one from Eileen's. I have a strange one with a triangular edge, thicker than Eileen's. I have a traditional square with a thicker handle than blade, which has a handle to blade gap of 2-3mm. What I think I need is a square with a roughly 1mm gap so that I can align one side with the plasticard edge and cut along the 'flush' blade. Hope that makes sense. So is there such a tool or a technique that will help? Thanks. Mike

I can't post on the Scalefour forum, but I would just like to say.... fantastic, in the hope someone sees it! Thanks for all involved. Well worth a visit. Mike

Can I just say this thread was a pleasure to work through. Inspirational stuff. Thanks all. Mike

Disappointed. When journalists run out of ideas they resort to lists. This is why the internet is full of lists. I blame The Book of Lists (for those old enough to remember.

Thanks for all this. Spoilt for choice! I have some of these so can do some experimenting before my next trip to the model shop. I was never going to make them all the same colour, but I needed to get a feel from the experts. I have a Bachmann van that is very red in tone which I wasn't convinced by. But if I ring the changes all will be well. Very helpful.

I can't easily get or use specialist paints so I was wondering if anyone could tell me which colours are close to BR Bauxite and Grey. Ideally Vallejo or even Humbrol as I may have the colour already. Also why were some vans bauxite, grey or white? Thanks. Mike

@Not Jeremy I wonder if, for those of us who can't track a copy down, you could charge actual postage for a mail order copy?

Three quick questions before purchase. If I buy a skirted model are the skirts (easily) removeable? Is there a favoured DCC chip? I found a dealer at the Bluebell Show last year who had a good price. Any leads? Thanks.