Cornholio

@Phil Parker shared a tip recently of using a scrap piece of wood as a cutting guide. The thickness of the wood holds the blade perfectly vertical, therefore resulting in a nice straight cut.

Further to previous answers, some retailers carry a limited range of Kingsway kits. The two that I can think of are Morris Models in North Lancing and Harrison Brown (online/shows). The owner of Kingsway, John, is a really lovely guy and his mail order service is fast and efficient. As to difficulty, I would say a little bit more work than a Metcalfe kit but with excellent instructions to guide you. A point to note is the difference in printing methods. Metcalfe print their kits directly onto card and diecut the parts which makes construction quick and easy. Kingsway models are printed onto paper which is pre-pasted to the appropriate thickness of card. You have to do all the cutting. ScaleScenes just supply the design, you do the printing, sticking and cutting.

I don't know John's plans for this kit, but generally speaking, the Hornby Magazine kits appear in retail form a couple of months after the magazine.

Here you go: https://scalescenes.com/Hornby-magazine-low-relief-railway-works/

I spent a pleasant hour this afternoon talking with Witek. His shop is either a dream or a nightmare depending on your point of view. The shop is literally crammed full of stock. There is so much stock that browsing is impossible. Fortunately Witek has got a pretty good idea of what he has and which box it's stored in. I took 10 n-scale wagons off his hands, most of his stock however consists of 2nd hand OO locos. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the area. There is plentiful free parking opposite the shop and it's only a 2 minute walk from Northfields tube on the Piccadilly line.

Palm trees and sword grass winging their way from China as we speak!

I've just double checked this by turning off my WiFi (therefore no internet connection). I opened the app and I was able to browse and view all my downloaded magazines without any issues. I'm therefore assuming that the app only checks for an active subscription when you download. Point c) is really just a reminder of the legal status of ownership. I guess that boils down to an individual's morality. As for a long-term storage strategy, without an active subscription or if Exact Editions were to disappear, the magazine's will only be stored for the lifetime of your device (eg tablet).

This 'star'.... The screenshot was taken on my Kindle Fire tablet, but the app looks the same on my phone. It may of course look different on your device.

I'm using Railway Modeller as an example of how the "Exactly" Android app downloads magazines for off-line reading. The process will be exactly the same for RMweb Gold Members. I do subscribe to BRM, but through PocketMags, as I've got a cracking deal on it. Clicking on the star underneath the relevant issue will download it for off-line reading. The magazine is then stored on your device for reading on the beach etc. You will see in my example that the September issue is currently downloading (star is incomplete) and that I haven't downloaded the "On the Rails" supplement. Should you wish to free up some space on your device, clicking on a "full" star will give you the option of removing a synced issue. You can of course download and delete issues as many times as you like. To pre-emptively answer a couple of questions.... a) The downloads are in a proprietary file format. They won't work outside of the Exactly app. That means no "backing-up" to your hard-drive or "sharing" issues with friends. It simply won't work. b) If I were to cancel my subscription, then I wouldn't be able to read anything that wasn't already stored on my device. In theory, so long as I didn't delete anything I would still be able to access the downloads though. c) Unlike with Pocket Mags you are NOT buying the magazine to keep, merely paying for access. Please bear this in mind whilst reading point b. d) There is an excellent bookmark feature. This enables you to mark pages that you may wish to refer back to. These are listed on a separate screen meaning you don't need to remember the correct issue. @teaky I'm not aware of any way of downloading to view on a off-line computer/laptop. The desktop version of the Exact Editions website lets you save individual pages/articles but not complete issues. I hope this is helpful to others, I'm no expert but I'm happy to answer any other questions you may have.I Happy Reading, Andrew

Whilst browsing the selection of quality periodicals at my local r̶e̶a̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶r̶o̶o̶m̶ WHSmith, I spotted this and thought it would be perfect as the basis for a holiday themed cakebox. Initially I'd hoped to just be able to stick the supplied finescale track to a board, add some jungle foilage and be done. Unfortunately it turns out that the completed circle is actually just over 8", so I now face a dilemma. Do I... A) scratch-build a track to a suitable diameter (bearing in mind the whole concept of scale appears completely alien to the toy maker). Or B) Wing it and throw myself on the mercy of the judging public? This is after-all just a bit of fun. I'm invested in the project to the tune of £6.99, so I don't really want to just ditch it. Your collective input is welcomed!

Inspired by Clive Baker's Layout Planning Article in this months BRM (June 2019), I've had a go at trying to squeeze Falmouth Docks into a glass topped coffee table. The plan as printed in the magazine is 8ft x 2ft. My coffee table is about half that length, so obviously some compromise was required. I primarily model in N-Gauge, with the Hunslet Industrial Shunter from NGS on the horizon, I thought I'd have a go at seeing just how much of the plan I could shoehorn into the coffee table. The actual usable space is 110cm by 50cm (about 3'7" x 1'7"), so I loaded up AnyRail and this is what I came up with: I've used standard Peco set-track throughout with the exception of the 90° crossing (by Atlas) and the 3 way point (Peco Streamline). The tight curve is formed from flexi-track. This will obviously limit the stock that can navigate it, but such sharp curves are at least prototypical. A fiddle-stick connects at "A", other than that, the layout is completely self contained. After costing up the design, it will probably never be built, but I thought I'd share it with you all anyway. Best Wishes Andrew

@sb67 You can find Doug's Metcalfe pub here: Best Wishes, Andrew

Phil, The solution seems pretty simple to me.... Regards Andrew

Have a chat to Mike "Supercast" Pett. He has just the chap!

Your cake box is built to a really nice standard. I'm sure you'll be able to incorporate what you have so far into a future project.