mjenderby

Sat am. Unfortunately I couldn't make Manchester yesterday as Ryanair had to divert to Newcastle! Mark

A few pics from Warley. Mark

My impression is that Chinese modelling is more about collecting and running rather than layouts and scenery. Hence the "arms race" on detail and DCC functions. I guess most don't have the space and there's plenty of videos of trains being exercised on club/public running lines. Unfortunately this has meant it's now much more difficult and expensive for us UK modellers 😔 Mark https://Nihao87.wordpress.com

Know the problem - spent too much time hunting for small bits that have pinged.... and not finding them ☹️

Is it the Rivarossi? Here's my attempt at conversion. Cheers Mark nihao87.wordpress.com

Hattons have the DF4E under the Sinomodels brand. Pretty sure it's the Aurora model. Mark

Funnily enough, that's been my job this week. Amazed how much crud wheels attract when sat in a box! Plenty of bits disappeared into thin air as well. Headlights not working is another common one. Got half a dozen tricky ones which just won't run ... looks like rip the chip jobs :-( Cheers Mark

The beauty of Chinese modelling .... (almost) anything has a prototype ;-) Just picked up some M4 ore wagons cheap on ebay but have still to find a prototype to match :-( - but no one can say there isn't one! Cheers Mark

Paul, Given the date range, I would expect to see more bikes (not as many as the 90s but still significant numbers). Have you considered the Magnorail system? Would look good to have cyclists along the front of the shops :-) Cheers Mark

An interesting discussion. I started on a similar path to Paul but, given that my main layout is now fixed, it now has to just please me. Hence, it attempts to capture the flavour (sic) of China as I experienced it with cameos of specifically unique Chinese scenes but doesn't get in to "anal" territory. e.g. I use many US/Europe kits which look similar to Chinese structures and 3D printed buildings are copied from photos but to guessed dimensions. I have also built up a wide variety of locos, many which represent small classes which probably never met in real life. But, hey, I'm not worrying My new exhibition layout (based on the small US yard layouts) is more limited and easier to make look more authentic but works on the principal the majority of viewers know no better. My main problem is when Chinese speakers read my Chinese script where I use Google translate (shades of the old Hungarian Monty Python sketch!). I think the biggest problem for modellers of "the East" is that railway modelling is not an established hobby in those countries. While there must clearly be a lot of sales in China they either appear on bare bones running layouts (often shared as, I presume most people don't have any space) or for static exhibition. So there isn't the modelling culture to provide the help/criticism/encouragement we need ... it all comes 2nd hand from the west. I get the impression that only Europe has an extensive foreign modelling culture. Ah! first world problems. Anyway, it does have its advantages ... what the modeller says is almost always right! But then your worst critic is always going to be yourself Cheers Mark https://nihao87.wordpress.com

PS I tried a different unit with similar results. Given one pair of points work, maybe it's an issue of variability with the SEEPs. What is certain is that the switching power diminishes significantly if you try to drive 2. In the event I had a spare output so now separately powered. This means switching is very positive and there are no worries about partial switching :-) Cheers Mark

I'm just struggling with this. I have 2 crossovers with both points (Seep solenoid motors) connected to a single ads2fx output. One works but the other needs 2-3 attempts to switch. This is no good when using computer route setting☹ Spent all afternoon trying different wiring to no avail. Connections are short run, and close to the DCC power source. Don't even work when motors not attached to point/board. So my answer is "it depends"! Cheers Mark

Just finished a tidy up (honestly) of my "mancave" before I set about refurbishing the main layout (why do layouts decompose if left for months?). Unfortunately no G1 QJ (lottery win awaited!). Your picture cost me as I spotted some China books I hadn't seen before - they're now on their way Cheers Mark

Kev, Referring to Robin Gibbons book on the SYs, the translation is "Wish Tiefa Coal an even better future". I always intended to attempt to learn Chinese as a retirement project. However, I got lazy and still rely on Google translate for my modelling needs. This, of course, relies on not letting Chinese speakers anywhere near my layouts ;) Cheers Mark

And here it is :-) https://nihao87.wordpress.com/2020/06/04/nearly-there/

Paul For some reason, this post didn't work last time. Re dogs, I had the same problem as Preiser etc only seemed to do pets. However, have you seen Peco Modelscene dogs https://peco-uk.com/products/dogs They're cheap and cheerful. Being OO they're a little on the big side and overfed for Chinese ;-) However, they can be modded and painted to give reasonable. There's 2 or 3 on this pic of NiHao Cheers Mark

https://nihao87.wordpress.com/blog/ This year has seen work on a 3rd layout started. The intention is to produce something portable, but operationally interesting. I've ended up with a variation on the US goods yard layout but hopefully reasonably "Chinafied" ;-) Most of the structures are 3D printed and I've used static grass for the first time, which has dramatically improved ground cover. However, the real challenge will to get a realistic back drop which will paint in some gritty industrial landscape (well, that's the plan anyway). Cheers Mark

Snap :-) Cheers Mark

Exactly where I come from (I'd never have gone to Warley if it wasn't for Beijao). Having visited more exhibitions than usual this year, I have to say that repetition seems to be the order of the day … yet another BR-era diesel depot or GW branch line terminal. Even the large BR steam-era layouts begin to pall. Saying that, there are some excellent layouts covering more unusual subjects starting to appear and these are a lot more fascinating to me. Beijao does score on having continuous action - that's got to count. I've walked away from countless layouts where nothing happens for long periods. Paul's proposal for increasing operational variety will be icing on the cake. Cheers Mark

My limited experience in exhibiting Ni-Hao (which is 12x2'6) has been at small shows with a more general audience. Being smaller has allowed me to interact with the viewers and I've found people are very interested in something different. The only problem was that answering questions distracted from the operation! More operators could solve this. I also have cameos and highlight these on the posters. A smaller layout makes these easier to spot. Saying that, I'm now making a small, single-board/operator, yard layout with the intention of making it easier to exhibit without the transport and operation issues. Cheers Mark

The joys of DCC ;-) Mark

Paul, Good to meet at last! Wish I had the patience and attention to detail you have :-) Will try to emulate on Ni-Hao and my new layout ;-) Here's a few phots Cheers Mark https://nihao87.wordpress.com/

We’ve had persistent rain for 2 weeks now and Sunday’s forecast is not good. Therefore we’ve decided to leave the conservatory available for shelter and not show NiHao. It also hasn’t helped that I’ve knackered a toe so am not particularly mobile. Apologies to anyone who was planning to come along specifically for NiHao. If you let me know and I should be able to arrange a private viewing sometime.

Strange. I can just click on the links an they work. Tried it on my PC, tablet, phone. Not sure what to suggest other than to cut n paste the links. Cheers Mark

This layout will be on display on 16th June 2019 when we open our garden for the NGS … https://www.ngs.org.uk/find-a-garden/garden/35249/ Pictures from this month's openday can be found here … https://nihao87.wordpress.com/2019/05/13/may-openday/ Cheers Mark