TEAMYAKIMA

Well...................................... With a professional photographer coming to do a photo shoot, I have been working flat out for the last couple of weeks to deal with all sorts of 'issues' which generally go totally unnoticed at a show, but which jump out at you in a photograph. The changes have been microscopic, but the time taken to make those micro changes has been mega. As of late Sunday, there were still several things to do before the photographer was due to arrive the next day. So, I was back in the shed yesterday at 05.15 (YES!) and by 09.45 I could finally look myself in the eye and say, "That's as good as it's ever going to be - bring it on!" At 09.46 my doorbell rang 🙂 Will they be good photos? I certainly hope so - the photographer finally drove off at 19.00, So, including the time taken to set up eight photo-floodlights and then taking them down, the photo session was 9 hours and 15 minutes!!

Personally, as the owner of a viewer-friendly Chinese HO layout, I am looking forward to meeting a greeting serious modellers from other modelling sub-cultures - aircraft, boats, military - as they will look at the layout without the pre-conceived ideas that some hard-core railway modellers view things. I make no criticism of hardcore railway modellers, but some do have a limited view of our hobby and these 'other' modellers will simply look at every layout with fresh eyes.

Well, I think there are other considerations. Firstly, there are 36 layouts and Warley had 90 and already that is over one third and secondly one of those 36 layouts is 208ft long and so that has an impact on the actual number of layouts on show. Also, Keypublishing are taking a big risk to promote and nurture our hobby and I think that they should be given a chance to prove themselves - let's face it - there aren't many shows around the country that would or could accommodate Pete Waterman's 208ft of layout. If people want large ambitious exhibitions then they need to support them as and when they take place. My layout is 28ft x10ft and several two day shows have told me that it's simply too big for them to invite it. OK, I like OO9 4x2 layouts, but for me, big is better and big shows are needed in order to see big layouts.

Yes, I plan/hope to do that. The photographer is an 'old pro' with photo floods and tripods etc and I think that he is very experienced in photographing layouts and I think he is very sympathetic to us layout owners and the issues we face. However, it has got me thinking! A couple of days ago I was looking at the layout and considering what were its biggest issues - the things which would jump out at you in a photo and I concluded that it was the baseboard joins in the roadway which are right under viewers noses. So, I had an idea - as the scenic section of the layout is now set up in my shed ready for photography, I decided to fill in the gaps in the roadway baseboard joins, sand them down and paint over them. Now, not being the brightest spark in the room, I forgot to take a proper before and after set of photos, but here is the baseboard join gap plastered over. And painted it looks like this ................. Then having thought about it, I guessed that in fact the photographer could have easily photoshopped out those nasty baseboard joins and I could have saved myself the effort, But then, after more thought, it occurred to me that, at an exhibition, if we got the layout up nice and early on the Friday we could do the same and it would make a BIG difference. We would need to paint the road last thing on the Friday night and not first thing Saturday as the paint changes colour slightly as it dries, but it does make a huge difference to the appearance of the road and hence the layout.

That is so true. My layout is 'exhibition-only' and I always demand a barrier at least 18 inches away from the front of the layout (not for security, just to ensure that viewers get a better, mor natural, view of the layout) but next week I have having a professional photographer do a really professional photo shoot of the layout. He will do real close-up shots and I am really worried that all sorts of flaws which no-one sees at an exhibition will really jump out to you in a decent close-up photo.

OK, this turntable has been donated to my club - Twickenham & District MRC and I will be selling it on ebay for them and I hope to raise a substantial amount for them, but there is a problem. The turntable appears to work perfectly, except for one aspect - it never aligns properly ..... It always aligns off centre as shown. It always aligns exactly the same way every time at every location. Has anyone else had this problem? I want to list it in the next 36 hours as ebay have a special deal for sellers which lasts until Midnight tomorrow, but I can't list it until this is sorted. Thanks for your interest.

Yes, thanks - all good - but a problem has arisen and I will post it in a few minutes.

Thanks - yes have tested the item now on 16v AC and works fine, except for one problem - I will post it in a few minutes

Many thanks - so the black and white wire coming out of the switch go to 16v AC not 12v DC?

I have a Fleischmann 6152 turntable, but no instructions came with it - can anyone help please? Many thanks

No comments for over two months?

First I addressed any 'pot holes'..................... Then, if this was to be a 'dirt road' it needed to be clearly part to the general lie of the land ( as opposed to a proper tarmac road which sits on top of the surrounding ground ). So, that was more work ................. That's where I am as of now - more later once I've finished the job

This upcoming professional photo shoot is dominating my thinking at the moment as these will be the definitive layout photos and everything needs to be 'perfect' - by that I don't mean perfect in an absolute sense, but as in 'as perfect as I am able to achieve'. But that can be time-consuming as one thing leads to another. Example................. Originally, I had painted the road surface along the front of the layout with a paint from B&Q called 'ashfelt'- I just bought a £2.25 tester pot to try it out and it was perfect and that pot painted the whole road and all the car parking areas. But, over time, the working Faller road vehicles left tyre marks in the road which needed covering as the camera would highlight these issues. So, I went back to B&Q to buy another tester pot - only to discover that they had changed the range of colours and 'ashfelt' was no longer available - DOH! So, I bought four different paint testers from three different suppliers to try them out and finally settled on PRINCETON from B&Q. So, I repainted the whole of the roadway at the front of the layout, carefully painting around all the vehicles and figures which I had glued down - time consuming! Then this new pristine finish brought another 'issue' to my attention - the narrow, single track curving 'road' which the minibuses traverse close to the track bed - they are looking for photo opportunities 🙂 . It now looked far too 'perfect' and something will need to be done 😒.

This is an extreme example of me bending the rules slightly regarding 100% authenticity, in order to create more variety and an extra "WOW!" factor.

It's the Katsumi/Tenshodo one. It belongs to my good friend Peter who will be a guest operator at KEYMODELWORLD on the Sunday. He doesn't have a layout and so he will run the whole 6 car Pashina rake around the layout early on and take some photos. Then for the rest of the day it will run my standard type 22 coach rake as a 'steam special'. And, for those who don't know, the real Asia Express train was just 6 cars long and ran on the South Manchuria Railway in China during the Japanese occupation from about 1934. Two of the twelve SL7 pacifics are preserved, but not in working order.

Just when you (and I actually) thought we could predict everything we'd see on Beijiao at an exhibition - this came up! Just on the Sunday at the KEYMODELWORLD event at the NEC, we will be hosting this VERY special guest loco. It will be with us all day and hauling our 'steam special' rake of green type 22 coaches.

I have no strong views on this subject myself, just to say that 40 odd years ago I had an American ON30 layout which had amazing trees made by a fellow club member - Robert Skene. We invited him to come to shows with us and demonstrate his unique method of making trees; he would make a accurate model of an exact tree, using drawings - just like a scratchbuilder would make a model of an exact loco or building. Anyway, he was quite a character and eventually he built himself a booth which we transported in our van along with three stools - one for him (inside the booth) and two for potential visitors outside his booth. Once the show opened, he would simply speak in a loud voice telling people in the vicinity how he made his trees. He had been a teacher and/or an actor and he could project his voice somewhat. That approach attracted people to come over, sit down and engage with him. All I'm saying is that his unique style worked for him 40 odd years ago, whether it would be a popular approach these days, I don't know.

Yes, I can confirm that there is now a flourishing Chinese home market for Chinese model railways in HO and N - still small, but flourishing. I couldn't agree with you more - TT120 looks so much better than OO in that the scale matches the gauge - for me that is very noticeable.

I understand your thinking - that's why I was dreading that question 😐

That's a question that I've been dreading. Western photographers like me tended to visit China in deepest winter in order to photograph dramatic stem effects - I think minus 40 was the coldest I experienced. But most figures you can buy don't come wearing suitable clothing and I even have a workman with his top off. So let's say it's early Spring.

I think you mean another 999 😉

We all have to start somewhere 😉

I did warn you that the trees were coming - and the first one arrived yesterday!

Wow! Thanks, But one question : How did you come up with that solution? I will try that tomorrow although I will have to dip them into diluted PVA as I don't have a spray gun.

Hello I seem to remember that people using seafoam trees tend to dip them in some liquid before use - am I right? Is that to give them strength? I want to straighten some as they are banana shaped - any thoughts please? Thanks in advance for any help.