Campaman

I have done it by soaking the sponge in green (or other colour required) paint first, let that dry then use a cheese grater, the paint makes the sponge stiff enough to grate, but it is then soft again after grating.

I have also use Feathers (we have a 4 parrots) to good effect, I used string wound round thick wire (earth wire from twin and earth cable) for the trunk texture then painted it, it also allows you to bend the trunk.

I have a piece of rail inserted into a small piece of wood that I slide the rail joiner onto first to open both ends out ready for the actual track. Think of it like a piece of rail fixed in a file handle.

If you have a local The Range shop, they sell Windsor and Newton acrylic matt varnish in 500ml pots that works out much cheaper than the modelling equivalents, its for artists but it works great on card/paper and I also use it on my plastic models. HobbyCraft also sell micro glue applicators in a pack of 3 which are good for PVA glues, they come with a pin to seal the thin nozzle.

Its just a general rule of thumb, I have had enamel lift acrylic. I guess it all depends on the brand and type of acrylic and the type of solvent in the enamel as if it lifts it or not.

I have found that most spray varnishes are fine is you apply multiple very light coats so as not to saturate the paper/card. I currently use Windsor & Newton Acrylic matt varnish sprayed on using my airbrush, slightly thinned using IPA.

Not sure how to remove it but below is some information regarding Enamels and Acrylics and over painting. I think you will have problems if you just try enamel varnish over the acrylic Can You overpaint acrylic paint? If you try to overpaint an acrylic paint with an enamel paint, then the solvent in the enamel will lift the underlying acrylic paint. You can usually overpaint an enamel paint with an acrylic paint provided the enamel paint has fully cured and there is no solvent left in the enamel.

I butchered and old Superquick Barn I had, looks better in real life than the photos.

The Airfix one is similar to the one at Minehead on the West Somerset Railway.

Same here, a quick dab of oil for lubricating the drill bit also helps.

Strange that it only shows 2 coaches, I got this set three years ago in an Argos sale and at that point it came with 3 but not the red re-railer thingy. Its probably a way of keeping the same price by having less in the box. It would be interesting to see if the polystyrene insert in the box has space for the 3rd coach.

Personally having tried the loft, if you don't fully convert with windows (Velux) and full insulation / access its not ideal, the hatch being the first problem.

Right or wrong I have droppers every 4-5 pieces of track but join the track with a soldered wire link between them below as well as the rail joiners.

I have double sided strip, came from C & L

The method i use is first coat, grey primer, then spray from a distance so the droplets are big, white, red and yellow. give it a try on scrap.