Campaman

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.

Personally I would do what is right, but as you say rule 1 applies. There are plenty of brick sheets available, or you can be sad like me and scribe your own...

Just recently upgraded to one from DCC Supplies although I think I may have had the last one in stock.

Cartridge paper also has a texture so you could also use that.

You can also do this using a thick PVA glue

The problem with some of the ladies eye shadow stuff is the glitter in them. Cheap artists pastel sets are a better bet, grind them down with a modelling knife edge.

I use a wash of watercolour after the tiles slates are all laid.

Don't have it protude, so you just reach underneath

If you have built the track exactly as that plan then it says in the text that you can either run it as two circuits with two controllers or one continuous run by making sure that point A,B,C & D are set correctly as per the instructions.

If you just want undulating terrain and not steep hills just cut some contours out of corrugated card and stick to your flat ply, then cover those with masking tape to smooth out the edges, then cover with a layer of plaster/poly filler before adding you coulour and grass.