PaternosterRow

Beautiful, tidy craftsmanship as per usual. The thought that you’d cut down the ends just to make it fit the drawing is mind boggling - that’s attention to detail for you! Fantastic rebuild and it’s going to look great at Farthing. Love how you incorporated those splashers perfectly.

Hi, very inspiring stuff. I’ve tried something similar in 4mm - see the rest of my stuff here at RMweb on my blog. Above - shadow box roundhouse. A 20 inch by 20 inch display using a mirror to the right to double the scene. Lighting was achieved using car headlight bulbs shining through slits. The station - 6ft long with a mirror again to double the length. A depiction of Barrow Hill Roundhouse. This model is 3 ft x 3 ft model with a working turntable. You May also want to look at Mikkel’s fantastic Farthing Layouts - particularly his warehouse which is both an external and internal display model. His work is also in 4mm scale and is much more detailed and exacting than my stuff. He also tells great stories on his blog. I look forward to seeing your workshop develop. Regards Mike.

Excellent issue guys. Shenston Road was a superb spread to read and mull over - the pics were amazing. Seen this on the EM gauge website and we are all in for another treat when the mag covers the Steelwork side of the layout next. It’s the type of layout that could only be built by an ex rail driver and it has loads of operational authenticity as a result. The layout brilliantly captures the Midlands during the era. I went to school on City Road and remember the smell of the brewery and also a disused trackbed that ran adjacent to the park. I also remember Lynton Square Shopping Center that the author mentions - thanks for conjuring up the great memories. What a treat to loll about on the holidays and read this issue.

Ingenious solution to add extra depth - an idea I’m going to pinch in the future. Those pics and vids are brilliant.

Beautiful trees. Superb attention to detail as per usual.

Beautiful model - never seen a flatbed/loco combination before. It’s usually the realm of the military modeler. Love the details like the cable winch etc. Rusting and weathering is superb.

I admire anyone working with this stuff and producing nice depth and detail to brick walls and arches. I tend to go the Scalescenes route as it’s far easier and quicker - you don’t have to paint either. No, keep up the good work because what you’ve done so far is great, inspiring work. I totally agree with Mikkel’s comment about detecting flaws - you made it and so only you can see them.

Really enjoyable issue - I’m really warming to the Pocketmag digital edition with all its extra content. The video of Heaton Lodge was really exciting. What a fantastic achievement - you really have to give Simon George a lot of credit for his determination in creating this highly realistic mammoth. I wish him really well on his tour with this and hope a lot of people go and see it - I’m sure this is layout going to provide a huge boost to the hobby. Just imagine being a kid again and going to see something like this for the first time! The rest of the content was fab too especially Dave Hall’s micro shunting schemes. Well done yet again guys and I can’t wait to pick up my print copy tomorrow.

Had a great evening reading the digital version. There are some fabulous photos of Pete Waterman’s new WCML layout. Thought the Pete Waterman/Andy York interview was very interesting. Waterman has a brilliantly pragmatic attitude with regards railway history - something sadly lacking in contemporary society. It’s really important to champion the history of the railways, a British gift to the world that laid the foundations of the modern world we enjoy today. Especially given that it was driven forward by largely self taught individuals from common backgrounds. Waterman cites his own example, but I think here of George Stephenson in particular, the father of the modern railway who made it all possible. His first application to parliament for the Liverpool Manchester line was thrown out due to survey inaccuracies - many Oxbridge educated engineers scoffing at his proposal to go directly over Chat Moss saying it was impossible to do. However, not only did he achieve this incredible feat but much heavier modern trains still run over the peat bog today on the original embankment! How’s that for a man who had to teach himself how to read and write? It’s always easy to forget that the future, and general betterment of mankind, is always driven forward by pragmatic individuals rather than the State.

Thanks very much for the flattering comments Mikkel. That first pic is the best of about 20 - I just keep clicking away and count on finding a good one amongst them. Love modern cameras for that. The ramp fence was dead simple. It’s a piece of 1mm plastikard that’s been scored with a Stanley knife first. It was then painted in black acrylic and when dry scraped back with the tip of a scalpel blade. It’s counter intuitive in a way because the white is really under the black but it looks like white paint peeling off wood! It’s great what you can get away with in 4mm scale.

Great plan, Pete. Wow, those coaches and 37 are beautiful. All of that must of cost a pretty penny.

Cheers Pete. Bit busy with work at the moment so haven’t got round to adding on the connections. These need to be hinged so they can flip up from the ends that connect to the Carlisle module. Not much in the scheme of things but it’s just a pain finding the time. The Perry Barr and High Trees Junction layout are already in place and are linked so it’s nearly all there. Thanks again for the kind comments. Mike.

Hi John, I don’t know how to do the links on here, but if you go to my blog on here and find the recent entry ‘A Duches at Carlisle II’ there is a photo description about how I made the roof on there. Just scroll down a bit and you’ll find it. Mike

A couple of long exposure shots using an old cinema spotlight mounted above the layout. I’ve always been fascinated by those old black and white photos that have captured streaming sunlight through Station canopies. It’s a really hard effect to pull off using artificial light. The spotlight was a lucky find and came from a guy that used to be a projectionist in the 1950’s. He’d had it in his loft for years and gave it me for the princely sum of a tenner.

Neat and tidy job. Great planning, great execution.

A couple of shots from my new layout - Carlisle Citadel Station. I doubt a Green 105 worked the Silloth Branch but it's all I've got in the Green DMU department and it makes for a nice picture.

Just a quick update at Carlisle Citadel. A picture from the other side of the layout for a change. I doubt a Green 105 would have worked the Silloth Branch, but it's all I've got in the Green DMU era and I think it makes for a nice picture. I know they worked Carlisle in the BR Blue days though. Changing the destination board was a real pain and I also had to twist the frame as it seemed to be pushed up under the body shell and out of line above the bogies - ironic given that the problem was on the unpowered, and much lighter, car. A clearer shot of the Duchess taken with my smaller Panasonic - not great with depth of field but note the Lima Crab on the tracks at the other side of the access ramp. A BR steam era layout wouldn't be complete without a Black 5. It's a bit busy in this shot. A Black 5 and an Ivatt 4MT Ugly Duckling. Again, taken by the Panasonic so the screen is slightly blurred.

Lovely work. Particularly liked the blue flowers which reminded me of the many happy holidays spent on the IOW in the 70’s. 2mmFS must be a real challenge and much respect due for the beautiful detail. No wonder it has taken over a decade so far.

Cheers Mikkel. sorry for not replying sooner, but we took advantage of the beautiful day and easing of lockdown to go down to Dingle for the day. Our short trips out remind us how lucky we are to live here in the South West of Ireland. The exhibition circuit is almost non existent down here and I don’t really fancy lugging anything over the water to the UK although I’ve been invited a couple of times - I’m a little too old now for all that running around! But you never know, I mind change my mind at some point in the future. As far as weathering goes, it’s all a bit subjective I think. My general rule of thumb is that if it’s brand new and not factory weathered I don’t touch it out of fear of screwing it up. Second hand stuff is different and I’ll use washes and powders - less is more though because you can definitely over do it. On second hand blue diesels I tend to generously muck up the bogies, under-frame etc and lightly wash the body before scratching back with a glass fiber pen. This is followed by a coat of Matt varnish to tone everything down. Having said that, I think your locomotives are entirely appropriate to the period without weathering - crew and staff seemed to be much more enthusiastic about appearance of their machines in the old days. Especially on God’s Wonderful Railway. Given that they would probable use oily old rags then the locos would most likely shine. Whatever, they look brilliant. Thanks again for the compliment. Mike

Cheers Pete. Having seen your entry and that brilliant header photo the same compliment extends to you. Especially so given that Kyle is in 2mmFS. The mirror (pinched from one our wardrobes!) neatly slides out. I was thinking of taking it to a glazier to have appropriate sized holes nibbled out. However, I don’t think this will go down well when I put it back on the wardrobe door! Anyhow, it’s only the rear 4 tracks beyond the island platform that’ll be linked. The front five tracks will only ever serve as a photographic display. Thanks again for the kind compliment. Mike.

Another update. The platform buildings and footbridge is now complete. All that is needed now is to create the links with my loft runaround scheme. The followings pics are all early BR. # I very much doubt that 46151 ever hauled the Thames Clyde Express, however, other members of the class did work it North of Leeds.

Holy Crap, just imagine if the petrol engine hadn’t been invented - we’d all be up to our necks in it by now! Given that we are all experts on this subject in Ireland, and believe me it’s everywhere over here, the color and consistency of your version is exactly right.

Brilliant and way better than the sequel!

Many thanks for the kind compliment. A lot of it is down to luck rather than judgement and also patience. Thank the heavens for digital cameras because you can snap away indiscriminately until you get the right shot.

Thanks Mikkel. It never occurred to me to liken it to that world of Jules Verne or HG Wells, but as soon as I read it I instantly got it. The shape reminds you of all those flying blimps, futuristic cars and submarines seen in contemporary drawings of their time. The designers would have undoubtedly been influenced by what they had read themselves in their youth and it clearly shows through. This made me think about the influences on me and the way I love playing about with light, dark and shade. Also that grubby industrial background that appeals so much. This is undoubtedly down to films like Blade Runner, an all time favorite, in which Ridley Scott manipulated light so brilliantly. I remember seeing it my late teens and being totally blown away by it - who could have failed to have been dazed by those opening scenes of the big eye and nighttime flight over a futuristic LA? Of course, only a storyteller like yourself could have seen these hidden associations. Brilliant observation and it has provided me with plenty of food for thought. Many thanks again, Mike