Modelling mojo and state of mind

[The Johnster]

So here's some examples of what gets me down when modelling and ending up feeling bad about my own skills.

 

I swap to OO (various reasons, some confidence related), I think this will be better and it is, the couplings are easier to use in shunting, I am happy.

 

I buy more stock, things are going well, then i reverse my Hornby ex LSWR stock into the bay using a DJM 02 - the couplings ride over each other Arghh, I buy a Heljan 33 - lovely model except couplings droop and it won't stay coupled to stuff - more Arghh and now the confidence thing hits - I can't fix this (or so I feel) so I am stuck.  I've a couple of Airfix B set coaches I got for £10 as something I can cheaply work on to improve - have I - no I haven't - I bought the paint but haven't attempted to use it, the couplings are also stiff, they need changing, haven't done that either.

 

Anyways I get to play with Rosamund Street at Derby and experienced Kadees, well these look like an answer to a problem and you can get them for NEM sockets - surely that's simple for me??

 

Three months pass before I even pluck up courage to order some and 3 more weeks to fit them.  Gaurds van, done, box van done, mineral wagon - it's a different height - disaster.  Luckily I seem to be in a positive frame of mind so a bit of searching the internet shows this is a known issue with early NEM sockets by Bachmann and there is a solution if you tease the socket down a little which I did last night.

 

Little victories are good for the soul, so when the 33 with #18s buffer locked on the guards van with #19s I shrugged it off - I just need to fit a #19 to the loco.

 

But I know I still have more challenges to face that are downright simple but somehow reflect my lack of confidence - point motors and then the really big one - scenery and track painting.

 

 

SMART is very much the right way, small achievable goals but sometimes I hate modelling as it really highlights my anxieties that I thought I was beating.

 

 

 

'Scenery is the big one, it's where i always come to a blinding halt and cannot move forward and I don't know why, I had no problem with it as a child, yet as a 50+ adult it fills me with dread, probably because if it looks cr*p it will just prove to me I am no good but until you try how do you know and how do you learn'.

 

I can very much identify with the 'won't do it in case it's crap/another proof that I'm useless/a self fulfilling prophesy of failure.  You are not alone; I feel exactly the same about point motors and live frogs (though I quite like the amphibian type).  My suggestion, FWIW, is to have a go with a small area as a project, and see what it looks like.  One of two things will happen, either you'll be pleased with it, in which case you can bask in the glory of self congratulation and continue with the rest of the layout with renewed confidence, win win, or it'll be a complete disaster like you think it's going to be.  If it is, then you just scrap it with minimal loss, don't beat yourself up, and have another go later.  

 

But I'm willing to put money on it not being half bad, and the first case scenario applying!

[Poggy1165]

My current method of working, which may or may not be of use to anyone else, is to think of the layout as a series of cameos and try to get each one finished before moving onto the next, This is in part dictated by the baseboard being higher than normal. You really have to work on the stuff at the back first, because otherwise you will damage the stuff at the front leaning over. (Memo to self, there is an optimum height for layouts and even for a big like you, 54" is too high!)

 

I am having some success with this, but the hard bit will come when I get to the bit with several points and all their associated wiring, which, at the moment, I am dreading. Were I but a millionaire I would have all this awkward stuff done for me!

[The Johnster]

The idea that workflow is affected, never mind dictated, by baseboard height and accessibility issues is interesting, Poggy.  My own method is to build from the ground up, as I reckon that starting at one end and working towards the other, whilst a prototypical enough way of building a railway, leads to a lack of overall visual uniformity which adversely affect the 'look' of a layout.  You are having to discipline yourself to work from the back forwards.  But finishing each cameo before moving on to the next is relevant to our discussion here about doing tasks in bite size achievable chunks, eating the elephant one mouthful at a time.

 

But I find this business of the basic form of the layout, in this case the height, having an influence on the methodology of it's building to be an interesting philosophical point as well; to what extent does the layout itself influence the designer/builder's thought processes and actions, to what extent does the layout construct the builder?

 

Getting a bit metaphysical for a Saturday, so I'll go off and have a cup of tea now instead!

[Mallard60022]

My current method of working, which may or may not be of use to anyone else, is to think of the layout as a series of cameos and try to get each one finished before moving onto the next, This is in part dictated by the baseboard being higher than normal. You really have to work on the stuff at the back first, because otherwise you will damage the stuff at the front leaning over. (Memo to self, there is an optimum height for layouts and even for a big ###### like you, 54" is too high!)

 

I am having some success with this, but the hard bit will come when I get to the bit with several points and all their associated wiring, which, at the moment, I am dreading. Were I but a millionaire I would have all this awkward stuff done for me!.... my ar$£.

All the best to you all.

Phil

[DougN]

On scenery can I suggest an off cut of wood or even a price of sturdy cardboard say no bigger than 200x200 and have a practice. I did this even with an off cut of track on cork to practice ballasting then using woodlands scenic bits practised the colour mixing and bush creation. This little tester has become in valuable as people go how did you make this. Drag out the sample which to be honest worked quite well and hand it to them. They can touch feel poke etc with no damage to the layout and they see how the layers fit together.

 

I used Hornby and woodland scenic bits. Sticking to complimentary ranges is a quick and cheerful way to do the scenics. Ok may not hit the exact scenic colourings to match your location but the scenics when you spend some time come out quite well.mine has been commented on by a lot better modellers than me. Most of my OO layout is RTR and RTP buildings. The reason why I say this is because I didn't have the time (still don't) so I looked at trying to use what was available with the imagination but not buying all the buildings from a single year catalogue. Which would have been "oh that's Hornby's catalogue from 2012" mix and match.

 

It is so important when time is disappearing that we find some way to do some modelling as the circuit breaker. Today being Father's Day here in Melbourne I am trying to get some modelling done and not be concerned about, the day job, selling the now spare car, the new company which I hope one day will remove the day job, the kids school fees, getting back on the rower to get fitter again...ad Infinitium. With out modelling and sitting down and not getting frustrated but getting something done is so important to hold onto life and reality.

 

I really should read and go and do the last paragraph. So bye for now.

[tomparryharry]

I have considered a professional cake tin. Not a cake tin, per se, but the type where you can remove said cake, without damaging the contents. You should be able to unbox the cake (for this, read model) and undertake whatever work to perform. Once you gone as far as you want, box your model back up.

 

Observation is a wonderful addition to your abilities. And, it's usually free! When you're out, take a camera. It's the everyday, not the unusual, that gets missed. My layout is the same. As I'm writing this, I've noticed that my own streetscene is missing lots of details. Things like dustbins, kids playing football, scale detritus, dogs, hopscotch painted on the road, window cleaner, etc. 5 minutes at the keyboard, and I've just given myself a month's work....Jeez.

 

Just remember that it is a hobby. I take a lot of inspiration from a great deal of previous work done by others.

 

Try a door. Not any door. Your front door. Granny's front door. Don't worry about scale, that'll come later. How does it look? What's different about it? Colour? Door knocker? Bottom draught excluder? Locks on the left, or right? Number? Marks where the dog has scratched the door to be let in. By the way, you haven't got to the milk bottles yet, the threshold is yet to come...

 

Perhaps there is a sub forum, where we can go through a section of things either contemporary, or a different time frame. For arguments sake, let's call it street scene. Or call it something more apt.

 

Horse sh*t in the road, jumpers for goalposts....

 

Ian

[Northmoor]

Observation is a wonderful addition to your abilities. And, it's usually free! When you're out, take a camera. It's the everyday, not the unusual, that gets missed. My layout is the same. As I'm writing this, I've noticed that my own streetscene is missing lots of details. Things like dustbins, kids playing football, scale detritus, dogs, hopscotch painted on the road, window cleaner, etc. 5 minutes at the keyboard, and I've just given myself a month's work....Jeez.

 

This really strikes a chord with me, how the everyday is often missed.  One of my favourite railway photographers, apart from Colin Gifford, who is on another planet, is Henry Priestley.  I have an album of his photographs, mostly taken in the 1950s-60s; what is particularly noticeable is that about half the shots have no train in them at all. Priestley liked to photograph the whole railway scene, so you can see not just what track layouts were but can study where the point rodding went, how it went under barrow crossings, what type of signs were at the end of the platforms, how the brazier was placed next to the water crane, what the surface of the platform looked like..... I could go on for pages.  So many photographers just photographed locomotives and just to study train formations behind the loco immediately seems to reduce the amount of available research material by a factor of ten.  I think layouts of the earlier diesel era have only very recently started to capture this level of detail because the builders have had to research it.  When it was in front of us all we forgot to record most of the extra details. 

 

Not all layouts can possibly capture all this detail, or can they? We all say a layout is never finished.  I see others lack confidence about scenic work and I share this, but I will have a go (when the layout gets to that stage soon).  However, the layouts which most inspire me are where the effort is balanced - locos, rolling stock, buildings and scenery are of a comparable level of detail - I've yet to see it in the flesh but everything I've seen of Pendon suggests this is what makes it so special.  However, for us mere mortals, new r-t-r models are now so exceptional that it is more of a challenge to produce the scenery to do them justice.  

[The Johnster]

True, but to be fair the standard of RTP buildings and accessories has improved somewhat as well.  Resin moulded pre-painted and weathered buildings feature on my layout in both 'out of the box' and modified/hacked to bits/bodged form, and I am quite happy with them and doubt I could produce anything better (or even as good in some cases).  A drawback is the thickness of their walls, which will become horribly apparent should I ever decide to incorporate interior detail or lighting in any of them, but I'll cross that bridge if I come to it.

 

I have certainly seen layouts at shows and on YouTube which look odd because of an imbalance in the approach; beautifully detailed and intricate Allan Downsesque buildings and inspirational scenic work look somehow wrong with OOTB stock and train set track, as do handbuilt by master craftsmen locos and stock with poorly executed buildings and scenery.  The ultimate of this are the very popular 'I used to 'ave one of those' Hornby Dublo 3-rail layouts one sees at shows; these are clearly inspired by the 'dream layout' depicted on the original train set box cover, and show a model world which is set in a completely Hornby Dublo universe, with concrete Art Deco buildings and footbridge, and little of the world outside the ticket office gates shown at all.  It works because it is holistically complete and logical within itself, as well as appealing to nostalgia in persons of my advanced age and decrepitude.

 

What cannot be manufactured or marketed is the imagination that is behind the layout in the first place.  If you have a concept of how the layout should look before you start off, in my case a South Wales Valleys scene with a mountain rearing up out of sight directly behind the branch line, admittedly a particularly strong scenic feature but it might be a retaining wall or industrial building on another layout, or the land dropping away to the backscene like on Black Country Blues, then this influences the way the rest of the layout comes together and hopefully helps it to 'look right' in it's environment.  Not certain what I just wrote makes complete sense, but I know what I mean!  It seems to almost guarantee better results than putting the track down and then attempting to fit the rest of the world around it; this leads to a sort of square and parallel arrangement of scenery and buildings which seems to me to always embellish the very thing you want to draw attention away from; the train set curves at the end of the baseboards!

[APOLLO]

Just look at these wonderfull photographs (link from another thread on rmweb)

 

https://ironroad.smugmug.com/1960s-Steam-Finale/

 

Then ask yourself. What is missing from my models but is present in all these photos ?.

 

Answer

 

Atmosphere.

 

I'm blowed if I know how to model it - but I try ( and I don't overly bother about it) !!!!!!!!!!

 

Brit15

[Northmoor]

What cannot be manufactured or marketed is the imagination that is behind the layout in the first place.  If you have a concept of how the layout should look before you start off, in my case a South Wales Valleys scene with a mountain rearing up out of sight directly behind the branch line, admittedly a particularly strong scenic feature but it might be a retaining wall or industrial building on another layout, or the land dropping away to the backscene like on Black Country Blues, then this influences the way the rest of the layout comes together and hopefully helps it to 'look right' in it's environment.  Not certain what I just wrote makes complete sense, but I know what I mean!  It seems to almost guarantee better results than putting the track down and then attempting to fit the rest of the world around it; this leads to a sort of square and parallel arrangement of scenery and buildings which seems to me to always embellish the very thing you want to draw attention away from; the train set curves at the end of the baseboards!

These guys know how to create atmosphere and in quite a small space:

https://otcm.wordpress.com/

 

There is something indefinable about some layouts, where you can imagine yourself in 4mm scale walking round on others' layouts (and beyond the baseboard edge, because you can see the wider picture that the builder had in mind.  It helps when something beyond the railway boundary fence is included, it frequently isn't.  "Wibdenshaw" was certainly one that did this right, Chee Tor is probably the finest example I ever saw in the flesh. Olive Mount Cutting is another, but that's perhaps easier to imagine because I once lived not far from the real location....!  

[Guius]

Thanks for the link APOLLO, especially enjoyed the industrial photos. They've got something even the preservation movement can't quiet capture, never mind us modellers.

 

Best

 

Guy

[tomparryharry]

I think it's called 'unintentional grot'. the 'lived-in ' look. I can think of a dozen preserved railways, where it looks twee, or chocolate box. Life was never, ever like that. Urban decay?

 

Ian.

[APOLLO]

It's not just the weathering (which some modellers are quite expert at). It's the seemingly un-modelable atmosphere. The smell of steam, smoke, hot oil, creosote sleepers on a hot day, ths hisses, bangs, clicks and multiple other sounds, wind in the telegraph wires, wind moving those wires, trees and bushes. Rain, puddles, you name it.

 

Some layouts do have atmosphere - of course it's not all there - only reality can do that. But each of us seeks his own atmosphere.

 

I'm building a gas works model - most buildings pipes etc are in - but it's not quite right yet - lots of weathering & "atmosphere" to add as my skills will allow. My first day at work was at Wigan gasworks back in 1969 - boy that place had atmosphere !!!!

 

 

 

 

I need to add grot - lots of it !!

 

Brit15

 

 

[Guius]

The experiences we gain in early life tend to imprint themselves in our subconscious and influence what we consider to be 'the essence' or 'atmosphere' of a place or setting, particularly when we try to recreate them in model form. Few people born post Health and Safety  at Work Act 1974 can imagine the world of heavy engineering, shipbuilding, steelworks &c and the assault on the senses experienced every minute in such places of work even up to the 70's and 80's. Never the less, images of our industrial past, such as those APPOLO made us aware, of are a great value when trying to model an industrial setting from memory or by imagination.

 

Best wishes

 

Guy

[Iain Popplewell]

 The Iain Popplewell route to modelling excellence.

 

1. When modelling summat don't stop! I don't mean keep at it 24hrs a day but don't stop for any time, ie a day or two, especially before a difficult bit like painting/lining.

     Invariably I end up with models taking months if not years to complete because of procrastination.

 

2. Be prepared to fail! Give it a go it'll almost certainly turn out not as bad as you expected. Even if the worst happens you will have gained in experience.

     Invariably I end up taking months to pluck up the courage to line my latest," best model I've ever made and now I'm going to ruin it for good."

 

3. Be brave! You've finished your model you've lined it, stuck on the name plates and it's perfect, all you have to do is varnish it. What could possibly go wrong? and anyways it's only a couple of months work down the drain.

    Usually by this point I'm so desperate to finish the model, and get finally on with building the layout of my dreams, that I don't care!

 

4. Be knowledgeable! Buy all the best books on modelling. Read them all, inwardly digest all they have to say. Then get on and do it! It's only by doing it, that you'll really learn how to do it.

    Don't try to become the best armchair modeller in Britain though, I'm already that!

 

5. Have all the best tools you can get! Having the proper tools for the job is all, and can transform you're modelling capabilities.

    Be careful not to become a tool collector. I've just bought a second hand Peatol lathe of Ebay. Well you have to don't you? it was a bargain at that price, I'd only have regretted turning down the chance to own one and just think how it'll transform my modelling in future.

    Had the lathe two months now, spent a few weeks cleaning it and rewiring it, another month or two buying bits for it, bought all the books on using it, bought even more bits for it after reading the books.

 

6. Get angry! You'll never finish that layout of yours if you carry on delaying, get on with it!

    For three blxxdy months now I've had a loco all sprayed up and awaiting lining and varnishing, thanks to that blxxdy lathe, I've got distracted, started worrying about the lining and varnishing.

    I'm going to blxxdy start the lining today.

 

7. Don't spend all your time on RMWEB. It's all right being able to talk the talk and walk the walk but it won't get your layout finished will it?

    Blxxdy Hxll another 45mins of modelling time wasted by me!

Edited September 5, 2017 by Iain Popplewell

[The Johnster]

 The Iain Popplewell route to modelling excellence.

 

1. When modelling summat don't stop! I don't mean keep at it 24hrs a day but don't stop for any time, ie a day or two, especially before a difficult bit like painting/lining.

     Invariably I end up with models taking months if not years to complete because of procrastination.

 

2. Be prepared to fail! Give it a go it'll almost certainly turn out not as bad as you expected. Even if the worst happens you will have gained in experience.

     Invariably I end up taking months to pluck up the courage to line my latest," best model I've ever made and now I'm going to ruin it for good."

 

3. Be brave! You've finished your model you've lined it, stuck on the name plates and it's perfect, all you have to do is varnish it. What could possibly go wrong? and anyways it's only a couple of months work down the drain.

    Usually by this point I'm so desperate to finish the model, and get finally on with building the layout of my dreams, that I don't care!

 

4. Be knowledgeable! Buy all the best books on modelling. Read them all, inwardly digest all they have to say. Then get on and do it! It's only by doing it, that you'll really learn how to do it.

    Don't try to become the best armchair modeller in Britain though, I'm already that!

 

5. Have all the best tools you can get! Having the proper tools for the job is all, and can transform you're modelling capabilities.

    Be careful not to become a tool collector. I've just bought a second hand Peatol lathe of Ebay. Well you have to don't you? it was a bargain at that price, I'd only have regretted turning down the chance to own one and just think how it'll transform my modelling in future.

    Had the lathe two months now, spent a few weeks cleaning it and rewiring it, another month or two buying bits for it, bought all the books on using it, bought even more bits for it after reading the books.

 

6. Get angry! You'll never finish that layout of yours if you carry on delaying, get on with it!

    For three blxxdy months now I've had a loco all sprayed up and awaiting lining and varnishing, thanks to that blxxdy lathe, I've got distracted, started worrying about the lining and varnishing.

    I'm going to blxxdy start the lining today.

 

7. Don't spend all your time on RMWEB. It's all right being able to talk the talk and walk the walk but it won't get your layout finished will it?

    Blxxdy Hxll another 45mins of modelling time wasted by me!

 

 

As the great late 20th century philosopher Sid Vicious put it, 'anger is an energy'.  I'm annoyed that I've housework to do before I can get to the layout, and the energy thus generated will help with the housework.

 

To the kitchen sink, mon brave Johnster, onwards and upwards to victory!

 

Good advice, Iain...

Edited September 5, 2017 by The Johnster

[Mad McCann]

The experiences we gain in early life tend to imprint themselves in our subconscious and influence what we consider to be 'the essence' or 'atmosphere' of a place or setting, particularly when we try to recreate them in model form. Few people born post Health and Safety  at Work Act 1974 can imagine the world of heavy engineering, shipbuilding, steelworks &c and the assault on the senses experienced every minute in such places of work even up to the 70's and 80's. Never the less, images of our industrial past, such as those APPOLO made us aware, of are a great value when trying to model an industrial setting from memory or by imagination.

 

Best wishes

 

Guy

 

Agreed, Guy. I'm just told enough to remember such environments. My aunt lived in Howatt Street, Govan, right next to UCS. I can well remember the noise and bustle detectable even from over the walls! Near where I live is an industrial estate where I walk past with the dog. On the other side of the road is a big fabrication shop which generally has the big door into the main shop open. I'll often stand opposite for a few minutes and watch proceedings. Whilst it's a much more sanitised experience than times of old, you do still get a little hint of the sound and fury as the guys beaver away on big pressure vessels, tanks etc. Not as biblical as a coking plant in full flow, mind!   

[APOLLO]

Wigan gasworks 1970 - awaiting demolition.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/136789710@N03/albums/72157679064568760

 

A dead gasworks by now, no hissing of steam traps, bangs, thuds, roars etc. The site is still there now in 2017 - so contaminated no one dare build on it !!!

 

Brit15

[Iain Popplewell]

 

Good advice, Iain...

 

 I know, if I could only follow it! It's not just modelling though, when I think of what I might have achieved in life if I hadn't been me.  

 

 

PS. Don't despair for me I've finally started lining the loco and so far so good. I'm especially pleased to find how easy it is to make good my cockups by removing with a fine tipped brush. Hurrah for Rmweb and this thread, it's booted me out of my lethargy.

Another week might see my loco finished.

Well yeah maybe. We shall see.

 

Edit: To add post script before people referred me to the Samaritans.

Edited September 5, 2017 by Iain Popplewell

[Guius]

 I know, if I could only follow it! It's not just modelling though, when I think of what I might have achieved in life if I hadn't been me.  

I like your philosophy Iain, some well thought out and cogent points and I can recognise a few of the negative traits you high light in my own efforts (and not just modelling). For my own part I would add a number eight,

 

8.   Get a good look at what other people are doing (nothing wrong with a bit of plagiarism) and adapt their efforts and ideas to suit your own requirements.

 

There is no such thing as a totally new idea!

 

Will you be selling tea towels &c with your modelling creed on? cos I'll put my hand in my pocket for one

 

Best

Guy

[Guius]

Agreed, Guy. I'm just told enough to remember such environments. My aunt lived in Howatt Street, Govan, right next to UCS. I can well remember the noise and bustle detectable even from over the walls! Near where I live is an industrial estate where I walk past with the dog. On the other side of the road is a big fabrication shop which generally has the big door into the main shop open. I'll often stand opposite for a few minutes and watch proceedings. Whilst it's a much more sanitised experience than times of old, you do still get a little hint of the sound and fury as the guys beaver away on big pressure vessels, tanks etc. Not as biblical as a coking plant in full flow, mind!   

Visited a few yards of the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders in the dying days of the early 80's and a very sad sight it was too. Wish I'd taken more photos of the decay and devastation.

 

Best

 

Guy

[Iain Popplewell]

I like your philosophy Iain, some well thought out and cogent points and I can recognise a few of the negative traits you high light in my own efforts (and not just modelling). For my own part I would add a number eight,

 

8.   Get a good look at what other people are doing (nothing wrong with a bit of plagiarism) and adapt their efforts and ideas to suit your own requirements.

 

There is no such thing as a totally new idea!

 

Will you be selling tea towels &c with your modelling creed on? cos I'll put my hand in my pocket for one

 

Best

Guy

 

 Thanks for the nice comments and point eight Guy I agree with that.

 

With regard to the tea towels I might well market them in the fullness of time but don't hold your breath.

Got me layout to finish first!!  

[Norm81]

The Iain Popplewell route to modelling excellence.

 

1. When modelling summat don't stop! I don't mean keep at it 24hrs a day but don't stop for any time, ie a day or two, especially before a difficult bit like painting/lining.

     Invariably I end up with models taking months if not years to complete because of procrastination.

 

2. Be prepared to fail! Give it a go it'll almost certainly turn out not as bad as you expected. Even if the worst happens you will have gained in experience.

     Invariably I end up taking months to pluck up the courage to line my latest," best model I've ever made and now I'm going to ruin it for good."

 

I find those two first ones particularly difficult, you're right though if you totally stop for a day or two it's that much harder to get going again.

[runs as required]

I find those two first ones particularly difficult

from Ian Popplewell

1. When modelling summat don't stop! I don't mean keep at it 24hrs a day but don't stop for any time, ie a day or two, especially before a difficult bit like painting/lining.

     Invariably I end up with models taking months if not years to complete

2. Be prepared to fail! Give it a go

 you're right though if you totally stop for a day or two it's that much harder to get going again.

That is an interesting dialogue between these two modellers.

 

If not working to commission deadlines, I fall somewhere in between the two personally:

1 I don't mind leaving things things partially completed to come back to after a while. The passage of time allows me to be a better judge of my attempts.

 

2 So therefore I actually enjoy experimenting with a new idea....the degree to which it is a failure or not, only time will allow me to discover.

   More often than not there is a fair proportion of failure discernible looking at things with a fresh critical eye.  You can see what to do to rework them.

 

   dh

[Iain Popplewell]

Interesting points there Runs as Required.

 

With regard to leaving things partially completed and coming back that is my method too but it quite often takes a long while. (see the unfathomable reasons set out above) I know if I followed my own advice I'd have the model finished in no time and probably pretty much to my own satisfaction to judge by the few models I have finally completed.

 

I think it's a combination of fear of failure and laziness to be honest that holds me back. What makes my progress so slow however the real blocker is the rule of modelling that I now realise I should have included in my route to excellence posting above.

 

 8, Never start a new modelling project until you've finished your last.

   I have to concentrate on one thing alone, start something new and the chances of me returning to finish the old project diminish rapidly.

 

 Having said that I have returned to lining my loco, after farting about with my new lathe for a couple of months, so there's some hope for me.

 

 

 At the moment I'm still feeling my way into etched kit assembly, and to be quite honest I'm doing alright, but every step is a step into the unknown with corresponding mental angst.

 In fields of modelling where I feel more confident I too am much more ready to experiment it's just at the moment I'm careful, very careful, to the detriment of my modelling output.

 

  Once again I am breaking my rule no.7 and spending more time on Rmweb when I should have my bow compasses usefully employed.

Edited September 6, 2017 by Iain Popplewell