Great Model Railway Challenge - Channel 5

[Penlan]

I see they even had a facility for sleeping on the job!

And presumably from the Porthcawl gang, perhaps hoping to sway the Judges   

 

Welsh Cakes 

(When Penlan was on the circuit, Graham Tierney always had a tin of Welsh Cakes to hand around).

 

Edited October 6, 2018 by Penlan

[BobM]

And presumably from the Porthcawl gang, perhaps hoping to sway the Judges   

 

Welsh Cakes 

 

GMRC-BTS-Movies-110.jpg

 

Now I know I've come home  to modelling if they are on offer...!

Bob

Edited October 6, 2018 by BobM

[Glorious NSE]

You've only got to look in RMs from 30+ years ago to see items like lipstick cannisters in use as modelling materials (I can remember someone building a 16mm scale D63XX loco using a shampoo bottle!). Not aware of anyone using shoes before, though Peter Denny once used pyjamas!

 

Most of Gerry Anderson's TV sets were exercises in junk modelling. And who hasn't built a space rocket out of a Fairy Liquid bottle as a youngster?

 

However the difference is that the usual route is "I want to make something, what can I use?" rather than "I've got this, what can I use it for?"

Totally agree, my first thought was similar to the chap quoted in the program, that it was just a wierd idea, but the more I think about it the more I like it as a feature.

 

Even today it's not rare for us to be repurposing odd items.

 

I have to say I find myself looking forward to seeing what next weeks items are and what they come up with.

[PMP]

If this is the case, the level of not 'engaging brain before opening gob' astounds even me.

I’m assuming they are connected to the modelling courses run at Missenden, the team shirts had the/a similar branding.

[7013]

It was a bit of fun, not to be taken too seriously, good effort by all three teams in the time given, even if Missenden did take cheating to new heights. They rightly (IMHO) lost, and the chap getting so emotional took it in kind afterwards even if his bragging did come back to bite him. The filler shots were a bit annoying, more shots of building rather than filler shots and interviews. Still if it gets people interested it will have done its job

[queensquare]

As Andy said, MRJTV its not but I thought it was a fun way to spend an hour waiting for the new series of HIGNFY. I too would like to have seen a few cutaways to showcase some high end, non time constrained modelling but there was still plenty of modelling and creative ideas going on. I particularly liked the throwing of toys from pram by Misendon for stretching the rules too far.

 

I'll be watching the next episode.

 

Jerry

[TheSignalEngineer]

 

Most of Gerry Anderson's TV sets were exercises in junk modelling. And who hasn't built a space rocket out of a Fairy Liquid bottle as a youngster?

 

I remember pictures of the bottom of a large space ship from a film or TV series which clearly showed part of the underframe from an Airfix tank wagon kit.

[Legend]

Haven’t watched it yet thanks to the delights of Easyjet and EZY407 being the now traditional 1 hour late, which meant really too tired to watch it on catch up.

 

From the feedback on here seems it will be enjoyable when I finally get to see it. In particular I’m glad the stereotypes have not been trotted out. Should be good for the hobby . And it’s good to see all these railway programs on the telly these days. Enjoying Paddington 24/7 too , even though GWT seems to jump from one crisis to another.

 

As to suppressing negative aspects ,can’t we have a normal discussion like down the pub? Like everything else there are fors and against , you can’t really suppress one end of the argument . Do we really just want a “Oh loved the program “ Type thread or a polite and reasonable debate .

Edited October 6, 2018 by Legend

[Andy Y]

As to suppressing negative aspects ,can’t we have a normal discussion like down the pub? Like everything else there are fors and against , you can’t really suppress one end of the argument . Do we really just want a “Oh loved the program “ Type thread or a polite and reasonable debate .

Many of the removed comments last night were not polite or reasonable debate. They ranged from mildly dismissive through to downright rude (including one making veiled threats) so they all ended up in the same bin as I was not in the mood to be making quality assessments over degrees of negativity. There seems to be a lot more maturity to the comments overnight and this morning.

 

Go and have that conversation with your friends in the pub by all means but don't expect a right to be rude on here.

[boxbrownie]

Just amazed it was aired on a Friday evening prime time, well done Ch5.

 

It was fun, entertaining and totally harmless, all in all a great result.

[The Stationmaster]

Hi,

 

I didn't have to hide behind the sofa for any of the first episode.

 

Did I spot a Heljan GWR Shunter on one layout (I thought only locos from Hornby and Bachmann could be used)?. Also a Hattons or Oxford Warwell?.

 

 

Regards

 

Nick

 

Looked like a Kernow one to me - too much detail for the Heljan version

[PhilJ W]

Did anyone watch the program that followed it, Walking Britains Lost Railways? A realy interesting and entertaining follow up.

[phil-b259]

Did anyone watch the program that followed it, Walking Britains Lost Railways? A realy interesting and entertaining follow up.

 

How did it compare to the BBC's effort a few years ago?

 

I'm always slightly wary of such programmes as very often 90% of it has nothing to do with railways - the railway is just a useful common backbone to tie together all sorts of other random stuff.

Edited October 6, 2018 by phil-b259

[Guest teacupteacup]

I was going to watch last night but my partner suggested that I wait and watch it with her when she next comes over.  She has no interest in modelling but wants to get an idea of whats involved in what I do.

 

Im looking forward to watching it, tonight hopefully

[Hroth]

I always love to see the lemon squeezer at the back of the Thunderbird 1 launch bay.

And there were the toothpaste caps used for rotary switches.  There were a fair number on the dashboard of FAB1, and Parkers boom mic was a piece of co-ax with an electrical connector on the end.

 

Of course, Anderson had the advantage of working to a larger scale, though I remember Allan Downes created a refinery consisting of parts of model kits and "everyday items", liberally coated in grey primer so anything is possible if you put your mind to it!

[sir douglas]

about taking layouts home, the teams that didnt go through could take their layouts home straight away but obviously the ones from each heat that did had to stay for further filming

 

theres a lot i could go into about the rules of what we can and cant do and when but it would be spoilers for our episode

[HillsideDepot]

Overall I agree with many of the other comments on here; better than I expected, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series. 

 

It is all too easy to dismiss the programme and its participants, but look a little deeper. Something which struck me last night, and had me freeze framing the catch-up viewer was the plan used by Strangers on a Model Train, captured up-thread by Captainalbino's photo:

 

 

OK, the loco shed it perhaps unlikely, but the headshunt access to the yard is spot on. Not only that, but the tank loading sidings between the headshunt and the mainline, while looking a bit odd, and perhaps not very railway like, struck me as typically war like adaption of an existing layout. I liked that. I'm sure with more time the old and new aspects of the track would have been brought out. 

 

A lot has been said about Missenden, and I've seen Tweets elsewhere to the effect that they accepted they'd broken the rules, but rather than withdraw they carried on for the fun of it, only all that to be lost in the edit. OK, that's television, but hopefully to the public the message that comes out of all of that is that you don't need to be an "expert" to have fun and produce a great model. I'm not, of course, suggesting that all the other teams aren't experts, but the programme didn't portray them as such, and the "I could do that" feeling is vital to the hobby.

If only Bachmann or more especially Hornby, given their woes, could have bought an advertising slot in the programme. A flat pack. laser-cut base board, some r-t-p buildings, a grass mat and a few bags of flock in addition to the traditional trainset contents would add to the purchase price for sure, but what an opening if the set also carried the Great Model Railway Challenge logo! 

[Ian Morgan]

Yes, the production company supplied the very substantial baseboards, three boards forming a 10 foot by 5 foot layout. There were a few hard and fast rules, such as using Peco track and static grass, keeping in budget and having back scenes on 3 sides. Also, to allow camera train to run, there had to be some OO track. Oh, and 6 pre-built scenic items. We could also lay track on 2 of the 3 board and create scenery 'formers' or skeletons, but no scenic finishing.

 

The rest of the 'rules' were indications of what would gain more brownie points, like hand built trees, scratch built buildings, different levels and animations.

 

As a participant, this was very different to my normal 2mm fine scale modelling, but I really enjoyed the challenge and I am proud of what all the teams created. Would I do it again. Oh, yes.

 

As for the scratch build challenge, I already use whatever can be modified to look like what I need. Look out for yoghurt pots, plastic shot glasses, drain pipe, water pipe and a trifle dish that form parts of my pre-build item in heat 3. Nothing to do with the scratch build challenge.

[ruggedpeak]

I’m assuming they are connected to the modelling courses run at Missenden, the team shirts had the/a similar branding.

They were - the chap talked about his courses and how good they were early in the programme. It was a prelude to later comments that set up the 'david v goliath' storyline for the programme. The point that he and his team missed was this was TV not modelling. And TV is about human interest and fitting to one of the generic story scripts e.g. good v evil, the downfall of the hubristic etc. The desire to win at all costs and bend the rules whilst looking down on the opposition is a classic human interest storyline, and we all know how the story ends!

 

Overall very good and terrific to see modelling on prime time TV. I have been teasing SWMBO (who works in marketing) that I am 'on trend' as railways and modelling is now breaking into the mainstream after last week's 125 progs and increasing railway related media etc   I hope this benefits modelling businesses - there will definitely be a short term uptick but the question is can it be sustained?

[PhilJ W]

How did it compare to the BBC's effort a few years ago?

 

I'm always slightly wary of such programmes as very often 90% of it has nothing to do with railways - the railway is just a useful common backbone to tie together all sorts of other random stuff.

It stayed pretty much 'on-line' as it were and it covered railway linked industry along the line such as Meldon quarry and the creamery that produces  Ambrosia creamed rice. I thought it kept to the railway theme better than the BBC did.

[D1072]

You've only got to look in RMs from 30+ years ago to see items like lipstick cannisters in use as modelling materials (I can remember someone building a 16mm scale D63XX loco using a shampoo bottle!). 

Really!   I can't resist asking if the shampoo was intended to dribble out of the roof and strip off the paint!!

[Keithg]

I thought Ian Morrison’s comments on last night’s Great Model Railway Challenge, were interesting. Clearly the Missenden Modellers cannot produce good modelling on the spot, and tried to illustrate that they were above any rules laid down by the programme makers. Barry their captain for me had an arrogant attitude, claiming, that his team was going to win right from the start.........what a come down...and Kathy Millatt’s final comments about his team, really put them in their place!

 

One of the other Captains Malcolm, who led the team Strangers on a Model Train, for me, summed up the Scratch Build Challenge, as totally stupid, pointing out that we are model makers and not clowns as he had misgivings about the challenge.

 

I had looked forward to the programme helped by reading the articles in the last two editions of the Railway Modeller and feel the “judges are out” on this one.

 

I hope it doesn’t do our great hobby any displeasure, in not seeing more modelling action rather the contestants playing to the camera. Ian’s comment about the similarity of the contestants, thinking they were on the Apprentice is great and I would sum up the Missenden Modellers as.... you are fired!!

 

Keith Gowen

[D1072]

I watched the programme with my 11y.o. daughter who stayed for all of it and agreed with the judges decision.   The programme format is essentially a race between experts; we thought it didn't do justice to how long most things take to make.   

 

Another format would be to have family teams of non modellers, give them a mock up of a small bedroom, 8x4 of plywood, wood framing, tools, a train set plus extra track, and an experienced modeller to act as a guide and help - they have a weekend to put up a layout in the room, which still needs to function as either a child's bedroom / guest room or office.   This would help potential modellers address the domestic space issue, encourage new entrants to the hobby, especially youngsters, boost train set sales, etc.     You could compare the pros and cons of a narrow shelf layout with the hinged 8x4 or even a board suspended from the ceiling by pulleys (which one of my schoolfriends and his brother actually had).

 

Also it could showcase youngster's talents - I showed my daughter how to solder two weeks ago in advance of starting an electronics project in D&T (the teacher didn't know about flux!).

[ruggedpeak]

To be frank, I had low expectations of this show and was not disappointed...

 

First the positives:

• there was more than a few, tantalising, glimpses of superb modelling - especially given the time constraints
• nearly everyone involved seemed to be having great fun
• creativity was very much on display, although I wonder how many constraints were imposed on the teams by the production company? (rather than trying to cram too much into 3 days, why didn't the team inspired by the Ealing comedies just concentrate on recreating the atmosphere of one film - such as The Ladykillers)
• It looks like it would appeal to non railway modellers and that can only be a good thing.
• There was a total absence of sneer (ironic or otherwise). Despite the relative inanity of the format, railway modelling was treated as top notch hobby worthy of getting involved in.

Now the negatives (from my perspective)

• I was unimpressed by the judges and prersenters. Now I am not a regular watcher of UK TV, so the presenters may be the "bee knees" at the moment in Britain, but they lacked the sparkle and electricity seen in the GBBO presenters, Furthermore, notwithstanding the credentials of the judges, why weren't any of the editors of the British Railway Modelling Magazines luminaries of the modelling world asked to take part (or did they refuse?) and what about some of the luminaries of the modelling world?*
• The production company seem not have a clue about model railways and the format they have devised is - to be brutally honest - unsuitable for producing quality output (notwithstanding the excellence of the individual parts [ingredients] - the whole was less than the sum of the parts). Extending the build time to 7 days (6 days of modelling limited to ONLY 8 hours/day plus ¹/₂ day for set up and for demonstration) would have kept the time pressure but allowed for the teams to really show what they can do.
• There is reality TV and there is reality TV (does anyone remember the Slow TV reality TV the Beeb broadcast in 2015?  just focusing on the skills and with no superfluous gimmicks, commentary or music) and Knickerbockerglory - the production company  - seems to, at least in the first episode, revel in those clichés (selective editing to either enhance or diminish the subject, pointless jump cuts, cut aways when things get interesting, etc....). GBBO (at least from what little I have seen) seems to be the yardstick for good reality TV competitions: suitable editing, a lack of "bigging up" or "dissing" the contestants, a sense of fun and a lot of knowledge, clearly on display (I'm afraid that, in the first episode, neither of the specialised judges came across as knowledgeable - maybe in later episodes they will have a chance to display their knowledge????)

As my old house master once said (well, actually, said many times) "5/10, the boy has potential but poorly applies it"

 

iD

 

* amended to reflect the fact that Steve Flint IS indeed a model railway magazine editor (see my comment in post 122 below)

This was a trial show on a limited budget, the only way a modelling related show would get shown on one of the main terrerstial channels on prime time. To get high profile presenters like GBBO would probably cost more than the entire budget for this series. The format and concept is being tried, if it works then the channel may pay more for enhanced production values in later series. If it doesn't work it will be get canned and they will try something else. And big names in any area of business/activity only get heavily involved once they know it works.

 

The production crew won't know much about it as their job is producing TV programmes, and tomorrow they might be making one about zoos or fish fingers. Again this is likely to change if it takes off. I don't know what the budget was, but compared to the cost/budgets of most Friday night 8pm programmes it will have been tiny. It is also unrealistic to expect perfection first time out. The really great, positive news is that modelling in general is on TV more and more, with things like the Battle of Britain RC planes programme (great but ouch, looks expensive given the amount they crash!) as well as growing railway related programmes.

[Andymsa]

Something that hasn't been mentioned is the quality of all 3 layouts, considering they were built in three days they were of a equal quality if not better that I have seen at some model rail exhibitions giving credit to the skills of the modellers that took part in the program.

Edited October 6, 2018 by Andymsa