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Great Model Railway Challenge - Channel 5


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Although not yet back in the UK and hence not yet seen the show, references here to sci-fi, dinosaurs, aeroplanes, bombs, etc. does rather imply that, despite the title of the programme, anything goes.

 

No, wrong context. Suggest you reread the posts.

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I thought this weeks episode was an improvement on the first one. There were no "we have won this already" remarks and the varied choice of TV themes was great.  Everyone seemed to get stuck in without whingeing, and the scratch build challenge showed what can be achieved with imagination. 

 

Until the judging, I was thinking that all three layouts might be in with a chance - but when the gremlins began to appear there really only could be one winner. 

 

It's a shame the units on the Eastenders layout did not work properly, because the EMU and tube stock really did give the correct impression of an interchange station, and the Albert Square set up was excellent from a viewers perspective. 

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For those who have not seen it yet, here's my Behind the Scenes video of our team (The Railway Video Divisions) time on set at Fawley Hill. 

 

A look Behind the Scenes of our Team (The Railway Video Division) debute on the "The Great Model Railway Challenge", featuring the construction of our "Black Adder" inspired layout, "Go Forth". Joined by fellow YouTubers 82A Studios, Bluebell-Railway Hawks, Northern Soul Express, plus Adrian and my Grandfather, we take a look at our experiences during the filming of Heat 2, where we were tasked with the construction of a layout, based on a 'TV Show' Theme.

 

Hope it's of interest!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfK6U0KwP3s

Excellent video, really added to the program, and good to see more of the layout operating.   Was the church with the unusual spire scratch built? Seen one like that in Holland, so presumably a type (with the sphere on the spire) that was found in Flanders as well.

The animated features were good, particularly the rail gun.

All very encouraging, great stuff!

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Excellent video, really added to the program, and good to see more of the layout operating.   Was the church with the unusual spire scratch built? Seen one like that in Holland, so presumably a type (with the sphere on the spire) that was found in Flanders as well.

The animated features were good, particularly the rail gun.

All very encouraging, great stuff!

The church is the Noch St Nicholas Church kit, built by Callum (not Captain Callum!) as one of our pre-built items. 

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A good hours entertainment last night.

I`m sure anybody whose watched it so far out of curiosity must be quite surprised at the number of different skills this hobby of ours can teach you.

I enjoy it for what it is, three teams having a good go at a competition and coming up with some skilful results.

Have to agree with other posts in the lack of advertising during the breaks that could connect with the series. Expensive I expect.

Maybe next time.

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One thing that occurred to me if they do another series would be to get a local scout or other group involved and give them a couple of mentors to train them in the week preceding to prep the first two boards. If they stuck to set track I reckon they could compete on a fair level. 

It would be interesting to see what ideas those totally new to the hobby might introduce and would probably give a good idea of what themes would attract others in. Would they latch onto Harry Potter, Minecraft etc? ;)

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Can't get the programme up on Demand 5. I sit through (increasing amounts of*) adverts only to get present with the rotating busy icon and no programme. I was trying all last night and just given it a go this morning. *Ads started at 60secs worth and increase each time I try, now up to 100secs on about the 8th attempt!

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Can't get the programme up on Demand 5. I sit through (increasing amounts of*) adverts only to get present with the rotating busy icon and no programme. I was trying all last night and just given it a go this morning. *Ads started at 60secs worth and increase each time I try, now up to 100secs on about the 8th attempt!

 

Unfortunate.

 

I just tried and it seemed to work for me.

 

I've never used channel 5 catch-up before...maybe it's a bit flaky.

 

I did notice that the first page I got to still listed episode 2 as upcoming, but then when I clicked to watch episode 1 I got to a page offering me episodes 1 and 2.

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One thing that occurred to me if they do another series would be to get a local scout or other group involved and give them a couple of mentors to train them in the week preceding to prep the first two boards. If they stuck to set track I reckon they could compete on a fair level. 

 

If they did that I'd suggest that one of the first heats be a "beginners" only heat to ensure that at least one went through to the final.

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Unfortunate.

 

I just tried and it seemed to work for me.

 

I've never used channel 5 catch-up before...maybe it's a bit flaky.

 

I did notice that the first page I got to still listed episode 2 as upcoming, but then when I clicked to watch episode 1 I got to a page offering me episodes 1 and 2.

 

It's normally ok for other programs and I used it last week for GMRC. Tried the website last night and that didn't work either. Just trying another prog now and I'm getting the same result  - nada (apart from ads generating them revenue....)

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I found the first episode on plain old YouTube. Second one doesn't appear to be up yet though, or wasn't when I looked this morning.

 

Currently enjoying, rather later than most here, The Biggest Little Railway as it seems to have become available on one or two free video sites.

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What irritates me the most about the show that channel 5 are pushing the show which is good but they are not putting it up on there catch up TV I player which is odd yet most other shows are on it I think they are missing a trick there

Strange. The program aired at 8pm Friday and I watched it at 9pm Friday on My5 catchup TV

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What irritates me the most about the show that channel 5 are pushing the show which is good but they are not putting it up on there catch up TV I player which is odd yet most other shows are on it I think they are missing a trick there

 

I watched on the My5 app on my tablet last night.  You need to search for it, as it is not preloaded as one of their more popular programmes.  Hope this helps.

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Another enjoyable episode. It may not be the best quality modelling but all the teams have achieved a huge amount in a short time. Well done to all. The great thing about the programme is the sense of fun that is portrayed. Including animation in the challenge adds to the fun. It is after all meant to be entertainment.

Edited by Chris M
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Watched it and enjoyed it and so did Mrs Stationmaster.  Neither of us can stand 'Bake Off' and we had gone off the format long before it changed channels as it had become rather twee and the 'judging' at times left us scratching our heads as to whether we were watching the same things as the judges.

 

But here the format works - partly, I think, down to the originality and daring of the subject choice and importantly down to the quality and objectivity of the judging.  I wonder If I'll say that should the judges disagree with our views on each week's winner?  The other thing is that we are seeing a bit about techniques, albeit in an already time restricted format, which might help encourage the non-modeller audience.  Coming to the latter does the format help the hobby?  Yesterday I was at a show (the Farnham club's annual event held in Aldershot) and I was not alone in noticing that there appeared to be more younger visitors than is usually the case (or was it the time of day at which I was there, or was it the junior football going on outside in the school grounds?).  So maybe there has been a wider impact - the attendance mix at a few more shows, especially the locally based ones, might tell an interesting and very positive story for our hobby.  

 

A bigger help might be when some of the layouts which have been in the programmes appear at local shows and are well publicised in advance.  Another thing which might make a positive contribution would be if the programme itself could show how certain parts of the hobby including manufacturers have supported the series.  Themed adverts can be forgotten because of the cost but a bit of more obvious product placement would be no bad thing in my view for more than just Peco.

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The church is the Noch St Nicholas Church kit, built by Callum (not Captain Callum!) as one of our pre-built items. 

Thanks very much for info about the church kit, I've learnt a bit more about church architecture now! There's a lot more layout detail that comes out on SDJR7F88's video (I'd missed the tank in no-mans land during the program for instance).  Be interesting to see the layout at an exhibition (same goes for them all) to really explore the detail.

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strange that the other teams seemed to let this pass them by then, because it seems to have give one team a massive advantage :scratchhead:

 

Interesting point about laying track on baseboards beforehand, which was allowed. For our team, Team Steampunk, we simply had nowhere to store the boards to lay any track, so we did it all on set from blank boards. We are not a club, as we came from four different counties. So we were on our 'back foot' from the start but I had a cunning plan! Hopefully they will let me explain what we did on the show. 

 

I also decided to use a team of relative railway newbies (some are modellers through), and for pre-builds we only had a few singular buildings. 

 

For me I chose this approach because I really wanted to see what we could build in 24 hours. My choice. Did we get it right? Well you decide when you see the finished result. I'm sure you all will :-) 

 

But I was pleased with the finished look, even though it was more simplistic than my usual designs. Hopefully we will inspire some others into our hobby. 

 

Cheers, Laurie 

Edited by LocoLaurie
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My5 on demand is definitely flakey, we watched it yesterday afternoon, but every advert was repeated immediately, one after another.

 

As for the programme I think some of the special effects are too "one off" and a bit toy like. I prefer effects that can be repeated and are a bit more subtle.

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My thoughts:

 

It was entertaining TV, wouldn't normally be watching on a Friday night but having seen the first episode online earlier I'm hooked on it.

 

Thought the format, with anonymous teams rather than individuals or "celebrities" competing worked well. Very authoritative judges helped. 

 

Drew attention to all sorts of different techniques (3-d printing bridge pillars, portable spray booth for air brushing, etc. etc.,) even if you've not considered these before you can find lots of on-line demos of how to do it..

 

There were some genuinely innovative, creative ideas going on.

 

Kathy Millatt's blog and tutorials show some ace modelling, well worth a look.

 

All the layouts would be worth seeing "in the flesh" at an exhibition, just to look at in detail, imho.

 

Showed It's possible to work to a high standard in a reasonable time scale!!!

 

Everyone looked like they were having a good time and enjoying themselves, so high feel-good factor from this.

 

Finally, the animations added a lot, something to think about (on my layout only the trains move- so far!)

Edited by railroadbill
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I watched on the My5 app on my tablet last night.  You need to search for it, as it is not preloaded as one of their more popular programmes.  Hope this helps.

 

Also available on the Virgin cable TV catch-up.

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