Posting in Layout Topics - a waste of time?

[buffalo]

i wonder if adding more layout links to page 1 on the layout topics page may help? 50 would be good to see

Not sure how long it has been there, but each forum section now has a "Load more topics" button at the bottom centre of the page, so you can have as many as you want. Mind you, this may not help those who find the "Next" button challenging

 

Nick

[chris p bacon]

This thread has now had twice the views of my Layout Topic !

[M.I.B]

Posting in "Layout Topics" is indeed a waste of time if:

 

It's all RTR and nothing has been altered anywhere.

It's a TMD/Service Point/diorama to show off how many RTR diesels you've bought , re-chipped and re-numbered.

You are not accurate with your titling. "My New Layout" isn't going to impress me enough, but "Bogstone Parva - a 1950s mould factory with sidings in P4" is going to make me want to look (perhaps!)

 

As for comments - you should be prepared for constructive criticism as well as praise if you stick your head above the parapet.

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

....constructive comments include criticism and praise as deserved.

 

You're right about originality.....if you want comments then do some modelling, don't just exhibit RTR models.

[lordhinton]

i dirty them up, and respray them does that mean rtr models?

 

thanks

 

dan

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

....judge for yourself...is it more original to scratchbuild or kitbuild an item of rolling stock or to weather a RTR version?

[kev]

Well i do good modeling is just that what ever gauge you model in so if it is a well built kit or a re number and tart up so what even the experts where once a novice so keep on posting and look at the views colum then you will know

kev

[lordhinton]

i usually respray RTR models as kev says i can count my self as a massive novice only just climbing into the serious detailing of locos and such, ive never done a scratchbuilt or loco conversion but ill get there eventually!

 

 

thanks

 

dan

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

Dan,

 

....that goes instantly back to my first comment....if you're happy thats all that counts and having ambition is even better. I haven't scratchbuilt a loco myself yet.

 

Dave

[devondynosoar118]

I agree with the OP about not many comments and watching your hard work get zoomed off the front page, but I also think the most popular posts are still about prototype locations, simply because they already have a physical presence in peoples lives off the ite. You might have visited the site, either when it was derelict or in use, you might have an opinion about the validity of someone's interpretation, or an interest in the regions stock, signalling or operating pattern which can be shared.

Purely fictional layouts will not generate the same amount of feeling, even if they contain elements from prototypes and have the quality exhibited by the OP's work, simply because they lack that real world tug that links them to people's experiences.

The best topics also contain really good how to information on the techniques people use. Bacup is a good example that has been mentioned here. The writing quality is also important to me, I want a narrative to posts or blogs that draws me into the layouts world, Mikkels "Farthing" posts are good at this, whilst passing on information and giving me an idea of what motivates the builder and how they achieve their results.

I am sure not many people will wade through this post, but hey if you have, hope it gave you food for thought.

[coachmann]

In my view it has sweet f-all to do with scratchbuilding, kitbuilding or ready-to-run. It is what you do with the whole kit and caboodle that counts. Intelligent use of ready to plonk buildings, locos and rolling stock can produce an accurate and convincing model of a real railway, in fact this is what a lot of modellers are actually doing, including myself.

[APOLLO]

Without "Layout Topics" this site would be dead.

 

I add to favourites the layouts I like, (in a separate folder) and some I visit regularly, not just for updates, but for inspiration also. Bit like looking at an old magazine, some you keep because of interesting articles, and some you file / give / throw away as there is little of interest anymore. (I keep all my mags, too many of the things !!). I won't list the sites. but have over 50 in my folder. Some of them are the newly posted just up from the train set ones that remind me of my early years.

 

Yes some seem to dissapear from view now and again, nature of a forum and not necessarily because the post isn't interesting.

 

Keep posting folks - no such thing as a bad layout.

 

Brit15

[Michaelaface]

maybe having the layout topics split into a few separate topics for peoples specific interests?

 

for example inside layout topics having topics for TMD, prototypical, finescale etc so people can find what they're after quicker and so people who post their 3000 foot prototype don't get "zoomed" off the front page in seconds by 25 TMD layouts

 

I know some of these topics already exist elsewhere in this forum, such as "modelling real locations" but they're not under the layout topics section, which I think is a bit annoying because there are some great layouts in there and I keep forgetting it exists

 

(if this point has already been brought up and I've somehow missed it and I'm just repeating someone else, apologies)

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

In my view it has sweet f-all to do with scratchbuilding, kitbuilding or ready-to-run. It is what you do with the whole kit and caboodle that counts. Intelligent use of ready to plonk buildings, locos and rolling stock can produce an accurate and convincing model of a real railway, in fact this is what a lot of modellers are actually doing, including myself.

 

....using Andy Y's A - Z categorization do you think that it is possible to reach Z by not actually building anything?

 

Regards

 

Dave

[DLT]

maybe having the layout topics split into a few separate topics for peoples specific interests?

No, No, please not! Please keep "Layout Topics" as just that.

 

There's plenty of different places to post things, this Forum is already big enough. I dont see any need to make rigid distinctions between for instance, TMD layouts, or GWR-BLT layouts. My interests are wide-ranging, in scale and prototype and I believe that a layout is a layout, whatever its style.

 

Threads are far more likely to get "lost" if they are tucked away in a specialist area, where they will only be seen by others of that speciality.

 

Please keep posting in Layout Topics!

 

All the best,

Dave.

[Michaelaface]

No, No, please not! Please keep "Layout Topics" as just that.

 

There's plenty of different places to post things, this Forum is already big enough. I dont see any need to make rigid distinctions between for instance, TMD layouts, or GWR-BLT layouts. My interests are wide-ranging, in scale and prototype and I believe that a layout is a layout, whatever its style.

 

Threads are far more likely to get "lost" if they are tucked away in a specialist area, where they will only be seen by others of that speciality.

 

Please keep posting in Layout Topics!

 

All the best,

Dave.

 

No I meant put all the specialist layout topics under layout topics rather than the several different places the are now, so when you click on layout topics you get a list of types of layout to view/post, so all layout topics are still under layout topics but just sorted into categories for easy finding, as it took me ages to find where the Manchester central and Birmingham new street layouts had disappeared to

[M.I.B]

i dirty them up, and respray them does that mean rtr models?

Dan,

 

I do that too - and then got brave and bought a part finished white metal kit, and then it goes on. Good to see that you express a wish to advance your skills.

 

But there is a fine line between "modifying RTR" and having a TMD, or a steam shed layout just to say "look what I can afford to buy today - aren't I great" I can't put my finger on what the difference is, but it is undeniably there.

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

.....it may be to do with the depth/breadth of experience/ability and consequent value of your constructive opinion, to which you aspire. Anyone with enough schekels can buy a shedload of RTR models and put them on display....but does that indicate any level of ability modelling wise?

[devondynosoar118]

.....it may be to do with the depth/breadth of experience/ability and consequent value of your constructive opinion, to which you aspire. Anyone with enough schekels can buy a shedload of RTR models and put them on display....but does that indicate any level of ability modelling wise?

Depends on the quality of the setting that they are put in. Look at Boxenby Depot by GrimleyGrid, a big TMD with lots of diesels, not my usual thing at all, but a well written, descriptive thread with excellent photos and tons of information which I have followed avidly.

Frankland deserves a mention too, as the quality of writing and sense of place is brilliant. The subject modelled, southern 3rd rail in the inter war years, is definitely "special interest" but it was in general layout topics, so I read it. Had it been tucked away I would have missed a great story and some top class model making.

 

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

....a case in point! You are describing how these layouts are not simply a line of RTR 'out of the box' models on display. Great layouts can be of any subject (which hopefully include a railway element).

[Jamiel]

I have found this part of the forum really helpful.

 

I think the amount of feedback you get is greatly influenced by how much you do that is unusual, but that makes sense. If someone has made a layout from entirely ready to run models and commercially available buildings etc. then there is less that you can say about it.

 

If someone is scratch building a lot, or all of their layout, then there will be more to comment, advise, or ask how it was done.

 

I know on all forums there are those who have more extreme views towards specialist areas of the forum, but here there are lots of different sections and although some can be quiet, it is generally a friendly and helpful place (in my limited experience so far), and I also find the work of some of the very experienced modellers here a great inspiration.

[lordhinton]

Dan,

 

I do that too - and then got brave and bought a part finished white metal kit, and then it goes on. Good to see that you express a wish to advance your skills.

 

But there is a fine line between "modifying RTR" and having a TMD, or a steam shed layout just to say "look what I can afford to buy today - aren't I great" I can't put my finger on what the difference is, but it is undeniably there.

 

the main problem is that i dont often get locos, im in this hobby because i enjoy it and appreciate greatly each loco i get, also i only chose a tmd because thats all that fits in my room! i would love somthing different so i can actually run locos some distances but it probably will never happen

 

thanks

 

dan

[Oldddudders]

the main problem is that i dont often get locos, im in this hobby because i enjoy it and appreciate greatly each loco i get, also i only chose a tmd because thats all that fits in my room! i would love somthing different so i can actually run locos some distances but it probably will never happen

No-one is "dissing" TMDs per se, Dan. A good TMD is a good layout - period. They are indeed a great way to show off the loco stud, ancient or modern, in the confined sort of space that most modern homes might offer, while, as mentioned above, the Boxenbys and Stewarts Lanes of RMweb are simply breathtaking in their scope and quality. I think the point being made is that if the locos are pretty much as they came out of their boxes, and the TMD uses ready-to-plonk structures, then apart from how these elements have been laid out, the "modelling" input is minimal. Layout topics actually includes many very small layouts which demonstrate that their builder(s) have used skills and ingenuity to create something unique and attractive. In many cases these layouts do not exude wealth, far more show clever use of everyday recycled household materials - cornflake packets are the classic example over the last 60 years - to achieve the intended result. Back On Topic - for me, Layout Topics, as accessed via New Content, enables me to get the latest updates on every such masterpiece.

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

I agree with your statement Ian and this is also what I meant by elements of scratchbuilding in answer to Dan's earlier post.

[DLT]

.....it may be to do with the depth/breadth of experience/ability and consequent value of your constructive opinion, to which you aspire. Anyone with enough schekels can buy a shedload of RTR models and put them on display....but does that indicate any level of ability modelling wise?

You've still got to build a layout to run/display them on!

A lot of people dont want to devote the time needed to scratch/kitbuild locos, especially when the stuff available "off the shelf" is so good nowadays.

Dave.