In what ways (if at all) have/are Modeling magazines and books been important to your modeling

[Robert MacKinnon]

Hi there, its been a while, I am wondering if people would like to comment on a few queries of mine;

 

- the motivations to read magazines, perhaps particular magazines. Thinking here perhaps of issues around ideas, modeling techniques and methods such as scenic work, as well as of course product reviews.  

- How do you 'use' books/magazine articles and how has this changed over time and/or when undertaking projects? When you started did you buy a book about baseboard construction, scenery construction, to what extent did you follow the methods prescribed, have you found your own particular way of doing things as time has gone on? With the internet age, are we turning now to blogs, RMWeb forum ect as well now, in some senses forums like this allow for people to discuss ideas about techniques etc that magazines and books cannot. Are their any favourite/least favourite articles, books of yours (perhaps not naming names) and how have these helped or not helped your modelling?

 

Best Wishes

Rob M.

[Londontram]

I'm afraid I'm a bit of a dinosaur and despite having and using the net still like to buy books and magazines, I don't know about you but theres something very tactile and sort of comfortable about having an everlasting hard copy that I can pick up whenever I want. I'm a bit of a grazer in my reading habits and can quite easily have several books on the go at once. what do I get from them? inspiration, ideas, encouragement but mainly dreams!

[Mrkirtley800]

I have a large collection of Railway Modellers, Model Railway News and Model Railway Constructors dating back to 1951. When I started to be interested in pre group railways, mainly Midland Railway, I catalogued all the mags with anything of interest and kept them in box files with a card index nearby. Since the Model Railway Journal started, I have kept every copy and added to my index. So, if I start a building project I can turn up all the relevant information that has appeared in the magazines over the years. It is a great help. The older editions 1950's 60's and 70's were the most useful because in every mag there was a drawing of a wagon, coach or loco. or trackside item. OK so they take up space but they are stored on shelves under the railway so do not intrude into my room.

The index also covers some L&Y, LNWR and NER also, just shows I am not entirely afflicted by tunnel vision!!!

Derek

[Ravenser]

One thing you can't get posted on the internet is scale drawings , and these can have permanent value (if you can find the things when you need them).  Also "prototype info" articles , which may include photos and info not readily available elsewhere - these sort of articles can gain value over the years as what was everyday becomes vanished history 

 

On the other hand I've very little interest in product reviews, and when filletting old copies of Model Rail and BRM a few months back to put the useful bits in binders these were the first things to succumb to the Stanley knife . Adverts went too, but at the time they can be very useful current reference. 

 

A book is often a very useful starting point and reference when tackling some area for the first time. But often the solutions decribed don't really make sense until you've hit the problem . Books and magazines can also offer inspirtation in the sense of "I didn't know that was possible!"  

[Londontram]

I have a large collection of Railway Modellers, Model Railway News and Model Railway Constructors dating back to 1951. When I started to be interested in pre group railways, mainly Midland Railway, I catalogued all the mags with anything of interest and kept them in box files with a card index nearby. Since the Model Railway Journal started, I have kept every copy and added to my index. So, if I start a building project I can turn up all the relevant information that has appeared in the magazines over the years. It is a great help. The older editions 1950's 60's and 70's were the most useful because in every mag there was a drawing of a wagon, coach or loco. or trackside item. OK so they take up space but they are stored on shelves under the railway so do not intrude into my room.

The index also covers some L&Y, LNWR and NER also, just shows I am not entirely afflicted by tunnel vision!!!

Derek

Will you except my Norfolk library ticket?

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

....with Tor Giffard I'm drawing on a wide range of information on modelling techniques from various books and magazines...there are many challenges with this layout, some completely new, others gained from others efforts.  

 

The joy for me is to try to join it all together.

 

Dave

[Clive Mortimore]

As time has gone by my purchasing of magazines has diminished to almost nil. I use to buy loads and over the years have removed the articles of interest to me and binned the rest of the magazine. I have kept some magazines that have inspired me but not many. I find today's batch of monthlies uninspiring. I think this might be due to the fact I have developed my own methods of modelling and I feel either the author of a modelling article is repeating a method I do not use or one that I do so not much seems to be new. I very rarely enjoy layout articles but oddly on forums, like this one, I enjoy seeing how a layout is built and then mature once established.

[corax67]

I only have one regular magazine read - Model Rail - which I have a full set of from issue 1.

 

I did avidly read MRM until it's early and untimely demise and occasionally pick up old copies of things like Hornby mag or Model Railroader from shows but it's cost that stops me buying more.

 

As for modelling tips I have migrated towards the internet due to the availability of YouTube videos and forums like ours where you can bounce ideas around.

[298]

Rob- RE magazines, I currently don't subscribe to any but occasionally buy RM or US ones if there is something of interest.

 

But a couple of books have been useful UN layout planning, especially when I'm modelling the era depicted as the photos were taken in a finite timeframe. A future project will be based on photos taken by Traction Enthusiast William Middleton on a visit to Cuba in 1958, his photos have ended up in a number of sources but if undated, can be traced back to the same visit.

[tractionman]

hi Rob,

 

Hope the project is coming along nicely.

 

Re magazines, I buy Model Rail and Railway Modeller every month - MR I find to be very good on the 'how to' articles, especially scenic work. When I was working on Spencer Park I used the articles on ballasting and weathering to give me some pointers. RM I get for the showcasing of great layouts for inspiration - plus I like the range of gauges and scales RM often covers. I always used to get RM when I was a kid (my mum used to buy it for me), and so it conjures up some nice childhood memories!

 

I rarely take much notice of reviews in mags. RMWeb is the place I look for getting a sense of what's good and what's not as far as rolling stock is concerned. The mags are also useful to see what's in the pipeline from the manufacturers.

 

As for books - you can't have too many! My loft is groaning under the weight of them and I use them as a constant source of inspiration for modelling, for nostalgia and dwelling on the good old days (for me the '70s and '80s), and for checking period details for my layout (BR Blue stuff). The books that fit the bill for all this especially are old Ian Allan photographic albums from the '70s and '80s, as well as old OPC volumes. Recent colour images in Strathwood series and Noodle Books have been great too. Plus Flickr!

 

all the best,

 

Keith

[Legend]

I used to find layouts in the mags inspiring, not necessarily the fantastic detailed ones, but perhaps ones that were more achievable, good operation, interesting layout. Now I find I'm seldom inspired , but I think that's an age thing rather than a reflection of the mags. I do remember a layout called Hanbury in the Railway Modeller around March 81 or 82 I think. Terminus station,old Hornby Dublo locos which I still find inspirational all these years later. Other key layouts are Ken Paynes Kendale, superb LMS layout .

[James Makin]

Got to be early issues of Model Rail 1997-2000 for me, made a big impression on the 12yr old me, some of the layouts (Upper Puddleworth, Patrick Brompton, Tetleys Mills etc) really inspired me to add detail and cameo scenes to whatever I produce, and for models to really tell a story - chasing that illusive atmosphere is more important than anything else

[black and decker boy]

I subscribe to Modelrail and regularly buy Hornby Mag. I practically never buy BRM or Railway Modeller unless I see something I want to read but maybe the new format for BRM will change this. Specialist mags such as MRJ generally do not appeal.

 

Within the mags, I most enjoy the product reviews & advance pics \ announcements, occaisionally the top tips \ buyers guide type articles are useful (for example, glues or scenic water products being compared and tested). Layout articles can be fun but I am only ever looking for how to improve my modelling not how to actually model so find the majority are skimmed over in terms of the text but studied if the photos and subject are good. I follow various blogs and layouts on RMweb and pick up useful tips and inspriation from them in the way I do from mags. Cottage industry products are often spotted via the magazines though the small supplier part of this forum is also a vital source of such info.

 

Books are an essential reference material for my modelling but purely in a historical sense. My modelling skills have been built over many years as a member of clubs, Rochdale and now Risborough so I do not buy the how to do basics type books. The only advanced modelling technique books I have ever bought are the Wild Swan books on building & weathering wagons. I cannot however model the 1950s, 60s or 70s without books (and also the internet as Flickr is a goldmine) as I was not born until the mid 70s. The improvements in publishing has allowed a much wider sourcing of photos and I think the current stream of colour books from the transition & early BR blue eras is better than anything before. That said, bbooks published at the time, even in black & white, if found secondhand, are invaluable. Wider interest books, such as local history guides or those on parallel industry (coal, iron, stone etc) are also part of my collection and help me in setting the scene \ story for my layouts.

[LNER4479]

Hi Robert,

 

I subscribe to BRM (virtually from when it first started); my Dad has subscribed to Railway Modeller for 40 odd years. We swap mags so we get to see both. I'll browse other mags and occasionally buy if I see something of interest/use in there (eg Geoff Kent's plasticard coach building article in MRJ222)

 

I enjoy layout articles the most and if see one I really like then I'll keep it in a folder I call 'Inspirational layouts'. Some 'usual suspects' in there (eg David Jenkinson, Peter Denny, Frank Dyer and our own Dave Shakespeare) but one or two esoteric ones that have just taken my fancy.

 

I agree re drawings (locos, coaches, etc) being a largely lamented feature from previous decades (RM still occasionally runs a drawing feature); however I am lucky to have a collection I acquired from a professional modeller (friend of the family) upon his death so have access to most of the 1960's/1970's MRC/MRN 'classics' and these are a constant source of reference.

 

Other than that, I find more and more these days I am in search of prototype material so I'm just as likely to browse Steam World or British Railways Illustrated to see if there are any prototype articles that are of use to me. I acquire specific books on the prototype when the subject matter is of relevance (eg the recent Banks/Carter 'tome' on LNER/ER coaching stock formations) and use that to replicate the 'real thing' as best I can in my modelling. The internet (including RMWeb) is also a constant and valuable source of research.

 

After 30+ years of constructing model railways, I've largely worked out my own ways of doing things by now so don't tend to go for 'how to construct a model railway' type of books. Although I'm sure they can be of value to those just starting out in the hobby, those noobies who join RMWeb are invariably rewarded with helpful and courteous advice from members of this forum.

 

I do remember a layout called Hanbury in the Railway Modeller around March 81 or 82 I think. Terminus station,old Hornby Dublo locos which I still find inspirational all these years later.

That was my Dad's old layout!! I'll be seeing him tomorrow night; he'll be chuffed at that comment. Some of the HD stock (mainly the coaches) still survives on his present layout, but most of the locos have been 'swept away' by the newer RTR offerings over the last 10 years or so. Quite sad, really!

[Kenton]

Magazines:

I have subscribed to MRJ since 0 and RM on and off for probably 50+ years. The rest I pick up on a whim and often then reject as "also-ran" or ME2 copies though some like BRM gain some original appeal on occasion.

 

For me it is their layouts that inspire starting with the track plan and the way it is used to make a complete model. I just love detail and the observation of reality. Of course any kit build is going to interest me, especially if it goes a long way to explain what the kit designer intended but left out. But am soon turned off by any such review that goes too far beyond that - so most conversions - it may be of interest to others, just not hitting my interests. The reviews I'm afraid all leave me cold - I start from a base of thinking that they are all biased and they seem to all far too positive and unreal. I'd prefer pure fact rather than the judgement I don't know and don't trust. The "how to" articles are always interesting if not informative but they so lack the ability to interact. This is where the internet forum RMWeb has really succeeded. A topic started on a particular kit build, layout, product gives the opportunity to discuss the fine points good and bad well beyond what a magazine can offer. This is a great learning platform.

Everything now on the internet? No I still like to flick through pages and don't like having to follow links (broken) all over the place.

 

Books:

Anything on Wagon prototypes, will immediately have me seeking it out along with my speciality subject - loco sheds. I also like the books that deal with the history of particular lines, especially if I have visited the area. But I am turned off the endless books that present collections of photos and little else. I like some of the "how to" books but have very few - they often do not seem to work for me or teach me anything new. That is not that I think I know it all, just that they do not "teach" rather that they "tell" and that isn't the way I learn.

Have I read them all? Not by any means, always looking for the next one.

[Legend]

Hi Robert,

 

I subscribe to BRM (virtually from when it first started); my Dad has subscribed to Railway Modeller for 40 odd years. We swap mags so we get to see both. I'll browse other mags and occasionally buy if I see something of interest/use in there (eg Geoff Kent's plasticard coach building article in MRJ222)

 

I enjoy layout articles the most and if see one I really like then I'll keep it in a folder I call 'Inspirational layouts'. Some 'usual suspects' in there (eg David Jenkinson, Peter Denny, Frank Dyer and our own Dave Shakespeare) but one or two esoteric ones that have just taken my fancy.

 

I agree re drawings (locos, coaches, etc) being a largely lamented feature from previous decades (RM still occasionally runs a drawing feature); however I am lucky to have a collection I acquired from a professional modeller (friend of the family) upon his death so have access to most of the 1960's/1970's MRC/MRN 'classics' and these are a constant source of reference.

 

Other than that, I find more and more these days I am in search of prototype material so I'm just as likely to browse Steam World or British Railways Illustrated to see if there are any prototype articles that are of use to me. I acquire specific books on the prototype when the subject matter is of relevance (eg the recent Banks/Carter 'tome' on LNER/ER coaching stock formations) and use that to replicate the 'real thing' as best I can in my modelling. The internet (including RMWeb) is also a constant and valuable source of research.

 

After 30+ years of constructing model railways, I've largely worked out my own ways of doing things by now so don't tend to go for 'how to construct a model railway' type of books. Although I'm sure they can be of value to those just starting out in the hobby, those noobies who join RMWeb are invariably rewarded with helpful and courteous advice from members of this forum.

 

 

That was my Dad's old layout!! I'll be seeing him tomorrow night; he'll be chuffed at that comment. Some of the HD stock (mainly the coaches) still survives on his present layout, but most of the locos have been 'swept away' by the newer RTR offerings over the last 10 years or so. Quite sad, really!

Pass my regards to your Dad and say thanks to him. It really was an inspiration. I think he used the Hornby overall roof and super quick station buildings with a large stone embankment behind, hiding the fiddle yard. He based it on the Strathmore Route because he could run large LMS and LNER pacifics. It would be great to see it again with modern stock, but I bet some of the character has gone. I tried various versions of the layout up my loft , but just never had quite the amount of space required meaning it was compromised. I've even modelled it in Trainz rail simulator, I liked the basic layout so much. But the key thing was the description of operation, which is so often missed from modern layouts. Timetables , market day specials, late running sleepers. Just terrific. It's one of the few articles I ve retained and treasured. So again thanks!

[TheQ]

I have RM since I restarted Modelling, ( All my old copies got thrown out by my parents years ago), I also have BRM but for the last two years as a Down load, I am currently catalogging all my books, which are mostly about the MSWJR and GWR, I have few books on how to model except fr the WIld Swan / Geoff Kent ones.

 All are used for reference but the only notes /  index I keep are If they cover my particluar line / station/ rolling stock.

The Q

[CKPR]

I started buying RM in about 1975 but stopped buying it regularly after 1984 - I find RM 1976 to be a bit of a golden age and often re-read that volume ( I know, I should get out more). Since then, I've subscribed to MRJ since No 0, whilst at the same time I've been collecting MRN/Model Railways  from 1948 (!) to the mid-1980s and the same for RM (and even Model Railroader !) , as I find them more interesting and inspiring with regard to actually making stuff compared to more recent publications as well as being an invaluable source of plans and drawing. Thinking back, I stopped buying RM when they dropped 'Wagon Page' !

 

Of the modern magazines, I'm quite partial to ModelRail for it's emphasis on modelling techniques and skills, but where oh where are the scale drawings ?! As for books, I keep turning back to the various Wild Swan titles as well as to some real old favourites such as Edward Beal's Modelling the old-time railways from 1955, which I believe has just been reprinted. Even I don't follow the constructional technques techniques in such old publications, but there's just so much inspiration and atmosphere in them. 

[andyram]

As someone who considers themselves an amateur modeller I did buy a couple of books before I embarked on the construction of my first exhibition layout last year. As I was planning a micro layout I purchased a couple of books on the subject which gave me a little inspiration.

 

 I have every issue of Hornby Magazine since it began and have used the "How to" guides a lot, especially when I was facing an aspect of modelling for the first time. These guides helped me develop my ballasting skills, gave my guidance how to weather track and also how to use static grasses to create cuttings and enbankments.

[colin penfold]

I like to buy copies of the various mags when they have articles I think will be useful or layouts that look interesting. My main modelling inspiration comes from track planning books, especially those of iain rice. I like books on prototype railways with a high proportion of photos, often bought second hand from preserved railway fundraising stalls for less than the exhorbitant cost of a new magazine. As for following a particular book, you might like to look at my layout planning thread which is describing how I am doing just that. (Link in footer)

[sammyboy]

Railway modelling magazines have been very important to my modelling as my current layout (N Gauge) has been copied & scaled down to N from a OO plan found in one magazine. I also say my large collection of mags which occupy a whole bookshelf in my bedroom as inspiration for my hobby when my Mum complains about them!

 

Sam

[Edthefolkie]

"Miniature Building Construction" by John Ahern.

 

One of the primary inspirations to British modellers. Such a pity that it was printed on bog paper!

[t-b-g]

I have a decent sized collection of older magazines, RMs from the 50s through to the 70s, plus a mixture of Constructors, BRMs and one or two others. They get an occasional coat of looking at, especially any with Buckingham or Borchester articles.

 

The ones that get most looked at are a complete run of MRJs and an almost complete set of Modeller's Backtrack.

 

Early MRJs had a "wow" factor that I rarely get nowadays. Every once in a while there is a "Hursley" or a "St Merryn" that makes me sit up and take notice but it is a bit rare nowadays.

 

I think it is, perhaps, that MRJ really caused my to up my game in terms of model railways. When it started, almost everything in there was inspirational and blew me away because it was miles ahead of what I was doing. I like to think that I have caught up a bit now, even having had an article or two in MRJ myself, so those jaw dropping moments don't happen nearly so often.

 

It still carries a number of very interesting articles that would probably never find a place in RM or BRM and remains a "must have".

 

Every once in a while I go back to Issue 0 and go through them again and it surprises me how often I see a technique or an idea that I had forgotten about, that is useful for what I am on with.

 

Perhaps the most viewed articles are those by Peter Denny on Buckingham in RM , followed closely by Frank Dyer on operating layouts in MRJ. Anybody reading those will never be short of guidance as to how to firstly build a layout then operate it. 

 

The other magazines are only obtained if there is something of direct interest and when you model pre-grouping GCR in EM, that isn't often!

 

Tony

[coachmann]

Having taken to building in plastikard in the early 1960s, scale drawings of locos and carriages were essential fodder, but very few model magazines were purchased after 1970 for some thirty years. Railway Magazine, Rail Enthusiast, Rail and Traction were my companions from 1976 - 2004 during my railway photography years.  David Jenkinson got all his mates to buy Backtrack and Modellers Backtrack and they were the best IMO. BRM got me on board through advertising with them from around 2005, and I must have read the print off them while planning a layout!!! The interest dropped completely in 2010 and all I've kept are the Backtrack's and files of scale drawings from way back when. My only regular bi-monthly happens to be Classic Bus.

 

Books are a different kettle of fish and I've been buying them since the 1950s. They are specialist and contains everything neatly between one set of covers. In fact they provide most of needs on a day to day basis whether at work or modelling. Also I'm a sucker for steam-era colour albums and Foxline local railway history books.

[Poggy1165]

Some books are absolutely essential for anyone modelling pre-modern railways. The series on private owner wagons by Keith Turton is one very obvious example, there are naturally others of similar quality about various other subjects. I do get a bit wearied by the modern tendency to assume that lots of photos renders text unnecessary. In fact, I sometimes think people who know about railways and write about them are a dying breed. I suspect though it may be more about the demands of modern readers and publishers. I have effectively wasted money on books with promising titles that tell me nothing about the supposed subject, just provide a variety of photos, often undistinguished and/or commonplace. So I am now very picky about what I buy. Books by Wild Swan or Black Dwarf Lightmoor, or the HMRS are usually the best bet.

 

At one time, magazines regularly contained useful drawings. These days they rarely do. One reason I have virtually given up buying magazines, particularly those which are essentially about 'look at how many boxes I have been able to buy and open.' It's horses for courses, naturally. In general, modern modelling magazines have little to say to anyone modelling the pre-group era. If they do, it would be a technique article about something like weathering or scenic modelling. I will still invest in something like that if I am being taught something new.