I had a couple of goes at cutting the track to fit across the diagonal. Bearing in mind that the part where the road is will be covered, which of the two do you think looks best?

1. I watched the GMRC on Channel 5
2. Stubbby47 presented his excellent quick-build cakebox challenge
3. I had a lightbulb moment while shopping on Sunday

Here's the scenario:

A locomotive and its train are passing a signal box, approaching a roadbridge (deliberately made not wide enough for the statutory bus), when a Giant 60ft Spider from Mars plunges down the embankment to attack it, in the spirit of all those daft late 50s horror/alien invasion movies.....

The diorama will be constructed entirely from a single cereal box, some plaster bandages, paint, flock and the remaining lichen from other entries.

The railway is represented by:

• A signal box
• 4 pieces of OOO push-along track
• A Cattle Wagon
• A Jinty locomotive

and to wrap things up

THE SPIDER!

Constraints will be as follows:

Buy nothing in, apart from the Spider
No scale-specific construction materials
Minimal "realism"
The end of the week!

Photographs of the construction will be posted as it progresses.  If I get it finished by Thursday, I'll submit it for inclusion in the Challenge.  Otherwise it'll stay here as a bonkers idea that didn't quite make it!

Let the struggle commence!!!

First, there has to be a PLAN

When I first found out about the challenge, one idea instantly sprang to mind. I've been fascinated for a while with the pictures of trains - mostly of coal trucks - being towed out between the White Swan public house and the adjacent terrace of houses in Great Yarmouth. I had mulled over the idea of making a shunting layout of the yard behind, but had dismissed it as lacking in operational interest (though that may change - having had a chat with Dave Tailby over his shunting layout "Friday Bridge" today...), however the cakebox challenge seemed like an ideal excuse to make a small diorama, plus it bucks the trend of mostly fictional settings seen so far.

First off, I found a photo, roughly scaled it, printed it out and stuck it to cardboard house shapes so I could have a play with the idea and see if it worked dimensionally in the 20x20cm space allowable.

I've been working on a CBC idea based on a smaltown USA, set in Hawkins Indiana with a depot & small diner. This is my 1st active model railway project in a while so I've done a few things that are following my love of small space detailed modelling. I have tired to use as many of the items I have collected over the years.

For those Sci-Fi Cult TV fans I'm using on of the oldest DR Who meeting one of the newest Stranger Things. The scene is around a small depot with part streetscene. Stranger Things is set in Hawkins, Indiana in the mid 1980's and Dr Who I've gone for 12th Dr saying goodbye to assistant Clara in a US Diner at the end of modern series 9.

I set Hawkins in South West Indiana on the Monon Midland Branch, by 1980's this would be late Seaboard Systems early CSX time frame of an old  Monon Branch which became part of the L&N, then Seaboard. The Depot is a new model I'm adding to a 1/100th scale 20mm wargamers building by Peter Pig into a small passenger deport area & freight  shed with ramp. To hide the 1/100 scale I'm adding siding & HO scale parts doors  & windows. The diner is from a Dapol Shop with flat kit had in store, along with the diner is a small coldstore from a cheap coke lorry also in collection of parts. The shop has been turned round to have the balcony at the back the canopy roof is from a plastic ice cream tube lid & razor handle for sign. Other parts like sidewalks are from a children toy roadway. 

It was commented that there was not much space.

"I could fit a circle of track in that space " I replied.

T gauge, Z gauge or 009 a possibility? people mused, but that would be silly!!

So Gn15 Emett it had to be.

I have pre-tested some items so some pictures are post-assembly

The initial concern was bending the (code 100) track to the correct diameter never having tried this before.

I was advised to use bullhead rail rather than flatbottom, which is good advice, but having none in my bits box flatbottom rail it was.

Since the inside rail was only going to be 3-inch radius (76mm), care bending was clearly needed. 

I used a metal (magnetic parts) tray to help bend the rail.

Rather than use a track joiner rail was soldered directly to 6mm PCB sleepers. The rail being cut to size in situ.

I also realised it was going to be easier to use the tray to form the track reducing the radius to 72mm in the process.

The PCB copper was then split by grinding the top surface off rather than cutting. I prefer this method both aesthetically and mechanically.

The prime mistake was to use a cake base, as the corners started to curl. So this was cut to leave a track base, a plywood base to be added later.

I've always wanted to model a shed on the inside, rather than outside. I have also wanted to have a go at maybe gauge 1, just a wagon.

So the idea is a wagon in a shed. The only justification I can see for this is as part of a preservation thing. I am thinking of a 16 ton mineral wagon, being repaired. I seem to recall many of these had the bottom of the sides patched, so perhaps in the process of such a patch being repaired or replaced. If I can find the figures, I would love to combine it with one of those arc-welder Led circuit thingies, for once being able to see what is being welded, rather than just the bright light in the building.

But I guess the first question is will a gauge 1 wagon fit in a cake box? I'm sure it will... Famous last words!

Regards Paul.

No work done on this as yet, just research, but the idea is to model Prince Albert maybe in 7mm scale but probably in 4mm against either the breakwater or along the line that leads to the old silica quarry and brickworks that is now the Breakwater Country Park. Maybe near the bridge that crossed the road and line would be a good spot for the cakeorama?

We visited there last year so have some pictures of what is left and I later found more on the internet about the breakwater and rather unique looking Prince Albert engine. 

A few good links

The fantastic Spellerweb site http://spellerweb.net/rhindex/UKRH/OtherRailways/Silica.html

Part 17 (pdf) on the Jaggers heritage site  http://www.jaggers-heritage.com/industrial-archaeology-of-snowdonia--anglesey.php

I'll try and sketch up a rough plan.

Regards

Billj

for some years I build a model of the visitor mine Klostersstollen in Barsinghausen. I focus on the entrance to the mine. At fairs, I was asked again and again how it looks under the earth. When I heard about the Cakebox challenge, I thought it would be a good idea to show scenes from the mine.

Here for information only a picture of the model more Picture on may Homepage: http://www.design-hsb.de

And a picture of what I want to realize in the Cakebox Challenge:

Sorry Google has translated automatically, so I have corrected in English.

It is the year 1966 and the village/town of Pattingham is losing its railway connection. The branch is a link route between the LNWR mainline B'ham >> Telford >> Shrewsbury and a cross-country GWR branch taking a winding route from B'ham Snow Hill>> Wednesbury Jcn>> Upper Penn>> Wombourne Blakeley>> Claverley>> Bridgnorth and towards Shrewsbury, although onwards doesn't concern us (Neither does the B'ham to Claverley Section). There is a Bridgnorth-facing junction around Upper Ludstone, taking us towards Pattingham and the mainline.

Fast forward a few decades:

We are well into the modern era and a group of 4 preservationists from the SVR are part of a team re-building the Bridgnorth>> Pattingham>> Cosford (of RAF fame) section, providing an expanded heritage network and trains for RAF Cosford public events. An abandoned loco is being nursed back to life by a female volunteer whilst two of her colleagues are chatting away in the foreground. You might be able to make out the man in blue hiding behind the loco trying to figure out what his sister is doing to the loco.

The wagon was left abandoned on the line at closure and has just been cleaned out, so the inside is fairly proper. Mr Sharp's hut has been given a new sign and is awaiting installation. Perhaps the next cakebox will include the same line with a Pannier on it?

I think this will be the sole diorama I make under competition conditions, but I might put up some bigger ones or non-competition ones up in the same section. I sincerely hope Mr Editor doesn't lock the section in the future and permit us to put up CBC-inspired dioramas in here. 

A bit of a game to encourage attention:

See if you can spot the following in this image:

1. A Cow
2. Man in blue
3. Messy modelling
4. The female preservationist
5. Modelling errors
6. Poor weathering

Well, please enjoy the following gallery and happy modelling.

This is the idea:

Let's see how it goes...

I thought I would give the challenge a go.

The idea being a very small yard serving a coal merchant and a loading dock, detailed up.

So far I have a piece of foamboard cut to 8"x8" and I will put the backscene around to the 6" hight limit.

More soon.

Jerry.

Would you like to get into the show for free?

We have allocated 12ft of space for displaying Cake Box projects on the BRM stand, so if you fancy showing off your box, we will be delighted to display it. So delighted that we will give you a free ticket to get in.

What you need to do:

• Send me a photo of your project to: phil.parker@warnersgroup.co.uk - it would help if you used the subject "Peterborough Display".
• I'll also need your home address so we can send out the ticket.
• Specify the day you will be attending. If you can do both, that's great, but we expect most people will only do one.

On the day:

• You have to get yourself to the show, sorry we can't transport you. 
• Bring your project.
• Find me on the BRM (it's just inside the main hall, you can't miss it, we've written BRM on it in big letters and there is a 50ft high cutout of Andy York)
• We'll put the model on the stand. 
• You can wander around the show bathed in glory.

I'm not going to panic if you can't be there when the show starts, and we won't set a time for the models to be taken away, although it would be polite for them to be there most of the day.

To help visitors, it would be useful if you could print out a 200-word description of the project we can put with it on the stand. Make sure your name (but not address) is on there so you can receive the adulation.

This isn't limited to official entries in the competition, if you have built a Cake Box project then you are welcome. Any standard is acceptable, you don't have to be a modelling god.

If we get a lot of applications, then I might have to limit numbers as we don't want to have to pile them on top of each other. Realistically, I expect we could handle 20 a day so it's first come, first served. Closing date is the end of this month as we need time to organise things at our end, so get a move on!

Our plan is a series of 3-month long competition - 4 separate competitions each year.

The rules will remain the same as before, except with the addition of a Theme for the entries.

The first theme will be announced on 1st January via RMweb, Facebook and BRM Express. After that, the information will also be in BRM. 

So, tune in at the start of 2019...

Current thoughts are a mini layout in 009 with a high level track for skips discharging to a lower loading point with a suitable digger inspired by my recent visit to Leighton buzzard

Pete

I think the best way is to list what wont be in it -

     Railway track

     Locomotives

     Rolling stock

     Railway or industrial buildings of any sort

     Any form of permanent way

     Lineside paraphernalia

to name a few items off the top of my head

but there will be of course 2 railway related items set in a non-railway setting

Used in it's construction will be -  

     Sagebrush

     Seamoss

     Horsehair

     Static grass

     Plumbers hemp 

     Vast array of scenic materials

     Gate

     Figure

The base is underway and drying as I type, so to get the ball rolling here is one of the railway related items finished this very afternoon.

One other important issue to point out is that most of what I will be building will be, after the challenge, transferred onto my layout Little Muddle for permanent inclusion.

Long Walk Home

by Kevin Phare

Highly Commended

Canal Side

by Paul Wright

Cornish Foundry

by Pat James

Klosterstollen

by Helmut Schmidt

The full list of entries can be found here.

1st things 1st congratulations Kevin.. A worthy winner... What I was wondering will you be publishing where other modellers came in the poll. Or would we have to ask where we came..

Thanks

Andy Brooks

Time marches on, and our Cakebox Challenge will soon be coming to an end - a shame, as we've seen some brilliant entries, but all good things must end at some point.

With that in mind, we now come to the competitive element of the challenge - put simply, which is the best box? At stake is a £75 prize courtesy of our friends at Humbrol. This comprises a pack of Palpo detail brushes, a pack of Stipple brushes, ten acrylic paints, five washes and five weathering powders. Not only that, we'll also be putting a prize pot together of at least equal value, which will be tailored to the needs of the winning entrant. 

For your chance to win this bumper bundle, I'm asking cakebox engineers for up to 200 words describing the model and three photos to be emailed to ‘cakeboxchallenge@warnersgroup.co.uk’.

The competition itself closes on October 12, whereupon the judging takes place and the winning entry will be roundly celebrated in our January edition.

That's really all there is to it. Well, I say that, but given the high quality of entries on RMweb, picking an outright winner might be a bit of a challenge!

Either way, let's start getting those entries in please.

Many thanks

Andy

With Maderia Meadows it was all about what can you fit into a mere 64 sq inches. Hence a circle of Gn15 track.

With this new project, the conversation went, "But you can only fit a circle of track in"!!

So with this project, I'm looking to fit in a passing loop and a siding.

Since I'm a member of the 7mmNGA, seems 7mm scale is the way to go on this one. I've had to go for 09 just to get everything in.

A little bit of planning on this one.  Stage one build the track & test. Then build the scenery around it.

Stage 2 will be an Arduino project to control/animate the layout.

I thought I'd do one for the kids and what better than Thomas the Tank Engine

I got a few pics of the net and set to work

Here is the pictures I've chosen

I started with the baseboard, added the track, the platform and placed Thomas & Bertie but realized there wasn't enough room for his coaches (Annie & Clarabel)

So I did a second board to see what it would look like

But the challenge is to fit in the box which is 8 by 8 so how could I add a second board and still fit in the box, well the box is 6 inches high and there's only two rules to know about why not use the lid too, problem solved

After a bit of working I got it to work so started to add the detailing

Here's where I'm up to now and pictures to prove it all fits in the box and more to finish on it yet

Here's how I did it, the wonders of Velcro

It's not finished yet, The two coaches are screwed in place so they don't fall off plus I use them to pull the board off the lid

Thomas isn't secured yet and there's a lot of empty space next to the coaches

Looking at the pictures there is a hill so I might add a bit of green maybe add a tree if it fits

So mine is 8 inches by 16 inches total space and fits in the box no problem

Looking at some of the topic posts is really quite unique to see this and I look forward to see who wins

Will be a very tough decision