Model Rail 218 February 2016. Published 14 January.

[dibber25]

There is a magazine that caters for Continental Modellers . So I don't see that any other mag has to stray in that direction. And there you have the problem. I'm quite interested in Swiss and German Railways as well as UK but buying that magazine inevitably means there is maybe only one or two articles that interest me, the others being the ready of the world , USA, Africa etc. so I seldom buy.

 

Model Rail has traditionally been UK railways. I think it's lost it's way and gives the impression of thrashing around trying to find something different. Hence the "prototypical inspiration " articles, I have books on the real railway which is what I use for inspiration, I don't need more in a magazine. Also you've recently had an aircraft article ,one featuring a battleship and now the North West Frontier (what would Britain have done without Kenneth More?). I'd say that's a model railway magazine that's lost it's way

We, emphatically, have NOT lost our way. We have chosen to be different from the other three mainstream titles in order to give readers choice. We realise that it may not suit some readers but when Model Rail launched it was different from the rest of the pack, and fresh. Now our success has been copied and we want to move things ahead again. The inspiration section is merely another form of 'Masterclass' and a bringing together in one place prototype material which would normally be spread through different articles and issues. Finally, there are no plans to re-introduce overseas subjects on a regular or frequent basis. The policy on that remains the same - we're open to feature an occasional overseas subject when appropriate. Personally, I see that as merely keeping the door open to cover Rod Stewart's layout one day!....... (CJL)

[rue_d_etropal]

when I started buying the 'British' magazines again a year or so ago, I noticed that the 3 new(well relatively new) kids on the block looked very similar. Given the way staff moved around this did not surprise me, but I don't think it was helping the hobby.

Now Model Rail is starting to look at new ideas, that is encouraging. There have been a few negative comments about 'inspiration' . What concerns me is some seem to think that just because they have access to information, from years gone by, then everyone else must also have that same or similar information, but there are or should be new (younger?) people coming into the hobby, and they almost certainly don't have that information. It is therefore essential to keep producing articles about things that can inspire people. I could easily say there have been enough articles about building etched brass kits, yet there are still new articles(which don't really interest me).

 

Many in the hobby have a very narrow focus of interest, so it is impossible to keep them happy all of the time. This also relates to exhibitions, which is why I am concerned when I find exhibitions(not specialised ones) with a very narrow range of scales,and themed layouts. I think that most people do actually have broader interests, and I find my 'different' layouts attract interest at exhibitions . Maybe the answer for both magazines as well as exhibitions is to have specialist ones which each just cater for very narrow interests. I suspect they won't last very long as most people actually like variety.

 

I think this actually is not just confined to our hobby, but in society in general. Too many find it easier to stay 'close to home', and stay withing their comfort zone. Magazines, and media in general have a duty to try and broaden that interest and knowledge associated.

[daftbovine]

I have subscribed to Model Rail from day one and am unlikely to stop as long as it continues along the same lines. To me it has a fresh enthusiastic approach to the hobby that the other magazines lack. I have always felt that the contributors really enjoy railway modelling and that comes across in the contents.

 

Others may not agree but to each his own.

[dibber25]

when I started buying the 'British' magazines again a year or so ago, I noticed that the 3 new(well relatively new) kids on the block looked very similar. Given the way staff moved around this did not surprise me, but I don't think it was helping the hobby.

Now Model Rail is starting to look at new ideas, that is encouraging. There have been a few negative comments about 'inspiration' . What concerns me is some seem to think that just because they have access to information, from years gone by, then everyone else must also have that same or similar information, but there are or should be new (younger?) people coming into the hobby, and they almost certainly don't have that information. It is therefore essential to keep producing articles about things that can inspire people. I could easily say there have been enough articles about building etched brass kits, yet there are still new articles(which don't really interest me).

 

Many in the hobby have a very narrow focus of interest, so it is impossible to keep them happy all of the time. This also relates to exhibitions, which is why I am concerned when I find exhibitions(not specialised ones) with a very narrow range of scales,and themed layouts. I think that most people do actually have broader interests, and I find my 'different' layouts attract interest at exhibitions . Maybe the answer for both magazines as well as exhibitions is to have specialist ones which each just cater for very narrow interests. I suspect they won't last very long as most people actually like variety.

 

I think this actually is not just confined to our hobby, but in society in general. Too many find it easier to stay 'close to home', and stay withing their comfort zone. Magazines, and media in general have a duty to try and broaden that interest and knowledge associated.

Reminds me that, at a show some years ago, a teenage lad asked me, "What was carried in a coke wagon?" I guess he was wondering how you carried fizzy drinks in an open hopper wagon, but it led to me having to explain what coke was (before it was a drink) and how it came to be made. It was good that he asked but many kids wouldn't and would continue in blissful ignorance. I've always believed that a magazine should educate as well as entertain. Once, model magazines ONLY educated - they didn't really set out to entertain - I hope MR changed that, but recently there's been too much 'entertainment' across the mainstream mags (in my personal view, I STRESS) and I see the new MR content as helping to re-balance that, although I have only been involved as one member of a team of several. (CJL)

[Clearwater]

Reminds me that, at a show some years ago, a teenage lad asked me, "What was carried in a coke wagon?" I guess he was wondering how you carried fizzy drinks in an open hopper wagon, but it led to me having to explain what coke was (before it was a drink) and how it came to be made. It was good that he asked but many kids wouldn't and would continue in blissful ignorance. . (CJL)

One hopes he wasn't worried how the other modern use of "coke" was conveyed....(!).

 

David

[Arthur]

 

The late Dean Freytag, doyen of US steel mill modelling, also gave talks to various groups on the steel industry. He related how he was giving a talk to a mixed group and flashed up a slide showing one of Republic Steels grimy coke oven batteries, wreathed in fumes.

'This is where coke is made' he declared and an older lady in the audience chimed in ' that's horrible, I'm never going to drink the stuff again'.

[jjb1970]

I found the Northwest Frontier article very enjoyable. Clearly it won't be everybody's cut of tea and I'd not like this sort of article to take over the magazine but it is a refreshing change to have the occasional article of this sort. On the figures for such a layout, the article recommends the old Airfix WW1 British infantry which would indeed be a good starting point but if anybody was seriously going to have a go at doing such a layout I'd recommend having a look at the HaT range of 1/72 figures. A good review of the Hornby King too.

[Hilux5972]

A nice long review the King.

[Dzine]

I found the Northwest Frontier article very enjoyable. Clearly it won't be everybody's cut of tea and I'd not like this sort of article to take over the magazine but it is a refreshing change to have the occasional article of this sort. On the figures for such a layout, the article recommends the old Airfix WW1 British infantry which would indeed be a good starting point but if anybody was seriously going to have a go at doing such a layout I'd recommend having a look at the HaT range of 1/72 figures. A good review of the Hornby King too.

Many thanks for your kind comments.  Northwest Frontier is part of an occasional mini series, Brief Encounter was the first, some considerable time ago.  I'm really pleased you found it refreshing.  You're right about the figures, although the esci sets usually had fab sculpting but I believe the whole range is no longer available, just a few under the Italeri branding.  Kind regards Paul

[Budgie]

'This is where coke is made,' he declared and an older lady in the audience chimed in, 'That's horrible, I'm never going to drink the stuff again'.

I read the list of ingredients in Coke, one of which is 9% phosphoric acid (i.e. soldering flux). That's horrible, I'm never going to drink the stuff again.

[rue_d_etropal]

Much of the style and presentation in today's magazines has been based, I think, on what French magazines have been doing for a while. In CM for several years Emmanuel Nouaillier has had a series of articles on model building. Absolutely superb, but it is not just his skilled building, it is the way he presents it with excellent photos., He even has the full attention of the military modellers. I think that even if you model British , then you can get a lot of inspiration. Now if you want to follow his work in UK you need to get CM. Forget all those initial impressions of 'foreign' stuff.

A link to something of his work on a military modelling site

http://www.militarymodelling.com/news/article/make-it-real-part-1/4083

 

Oh, he models in 1/87 scale. At first glance most would think that it was twice the size!

 

Just noticed that military modelling page is from 2008! Found this site of his ownhttp://emmanuelnouaillierartworks.blogspot.co.uk/

 

Good recommendation about HAT figures. I think they took over many of the old Airfix ones. It is also worth checking other military modelling companies. Remember many WW1 figures actually have more modern uniforms. Another option might be to model in 1/32 scale, using 32mm gauge to represent metre gauge.

 

One this is that you can never have enough inspiration.

[jjb1970]

HaT make some great figure sets, lots of WW1 era sets. They do a variety across the Great war from just about all the combatants. Given that there is so much cross over between railway and military modelling and the rich vein of war time railway operations including armoured trains it is a little surprising that there are not more war time layouts really. Some of the wartime layouts that you do see are terrific layouts.

[rue_d_etropal]

I think much of the problem is that many people are not keen to move out of their comfort zone, and actually have a very narrow window of interest. I just move from window to window,, when the view gets boring.

Some might not feel comfortable with military themed layouts as they don't want to be seen promoting warfare. I get round this by modelling , either the non  military parts, or post war clear up. I also take my queue from one well know film director who put across the anti war message by showing what a folly it was, and another director who cleverly used humour(my current Bangers and MASH is inspired by the classic MASH film and TV series) . I try to get people to think, ask questions.

[jjb1970]

Being intrigued by the idea of the NW Frontier layout and an enthusiast of 1/72, 1/76 military figures I have been looking at options for figures. I usually model WW1 subjects and make trench dioramas and battlefields and some WW2 (reliving my youth of the 70's and 80's...) so I did some digging for figure sets that would work for this subject. My feelings are that the following are the sets to look for:

 

British/Indian Army

Strelets 038, Boer war era British army figures modelled in late 19th century/turn of century khaki uniform

Red Box 72003 Colonial British army of 1890's

Esci 232 Colonial British Indian army, if there are any sets still around this has a good selection both British and British Indian army figures

For the machine gun, the Airfix WW1 British infantry may remain the best bet as the fact that the machine gun looks nothing like a Vickers .303 may actually become an advantage for people wanting it to represent the earlier maxim type guns.

 

For Afghan and Indian warriors there is less choice but Red Box 72004 Afghan warriors looks promising and

[Hroth]

I read the list of ingredients in Coke, one of which is 9% phosphoric acid (i.e. soldering flux). That's horrible, I'm never going to drink the stuff again.

As I recall (from a previous existence) phosphoric acid used to be used for selective thinning of orthodontic stainless steel wires and Coke has a remarkable effect on human teeth. Dental student joke, put newly extracted teeth in a beaker of fresh Coke. Fizz fizz, all gone.  I don't recall the timeframe...

 

Yep, and we drink the stuff!

[Alex Duckworth]

Being intrigued by the idea of the NW Frontier layout and an enthusiast of 1/72, 1/76 military figures I have been looking at options for figures. I usually model WW1 subjects and make trench dioramas and battlefields and some WW2 (reliving my youth of the 70's and 80's...) so I did some digging for figure sets that would work for this subject. My feelings are that the following are the sets to look for:

 

British/Indian Army

Strelets 038, Boer war era British army figures modelled in late 19th century/turn of century khaki uniform

Red Box 72003 Colonial British army of 1890's

Esci 232 Colonial British Indian army, if there are any sets still around this has a good selection both British and British Indian army figures

For the machine gun, the Airfix WW1 British infantry may remain the best bet as the fact that the machine gun looks nothing like a Vickers .303 may actually become an advantage for people wanting it to represent the earlier maxim type guns.

 

For Afghan and Indian warriors there is less choice but Red Box 72004 Afghan warriors looks promising and

 

For WW1 figures in 4mm http://www.wdmodels.com/ is well worth a look.

 

Alex.

[Mad Carew]

Having finally signed up, I thought I may as well debut in this topic.  Why?  Because I was greatly inspired by Paul Lunn's North West Frontier article.  I love the film, and, while not really interested in representing the Spanish stand-in railway, or making a model of the making of the film, it prompted me to look at the real North west Frontier's railways and - whoa! - it is spectacular stuff.  What a model it would make!  It would be rather like all those dramatic canyoned US layouts but with British outline trains..

 

The main issue for a modeller, at least a novice like me, would be that most of the network was to the Indian Broad gauge of 5'6" and I doubt I would be up to handbuilt track to 22mm gauge or to building/converting locomotives to that gauge.  I realise that a lot of Irish outline modellers use OO track for 5'3", so, maybe the practical choice should win out.  I wonder what others think of that.

 

I noted that Mr Lunn commented upon the colonial Indian troops made by HAT Industrie.  I would just like to make 3 points concerning them, as I am familiar with the models.  First, they are a healthy 1/72nd scale, so they would, for instance, tower over Edwardian civilians from the Andrew Stadden range. The Supercast range are reputedly taller, so might hold their own a bit better. 

 

Secondly, given this, I think they would be very ill suited if the chosen scale was 1/87th/HO.  I think they would be fine with 1/76 trains, you'd just need to ensure all your figures were of comparable size.

 

Third, Mr Lunn says that the headdress is too large to represent the troops in the film.  This is true, but only because of the ethnicity of the troops.  Different ethnic regiments had different turban styles.  It is a complex subject that I have barely grasped, but I would say that Hat's colonial Indians are probably from a Sikh regiment.  The turbans on Hat's WW1 Indian troops are a much better match for the film, and it is quite possible to swop the heads; I've done it myself.

[Dzine]

Having finally signed up, I thought I may as well debut in this topic.  Why?  Because I was greatly inspired by Paul Lunn's North West Frontier article.  I love the film, and, while not really interested in representing the Spanish stand-in railway, or making a model of the making of the film, it prompted me to look at the real North west Frontier's railways and - whoa! - it is spectacular stuff.  What a model it would make!  It would be rather like all those dramatic canyoned US layouts but with British outline trains..

 

The main issue for a modeller, at least a novice like me, would be that most of the network was to the Indian Broad gauge of 5'6" and I doubt I would be up to handbuilt track to 22mm gauge or to building/converting locomotives to that gauge.  I realise that a lot of Irish outline modellers use OO track for 5'3", so, maybe the practical choice should win out.  I wonder what others think of that.

 

I noted that Mr Lunn commented upon the colonial Indian troops made by HAT Industrie.  I would just like to make 3 points concerning them, as I am familiar with the models.  First, they are a healthy 1/72nd scale, so they would, for instance, tower over Edwardian civilians from the Andrew Stadden range. The Supercast range are reputedly taller, so might hold their own a bit better. 

 

Secondly, given this, I think they would be very ill suited if the chosen scale was 1/87th/HO.  I think they would be fine with 1/76 trains, you'd just need to ensure all your figures were of comparable size.

 

Third, Mr Lunn says that the headdress is too large to represent the troops in the film.  This is true, but only because of the ethnicity of the troops.  Different ethnic regiments had different turban styles.  It is a complex subject that I have barely grasped, but I would say that Hat's colonial Indians are probably from a Sikh regiment.  The turbans on Hat's WW1 Indian troops are a much better match for the film, and it is quite possible to swop the heads; I've done it myself.

Hi there, I'm really pleased the North West Frontier article inspired you to look at the real thing.  There's much to be gleaned from the IRFCA web site and certainly everyone I dealt with was exceptionally helpful.  You're right about the figures and it's a bit of a minefield, if I were to model a 'film' layout, and there's a good chance I will some time in the future (European donor coach and wagon already purchased, just need to pin down Electrotren for the loco) I'd try to use 'underscale figures' in a forced perspective setting and 'overscale' figures in the foreground in much the same way.  Certainly the Edwardian figures would find themselves inside the coach, a glimpse through the glass, perhaps packed up on the base to give extra height.  Kind regards Paul 

[rue_d_etropal]

another option for representing 5ft 6in gauge might be to model in 1/55th scale. This works out at about 30.25mm gauge, very close to 32mm gauge. Also 1/55 is very close to 28mm wargaming so that is another source of figures.

[Adams442T]

Third, Mr Lunn says that the headdress is too large to represent the troops in the film.  This is true, but only because of the ethnicity of the troops.  Different ethnic regiments had different turban styles.  It is a complex subject that I have barely grasped, but I would say that Hat's colonial Indians are probably from a Sikh regiment.  The turbans on Hat's WW1 Indian troops are a much better match for the film, and it is quite possible to swop the heads; I've done it myself.

 

Outside of the specific regiments that you correctly quote, Sikhs, mostly Bengal Regiments, there were Jats, and Madrassi Regiments as well.  But most Indian Army Regiments were multi ethnic in formation, and would have troops usually mustered in different rifle companies.  Colour Parties in these Regiments observed a strict rotation of Colour Sergeants and Native Officers (acting as standard bearers), according to the proportion making up the regiment.

 

If I remember rightly the troops used in the film were meant to represent the Second Frontier Force Regiment, the Corps of Guides (or Piffers, as they were colloquially known from their formation in 1851 as the Punjab Irregular Force) so they should have had red facings and cuffs.  They were composed of Pathans, Punjabi Muslims, Dogras and Sikhs, the first three having fairly compact turbans, though very different in appearance.  3rd to 6th FF were all Sikh Regiments, the remainder were mostly mixed battalions.  

[Mad Carew]

I take it that Dzine (I see what you did there!) is Mr Lunn Himself.

 

Reading Dzine's reply, I realise that I did not do full justice the NWF article; what I meant was that I was attracted to the idea of modelling the world created by the film (as opposed to a real location in British India, a model of the film or a model of Spain), so the article is very much the direct inspiration for this project.

 

Though it is a favourite film of mine, the possibility of using it as the basis of a modelling project would not have struck me without the article, so thanks to you and I hope to see more in this occasional series.

[Mad Carew]

I am very impressed by Adams 442T's level of knowledge of the Indian Army, which was very helpful too, thank you.

[rue_d_etropal]

I remember trying to record the train sounds off the TV many years ago to use as sound on my layout at the time. Trying to switch recorder on and off as train came into view meant it did not work as well as hoped, as far as I remember, but that was over 40 years ago.

 

Getting hold of right figures for right period seems to be a repeating  problem for me I come up with an idea then struggle to find suitable figures.

[Dzine]

Outside of the specific regiments that you correctly quote, Sikhs, mostly Bengal Regiments, there were Jats, and Madrassi Regiments as well.  But most Indian Army Regiments were multi ethnic in formation, and would have troops usually mustered in different rifle companies.  Colour Parties in these Regiments observed a strict rotation of Colour Sergeants and Native Officers (acting as standard bearers), according to the proportion making up the regiment.

 

If I remember rightly the troops used in the film were meant to represent the Second Frontier Force Regiment, the Corps of Guides (or Piffers, as they were colloquially known from their formation in 1851 as the Punjab Irregular Force) so they should have had red facings and cuffs.  They were composed of Pathans, Punjabi Muslims, Dogras and Sikhs, the first three having fairly compact turbans, though very different in appearance.  3rd to 6th FF were all Sikh Regiments, the remainder were mostly mixed battalions.  

Hi there, A really helpful piece.  I recall that both Kenneth More's uniform and those of the two NCO's had red 'trims'.  Will add these details to my on going record if that's ok.  Kind regards Paul

[Dzine]

I take it that Dzine (I see what you did there!) is Mr Lunn Himself.

 

Reading Dzine's reply, I realise that I did not do full justice the NWF article; what I meant was that I was attracted to the idea of modelling the world created by the film (as opposed to a real location in British India, a model of the film or a model of Spain), so the article is very much the direct inspiration for this project.

 

Though it is a favourite film of mine, the possibility of using it as the basis of a modelling project would not have struck me without the article, so thanks to you and I hope to see more in this occasional series.

Ah yes, the cat's out of the bag now.....one and the same person I'm afraid.  I look forward with great enthusiasm if you go ahead with a design and build around a North West Frontier theme.  Please keep in touch and let me know how you get on and if you need any help don't hesitate to ask  Best wishes Paul 'Dzine' Lunn !!!!!