MRJ 259

[Regularity]

I should have done it years ago before I had amassed such a large P4 'stud'.

Yeah, we get that a lot.

 

I know of people in their 70s who are almost in tears after spending a day operating an S Scale layout, over the regret that they had missed out on the experience 20 or 30 years before they had amassed a large P4/EM collection.

But I also know full well that had they experienced S Scale at that stage of their life, they wouldn’t have made the switch, as they were too used to having broad(er) trade support, and would not have been prepared to “abandon the safety net” of kits and rtr.

 

S Scale is not about adapting available models. It’s about creating something from a limited range of components. In many ways this is easier: any mistakes are your own, and - a bit like crossword compilers - there isn’t someone else’s thinking to unravel. It’s a different mindset, and not for everyone. Possibly, only for a very few.

[Donw]

Yeah, we get that a lot.

 

I know of people in their 70s who are almost in tears after spending a day operating an S Scale layout, over the regret that they had missed out on the experience 20 or 30 years before they had amassed a large P4/EM collection.

But I also know full well that had they experienced S Scale at that stage of their life, they wouldn’t have made the switch, as they were too used to having broad(er) trade support, and would not have been prepared to “abandon the safety net” of kits and rtr.

 

S Scale is not about adapting available models. It’s about creating something from a limited range of components. In many ways this is easier: any mistakes are your own, and - a bit like crossword compilers - there isn’t someone else’s thinking to unravel. It’s a different mindset, and not for everyone. Possibly, only for a very few.

 

I did seriously consider adopting S scale but the temptations of being able to buy Slaters 0 gauge wagons was too much to resist.  I regret it somewhat now but I am not sure that I have enough time whilst still capable of doing the scratch building to start again in S. It is not so much the scale but the discipline of making yourself you tend to build want you really want rather than by being seduced by the kit available or these days the RTR stuff.

 

Don

[BlackRat]

Some interesting and thought provoking comments here, particularly from Simon (?)

 

I have long considered working in 7mm narrow gauge, despite now having built or acquired several O gauge locos and several items of stock.

 

A relatively new (about 2 years or so) acquaintance turns out to me a model maker( he is a retired engineer)  and together with his son have made numerous masters for resin kits in 1/35th scale.

 

Some of these are narrow gauge based.

 

After one of our meetings on Wednesday, I drove him home and was invited in to see some of his work, and very good it is indeed.

 

His son works in CAD for a major hi-marque motor company and produces some superb work, which along with his dad make a fine array of kits and scratch building aids.

 

Whilst they are WW1 military based (mainly) I am tempted to move into making a 1/35th micro layout to see how things work out.

 

They produce sleepers, and chairs in resin, designed to take Peco drawn rail.

 

Basically though, most items would have to be scratch built, despite the vast array of material available in 1/35th scale, and therein lies the temptation.

 

I suppose, like many, I could procrastinate till its too late, or do I do something now and put other projects on the shelf?

 

Either way, I wont have any regrets, I have enjoyed what I have done and there's little point in looking back at what have might have been.

Edited December 15, 2017 by BlackRat

[Donw]

Some interesting and thought provoking comments here, particularly from Simon (?)

 

I have long considered working in 7mm narrow gauge, despite now having built or acquired several O gauge locos and several items of stock.

 

A relatively new (about 2 years or so) acquaintance turns out to me a model maker( he is a retired engineer)  and together with his son have made numerous masters for resin kits in 1/35th scale.

 

Some of these are narrow gauge based.

 

After one of our meetings on Wednesday, I drove him home and was invited in to see some of his work, and very good it is indeed.

 

His son works in CAD for a major hi-marque motor company and produces some superb work, which along with his dad make a fine array of kits and scratch building aids.

 

Whilst they are WW1 military based (mainly) I am tempted to move into making a 1/35th micro layout to see how things work out.

 

They produce sleepers, and chairs in resin, designed to take Peco drawn rail.

 

Basically though, most items would have to be scratch built, despite the vast array of material available in 1/35th scale, and therein lies the temptation.

 

I suppose, like many, I could procrastinate till its too late, or do I do something now and put other projects on the shelf?

 

Either way, I wont have any regrets, I have enjoyed what I have done and there's little point in looking back at what have might have been.

 

I would have a go. I think Christopher Payne used a similar scale for one of his layouts using 00 stuff as a base. I am assuming you would be going for something requiring a bit more effort. The size would make a good exhibition layout.

 

Don 

[BlackRat]

Don, the thought would be in something like 4'x2' or maybe even 6'x2'. Something manageable and not all time consuming.

 

Its a nice scale to work in and he has produced a couple of flat ammunition wagons and a bogie wagon, the chassis of which would prove useful. There's

 

also a Lister armoured engine, and he is currently working on patterns for the unarmoured version.

 

With several other modeling interests, including RC Tanks and Aircraft where do you fit it all in?

 

I've just offered to spray a mates RC helo, which in itself is several days work, I'm building an O gauge pannier for a neighbour whose husband has suddenly

 

died at 52 and she has also asked could I "Do her a model of the traction engine he was restoring before he died!"

 

How do you say no?

Edited December 15, 2017 by BlackRat

[Regularity]

Neil,

Thanks for the kind words.

 

Have you considered the ScaleLink 1:32 range? There is a nice looking Hunslet 4-6-0, plus some WD wagon kits. Close enough to 1:35 to get away with it, I think.

 

Simon

 

Edit: Amusing autocorrection had turned “Hunslet” into “Huntley”. Presumably Reading’s finest biscuit makers also had a sideline in making locomotive engines as part of the war effort. Well, I thought it mildly amusing.

Edited December 16, 2017 by Regularity

[BlackRat]

Simon......Thanks for that, I wasn't aware of that range!

 

I think the temptation with the 1/35 th is the sheer quality of the model kits and bits they are producing.

 

A combo of resin and etched brass. It does help they have a real expert cad designer.

 

The railway items are a bit of an afterthought to the rest of the range, intended really for military dioramas.

 

I just like the thought of doing something completely different and not going with the flow........

 

As I have ridden bikes for decades, and lived a reasonably adventurous life.....perhaps it's my version of a mid life crisis?

[cp409067]

I would have a go. I think Christopher Payne used a similar scale for one of his layouts using 00 stuff as a base. I am assuming you would be going for something requiring a bit more effort. The size would make a good exhibition layout.

 

Don 

 

*

 

I have indeed - in fact I built two layouts in 1:34 scale ("Portpyn" and "St Pierre et la rue Perrin") back in the 1990s. I still exhibit them both from time to time.

 

Not being especially skilled I opted for the convenience of using 16.5mm track, wheel sets, and proprietary loco chassis. What made it possible was the availability and adaptability of figures in 1:32 and 1:35 scales. The choice of 1:34 was for various reasons - one being that it fell within that scale range and resulted in track that was a scale 2ins too narrow for British (nominal) 2ft gauge and a little less for French 600mm. For me that was an acceptable compromise.

 

I found the size and bulk of the resulting models very pleasing and the slight novelty when I first did this made the layouts popular with exhibition managers and their paying public.

 

I would encourage anyone considering narrow gauge modelling in the 1:32 - 1:35 scale range to give it a try.

 

 

CP

[Donw]

Don, the thought would be in something like 4'x2' or maybe even 6'x2'. Something manageable and not all time consuming.

 

Its a nice scale to work in and he has produced a couple of flat ammunition wagons and a bogie wagon, the chassis of which would prove useful. There's

 

also a Lister armoured engine, and he is currently working on patterns for the unarmoured version.

 

With several other modeling interests, including RC Tanks and Aircraft where do you fit it all in?

 

I've just offered to spray a mates RC helo, which in itself is several days work, I'm building an O gauge pannier for a neighbour whose husband has suddenly

 

died at 52 and she has also asked could I "Do her a model of the traction engine he was restoring before he died!"

 

How do you say no?

 

You are obviously a soft touch but doing things for others can be fun too. I am intrigued by the neighbour if I understand right the pannier is for her and she has sadly lost her husband quite early. Surely she still has the traction engine he was restoring finishing that off would be a nice  memorial. 

 

Don

[CKPR]

Yeah, we get that a lot.

 

I know of people in their 70s who are almost in tears after spending a day operating an S Scale layout, over the regret that they had missed out on the experience 20 or 30 years before they had amassed a large P4/EM collection.

But I also know full well that had they experienced S Scale at that stage of their life, they wouldn’t have made the switch, as they were too used to having broad(er) trade support, and would not have been prepared to “abandon the safety net” of kits and rtr.

 

S Scale is not about adapting available models. It’s about creating something from a limited range of components. In many ways this is easier: any mistakes are your own, and - a bit like crossword compilers - there isn’t someone else’s thinking to unravel. It’s a different mindset, and not for everyone. Possibly, only for a very few.

I have to say that I wish I had discovered Sand adopted it rather than EM when I was moving into fine-scale modelling in the early 1980s.

[5050]

I have to say that I wish I had discovered Sand adopted it rather than EM when I was moving into fine-scale modelling in the early 1980s.

Yep, life's a beach innit!?

[Zero Gravitas]

I have to say that I wish I had discovered Sand adopted it rather than EM when I was moving into fine-scale modelling in the early 1980s.

It would have been going against the grain.

[Porcy Mane]

One can never upturn the Egg timer of life...