Chuffnell Regis

[5BarVT]

10 minutes ago, Graham T said:

so that I can flip them over onto a workbench and deal with them more comfortably. 

Most recommended from me.  Even if just a frame to which you attach risers for trackbed support.

Paul.

[Schooner]

1 hour ago, Graham T said:

I appear, for some reason, to have made them strong enough to withstand a low-yield nuclear explosion

Nothing too strong ever broke!

 

Just been doing some long overdue catching up...lawks.

 

There are so very many upsides though (West Midlands aside. There's no accounting for taste*), that you can just have fun at this point! The record of CR-as-was is here, and in your hands and knowledge and skillset; those hours of enjoyment (/frustration) are not lost, and it will continue to be a source of information and inspiration for a great many people.

 

Once you've got yourself settled back in Blighty, the next CR will progress at lightening speed compared to the last. Till then, buildings, rolling stock, and a circuit of set-track on the table when noone's looking :)

 

Most importantly, remember to keep looking after you through the changes. Per ardua etc etc etc.

 

*Joking sort-of aside, if location isn't a particular priority then it's definitely worth seeing what your budget will get you in other parts of the country. There might be something dreamy out there...!

[aardvark]

Hello Graham:

 

You have my (virtual) support, sympathy and commiseration. In buckets.

 

As a beginner, I can only guess at the turbulent emotions that must come when breaking up a layout - all that time invested, all that work going in the bin.  Whilst I've yet to get to that point myself, I have spared a moment to consider what will happen should we move from our current location, something that is bound to happen at one point or other, and for that, largely unforecastable.

 

Of course, it is a pastime and a means to make some (virtual) friends with common(-ish) interests, and to that end, has served and will continue to serve you, me, and all the other readers well.

 

I hope you enjoy the modelling hiatus. I suspect that we're all looking forward to your future endeavours.

 

[97406]

Sorry to hear you have to dismantle the layout, but then you’ll have the joy of building another one when you’re settled. One thing I did think about with mine was adding the ability for the layout to be dismantled if need be and it is likely to get moved along the wall when it eventually gets its second extension. Quite how it would handle a move from another country is another thing though. It would probably need a special trip in the car!

 

 

[RobAllen]

8 hours ago, Schooner said:

(West Midlands aside. There's no accounting for taste*)

As someone who lives in Worcester, from here through the Malverns over to Hereford is a pretty nice place to live and is also an area Outstanding Natural Beauty! :)

I won't comment on other parts of the West Midlands, but my son is at uni in Coventry and that ring road is a quite a thing!

[Schooner]

Oh, I know - tongue firmly lodged in cheek :)

 

I had a fair spell of time with links to Hereford (Cathedral) and there is a lot to commend that part or the world. The point still stands that a house budget becomes much stretchier if one can look further afield. There are always pros and cons to balance, but my recent experience has been that it's worth investigating.

 

Anything "East..." however can take a running jump 😇

[Graham T]

Most of my family are in Hereford, apart from my daughters, who live with a dragon in the south-east US.  Strangely, house prices in Hereford itself seem to be higher than in Kidderminster, Stourport-on-Severn, and so on.

 

So I think that's the area I'll end up in!

[Fair Oak Junction]

17 minutes ago, Graham T said:

Strangely, house prices in Hereford itself seem to be higher than in Kidderminster, Stourport-on-Severn, and so on.

 

As someone who lives in the Stourport area, there is a reason why the house prices aren't very high around here 😄

We've been trying to sell our house for over half a year as we want to move to Wales, but the market round here is poor. Stourport/Kidderminster are not the nicest places, and then you have Bewdley 5 minutes away which is lovely. It's an area of extremes.

[Gopher]

2 hours ago, Graham T said:

Most of my family are in Hereford, apart from my daughters, who live with a dragon in the south-east US.  Strangely, house prices in Hereford itself seem to be higher than in Kidderminster, Stourport-on-Severn, and so on.

I think Herefordshire has been "discovered", and this is reflected in the house prices.  Certainly quite a few people come here to enjoy the rural life (including me), or retire.  I'm not sure all who move to the rural villages understand some of the challenges they will face though.            

[Graham T]

1 minute ago, Gopher said:

I think Herefordshire has been "discovered", and this is reflected in the house prices.  Certainly quite a few people come here to enjoy the rural life (including me), or retire.  I'm not sure all who move to the rural villages understand some of the challenges they will face though.            

 

I'd prefer to be in a town really Clive.  Or at least somewhere that has a decent pub within staggering distance!

 

[Gopher]

3 minutes ago, Graham T said:

 

I'd prefer to be in a town really Clive.  Or at least somewhere that has a decent pub within staggering distance!

 

Good plan Graham, best of luck

[GMKAT7]

Good afternoon folks,

 

As someone who grew up and spent the first 18 years of his life in Cov I used to love being driven round the inner ring road for all the aerial views of the city centre.

 

However, when I could drive myself it became a chore and now it's just an eyesore!

It has changed so much now I barely recognise the place.

 

Warwickshire on the other hand is a lovely part of the West Midlands and has other attractions.

 

Cheers, Nigel.

[Fair Oak Junction]

Agreed, I think Warwickshire is a greatly underappreciated county.

[Barclay]

Oh, my it's sad to see it like that but mk. 2 will be even better I'm sure. Good luck with the move.

[JustinDean]

5 hours ago, GMKAT7 said:

Good afternoon folks,

 

As someone who grew up and spent the first 18 years of his life in Cov I used to love being driven round the inner ring road for all the aerial views of the city centre.

 

However, when I could drive myself it became a chore and now it's just an eyesore!

It has changed so much now I barely recognise the place.

 

Warwickshire on the other hand is a lovely part of the West Midlands and has other attractions.

 

Cheers, Nigel.

I was born in Coventry and grew up in Nuneaton. Cov was somewhere I spent a lot of my late teens playing gigs. I visited last year after an almost 30 year absence and barely recognised the place!

 

Jay

[Siberian Snooper]

5 hours ago, Graham T said:

 

I'd prefer to be in a town really Clive.  Or at least somewhere that has a decent pub within staggering distance!

 

 

My mum lives in Stourport, much better than Kidder, at least 2 decent pubs, the Black Star and the Holly Bush. I believe the Swan is good for live music, but I have not visited it. There's an excellent chippy in Brinkley Street.

 

[gwrrob]

10 hours ago, RobAllen said:

 but my son is at uni in Coventry and that ring road is a quite a thing!

 

That's because most motorists don't use it correctly.😉

[gwrrob]

4 minutes ago, JustinDean said:

 barely recognised the place!

 

You can say that again and I fully blame the council for letting it go downhill very rapidly.😟

[Fair Oak Junction]

1 minute ago, Siberian Snooper said:

My mum lives in Stourport, much better than Kidder

 

To be fair, that's a bit like saying a headache is better than a migraine. It is, but neither are good 🤣

I will admit there are a couple of good takeaways at least.

[figworthy]

12 hours ago, RobAllen said:

I won't comment on other parts of the West Midlands, but my son is at uni in Coventry and that ring road is a quite a thing!

 

I had the (mis) fortune of being at the then poly 40+ years ago.  At the time, there was a rumour that someone was driving around the ring road trying to find their way off.  I suspect that they've run out of fuel by now.

 

Adrian

[BroadLeaves]

On 04/02/2024 at 15:10, Graham T said:

do you think I might be able to sell bespoke buildings?

I see no reason why not. I'd also add a couple of related activities to the list, both of which you've demonstrated a skill for and for which there is also a market: rolling stock weathering and kit building.

 

By kit building I don't mean just taking it out of the packet, gluing it together and handing it to the customer. I'm thinking of using the kit as a base structure (which saves time and therefore drops the cost) but this base is then subject to mild kit bashing and/or custom detailing, such as painting in a certain railway's colours, weathering, adding lighting, an interior and so on.

Most of the kit builder's web sites are very devoid of "fully-finished" images of their products, so one avenue may be to offer to build some for free for the manufacturer on the understanding that they then use images of it on their product pages and reference your services. See the first image on https://www.jsmodels.co.uk/home/Small-Industrial-Shed-w-Tank-Stone-p530053168 for an example.

Accurascale used https://www.jsmodels.co.uk/home/7mm-Small-Shed-Internal-Detailing-Kit-p584764821 in promoting their Ruston ( https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/182005-ruston-88ds-in-o-by-accurascale/page/2/#comment-5311960 ) and that attribution could have been "The new 88ds looks right at home in this single shed by JSModels and painted by Graham T from Great Train Models".

On a different note, I'm very sad to see Chuffnel Regis being dismantled. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading about the build and I'm looking forward to seeing a new layout develop once you're settled back in Blighty.

[Graham T]

12 hours ago, BroadLeaves said:

I see no reason why not. I'd also add a couple of related activities to the list, both of which you've demonstrated a skill for and for which there is also a market: rolling stock weathering and kit building.

 

Thanks very much for the suggestions BL, interesting stuff.  I'm not sure about weathering other people's cherished models though - I'm not that good at it and I've seen quite a few good weathering services already being offered.

 

12 hours ago, BroadLeaves said:

 

By kit building I don't mean just taking it out of the packet, gluing it together and handing it to the customer. I'm thinking of using the kit as a base structure (which saves time and therefore drops the cost) but this base is then subject to mild kit bashing and/or custom detailing, such as painting in a certain railway's colours, weathering, adding lighting, an interior and so on.

Most of the kit builder's web sites are very devoid of "fully-finished" images of their products, so one avenue may be to offer to build some for free for the manufacturer on the understanding that they then use images of it on their product pages and reference your services. See the first image on https://www.jsmodels.co.uk/home/Small-Industrial-Shed-w-Tank-Stone-p530053168 for an example.

On a different note, I'm very sad to see Chuffnel Regis being dismantled. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading about the build and I'm looking forward to seeing a new layout develop once you're settled back in Blighty.

 

Modifying other kits does sound like a good thing to offer.  Actually, my engine shed at Chuffnell R began life as a Scalescenes download, and then got quite heavily changed!  Building kits for free in exchange for some publicity sounds worthwhile too - I could then sell the finished item I suppose as well.  

 

So, I'll start putting together a list of building kit manufacturers - any suggestions would be very welcome please!  And I'll also see about getting permission from the moderators to start a separate thread about this exciting new venture 🙃

 

Also - thanks for the kind words about the late CR Mk I.

[Schooner]

13 minutes ago, Graham T said:

Building kits for free in exchange for some publicity sounds worthwhile too - I could then sell the finished item I suppose as well.  

 

The same is also very true of nearly every 3D print designer/seller. The kit costs are low, and so they may be happy to exchange in return for good-quality marketing photos.

 

Quick (comparatively), easy to do as you navigate upcoming changes, and an effective way build up your own online business presence.

[Graham T]

1 minute ago, Schooner said:

 

The same is also very true of nearly every 3D print designer/seller. The kit costs are low, and so they may be happy to exchange in return for good-quality marketing photos.

 

Quick (comparatively), easy to do as you navigate upcoming changes, and an effective way build up your own online business presence.

 

It does sound good to me.  Any thoughts on people to approach?  So far I've come up with JS Models, LCut Creative, Intention, Scale Model Scenery, and Scalescenes.  But a lot of those already seem to have photos of completed kits on their sites...

 

Offering to build small dioramas was another thought.

[BroadLeaves]

7 hours ago, Graham T said:

Any thoughts on people to approach? 

I'd add https://railmodel.co.uk/, https://www.lasercutrailwaymodels.co.uk/ and https://www.inthegreenwoodlaser.co.uk/ to the list. All of those have a good range, but most of the ones illustrated on their sites are just the kit put together, with no finishing applied.