MJI

You can try making some from strip works well for small ones.

But etched brass may be better

Just testing a feature.

Go to first unread post, works fine phew!

Just need now the content list so we can see our posted on threads.

But of course we will wait patiently.

2 hours ago, Nickey Line said:

I can't believe some of the ignorant, intolerant and downright rude posts appearing on this thread!

If you (and you know who you are) really don't like it, other forums are available, or start your own! Good luck with that.

This is a FREE resource (and a very good one at that) for heaven's sake, and a lot of hard work goes in to it.

And I'm quite happy with the new look, for the record.

I have not seen any rudes ones, lots of comments but no rudeness, we KNOW it is a work in progress.

But the old layout was nicer as it was easier to navigate.

Also due to using computers a LONG time I am not a fan of minimalist UIs and the removal of 3D cues.

We do appreciate the need to change, but it is the usual modern thing of add the features and trash the UI.

Got a new DVD, with Little Bytham on it

Will watch this weekend.

Nice article in BRM as well.

However a DCC wagon for £40!!!!

As to travelling, I once read a good reason for caravanning over flying and hotel.

You get a decent car at the other end (writers was a 3.0 Carlton)

Am I the only person who reads this thread who has never been to Australia, not likely to go, never had a reason to go or has ever had a desire to go? I hope our Australian friends are not offended because I am not a person who has this wanderlust for anywhere in the world.

never been but may be one day during retirement

Precision is great. Shame it doesn't match Bachmann or Hornby maroon or rather that Bachmann and Hornby maroon isn't closer to precision. As I suspect precision is the more accurate colour. It looks good though.

The RTR manufacturers are not my colour match standards, mine are Precision, been using it since it was based in Churchdown near my old school. Nearly 40 years.

Australia

My boss keeps going over to there and New Zealand.

On a free day he visited Hobbiton.

We are selling factory software over there, and looks like we could make market leader in time.

Has anyone noticed the huge amount of mobile phone users glued to screens in everyday tasks?

An example is the chip shop queue, say ten or so people in front, 3 or 4 will be constantly at their phones. I feel very silly for just pulling mine out to check time or call my wife.

Those things soak time, people constantly messaging, playing time wasting games (as a time sink rather than leisure), going on various social media.

As to phone zombies crossing roads aghhhhhhh!

Not boring at all, Martin,

 

Oh, I should have added another comment................

 

I was delighted when neither of my sons showed an interest in computer games, apart from a very few months. They never had any of those weird gadgets which seem to be in so many houses these days, just their computers and the keyboards. One game was called Dungeons & Dragons. 'Want to try dad?' 'What do I do?' The keys were explained. Whichever one I touched, I fell down a bottomless pit! I gave up. 

 

That was years ago. In France, two years ago, an early teen showed me his computer game thingy. Though I like action films, this was the most violent thing I think I've seen on a TV screen. I tried for a minute or two, and was blown to pieces at every turn. I gave up. 

 

I wonder if I'd had access to such technologies in my formative years, would I have taken up railway modelling? I hope so. I know so!

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

I am of the opinion that more hobbies make a person more interesting. Games are more a generational thing than an age thing, you are of the same generation of the first computer gamers, but never had exposure, hence no interest.

My generation it hit main stream and now the youngsters with the fast reactions have to watch out for sneaky 50 somethings.

A good way of describing it is if you are flaked out in front of TV, do you?

1) Watch the latest comings and goings of various fictional people in fictional places doing boring things (soaps)

2) Or shoot hostile aliens in the face (games)

As I have little interest in those sort of things I would rather watch a film, a really good documentry (eg Attenborough), or game. But if bright and sunny I would rather keep off the TV and do something else.

My main hobby is still modal railways.

As to your TVR, still a pity that you sold it. I like interesting cars and TVRs are interesting.

Thanks again, Martin,

 

However, without appearing ungrateful, perhaps I should elaborate on my understanding of current technologies......

 

For one, I don't have blue tooth, blue ray or blue anything - though the TVR I owned was blue.

 

I have a DVD player (somewhere); however, at the moment I don't have a grandchild to show me how to operate it.

 

My mobile phone (if I could remember where I put it) is 13 years old! The last time I made a call on it was last July! 

 

I don't think our telly is widescreen - it's 11 years old.

 

My own computer is even older, and the one I'm using this to post on is nine years old - I'm told that's old in computer lives. 

 

My younger son speaks to some gadget and it then plays music. I have a radio (10 years old) which does the same thing if I switch it on, though I find it difficult to change channels. For some reason it comes on at eight in the morning and switches itself off an hour later. It's a mystery. I long for the one I had as a boy, where one turned a knob and got things like Hilversom (or Hilversome, or Hilversum - I've forgotten how it was spelled). Speaking of radios, the one in my current car (four years old) is totally incomprehensible. Not only that, the onboard computer is also incomprehensible, as is its manual. 

 

My eyesight is probably not good enough to fully-distinguish the number of lines on a telly screen. Didn't it used to be 405 and 625? Regarding tellies, why do adverts play louder? 

 

Anything else? I live in blissful ignorance of modernity. Though I use a digital darkroom, the programme I use is from 2007, which I understand. My cameras are, obviously digital, but I made the mistake once of looking through some of the sub-menus. I had to take one of them back to a camera shop to get it 'back to normal'! The guy who 'fixed' it was certainly young (or old?) enough to be my grandson. Why don't the manufacturers of such complex gadgetry today offer a free grandchild with each purchase? 

 

Do I want to learn? No.

 

But, thanks for trying to explain. It's analogous to giving a lecture on advanced nuclear physics to 3C! 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Don't worry 10 year old PC here, was so powerful when built it is still relevant.

Blue stuff, hmm, blue car, blue Diesels, all the games boxes are blue, my fleece is blue, my bathroom is blue, I think it is my favourte colour, I actually like the BR corporate image livery.

However a lot of reasons I have got into AV are related

1) I love films

2) I loved videoing trains and really wanted a video camera for GWR150, but got one end of 1985 early 1986 not sure when.

3) I have done videos of railways, done the VCR to VCR editing and also PC editing, PC is easier once you get the hang of it.

Annoying gadgets

1) Smartphones drive me bonkers.

2) I detest the latest version of WIndows but may have to have it next year as my work PC is nearly a decade old as well.

3) My car radio is illogical, it took me half an hour to cancel sat nav after it got triggered during a repair, kept wanting to go to Solihull.

As to widescreen TV, I had one in 1999, the year my twins were born, and about 10 years later an LCD panel TV. I buy top end quality kit but rarely.

Bought the widescreen for DVDs and digital TV, also my old TV was wearing out. Bought current for HDTV, size and the widescreen tube was just starting to fade.

Now to modern gadgets they can be good but it depends on how good the user interface is, some companies are excellent some are rubbish. In general modern mobile phones interfaces are quite poor. Many small digital cameras are bonkers. Latest Windows is appalling. One reason I like Sony stuff is that their user interfaces are usually OK.

As to my vision, yes getting old, I run in three modes, no glasses, computer glasses and normal glasses, as extremely short sighted, but my issue is hearing, I have bad tinnitus since an ear infection and I have found to listen to stuff I need really good qualty kit now. I find modern digital phones can be difficult to hear on, and compressed audio on cheap devices painfull. we all get old and lose some inputs but they work well enough.

My wife wanted the PC today so said to go on games to get me off the PC, but I wanted to model instead, so annoyed her anyway with a large pile of Airfix air conditioned coaches spread over the table. In blue (and grey).

I hope I am not boring everyone here!

If you want to feel better about youtube just have a look at some railway videos, like Deltic and 50 double heading.

Spent today doing C1 and electrification flashes then decided to reunite chassis and bodies and found I have lost a 2E chassis as a few boxes lopped off and single fan fitted.

AGHHHHHHH

So grabbed an open first, stripped it down and used that chassis, that FO will become a WR 2F FO.

Thanks for all the recent comments.

 

TOSH it is then; what a wonderful description. Completely apposite. 

 

I think Tim Lee sums it up very well. If a layout is published in the MRJ, it must be of a high standard. And, the MRJ is certainly not average. 

 

Come to think of it, both Stoke Summit and Charwelton were published in the MRJ as well, and subsequent articles on the trains. 

 

As for modesty, the opposite is pomposity, which I abhor.

 

I think that's it really. 

 

Regards to all,

 

Tony. 

Got to say this Tony but the more you learn the more you realise that you do not know.

I have learnt so much I feel incredibly stupid sometimes.

It's very kind of you to say these things, Andrew,

 

However, I've no wish to labour the case. In terms of what one sees at many shows and in the general media now, the likes of Little Bytham, and LSGC, could well be seen as 'above average', in that just about everything in and on them has been made - by modellers. That needs qualifying, of course, in that I've seen too many examples of layouts where everything has been made, but made badly. 

 

What I've also found interesting is that some layouts are visually 'above average', but, seeing them in the flesh, they don't run well. Since I'd put good running of equal importance as good appearance, and we try to replicate the real railway's running, then the running on some of these 'good looking' layouts is way below average, because on the real railways, stuff doesn't fall off all the time. Thus, despite their attractive (static) appearance, I'd put such layouts in the overall 'below average' category. 

 

I think it's a fair thing to say that the hobby is becoming less-skilled, in the artisan, hand-craft sense. It's cause and effect, of course. There's more out there which is good enough at source, so why build? Or, some might say 'I've got enough money (having worked all my life), so I'll get someone/several to build it all for me, since I don't have the skills'. 

 

It could be argued that it's becoming more-skilled in some aspects. For instance, in the use of computers for designing models, and then having them printed. I'm astonished at the likes of Steve's (Atso) achievements in that respect. 

 

Average or not, it's important (to me) that we make things ourselves, whether as individuals or in groups. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Changing of skills really, the biggest skills hurdle I ever had was at work around 18 or so years ago, if anyone wants to learn about some very basic programming methodoligies please ask.

Please forgive me, Martin,

 

But I haven't a clue what you're talking about. 

 

For instance, I have a letterbox - in which post is delivered! 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

OK

There are three ways of doing widescreen.

The proper way, the rubbish way and the acceptable way

Proper way is normal HDTV. stuff as Blu Ray, some broadcast HDTV and most current generation video game machines.

1920 x 1080 for 16 x 9, this is square pixels, looks really good.

The acceptable way was how Freeview works with standard definition, as per BBC1 2 and so on. Also the Proper way of doing widescreen films on DVD in the UK

720 across and 576 down used as 16 x 9, however the pixels would be rectangular, but this is the best picture you can get for detail from standard definition.

This is called Anamorphic Widescreen

The rubbish way is letterboxing, or why the Titanic DVD was rubbish.

The whole picture is 720x568 but as 4x3, old squarer TVs, like the old PAL broadcasts pre digital TV.

For a widescreen film they put large black bars top and bottom so it looks OK on a 4x3 TV, but DVD players can easily down scale anamorphic to fit 4x3. But wiht widescrren TVs you have to zoom in and get worse picture quality, you only get 426 visible lines rather than 568. It looks bad!

I hope this is not confusing, any questions just ask.

I would rather have questions and people learning than saying who cares.

I'm eagerly awaiting the new reasonably priced Hornby 2f which hopefully will be good - if they learned from the mistakes of the 2e.

 

Then I shall have a mass clearout of Airfix/Mainline/Dapol 2d's. My guess is many others will do the same and the s/h market will be in overload! 

I hope they do 2D also so that accurate sets can be made up without lots of carving up.

Are you changing regions as well?

2D are mainly ECML with a few TSOT, FK, BFK on the Western Region

2E are everywhere but ECML, WR are mainly TSO

2F are mainly WCML but some FO are WR

So I have 5 x 2D TSO, 3 x 2E TSO, and 1 x 2D TSOT from 8 TSO and 2 BSO

I thought I had more 2E TSOs but after a big stock take I worked out I had only bought 8 Airfix TSOs.

All of the Western region air con sets seem to be mainly 2E TSOs, 2D BFKs, random FO and FK and the odd W19xx buffet, but I have seen ER aircon sets on the Lickey route.

But very belatedly I found that Airfix aircons make better late 2Cs than Lima, just when I had only 1 toilet etch left

£18 on Ebay with postage but then add the £20 for Shawplan bits.

However for rake 3 what do I use?

Biggest problem is that most WR sets are 1CDEF mixes with pairs of BFKs. This keeps pushing Airfix due to price of BSO FO

Colour and B&W

B&W is much better when sourced from a luminance only medium like B&W film (I like Tri X), converted from a colour medium especially when RGB rather than luminance with colour differences.

The worst B&W I have seen recently was on an expensive Sony LCD TV which however does standard to high def upscaling rather well.

But since my B&W stuff is very limited it took until recently to notice.

In the old B&W TV days B&W looked better on a B&W TV.

Now to colour balances.

I have had 3 video cameras, all same make, but all different technologies. Yet you can tell by the colours (and build quality) that they are the same make.

The tube camera with portable VCR was fantastic in the 80s, camera was low on features but good on picture quality, the portable undoubtedly best of generation.

About 15 years ago I went DV 16x9 as well not letterboxed, looked great on a tube widescreen TV,  colours very similar.

Most recent is HDV, again matching colour balances.

Compared to a Canon which seemed muted even in high summer. And autumn colours were not obvious.

I do want a digital camera sometime, I know what sensor brand I want, but not camera brand. From my experience a high end Sony sensor is still worth having.

This does seem to point to Nikon.

Most go carty car I have ever driven was my old Sunbeam.

I had it during the end of the hot hatch era, it was old then but went well enough. Had all new suspension though, forest springs and competition struts

Had two very funny TLGPs One was a MG Metro and I had a trailer on (full of lightish stuff), the other a warm hatch who red lined when I hit power band (tall gearing).

However one FWD hot hatch found out that RWD cars take different lines in tight bends.

I do miss that car.

After seeing what Peter Jackson said about WW1, they saw colour and remembered it like that.

Monochrome is fine for artistic reasons, but my favourite 1960s stuff is Ivo Peters Cine footage.

Many thanks indeed,

 

Though being very dim with regard to culinary things, I do know not to put anything metal into a microwave - or a damp poodle! 

 

You're writing to the world's least-emancipated man. I admit, I've been ruined. For most of the time, I use the kitchen as a thoroughfare. There are many mysterious items in it, some big, some small. Some get hot and others get cold. Some make whirring noises and others gurgle. I don't use an ironing iron because I don't want to burn my ear if anyone phones up at the same time. 

 

With regard to RTH soups (what a lovely twist of English), whereas I NEVER read loco kit instructions, I diligently read those on the cans - and those on the wrappers on the microwave stuff. 

 

All of which goes to show (as with many I'd suggest) that blokes (particularly domestic duffers like me) would be totally helpless without their wives/girlfriends/partners. I couldn't have achieved anything in railway modelling (assuming I have achieved anything) without the unstinting support of Mo. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

I made a mess of our work microwave with tinned soup. Just tipped into bowel and nuked.

Someone said to put a plate over the top.

Didn't I do it at home?

We don't have a microwave oven, as hardly used it and it was starting to fail.

Boiling in saucepan is no slower than using a microwave oven.

Things in kitchen, I got very technical when we replaced the oven and stuff.

I have also repaired the washing machine.

Funning that I can quote model numbers of TV, PC CPU (Q8200), a few of my VCRs but not the kitchen white goods.

All of mine are structurally OK

Sawing underframes is not easy!!!!

Glues well also for BFKs

I work them over, etched frames and laserglaze

5 TSO still TSO, 1 is TSOT and 2 are now 2E

It is nice to have a rake of matching vehicles hence the 2F FOs are Airfix ocnversions

Can confirm Mainline issued the 8 window TSO as I have 3 boxed ones. 

I have 8, but boxes chucked.