pmorgan_cym

I maybe being dense here, but wouldn't the LMR one be a good bet?

Very.nice, been wait tears for Bachmann to use the shrink ray on theirs. Already on the xmas 2019 list!

If your looking for simple valve gear, may I suggest the 94xx, and once you have a bit more confidence the 42/52xx would be a cracking N gauge model!

Stated in an e-mail I received from Accurascale:

 

"We’re planning so that headcodes can be readily changed as needed."

For DCC users mini LCDs at each end with vertical slow scrolling characters.

I'm in two minds of the water splash ford. It looks very effective in photos, and would make a great cover shot much like last months, (any plans to reproduce the water trough cover, which according to a MRC album that used to be in our loco library used a chain smoking member of staff to emulate the spray effect) can't help but feel it would look odd as a static effect on a moving layout, much like the football match a few months back.

OK, you're a purist

 

 

Playing devil's advocate a bit here, I think the Fawley team did a good job of making a layout that would appeal to purists, at least of a certain ilk, but not necessarily to the wider modelling public.

 

Why not? Because what they made, both times, was, essentially, an MPD. Certainly, the modelling itself was top notch. But even without the gimmicks necessary for GMRC, an MPD is, in my opinion, a little bit of a lazy option. It's easy to make it look good just by packing it with locos, but at the expense of operational interest.

 

Now, before everyone screams at me for dissing MPDs, I should point out that that's purely a personal opinion, and I'm well aware that others will differ. I've never really found MPDs all that interesting, but I know that some people really love them.

 

However, in the wider context of what appeals to the show-going public, I'm not sure that MPDs are the big hitters. To be sure, they will appeal to some. But they don't tend to attract the big crowds of, say, a Gresley Beat, a Penhallick or a Burntisland. Operational interest and a lot going on is what creates a crush at the barrier, just as much as detailed modelling.

 

(Incidentally, although GMRC is a world away from the finescale approach of Burntisland, I think that Burntisland is, in many respects the type of layout that lovers of GMRC would also love. Because it has plenty going on, not just trains moving but also, in the lingo of GMRC, animations. And it also demonstrates that finescale modelling and an eye for putting on a show are not mutually exclusive. Which, I think, is precisely the point that GMRC is trying to make).

Having finally watched the final. I couldn't help feeling the concept was about face. In that the heats should be bareboards and for the final the teams should be 'let off the leash' with the prebuild items etc. So you get the 'this is what we do under pressure, however give us time and this is what we can do'

I'd assumed it was on later that evening. I did ponder thats an interesting topic, buf I find Tarrent seems really insincere when he's trying to be grave.

Am.I right in thinking there are murky stories such as the Swiss allowing the trains to travel through their borders from Italy at night.

I was disappoint Fawley didn't just make theirs winter themed, fickering smokeboX fires, smoking and maybe flicking devils under the water cranes.

Really I think it would be my prefered option!

Really I think it would be my prefered option!

Didn't watch it looked to be a very interesting topic, but the choice of presenter turned me off.

 

I know its not going to happen but a Christmas special no holes bared scrap between Fawley and Missenden would be an eye opener

Still seems to be following the pattern of one good basic layout, one ambitious idea but flawed execution and one thats just a bit well meh...

Scratchbuild change should be changed to a significant feature of the layout created 'can't cook won't cook' style out of a box of standard bits, with maybe a single random gimic item of the week (high heel, plunger, sex toy etc.) to be incorporated each month.

I think all layouts need dinosaurs.

Will this lead to.sone new articles in BRM and possibly a sub forum on RMWeb??

Joking aside.

There appears to be a pattern forming.

1 team quite a serious approach (Missenden, track ninjas)

1 team ambitious and off the wall, sci fi, porthcawl.

1 team measured building approach, strangers and the black adder mob.

You can sort of spot who's going win.

None of the participants seemed to be spending valuable modelling time on RMWeb...

There's appears to be an impasse in the building room with team 3, Mark can you explain what's going on?

Yes, we're just taking some out to rage on RMWeb that Hornby have got the shade of grey wrong on it's lastest Dutch Livery 31s.

It's bound to be like Bake Off. It's the same company that's made it. The initial letter that came round introduced themselves as the company that makes Bake Off. (CJL)

Oddly it reminds me more of Scrapheap Challenge

It's bound to be like Bake Off. It's the same company that's made it. The initial letter that came round introduced themselves as the company that makes Bake Off. (CJL)

Oddly it reminds me more of Scrapheap Challenge

Maybe it reckons it's readers have sufficient intellect to work it out for themselves..?

 

Things that are starting to really get on my nerves in some of the mags are the increasing use of terms such as "expert" & "guru" regarding what used to be called 'regular contributors'. Also a little box in a layout article titled "What we think", or "Why this layout is great" or suchlike, with the opinion of some 'expert'. I'll make my own mind up, thanks.

Actually it would be possibly, more useful to list what is wrong what doesn't work.

the mat was laid over a foundation of lattice card board and then i moulded it into the down land effect you get if you look at it from a distance

the edges were blended into the chalk face using a plaster/paint mixture to take the sharp white colour away i then added tufts of grass on a random basis also rubberised horse hair was used to make hedges at the end we sprayed shadows with an air brush to give a light/dark effect

I thought it was a good use of a product that could easily be dismissed as toy like. Certain quicker than traditional methods, gaugemaster or woodland scenic?

And does it count as pre built

Like to see on hoe Strangers on a train made such a good job with the grass mat...

As a further point and this stands true of articles in any mag.

Said article must included a reference to an extremely interesting piece of rolling stock or scenic feature and then not have it in any pictures or vice versa.

To me RM.means 3 things

Every layout write up MUST included the hint to add a drop of washing up liquid to the watered down PVA when ballasting.

Baseboards MUST 'be constructed in the traditonal way using 2x1 timber..'

Any Layout article which doesn't list the entire loco fleet and it's provenance just isn't worth reading.

Big Brother style build?

Day 5. Mike and John are having a disagreement about the exact shade of Crimson Lake for a 1930 LMS loco.

Meanwhile in the build room a fight has broken out after Simon suggested converting the layout to DCC.

It wasn't as bad as I was expecting, I'd like have seen some filming of the design and pre-construction phases. Could have been very interesting seeing Missenden's thought process.

The Porthcawl layout was massively ambitious, be nice to see it finished.

The Longest Day one probay suited the format of the show rather well quite simple overall, so achievabke in the timescale, with some bits of 'sparkle' like the Spitfire.

I didn't get the Missenden layout, as they appeared to be mostly just plonking premade buildings on the baseboard, I'm not sure where their time went (did they need dcc, I'm sure it was mentioned) Also thought the Ealing concept was lacking in application other than the 'ship from Whisky Galore' and flying pig, I thought the shuttled goods train was crying out for a Ladykillers cameo with animated falling man.

You know that map of Garden Railway suppliers? Might want to check a few of those locations. Pretty certain the Isle of Wight is in the English channel not the Bristol channel. Jacksons Minatures are in Dorset, not THAT Gillingham.

It's almost like you plugged the names of towns into google maps.and just picked the first off the list!

Is it time to perhaps elevate Hatton across to the manufacturers forum? They seem to have more up and coming releases than some of the manufacturers over there?