allan downes

Right, truce over - below, Pyruma Paradise !

Best I can do Iain re 'Old Mans Beard' ( Pipers Mead, terrible - Woburn Abbey, even worse ! and with me looking all smug ( and vastly overpaid ! ) bur it was a rapid means to an end. What it is in fact, is a wild bind weed that grows like there's no tomorrow in almost every hawthorn hedge between High Wycombe and The Watford Gap in the winter - but North of Watford ? not a whisker !

Sure I don't need a cathedral to beat that, a few of my early rejects ought to do it.... I'll be back.

Tetford Quay will certainly do for me Iain and a magnificent effort which one again, gives you the edge ( God only knows but that hurt saying that....) But brace yourself for what's about to come....

While Robinsons holed up in his bunker, this might be a good time to explain why I rarely put any trees into a scene - and that's simply because they don't look anything like a tree, but more like a bad hair do ! The three aspects of modelling that seem to defeat us are water, grass and trees - whilst we, or the manufacturers can, faithfully reproduce a locomotive right down to the last rivet, nobody has yet taken nature on and give us a tree that is more than just a twisted length of wire bristling with bristles that looks more like a toilet brush than it does a mighty oak ! Water,and as long as you don't try using the real stuff - remember those early war films where balsa wood destroyers were battling it out for control of the Atlantic in a fish tank ?! - well that's what real water looks like on a model, you just can't scale it down no more than you can scale down smoke 'belching' out of a freighter taking on the Beatock Bank - futile whisps of oily smoke just aint gonna make it to the top or convince anybody that it can ! However, trees, or the need to include them because of the nature of the model, is something that I'd rather let nature take care of since it's the root of the problem in the first place ( all those 'Bath Sponge Specials' you see on many of my scenes are planted there by the client and in a perfect world, I could get there with a camera before he gets there with his trees !) so here, in an obviously desperate and urgent attempt, I iether use Sea Moss - or whatever it is that you can see if you're unlucky enough, sticking out most untreelike, but half a chance up on bathsponge, - on the scene below.

Arranging and siting the buildings in the townscape below took longer to do than it did to build it ! Often the problem is that what you planned to go 'here', looks better over 'there' - then come tomorrow, it doesn't look better anywhere ! - and as for that castle...well it wasn't planned at all, it was just an afterthought that weighed a hundredweight and took two people and a hernia to lift it !

No I haven't Mikkel, it's on the previous page !! Cheers. Allan And Robinson, stop buttering me up, you're still getting the cathedral !!!!

Hi Mikkel. Somehow I managed to delete your post altogether!!!!!! Anyway, if you can remember the questions, here are the answers !! When I build a scene like that I usually build in 'blocks' - maybe three or four buildings shoulder to shoulder, then when I have enough to fill the given area, I spend hours believe it or not shuffling them around until it all looks right - then do it again the next day ! The figures in the scene were put there by the client - I rarely put figures on any scene I build for once you do, they seem to ruin all the realism that you have been striving to create and if I do use any at all, I only ever use those made my by PRIESER - the most lifelike, proper attitudes and proportions and come already painted in MATT colours, so no glossy suits and dresses ! - check out the platform figures in the scene below. Cheers. Allan

Blimey Iain, I wouldn't have thought that Lionel Curry would have needed to commission anybody when it came to modelmaking - wow ! Nice work all the same Mate. Cheers Allan (Pst, poss, the cathedral tomorrow...)

Watch this space...

AND SOME PUFFER ENGINES...

TRAINSETS !

Yes, I remember it quite well Jonte, in fact it was how I met my late wife actually !

Best I can do for now Iain, so I guess this gives you the edge again ( but just don't get too cocky, there's the cathederal remember!)

Right gentlemen, you've had your fun, tomorrow we're back on topic - the battle resumes ! Now so far, I've got Robinson ahead by a Scotish gnats whisker....hmm.... so now let me think......

"Am I forgiven? Bestest, Jonte" Thinking about it, thinking...

So a little touch of Tudor instead.

It's no good, I just haven't got the heart, so I'll leave it til later BUT - anymore of that Risborough stuff and there'll be cathedrals comin' out of the woodwork ! I just know I'm going to live to regret this...

What, just THIS round ?! Anyway Iain, and as much as I hate to say this, your Risborough gets my vote so far and leads by a length (ouch) But I do have some bad news - time to get serious, really serious - CATHEDRALS - outside AND in ! So, up for it ?! Tell me you've just been dreading this moment - go on! Cheers Allan.

"Just like to say for the record that this is one of the most realistic station buildings I have EVER seen. This, along with Wenlock's William Clarke station building in 7mm scale. Magnificent!" Jonte Hey Jonte, whoe's side you on anyway ?!!!! But you did say ONE OF the most realistic I suppose.. .

Told y'all it would be a shovel!! but the rest more than made up for it, and then some but, time to get serious -so next? CASTLES!!!!!

Z guage.

COALERS. I know what's going to happen here - I'll put up coalers, Robinson'll put up a shovel...

".....the war could escalate then before you know it its ration books and all that" Scotsmen are ALWAYS on ration books Peter, Robinson re invented them !! A coaling tower eh ? - funny you should say that as it was just what I was thinking, and especially after Robinson's Risborough ! Right, now where's those files, where's that coaler......

You came up on my blind side there Robinson, so best I can do facing into the sun - damn it !