@Jc

Wow Jaz, The snow scenes look fantastic - such attention to detail. Wishing you a  Happy Christmas.I look forward to seeing how AV develops in 2015.

Great work with the fair and the Batman and Robin characters Jaz. I was pleased to see that Pastel and I were at the fair.

I have seen Thurston at several local shows and was impressed at seeing a layout recreating a harvest field. Something like that would look great on AV. One small thing that struck me from your picture of Thurston is that the the combine driver is going to have to do a  lot of shunting at the end of the field. Normally a field is combined by firstly taking 3 - 4 cuts around the outside. This creates space in which to turn at the ends for when field is cut from top to bottom - thus removing the risk of running over the crop.

Hi Jaz and Kal 

Have just been catching up with your thread. Looks like RMWeb Live was a great show if your pictures are anything to go by. I was lucky enough to see CliffHanger at the Southwold railway exhibition in early August and was seriously impressed by it. 

Hi

 

I bought it on the Steam Website / application,   http://store.steampowered.com  while it was on sale so it only cost me £3.99. For someone like me it gives a good glimse at what an Engine driver sees and also the scenery is authentic so it provides some tips.

I like it, BUT  all the add ons for new trains and scenery could get very expensive if you get bored of the ones provided.

Wow, a real bargain you got there. I think that the normal price for the add-ons is very high for what you get, however I have found that there is usually a massive Steam sale of add-ons around Christmas time. That is when I have purchased most of mine at very reasonable prices. Another issue with add-ons is compatibility. Some trains need certain routes before you can run them. This is not always explicitly stated. 

Hi Kal. I also have Train Simulator 2014 and have also purchased several expansion packs for it. I think it is a very good game but it did take a while to master the controls and the braking distances. 

The decorating looks fab Jaz as do the wagons. Sounds like you have more luck with drain rods than us. We have a drain with 30 feet of rods that I lost in it. The PH Designs  stuff also looks really good but also looks exceptionally difficult. Keep up the good work. 

Looking back over the last few pages some great work both with the road and the cows. I don't have much time for catching up on AV these days  as a result of long working hours and a lengthy commute. The newly introduced ban on using the work internet for personal use is also a pain. It used to be fun to spend my  lunch hour browsing rmweb.

Amazing graffiti Jaz. The wolf is especially brilliant. You put the graffiti artists in my local area to shame. Keep up the good work!!!

Looking really good Jaz. A very clever idea to base the letters on circles. I will choose the moon idea as I think it will look fantastic and I know you like a challenge. 

The best bit of graffiti that I have seen was scrawled on a block of flats. It read: "if you lived here, you would be home now". 

Working outside would not have been half as good if cold or wet. The only problem we had was that the sun was too bright to see the laptop screens. I was really fortunate with the job. The firm came and held an event at uni to search for talent (2 days after my last exam). The firm looked great to work for so I applied to work with them. I got an interview the following week and started work with them the week after. 

Hi Jaz, Kal. Glad to see you have the internet back. Looks like you have been really busy with AV. I am no longer a student but have a job as a software developer (at least for a 3 month trial).  I can sympathise with your  lack of internet. The firm I joined are in the process of moving office and do not have an active internet connection. Currently access to the internet is achieved using the boss's phone connected to a 3G network as a wireless hotspot- hopeless for large software downloads. I don't know which has been  worse: the lack of internet, or lack of seating / computers in the move to the new office. This has meant using local parks and coffee shops as the office, and working on laptops.

Would have loved to go there, it looks like you had a great time. If only it were nearer (160 miles away from me)!!! I always find that  at the local shows there is a severe lack of modern image layouts.

Kal, Jaz, nice to see you have a sprinter. I have one of them as well. I am currently pondering how to go about adding interior lights and the orange hazard lights at the sides so that they can be operated with dcc. I have all of the materials but the huge circuit board inside obscures the lights. I am considering removing the circuit board and hard wiring but don't like the prospect of Hornby's common negatively wired lights, I could remove all of hornbys surface mount LEDs and use proper ones. Any ideas or advice about adding interior lights? I have already given a couple of Bachmann 170's this treatment and replaced their bulbs with LEDs and added interior and hazard lights. I just have to neaten them up and sort a couple of issues with light bleed. I might post some pictures when I am happy with them.  

Jaz, great images. Congratulations on one year. How did you achieve the cobbled stone texture shown in image Rmweb1869heartbeat2?

You never know what you will see next on AV. The dragon reminds me of the song Puff the Magic Dragon. It is these stories based on characters that make AV so unique and entertaining to follow.

Jaz, the updates and pictures are great as always, keep them coming!!!!

Marcus

is the item in the picture a track-side lubricator to apply grease to the track / wheels?

Hi Jaz, The videos look really good. They make it much easier to get a perspective of the layout. I agree that the short videos allow individual areas to be focussed on. However, I am looking forward to the broad overview video to get an appreciation of the sheer size of AV and to see how it all fits together.

I have always had great service from Scograil., They sell a whole load of stuff at very reasonable prices. Their website does not do their stock justice. They used to have a tiny shop with everything stacked floor to ceiling with hardly any space to move but have since moved to bigger premises., 

Congratulations on 200 pages. I must say that since I have been watching AV I have seen some amazing modelling on a whole range of subjects. Looking forward to the next 200 pages. Did you get the Z21 from Scograil (my local model shop) by any chance? as I see they are selling them at that price.

That waterfall looks amazing Jaz.

Does AV have a model Easter Bunny or is it just home to hot cross bunnies?

Happy Easter 

Hornby embankment steps, I have two, and you don't want to know what price they go for second hand!!!

I have just seen a couple on ebay -  I nearly had a fit. £25 - £30  . They make dcc decoders appear cheap.

Jaz, those cliffs look so realistic, where did you get the stairs?