-missy-

Hi Pete I do love the way it all slots together. Everything you do is so neat, its fantastic. Missy

Hi Guys Thank you for the useful advice. As Chris said I am a bit of a perfectionist and at the moment the only way I will be happy is if I strip it off and start again, painful I know but it will be worth it. I just thought it was worthwhile posting something about it so hopefully people will remember it in the future and not make the same mistake. Missy

Hey Bryn Dont worry about not entering the layout into the challenge, I know that oneday it will turn up at exhibitions. Take your time, there is no hurry, you have started something which is alot more than most people and I am sure you will be back modelling again soon. Are you comming to the Expo yourself? Missy

Hello I think I have quite a big problem with the layout now. I was expecting the ballast on the second baseboard to lighten when the glue dried but have realised that its not actually going to change colour at all!! As you can see there is quite a difference in colour between the two baseboards and to say its a bit annoying is an understatement! but I know that it cannot go right all of the time. It now looks like I will have to chip all the ballast off and redo it as I cannot really do much with that (BTW the top one is correct!) I have learnt another lesson though... Even if ballast is labelled the same it doesnt mean it is the same! Luckily I have enough of the original ballast left... Missy

Hi Mikkel I think it would be worth the little bit of extra effort (but I would say that I guess!) You cannot do any worse than buying a pack of those battery tealights and start experimenting. Missy

Hello Thank you, that backdrop was painted by a guy from the High Wycombe model railway group. I believe he uses pretty much whatever he can get his hands on like acrylics, poster paints, and emulsions. I am still amazed on how brilliant it looks. Missy

Hi Rich These are really interesting to me as I have one of these kits to build at some point. To be honest I have kinda been putting off building it as it looked a little complicated. How would you rate this kit out of 10 on ease of building? How do they compare to something like a chassis etch to build? Thanks Missy

Hello Mikkel That looks really really really good, I love it! I didnt know that scribed balsa existed so I am going to look out for that, it looks a very useful material (although I will have to think of a use for it now!) That roof is a work of art! I hope you are fitting appropriate working lights to it too? Missy

I know exactly what you mean there. I do my spraying in my kitchen using a box with a bathroom extractor fan bolted to the bottom of it and a pipe hanging out the window. I spray enamels without any problems (although I dont have anyone to object!) Missy

Hello Trevor Its nice to see some progress, please keep the posts comming. I like the buildings, they all look nice and square and well put together. I do have a question on the provender shed though, what shape are the plinths its sitting on? It just looks a bit weird from that photo. Missy

Hello That does look very impressive. It all looks so neat and tidy, you can tell you are taking your time over this to get it right. I am looking forward to seeing this in MRJ too. Missy

Hello Alan Those look neat and tidy. Great work. Missy P.S. Have you got yourself an airbrush yet?

Hello Jim I sleep loads! Trust me here, I am not the fastest of modellers by a long long way. You have to bear in mind its taken me about 4 years or so to get this far. Missy

Hello Thanks once again for the comments, they are all appreciated. Hello Alan As Horsetan mentioned it is the 2mm Association kit. I built it a while ago but sadly it is now a bit tatty around the edges as it has suffered from me experimenting with DCC controlled couplings on it. I will post a picture of it next time if you like? Hello Scott I used the ballast from a company called GEOSCENICS and sifted it through a small sieve before sticking it down in the tried and tested method of diluted PVA with a hint of washing up liquid. The good thing about thier stuff is its natural stone, not nut shells or similar. Missy

Me again I have a few more photos that I thought I would add to my blog. I have now painted all the track on the board I have been working on recently, added some static grass, plus ballasted the track (the ballast was still wet when I took the photos. Oh, and I have made a start on the first of many, many trees! Missy

Thank you John and Geoff Geoff. I have the bits to do a collet engine and as they were the most common engines on the railway then no doubt one or two will come along soon. There is an etched chassis comming out soon for them (if I can get round to sorting out some dimensions) which will make things alot easier. Missy

Hello Again I thought I would put together another post to show what I have been upto... Inspired by another thread I had a go at making a 2mm scale padlock. According to the size of it, it works out at around 3 inches square. Here it is fitted to my new little hut I made. From that photo it looks a little too big for a padlock. That photo shows the laser engraved brickwork quite well. The building still needs weathering but I will do that when I next am using the airbrush. I have also had some time off from bits under the baseboards and moved onto a little bit of scenic stuff. This board was looking a little bare compared to the board with the bridge on so I have done some fencing, added a few bushes, and also made a start on the grass by sticking down some Woodland scenics blended turf. Once this is all dry then I can have a go with some more static grass. So there you have it. A bit of progress... Missy

Hello That looks like a nice little kit and its definately put together well. Normally I am not a fan of whitemetal but that looks good. Missy

Good point there Don! Im sure next time I could make a better job of it though. As with everybody else its a big learning curve and as always the next time you do something its usually better. Missy

Hello Rich You are right, that is a mess The thing is, is it possible to model and NOT make a mess? Its nice to see it comming together, I bet you cant wait to see something working though? Missy

Hello David Good point and well made. One of the intentions is to operate the layout in the dark hence all the little bits on illumination dotted around the layout, wether it works or not is another matter but it was worth a try. As for the playing trains testing the layout bit to be honest it doesnt really interest me that much, I guess thats why its taken this long to get anything working. For me the real fun is in the building, its going to be interesting at shows for sure. I wouldnt be that bothered if the layout is scrapped after its finished as it would mean I could start building something fresh. The only reason why I can see not to is its something to test my engines and rolling stock on. Missy

Hello Don Thank you for the vote of confidence, its much appreciated. I am pretty sure people at the show will realise that it will be unfinished although I am trying my best to get it together into some kind of condition where hopefully it will attract a bit of attention. As for mirrors well, people are more than welcome to look underneath but I am not planning on advertising anything there! Missy

Hello Thank you all, Im glad you like the control panel. I just wanted to try out something different to see if it worked, no doubt it will come back and bite me in the rear sometime! FYI I got the idea for it from those illuminated emergency exit signs. Hello Tom No, it doesnt go 'beep', lights is enough I think Missy

Hello Jon I am following this with interest. The most recent photos all look a bit fimilar to me as I have just been doing exactly the same thing on my layout although for point control right now, the signals will come soon. The MERG servo stuff is very useful and so adjustable, I dont know about you but I am very happy with the results. Missy

Hello Thanks guys. There are a few tweaks still to do on that board until I am happy but the worst of it is out of the way now. The second board 'should' work fine as there is nothing complicated on it, al of the connections and control is on this board. Missy