ianLMS

I would have 2 or 3 small windows, but would possibly tint them, fit bars on the inside, use blinds, and if you go away on holidays frequently, shutters on the outside. Adequate ventilation is another consideration, especially when you start to use glue and paint - definitely if an airbrush is being employed!! Either a good extraction system or opening windows, however opening windows create additional security concerns so an alarm would be another must. Adequate LED lighting would help if its too dark. The daylight downlighters I just fitted in my kitchen for £5 each off Ebay are excellent, very bright, super-slim (12mm deep) and very easy to fit if you have a false ceiling which would also help with insulatation. You can position them above your workbench and layout for little cost and they use hardly any energy, or put out heat. Insurance companies will provide cover for outbuildings, but they will want to know it has adequate security to protect the contents - ie suitable locks on doors and windows. I would also fit a hard wired smoke alarm and have a fire extinguisher near the entrance. How is the room going to be heated? I assume those new super efficient electric heaters which you could set on tickover when u aren't in the room? large temperature fluctuations probably don't help the layout either so keeping it stable might help as well. You are giving me lots to think about for a similar idea I have in my garden and I do like the look of the building you have selected. I too ruled out the loft even though I would have around 25 x 20 usable feet due to the complexity of the work needed and cost. However, I might be able to have a 30 x 8 ft building in the back garden if I can convince SWMBO'd the benefit it would have!! Ian

Agree - My layout is in the spare bedroom - last summer I accidentally left the blind open (on the one and only hot day of the year) and the heat from the sun lifted my track 3 inches into the air and distorted it so badly I had to replace the whole section. It was just one uPVC window. If I had several windows, I would have had to have thrown the lot in the bin. Having said that, I an seriously interested in the outbuilding prospect. Ian

Cheers Andy. I will gove that a try and see how it looks.

Here is a little update on my efforts, also covered on the "other" model railway forum "Your Model Railway Club". I purchased Bachmann, Alan Gibson, MJT and Lanarkshire Models Sprung buffers and I have to say that my preference is for the MJT. Here is a quick review: MJT LMS sprung Buffers: White metal, fully pre-drilled (just needed a little opening out for the buffer to fully sit in), and easy to assemble/fit. Black buffer heads, tiny spring (impossible to find on the floor). Rivet detail on buffer body mounting plate. Bachmann Sprung Buffers: Black metal, pre-assembled, super easy to fit but the buffer head shank was too thick (might work for loco's though), no buffer body mounting plate (made one from brass) Alan Gibson Early LMS sprung buffers: Brass bodies, stainless heads, tiny spring - fiddly to put the round busher in the back, but nicely finished. No detail on buffer body base. Lanarkshire models LMS buffers (pre-drilled): White metal, stainless heads, tiny spring. Good detail on body mounting plate, but pre-drilled sprung buffers still needed drilling out to accept the buffer head shank. If you don't get this straight, it causes alignment issues and stops the head from moving in and out nicely. Very nice un-sprung ones though. As for glazing, I have both SE Finecast and Shawplan Laserglaze. SE Finecast are much simpler to fit but are only marginally better than the original glazing. Shawplan Laserglaze however is a bit more fiddly to fit, but looks much nicer. I have also tried different versions of home-made couplings and am very grateful to all for advice and options. I am now leaning towards screw link couplings, and vacuum/steam hoses connected via 1mm elastic cord. - Screw link coupling between Bachmann Brake Third and the Railroad Patriot tender. Vacuum hose connected via 0.7mm cord, pushed though a small hole in the coach buffer beam. Coach has Shawplan glazing and Alan Gibson buffers. - Screw link coupling between Bachmann Brake Third and Airfix non-corridor composite. Airfix coach has SE Finecast glazing and Alan Gibson buffers and has been polished with MER. - screw link coupling between Airfix and Bachmann composite corridor. Glazing is original, buffers are MJT. Hose connected via 0.7mm cord. - side view showing Shawplan flush glazing but ruined due to my poor glueing skills (used Crystal Klear) - side veiw of Airfix coach showing SE Finecast glazing. A question I asked on the other forum is about steam pipes. Were the connected in the summer months, or un-coupled/removed during the summer? Thank you Ian

I ordered a set of these 24 Jan and they turned up yesterday - not too bad i suppose since they were on a slow boat from China! seems very good quality although the very fine tips on one pair don't exactly line up (quick twist with the pliers will sort that out though). Thank you for the great bargain idea! Ian

If its a stanley, i turn it around and blunt the other end! when that's blunt, I use it to scrape my spare wall tile & granite slab which i use to solder on, glue things and make sure wagons etc sit level. Then it ends up in a tub with 500 other blunt blades. I will seal it up when its full and dispose of it responsibly. Not sure if there is much scrap value in stanley blades!!! If its a scalpel, i suppose it would make a good box opener! Ian

My first attempts were pretty awful, so don't worry about that - if you look at the start of my layout thread you will see how bad I really was!! Pictures provoke a much better and faster response when looking for help, hints or tips. I have learnt so much from modellers on RMWeb its unbelievable. It's a very friendly Model Railway Club with 30,000 members and each of them experts in their own right and all just a click away. Use the search facility (not as good since it changed recently) to seek out lots of good info, layouts, topics and answers - most of the questions you will ask will have probably already been posted and will have many responses. The search engine just helps everyone from going back over the same topics several times. I use it before I am about to embark on spending hard earned cash or energy because there are so many personal reviews of products its well worth doing. For instance, I had made a rash purchase of some flush glazing for some coaches. I later searched them on RMWeb and found out that the glazing yellows and there is a much better product out there which I should have purchased! There will be many varied opinions (some express theirs stronger than others), loads of different ways of doing things, hundreds of product reviews and links each preferred by people from all over the world so pick and choose what suits you and what you want to/can achieve (and afford). Its your model, and how you do it is entirely up to you and you don't have to follow what everyone does, just because they say so. Don't be ashamed of first attempts - we have all been there, and there are hundreds in a similar situation. Enjoy, and look forward to seeing your modelling!! Ian

Welcome to the club Norski. I have built several Scalescenes kits and will try to help where possible. 1) How many blades would you typically go through on a small card model - mine were blunting fairly quick? (scalpel type but quite old kit) - I use a stanley knife and buy a box of 100 blades from Ebay - a typical kit would see me through 4-5 blades. 2) I struggled to cut 2mm card without damaging the print surface or losing a straight line despite having a steel straight edge? - Try gentle passes, and lots of them - I use a new blade when I move from base layers to the printed sheets. Keeps it nice and clean. Also turn the printed sheet so you always cut from the white space and you can clearly see the edge of the printed surface. This helps with keeping the blade at the right angle and keeping control of the knife/rule. 3) Does cutting through 2mm card take multiple strokes as opposed one slash no matter how sharp your blade? - With a fresh blade, I would do at least 4 passes through 2mm card. 4) I used UHU all purpose glue, the best option or is there something more suitable? - Pritt Stick to laminate sheets to the card with a roller to squeeze out the excess, I use Evo-Stick Impact adhesive to glue card together, but UHU is similar. I have heard Rocket Card Glue is good, just not tried it. 5) I struggled with squareness of the final building (its not bad but it seems something stupid to mess up) - any tips? - Buy some small metal squares from Expotools, or if you are feeling extravagant, buy the York Magnetic Squares (I have them and they are great!) - https://www.yorkmodelrail.com/useful-bits/yorks-magnetic-mates-large-square-pack-of-2. I have also heard of magnets glued inside lego blocks which might work too! This could also be down to the fact that some of the base/top layers were not cut exactly on the line. Several of my attempts ended up not being perfectly square and it was down to points of a millimetre out on the cutting of the card and/or slightly angled cuts due to the shape of the blade or forced cutting. This is easily rectified with a little trimming to square things up. Do a dry run before glueing might also help spot walls for squareness issues. Other tips - 1. Use styrene rod for guttering/downpipes, 2. Fit LED lighting and printed/modelled interior (Severn Models have very nice etched interior kits) 3. Think how you intend to bed the model into the baseboard - some leave a 25mm-50mm showing at the bottom of the model to drop it into a pre-cut slot in the baseboard. However, I use No More Nails to stick mine down and fill the slight gap around the bottom. 4. Detailing - There is a 3D shop on Shapeways that sell chimney pots already set in 4's/6's to stick straight onto scelescenes kits (https://www.shapeways.com/marketplace/?tag=chimney), and Brassmasters do exact brass etched windows for the kits as well (www.brassmasters.co.uk/etched_windows_prices_specs_4mm.htm). I print my own windows on translucent projector film to give black window frames. I used rizzla/swan ciggie papers for net curtains, coloured paper for other curtains. 5. Roof tiles - I wasn't happy with the strips of roof tiles so now use roof tiles from York Modelmaking - a bit pricey, but look better. Another option is to cut out individual tiles. 6. Weathering - I use very light applications of weathering powders to break up the appearance. See my link at the bottom to see a few I have made - 75% ratio church, farm and barn (forced perspective as these are at the back of the layout), 90% ratio garage (mid-way on layout), 100% ratio cottages, terraced houses, corner shops (front of layout). I had a medium station but replaced it with a scratchbuilt one. Enjoy and would be great to see your models when you are ready! Ian

I know you have said you aren't confident with your scratchbuilding, but have you thought about downloadable kits? These are half-way between kit-bashing and scratchbuilding. They are printed sheets, stuck to sheets of card (very durable - I bet there are hundreds of layouts 30+ years old with card as the main medium for buildings still going strong) not too difficult to make and very cost effective. They have a full range of townscapes and are easily modified with several options for appearance to chose from. I have used several of these kits and it helped me a lot with developing my scratchbuilding skills. Try here; https://scalescenes.com/townscenes/ Much cheaper than the kits and all you need is 1mm and 2mm card, very sharp knife, stick glue, UHO/Evo-stick and access to a printer. You can reduce the print ratio if needed to give forced perspective (i have used 90% and 75% for buildings further back and 100% for near ones)- not something you can do with a plastic kit. Interior details also available and you can weather the buildings when finished with powders etc. You can additional detail such as plastic guttering, chimney pots, etched windows etc to enhance the model as well. Failing that, some of the resin and/or laser cut kits are very nice too. Lcut Creative, KS Models etc do nice laser kit stuff, Townstreet or Skytrex are good for resin, Ian EDIT: Just realised original post was over 5 years ago!!! Bit late to offer alternative solutions so ignore lol!!!!

Another vote for the z21 and Multimaus --- Try www.scograil.co.uk for the z21 White, with Multimaus handset (lovely handset, including knob) for £109.95, add a Wi-fi router for £34.95 (optional if you want to control via tablet/phone) and hey presto, you have a fully fledged DCC system ready to go for under £150 brand new. I use the multimaus to operate the loco's and my Samsung android tablet for my accessories & points as it has a layout diagram like a schematic.

Do you want water-slide transfers? If so, and have an inkjet printer, print your own - use white decal paper from Amazon, not clear! put the letters/numbers against a dark background that matches where you want to apply them and cut them out. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Inkjet-Waterslide-Decal-Paper-Sheets/dp/B006DH7FDY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1517242937&sr=8-2&keywords=water+slide+paper+white Transfers on attached picture were printed on the paper in the link via my inkjet printer and cut out. Cutting individual letters might not be so easy mind so you may want to buy them ready made. Ian

Wow - Thank you - that was a very comprehensive response and very much appreciated. I am currently experimenting with couplings and have a rake of Airfix coaches coupled using brass wire - however, they are all the same coach type ending with a brake - after your detailed response, I will re-think that and mix the coaches up a little. I am now on version 3 and am currently using screw link couplings, fitting sprung buffers and replicating hoses on some Bachmann and Airfix coaches. Adding people as I go. Next job will be weathering and seeing what other simple modifications can be done to help the appearance. Due to the size of the layout, I cannot go more than 5 coaches so will be limited to branch type running rather than full mainline expresses. I also have 9 brand new Hornby ones which I will leave alone for now and use them as they are. I also have two 50' parcels and a 12-wheel restaurant car.

Do you happen to know if the LMS did this as well? Great simple coupling by the way - i am doing something similar to my rolling stock. First attempt was on my Airfix coaches, using 0.8mm wire fixed at the old coupling anchor points on the bogies. the bent wire under the corridor connection (folded black paper) was bent to represent the hoses. My second attempt on my Bachmann coaches is using the screw couplings, but by adding a tiny loop one end I can extend it to attached the other coach. I will use black 7/0.2 wire for the hoses. I cannot close up the gap completely due to my tightish curve going into the fiddle yard, but I can reduce the huge gap caused by the "toy" couplings. Using sprung buffers is also helping.

Try the attachment - don't know who came up with it so can't give them credit but I find it very useful. Ian structure clearances table.pdf

They look nice, similar heads to the Gibson ones. Body looks different to the protoype picture i have seen, but as the coaches have that many other compromises, i don't think it will be an issue. Cost is quite good as well. Just ordered a few to compare.

I will order a set and see what they look like and how easy they are to work with compared to the Gibson and Markits ones. 4 for £4.75 plus the heads & springs might work out cost prohibitive, whereas £2.50 for 4 and cut the heads off and drill it myself might be ok. I am not upgrading the coaches significantly so don't need to go all out, just make them a little bit better!

Thanks John - I have a few of the brand new Hornby coaches with sprung buffers but I intend to run them as they are for now. I have used the Gibson sprung loco buffers, so might give the one for coaches a go. I am sure they will look fairly similar to the LMS standard buffer. 16" head I assume is the right size.

And a few more. Reminds me that I need to upgrade the loco a bit more, weather it and the coaches, add some people and replace the missing hillside!

Here are some more general pics of the layout, plus the Patriot running with the Airfix coaches in a semi-fixed rake.

Tried to get the coaches closer, but had a couple of derailments to put them back to the first setting. I did however modify my first attempts to match the final version which lifts the connector up and out of the way. No further derailments or issues so am happy with the result. I need to replace a couple of buffers and was hoping to find suitable LMS coach sprung buffers but am having difficulty matching the prototype with whats on offer. I have looked at Markits (not sprung), Gibson (no pic), Slaters (not LMS), Brassmasters (no pic) and Lanarkshire Models (not sprung) but struggling to get the right one. Any ideas if any of the above are a good enough match? If they are sprung, it might help with closing the gap a little more. http://www.lanarkshiremodels.com/lanarkshiremodelsandsupplieswebsite_099.htm I could get the Lanarkshire models buffers or Markits and drill them out to fit the spring. Just not sure if the gain is worth the effort. Thanks Ian

were they any good?

I will try a bit more experimenting to see just how close I can get the buffers before catastrophe happens. The wire is solid, but there is a tiny bit of play where the loop sits on the lug under the bogie and a little where the two sets of coaches attach. If the domestic authority allows me time tonight, i will see what I can come up with. If not, may have to wait until the weekend.

Hope they have what you are looking for. Posts are pre-drilled so much easier to thread the wire through. They also supply the wire but it was a bit too thick for my liking. Failing that, matchsticks and thin strips of plasticard would work for post n rail. Ian

I do like to see close coupled coaches. Unfortunately, some of my curves are a little tighter than I wanted so if i get too close, they just lock up. Its early days in my coach improvement project, so a long way to go and lots more to be achieved. I also have wagons and the loco's to do so I need to pace myself, take it slowly and make small improvements which make a difference.

Thank you Andy - I had looked at those a long time ago but forget where I had seen them. I wasn't sure how they fixed plus the cost of them overall but they do give me something to think about! Much appreciated. ian