wamwig

Perfect!

What I use for setts in this sort of situation (and for stone sett roadways) is a wall covering that I take 'samples' of from my local DIY store (it begins with B and ends with Q), it is an 'embossed' brick pattern (about the size of a brick in OO) that I flattern slightly, a single line of these can be easily curved.

Ah well if it was me I would probably put one line along the yellow line to delineate the edge of the road and another on the blue line to delineate what would probably be the highway boundary, assuming there is a verge!

You could even disguise the join with a line of 'setts' which are often used in such situations to continue the drainage along the road channel, just a thought as an almost ex highway engineer!

And here is a profile along the roadway, obtained from free LIDAR data and produced using QGIS, including the driveway past Widford Lodge and showing the level of the River Ash. The profile shown follows the red line on the plan above and I have taken many sections through the area using QGIS to aid with building a fairly accurate ground model.

Here is a plan of the area I will be modelling, this is an extract of an 1898 1/2500 OS Plan reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland. Although it is 1898 not that much changed over the years to 1965 but I also have several other 1/2500 maps of the area, also courtesy of the NLS. The intention is to use the road bridge as a scenic break at one end (probably including Widford Lodge as the only non station related building) and the other would, as I said previously, disappear into the trees! Now to try and 'compress' this into the space available! Although it is a single track end to end there is scope for some interesting shunting in the siding and cattle dock.

Hi All Well the time has come and with retirement rapidly approaching at the end of the year (although if there is still work to do I may still do 1 or 2 days a week for a year or two) it is time to actually physically start my retirement project, which is to be a long wanted layout featuring Widford on the Buntingford Line, which is provisionally called "Ash Valley". I think Widford is probably the most picturesque station on the line and with the road bridge at one end there is an ideal scenic break, with the other end disappearing into the trees, oh the trees, there are so many of them and are what make Widford. I am an East Herts lad, born in Hertford and have lived most of my life in Ware, so Widford is very local to me. My first dilemma is whether to make the layout so it can be exhibited or should it be a layout that never leaves home? At the moment I am tending towards an exhibition layout, as my wife sees it as an opportunity to visit various parts of these isles (assuming we can one day again) but it also has to fit in the car! My initial thoughts are a 10-12ft scenic section (so possibly three 4ft x 2ft or 4ft x 2.5ft boards), thus giving a little compression, and with probably 4ft fiddle yards at each end. The time era is likely to be any time from the formation of BR to the end of the Line in 1965, thus allowing J15's, N7's and the Lea Valley DMU's, plus the odd Class 15/16 and many Wickham products on test. Sadly nothing remains of the station today, although there are many pictures and plans. I also have access to local LIDAR ground model data of the area, which will help when it comes to the vertical scenery! Once I have sorted the baseboard layout, hopefully by the end of the year, I shall post more. Anthony

Indeed and I frequently do, if you have a GIS system (QGIS is free) you can also download the (also free) LIDAR data and then draw sections through the site to create a quite accurate ground model, yes I know the station etc has all gone but everything around it is much the same, with as you say much taller trees (and more of them).

Looking forward to seeing Buntingford on the virtual show, hopefully it will spur me on to start my own representation of Widford, which I think is the most picturesque station on the line, but all those trees!

My wife was the same, she is amazed how detailed we can now get!

Yes if you are going to store magazines you really need the narrow Billy units, found that one out to my own cost, unless you just put them on the bottom shelf. However it does remind me I need to 'cull' some magazines myself!

It seems these Lindas often have good ideas re layouts and buying things, mine does as well.

He shouldn't have bothered!

They are good Stu I've seen the scans and I already have a good number lined up to order!

General opinion elsewhere is that the Scammells and the Case tractor are models that Thunder Models were working on a couple of years ago but then quietly dropped to concentrate on larger scales. Also IBG Models (A Polish company I think, who also make 1/72 scale Bedford QL's and CMP trucks) are understood to be producing a Scammell Recovery Vehicle and an Artillery Tractor variant (with a tank transporter to come later) in 1/72 scale, with the first two versions probably released in a couple of months.

If you want one that is suitable for a 1936 layout Richard you could try one of these, a Gaz AA (Hannants have several versions including the three axle AAA version available) https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MW7233?result-token=3kERY I know its 1/72 but it can easily pass off as a Ford AA (which of course is what it essentially is) just move the steering wheel over and hey presto! It is worth looking round the military vehicle kit manufacturers, especially those from eastern Europe, as they occasionally come up with a gem or two, there is also a 'German' Ford 917 available that I intend to finish as a Fordson as used by the LFB! They are of course 1/72 but I can ignore the small difference in size.

Superglue gel and normal from memory and yes it is but the end result is worth it with patience!

Callum Vallejo acrylic mud is pretty good for simulating mud I used it on my small WW1 dio and I can recommend WD Models for the pickets and barbed wire (best to 'rust' it before taking it off the etch though!). Anthony

Its all coming together and looking good, very interested in this one as my great uncle died at the CCS at Dernancourt in October 1916. If you can get them the recent Roden 1/72 B Type goes together well and the WD Figures fit well in it. The attached is a picture of mine that is part of a small diorama that won the category at the recent MBF national show. Most figures are by WD and some by Modelu and HaT with a solitary Bachmann one.

Also on the WD Models listings are some figures in overalls, useful for many situations!

Also WD Models do some resin cast 'Flimsies' in 4mm http://www.wdmodels.com/page9.htm Pack of 10 for £2.20

If you cant find them most (if not all) sets are also available via Amazon

I will try to speak to an admin for you to see if there is a problem.

This may help answer it http://www.gmhistory.chevytalk.org/OPEL_UK_IMPORTS_PRE-WW2_by_Daiv.html

Also a member of the MBF, actually the Mid Anglia area branch secretary, and I'll echo whats been said, Model Bus and Coach on FB is a good MBF presence, its open to all though, there is another FB group only open to members but model bus and coach on FB is a great place to start and who knows you might then want to become a member. At Mid Anglia we have a fairly active branch with around a dozen core members that attend monthly meetings, which can be all around the area (roughly 30 to 40 miles around Bedford) and which does offer that bit more than the (albeit very good) monthly magazine and forum (which can be quiet at times but has a lot of useful information on it). We also recently held our annual showcase event which was possibly the best attended ever, so although I'm a bit biased I can recommend MBF membership particularly if you then attend meetings where you can pick up and share ideas and get support.