marc smith

Hi there @SouthernBlue80s, I've not used microscope slides for this purpose myself. TBH - as someone who regularly uses them for their intended purpose - I wouldn't use them for puddles. They are rather thin and delicate. Of course, this is only a problem if you don't accidentally put any weight on them, or similar incident.... But they are also quite small, and not easy to cut and shape.... I've used clear plasticard for puddles, and I think it's quite effective. Simply paint one side dark brown or black, and flip it over, so the unpainted, shiny side is on the top The advantage over using glass microscope slides is that you can have larger puddles, and plastic card is easy to cut to nice irregular shapes As an example, here is a pic of my old scrapyard layout, where I used plastic card puddles They are slightly inset into the surface. I used photo mounting board as ground surface and cut away the top 1 or 2mm. The puddles were edged with DAS and then painted, weeds added etc Apologies if you've already seen this pic several times Looking forward to seeing this one progress mate

What, you mean - now that someone else is taking it on! ha ha

4 feet by 16 inches is plenty of space.... You might be at a push to get a station in there too. But keep looking at different designs, see what features tempt you most.... and try not to overdo it (more difficult than it might sound!) I once saw a feature on an EM Gauge minimum space layout which was in a very small space, and which included the "apparent" end of a platform Nicely modelled too. I'm pretty sure it was called "Villiers Street". Unusual, in that it was designed to be viewed end-on EDIT: Here you go - might be a bit longer than your current size available - but you might be able to adapt the design? http://www.emgauge70s.co.uk/layout_villier.html EDIT 2: I am now singing "Villiers Terrace" by Echo & The Bunnymen, to myself!

And gone... to a good local home Now, if only my "For Sale" ads were as productive!

Looking superb @Howl03 As others have said, you have improved on an excellent cake-box. Really like that Sepia photo above

Hi Daniel, Thanks for your very kind words - that means a lot I promise that one day, I will have time to do something again - I fully intend to get back into modelling, as I have so many ideas and design concepts I want to try out... Though apologies are in order, once again I've had no modelling time at all. Work, other stuff, life, and an unwell parent, together with playing music have all reduced my time available for modelling I was just thinking, I may even be tempted to move this uncompleted project on Free to a good home, to anyone who can collect....

Looking good @Howl03 I wouldn't worry too much about the very slight difference in colour of the warehouses. I realise I'm repeating my earlier comment here But also, seeing them alongside each other in the above photo, they look "at home" alongside each other anyway. That will be even more the case when the joins between the granite setts is gone, and when there are other foreground details distracting from any "joints" in the scene. I'm not quite sure why it is, but I never got Scalescenes kits to look that good. Perhaps I'm just too impatient, or am too much of a dyed-in-the-wool plastic-card modeller? Also, which Setts are you using, and how are you managing the cutting and placement of them between your curved rails?

This is a very interesting project Your cakebox diorama was lovely, I would usually say, leave the original as it was, and then start completely anew - to "preserve" the original concept. However, this already looks as though it's going to build on the original, and be even better... Re the difference in colours & tones of the two printed warehouse fronts - I wouldn't worry too much. By the time you have added some weathering, perhaps a little bit of ivy? etc I'm sure it will be fine Besides, when such buildings were first built, they were often extended in later years anyway Looking great so far

HI sb67, Yes, it's a really inspiring layout. In fact, it's one of a couple which led me down the path of minimum space / micro layouts And yes, I still have it. As @Barry Ten says, I acquired it in order to stop it going to the skip. It needs a new fiddle yard, but the layout is still in pretty good condition overall. Sadly, I just don't have time to do anything with it at present. I am glad I saved it though - as it's such a classic If anyone is interested in it, and promises to look after it / restore it (and doesn't expect it for free.... and for me to deliver it to them for free!) they are welcome to PM me Again, I would stress that it needs to go to a home where it will be looked after (the last owner was threatening to strip the station building and road overbridge from it) If only I had time to work on it, it would be up & running again... but time is not something I have much of, due to work / life / family / ill parents.... and of course, Rock & Roll Oi, Barry Ten... who are you calling "Smithy"?

Yes indeed. It's the old problem that "better" sleeper spacing and sleeper dimensions, make OO track look narrower gauge (which of course, it is, slightly) However, when you view OO track from the side (a more usual viewpoint) it's less obvious. Personally, I would be tempted to slightly reduce the size of sleepers - but that's just my opinion, of course Hope the new pickups work well on the Airfix 14xx. When converting my old one to EM gauge, I used a brass chasis kit (it was a "Rod Neep design" chassis kit, I think?). Let us know how it goes

Again, "No" has to be my answer. Actually, I was going to add pretty much what Stubby47 says above..... I've seen many over the years, and yet each one has had it's own "look" or sense of place etc In fact, there are adaptations you can make to the basic design anyway. If I were planning to build one - I'd probably be looking at doing some sort of modification to the basic plan Good luck with your build

Nice to see TInner's Forge being posted on here again Stu That building still looks fab, and the 25 really looks "at home" sat in front of it

If your traverser aligns well, and is really just suffering because of stiffness - you could try rubbing candle wax on the wood surfaces This can reduce friction and help free movement.... As solutions go, it's a nice simple one as well. Hope you can sort it

Thanks OOman - still looks a bit "scruffy" to my eye - but I'll do some more "softening" and blending of colours once I've started to decide which bits of track are to be overgrown, and to what extent... Yes, I've used felt pens before in modelling. I've also seen some nice work done by people who use chalk - especially for weathering. Must try using chalks more myself

Hi all. Not much to update you with, but I've done a bit of re-gauging a few OO wagons into EM. What with all my gig commitments, festivals, and the fine weather - it hasn't been ideal for modeling However, together with the work on some stock, I've done a bit of colouring of my sleepers As I've said, I'm going for the look of some aged, distressed sleepers, and various types, replacements etc After some over-zealous weathering, there wasn't enough contrast there. So I've been using felt pens and weathering powder I've yet to make some into "completely rotten" sleepers - a la "Shwt" (fab layout - look it up if you haven't seen it yet!) It's a great shame that this new N gauge ballast is more coarse than my usual (which turned up after I started ballasting! - typical) More colouring still to do - especially ground cover - then I'll finish my wiring and start on the copious amounts of weeds & grass among the rails..... EDIT: Sorry, the pic isn't great - I took it in a bit of a rush......

Here you go. I think the links to the full-size pics are no longer working, but you can get the idea from the smaller photos EDIT: Do a search on here for "Bracty Bridge" or "Roath Minor" - you'll see some photos of the layout The aerial view shows the tiny nature of the layout, with a class 37 in view. I used photographic view-blockers, to hide the fiddle areas At the right hand end, I usually employed a short cassette - but could run the layout without a fiddle at that end - so I had a plug-in mirror The mirror on the right end of the layout helps disguise the tiny nature of the scene.... 800mm? Sheesh! That's LOADS of space - I could get two layouts in there!

i've not seen an article about Brew St. Perhaps Chris mentions the dimensions on his site? You could always email him to ask. Perhaps an email? He's a very personable chap You may find that the fiddle at the right hand end of the layout is just a small plug-in "cassette" - perhaps with just enough space for a wagon or two? Actually, that's another strength of this sort of design - where space is really tight, such as at home on the dining room table, you can use shorter cassettes. But if you're ever exhibiting the layout, you can use alternative, longer cassettes - allowing you much more flexibility I used this technique with my layout in a Crate "Bracty Bridge". The scenic area of the layout is in a storage box / crate (around just 16" by 12" if my memory serves me) I could use it with just one small cassette at one end, or use it with two short, or one short and one longer cassette, depending on how much space I had The result was, that in Short Cassette mode, the layout could be just over 2 feet long. But with two cassettes, the layout became around 5 feet long. There's an old thread here on RMweb somewhere.....

Just want to re-iterate Joseph's point here - because it is an important question You say the baseboard will be 800mm long, but I think Joseph is suggesting that you could build a layout which is on one 800mm baseboard, but have an additional fiddle yard / fiddle-stick, as an "add-on" or "plug-in" section.... I'm sure Chris Nevard's "Brew St." which sb67 refers to, has a fiddle-stick type extension? This can be a really neat idea, for those who are really space-starved, as it can add huge operating potential. You can build the main / scenic section of the layout on your single 800mm board, with all your off-stage movements and train re-arranging on the additional add-on fiddle stick Of course, if 800mm is all you have available because you simply can't add any more boards - then this isn't an option for you But you do mention modular baseboards, so I was wondering whether you were thinking of adding further baseboards at a later date? Of course, a modular system is another approach to minimum space design. My problem was always getting two designs that worked well as standalone designs, but also worked well, and looked convincing as a pair, especially if each layout had only one entry / exit point.

Bob, I have to say, this layout is looking better & better all the time. The trees & greenery look superb, and have added colour and texture, and it's all looking so "natural" The 37 is nice & grimy too - just how I remember them Top work good sir

Me again - hope I'm not "hijacking" your thread! lol But here's a pic of Poynton Sneer, showing what I mean about the fiddle yard. The sector plate lies beyond the bridge (there's only enough room for an 08 and a long wagon, as the layout is only 4'11" incl fiddle, in O gauge!) The bare wood underneath the sliding sector plate is also a mix of ballast grey and light brown, the sector plate is ballasted for the first 3 or 4 inches, and there are weeds on the sector plate and weeds and hedges against the backscene. Also, underneath the bridge, I placed some rusty corrugated iron sheeting and some rusty wire fencing - to help narrow the field of view into the fiddle yard Hope this pic helps show this. Remember, it's even more of a problem in O gauge And I must admit, seeing your pointless micro is making me think about a really tiny pointless micro in O gauge EDIT: Like I've done with Poynton Sneer - I was thinking, you could run a pipe in front of your bridge, to your buildings - this would give you the excuse for some support pillars, which again help disguise the entrance to the fiddle yard. And I always think pipes and supporting girders look good in an industrial scene

This is looking great kevo. The colouring and tones of the buildings really do look nice & natural Re your bridge - I can't quite see enough of it to truly judge the colours - but it looks ok to me. Perhaps it just needs some subtle tonal variations and weathering? If you use acrylic paints, and do some very gently dry-brushing, you can slowly and subtly adjust the colour, and with acrylics, you can always remove them with some damp cloth or cotton buds - as long as you don't let the paint dry too much before attempting to remove the paint..... Also, once you start doing some smoke / soot stains above the rails, and start adding some weeds & ivy to the bridge - you'll be surprised at how much of a difference that makes Re your sector plate - I had exactly the same thing happen to some drawer runners I used on my O Gauge Micro "Poynton Sneer" - I cut them down to size.... and all the ball bearings fell out! lol So I got some more recycled old ones, cut them down, and carefully bent the ends of the metal inwards, so this wouldn't happen again Another thought here. I'm a fan of continuing your scenery under the bridge and onto your fiddle yard / sector plate So instead of bare wood, you have more ballast, weeds and scenery - so the eye isn't drawn to bare wood. It helps make the viewer feel that the layout extends beyond the bridge. You could even model a wall or embankment at the back of your sector plate. Had you had any thoughts on this? Cheers now

Looks like a great start - and I'm sure this one won't be a false-starter. The building looks great, and that overbridge looks like it will work well too Good luck with this micro. PS. Re your traverser - I notice the sliding sector plate projects beyond the edge of your baseboard... will the sector plate be removable, or will you extend the baseboard frame?

I was just wondering about progress on this little layout the other day.... And forgot to ask - so as others have said, that doesn't mean we're not interested Good to hear you've been busy with the baseboard. Keep us up to date Duncan

I haven't had a look on this thread for a while. It's looking really good Mike Excellent modeling and great progress