DavidMcKenzie

Brilliant set of photos there. The top one is especially outstanding and really shows off your modeling skills. The water in the stream looks almost like it is in motion and actually flowing, I really like how you have captured that. The clouds in the backdrop also give a nice depth and background to the whole thing. All the best Dave

Totally agree with you Duncan, it's on the job list. I keep putting it off because I can't make my mind up how heavy to go with the weathering and I've had a bit of a play on the other side of the layout that is far from finished and much less disappointing if I make a mistake and have to rip it all up again. But I haven't been brave enough to get the countryside section done yet. A few options: More heavily weathered on the fast line heading down past the yard. Then different levels of weathering on the slow line out of the station and the yard. I am tending to think the second from the right is probably a good level of weathering to repeat on the open countryside section. But would value other people's inputs and opinions. I don't think there is a 'wrong' level of weathering because I am not modeling a specific spot during a specific time window, just looking to add as much as I can to the wcml feeling. Thanks for the constructive tips and comments, always good to have help and inputs along the way. All the best Dave

Northbound class 60 Northbound class 90 hauling some new VGA vans that need weathing over the winter. I only realized when uploading the photos that it was running with the pantograph down......

A fun running session last night, I think subconsciously I must have been in a mood for RFD. I realized when uploading the photos that I haven't photographed anything else despite almost all the stock getting a run at some point. 37 double heading a steel working and slowly trudging north being overtaken by a Euston to Glasgow service. The 37 still needs some attention around the buffer beam area. I like how 37s look with a snowplow, but I am not sure that would have been so common in summer on the south part of the WCML. Must investigate a bit further before this one gets some attention. A class 90 heading south. This photo highlights how high my backboards need to be. They are too short at the moment. Maybe I also need to learn photo shop to extend the sky, no idea how involved that is, but it might be the easier option. More to follow All the best Dave

Thanks for all the kind response it's a big help, I am not doing a specific location but despite my modelling skills letting me down on occasion I am still trying hard to make it as realistic as I can manage and it was one of the things I had no idea about at all. I was expecting something more complex than the wires simply stopping. I don't really know what I was expecting exactly to be honest but maybe some kind of system to stop an electric train getting into a muddle and being run onto a bit of track without OHL through incorrectly set points, drive error etc. The video above from spring Branch and an onboard video of the cab view from leaving bletchly look a lot less complex than I was imagining. Thanks again for all the info above. All the best Dave

Excuse the dumb question, but has 91119 stayed in Intercity livery since the BR day's? Or is it a special repaint? Either way I am sure there is an interesting story behind that which has totally passed me by. Great photo. Thanks for sharing. All the best Dave

Does anyone have a picture of how a section of track with overhead lines comes to be without the line? I was thinking about the bletchly branchline or Crewe to North Wales for example. At the link to the wcml at the station the branch is also running under the wires, but at some point the wires stop and I have never noticed exactly how this happens (or would have happened in the 90s if there is a difference). I am thinking about the branch coming out of the station and although I am only at the stage of finalizing and then testing the track before going further with scenic work, if there is a specific track layout when the wires stop it would be good to incorporate it at this stage. All the best Dave

a further difference is the NSE stripes above the coupler. Looks to be present on all the trains with the royal mail writing and not there on the trains without. Again as above, I can't claim to remember that this was the case for all units, just playing spot the difference on the above photos. All the best Dave

I am only playing a game of 'spot the difference' from the photos above, rather than actually remembering if this was the case for all units in the mid 90s, but to me it looks like the units that have the Royal Mail writing also have a branding (Great Eastern in the first of the above photos) on the opposing side of the other set of door to the Royal Mail writing. When the royal mail is gone so is the Great Eastern. The trains arriving at Euston also seem to have a branding if the royal mail writing is present (although I can't read it from the photos, I am pretty sure it won't say Great Eastern on the WCML units). This would tie in well to Karhedrons assumption that at a repaint both the royal mail writing and the branding disappeared, possibly in preparation for privatization. Great set of photos by the way, thanks for posting.

Who would make models eh? with all the limit of manufacturing tolerances, costs, reliability etc. Making anything in N must be a challenge. Poor manufactures are dammed if they do and dammed if they don't. A few years ago my only option for mk3 EMUs was to scratch build and I am just not good enough to do that. Now to have two options coming rtr in N is a very exciting prospect and although the model is by no means totally perfect (I haven't seen a perfect one from anybody yet), I for one am still very excited and think the painted final model will be a brilliant addition to my layout. All the best Dave

Couldn't make it to TINGS this weekend but very excited about both the models there so thanks a lot for sharing the pictures Tom. All the best Dave

Thanks Duncan. I have been waiting for the electronic version. Not always easy to keep in touch outside the UK. Would be much easier to just nip into the corner shop, but at least the internet has helped a little.

Brilliant modeling Duncan. Looks very life like and the photo has shown it off superbly. It'd be easy to forget you are modeling in N gauge.

Great to see some progress and for a 1st EP it looks like it'll be a good model. Does anyone know if they will include a detailing kit to model the coupler? It's one obvious thing that stands out and once a 4 or 8 car rake is set I don't think there will be the need to attach anything else to it.

http://www.revolutiontrains.com/news/ The photos of the model look absolutely stunning. Thanks to everyone involved for all the effort that's gone in so far to make this one happen. Can't wait for them to turn up in the post and give them a run on the layout. All the best Dave

Thanks for the offer, but I don't think a longer rake will work on the layout. I am even thinking about reducing it to 7 wagons to be sure not to have any issues on the tight curves.

Always allowed to be hyper critical. I consider myself very much a beginner. I have lots to learn and will make plenty of mistakes along the way. Comments like that are both interesting and helpful. I had never noticed or realized the livery difference. I got the first two wagons in the weathered state which are the ERMEWA wagons. Because it was a nice model I made up the rest of the rake with 6 (very shinny unweathered) NACCO/ECC wagons which one day I'll weather myself. When I give them a weather I'll go over the 2 ERMEWA ones and remove the branding. This is one of the 6 which I'm hoping I've got lucky with and is in the right livery for the time period Thanks for the tip. All the best Dave

Cracking set of videos there Simon. The VHS effect is brilliant isn't it and the videos looks just like the real thing. I like how even the date in the bottom left corner is fitting. All the best Dave

The forest right side of the forest got thickened out a bit and some colour verity added. By no means finished and I would like the trees to stretch right into the right hand corner with time. I'm trying to go for a believable backdrop without taking too much attention away from the trains on this section as it's a part of the railway where I enjoy just watching the trains go by. Before After A few photos of angles more appropriate to viewing trains. As always any tips or comments are welcome. All the best Dave

Great set of photos Duncan. The running day looks very enjoyable and nice to see a different set of stock running. It also highlights what a difference all of your work on the locos makes to add to the realistic feel of the layout. With your locos I've had a few moments where I've thought it's the real thing when I've taken a quicker first look at a photo, with the steam locos it was more clearly a model, but a lot of fun all the same I am sure. I would agree with you about the thinned white being too much for a lot of locos. I've used it with success on rfd grey locos where the background colour is light grey, but trying the same process on an old test wagon that had a green base colour looked entirely wrong. All the best Dave

Ah yeah, I see what you mean there Duncan. If you did an exact replica of that paintwork it would look unrealistic wouldn't it. Maybe you could use some artistic license to distress the paint work just a little and in a way that might be more believable on the layout. One hint you could take from the real thing is to not distress every area exactly the same amount. It's interesting how some area's are a lot more distressed than other's. A side thought looking at the photo. I am glad I am not trying to model light snow fall. Even if you were to scatter snow to look exactly as in the picture above it would look unrealistic wouldn't it.

For the tower, I am not even sure that I needs more weathering in the typical way of adding more colour or powders. Maybe more along the lines of the faiding that occurs over time from the sun. It was possibly you who taught me this, but when I've done a few locos I've been happy with the results of when I've added at some point in the process a very washed down coat of white (or thinners) to get rid of the idea that it's perfectly new paint model and just dirty. It could also be that the towers had a fresh coat of paint of course, but then maybe the weathings too much for a freshly painted tower. There are also different ways of making the paint look slightly chipped in places. I couldn't find a picture of the original tower at the time you are modeling for a reference. Another idea (non of which you need to do of course) is the slight watermarks and water staining that comes from lot's of winters in the rain and the water running down the metal structure. The example in this article is a model plane is too much and only to try to explain the rough idea (I am not a fan of things weathered to an inch of their lives) but if you could imagine something along the lines of how they have done the little the fluid streamlines coming from the motor and flip them through 90 deg so they are gravity acting on slightly grubby water rather than fluid being pulled along by the high airspeeds. http://www.finescale.com/how-to/articles/2012/04/easy-aircraft-weathering. I agree about the weeds needing to be suitable for the winter time, but a lot of weeds still exist. I was doing a bit of research into platforms today and found this example (from November 1999) there are still little bits of weed growing in the pavement joins. Another example from today's research into class 90s showed an example of how the weeds in foreground are not green, but mostly light yellow/brown. Anyway putting my suggestions aside, it's a brilliant bit of modeling you've done there and very motivating to see what is possible. I can only hope to reach the same level of skill over time. All the best Dave.

Hi Duncan, I am also finding it very hard to find anything I could add. I really appreciate all the time you've taken to send me a few tips. In an attempt to find something I can add I compared your pictures above to some 'real' pictures. (A tip I learnt from your help with one of my 86s). The bits I noticed: The brick work at the base of the tower looks too clean. The bricks would probably be slightly weathered and the grouting would probably have collected darker dirt and a few weeds. The hard standing in the foreground looks brilliant with the cracks and the weathering, but if it's old enough to crack I would be amazed to see not a single little weed, they seem to get everywhere. The water tower is an absolutely brilliant model. But it almost looks too perfect if that makes any sense. A light weathering and some bubbled paintwork would probably have creeped in over time. Possibly some light rust? I've noticed this kind of bubbling and ageing of paintwork done very well on airfix tanks, I am afraid I can't offer any first hand advice, just thing's I've noticed in 'how to' videos. I hope you realize I am only trying to help and your modeling skills are far far ahead of mine. I feel a bit out of place offering advice and I am just trying to help return a few favours for all the helpful comments you've given me. I agree that at time's some models (mine included) are not up to the amazing standards you've set here. But you must remember for some of us even getting a 'train set' to run is a big achievement. The main thing should always be enjoyment and trying to improve . Taking of enjoyment I've been patiently waiting for a few pictures of the A4 Pacific from one of your recent running day's. All the best Dave

Everything started out clean at one point in time . Great modeling. Is the building in the background a backscene photo or a 3d modelled building? Either way it makes a perfect backdrop. I just couldn't work it out from the photo and had to ask out of interest.

Looking good. Can't wait to see them once they are built up. Looks like a great model taking shape will be worth the wait.