JSModels

I used a 2-colour LED strip for mine - it has alternate warm white and cool white LEDs on separate circuits. They're connected to a controller that can vary them individually, but I tend to just have both on all the time, which gives a nice daylight effect. One thing I would say though, and this is contrary to some of what has been said above, but paying more from a UK supplier isn't always worth it. I've had very good quality strips from eBay direct from China, and I've had (for work) very expensive strips (like £20+ per metre) from a reputable lighting company that have been littered with failed chips. I think an awful lot of it is just luck of the draw.

Which was very inconsiderate of them, since I had planned to visit whilst I was on holiday down there in August! 

Looks great, Karl! Thanks for posting. Jonathan JSModels

PM sent. Jonathan JSModels

@SteveyDee68, Wow, that's quite a list Seriously though, there's a lot of good ideas there! Just to pick out a few of your comments: Lock kit - It's modelled on one of the locks on the Rochdale Canal, so I'm glad to read it reminds you of Littleborough since all the locks on that canal are pretty much identical. I've still got quite a lot of work to do on that before it's ready for release, but hopefully it'll be out before the end of the year. A fully 'modular' system, whereby a modeller could build it to any height and width, is quite tricky to do; you end up with small sections and a lot of joints to hide, whereas one of the advantages of laser-cutting is that you can have large, single-piece facades. I do have an idea for a 'semi-modular' system of buildings, where each section would be available in a number of different heights/widths, and the different sections (end, mid, tower, corner, etc) could be put together in various configurations. Again, these would be low-relief rather than full buildings. My existing buildings can be modified fairly easily, for example I've already produced 2 and 3-storey versions of the full warehouse kit as specials for a couple of customers, and I've done bespoke widths as well. Re the wagon turntable, it's something that I've started already (see this post in @SHMD's thread) but it's been on the back-burner for a while whilst I work on other things. Maybe one day it'll get the attention it deserves! I've been following the dockside crane thread, but a crane isn't something I've even considered; I would have thought it'd be more suited to brass etches rather than laser cutting, but if there's a prototype out there that would work, I'd probably give it a go . A grain silo is something else that I have never considered, probably because we don't have them in't Pennines where I grew up, so I'm not even remotely familiar with them. I've got enough stuff on the go now to see me through the next few months at least! Jonathan JSModels

This week sees the 6-month anniversary of JSModels, and I wanted to celebrate the occasion. So effective immediately and until next Sunday (11th October) you can get 10% off ALL products on my website when you spend £25.00 or more! Use discount code RMDISC10 at checkout to get your 10% discount. Not only that, but spend over £50.00 and not only will you get 10% discount, UK customers will also get FREE DELIVERY!!! For that, the discount code is RM10SHIP. For anyone overseas who would like to take advantage of the above offers, please e-mail me (sales@jsmodels.co.uk) and I'll process your order offline, with the 10% discount (and discounted shipping if over £50.00). Thanks to everyone who has supported me in this venture thus far!!! Regards, Jonathan JSModels

Thanks, yes distillery buildings would be good, I've also been asked in the past for colliery buildings too. The initial step with both of those is finding a suitable prototype to work from, which I haven't yet had time to research. A large goods shed is a definite possibility. The old Midland Railway Grain & Goods Warehouse at Bingley is just a couple of miles away from me... That's why I started with low relief structures, because I wanted them for a micro-layout. Shops & houses could be something I might look at in the future though. Mike, I've not heard of DPM, I'll have to have a look at those. Terraces on steep hills are pretty common around here, too! As I mentioned above, shops & houses might come in the future. I think the common link in most of the responses though is pretty much 'more of the same', so I'll probably stick with the industrial buildings at least in the short term. Thanks to everyone that's taken the time to reply, it really does help to point me in the right direction. Jonathan JSModels

Kev, Thanks for taking the time to offer your thoughts on this. My machine isn't particularly large, but I can cut up to 900 x 600mm. Retaining walls: I have looked at these before, and even designed a kit system for it, ready to go: The above was for an 80mm (20' in OO) change in height, and included level sections as well as a 4% incline set to go from zero to 80mm in height. Eventually I decided not to take it past the prototype stage, for a number of reasons: Firstly, 4% is quite steep an incline, but even so it takes a full 2m run to reach 80mm high. Not many people have a layout large enough to accommodate a 2m straight run. Which brings me on the the second point - retaining walls are angled backwards, and prototypically lean back at a 1 in 10 angle; if you replicate this, then you cannot simply curve them. It would be theoretically possible to produce a curved section, but it would need to be a fixed radius (and would be very complicated to design and assemble). So what radius do you choose? Either you choose just one, which would be wrong for the majority of people, or you offer a range of radii, which would be impractical and not commercially viable. There's a reason no other manufacturer produces curved retaining walls! Which brings me onto the third reason I decided to stop development of this - there are a number of similar products already on the market. When I started JSModels, I set out to make kits that weren't available elsewhere (the world really doesn't need any more generic OO gauge signal box kits!) and straight retaining walls aren't terribly unique. Similar arguments could be made with regard to platforms; straight ones are already available elsewhere. Curved ones could be made, but again, what radius? There's no point making them to 1st, 2nd, 3rd radius, etc, as they're already available; larger, more flowing radii aren't available, but every one would need to be different, so you couldn't standardise it. There's no way you could possibly make a platform that was 'flexible' in the same way as a piece of flexitrack. A laser-cutter is an ideal way to make a nice, even, flowing curved platform surface, but it's only really practical on a bespoke basis. Thanks Hugh, Yes, that would be easily do-able (but I need to get the first one finished & ready to go first!) I can't remember the make, but I'm sure a OO kit of a narrow lock is already available though? Jonathan JSModels

PM sent. Jonathan JSModels

I've just asked this question over on my facebook page - what new kits would you like to see from JSModels? JSModels is now approaching 6 months old, and I already have 20+ products available, but the big question is... what's next? I already have a few products I'm working on behind the scenes, but there's always room for more! If you have an idea for a product, I'd love to hear it! It could be a completely new building that you think would make a great model, or it could be an existing model in a different scale. Or maybe something else entirely. I've been asked for my buildings in different scales (mostly N gauge and O gauge) and that's something I could do, but what to start with? Re-drawing the entire range in another scale is a mammoth task, so if there's a specific kit you'd like me to start with, let me know. I can't promise that what you want will definitely be do-able, but if you don't ask... Hit me with your requests - either on the Facebook page, here, or by PM. Jonathan JSModels

Simon, Try @Knuckles, Sparkshot Custom Creations. sparkshot082@gmail.com

The full warehouse kit, JSM93, is now in stock and available to order on my website. Jonathan JSModels

Duplicated post, please ignore!

Since it seems to be a day of announcements for me today, here's a third one! JSM09 - Small Stone Warehouse: This small warehouse was initially designed as a commission, but is now available for general sale. It features thicker outer walls than my other kits, and has a more random stone pattern, typical of older canalside mills/warehouses built in the early 18th century. Smaller than most of my kits, this kit measures approximately 210mm wide, 50mm deep, and 175mm high (8 1/4" wide, 2" deep, and 7" high). This kit is in stock & available on the website NOW, priced at £25.00 plus postage. Jonathan JSModels

A few weeks ago, I posted on here, and on Facebook, a picture of a half-scale (1:2) LMS signal arm that I'd been asked to make for a client: I'm pleased to announce that this, along with a WR version, will shortly be available as standard items from my website! There are 4 in the range; LMS Home/Starter (JSM81), LMS Distant (JSM82), WR Home/Starter (JSM83), and WR Distant (JSM84): Despite being half-scale, they're still quite large; the LMS ones are 785mm long, and the WR versions 765mm. Here's a painted one, with a 12"/300mm steel rule for scale in the second image: Each kit is laser-cut from 6mm and 3mm MDF, with tinted acrylic lenses (red & green for home, yellow & green for distant) and assembly/painting instructions. JSM81 Contents: JSM83 Contents: The kits are priced at £22.00 each, and will be in stock and up on my website in a few days. Jonathan JSModels

Ever since the 'Waterside' range of low-relief kits was released, I've been asked for a full building version, so here it is! A combination of 4 of the 5 existing kits, with new floor and roof pieces, the kit can be assembled in 2 different ways with the end loading doors on the left or right hand end of the building. Comprising 6x A3 sprues of 2mm MDF, 3mm MDF details, 4x A4 sheets of roofing slates, plus glazing material and full build instructions, this is quite a sizeable kit! The finished building is 290mm wide, 165mm deep, and 245mm high (not including the loading hoods/covers). JSM93 'Canal Warehouse Full Building' will be available shortly on the website, at a cost of £79.00 (a saving of £25.00 over buying the 4 low-relief kits individually). Jonathan JSModels

I was wondering the same, though the wagon in the top right would date the photo well after broad gauge, I would have thought?

At the time of writing this, all products on the website are in stock, and ready to ship. Please note however that I will be on holiday for a week, as of this Saturday (22nd August). Any orders received prior to 5pm tomorrow will be despatched before I go; after this time, orders will not be shipped until Tuesday 1st September. Jonathan JSModels

Seriously impressed, Kev! Very nice indeed. Jonathan

Something a little different tonight - this was one of those 'do you think you could possibly do...' requests! An LMS upper quadrant home signal arm, half-scale (even at 50% it's still quite big, at around 800mm long!): This is a combination of 6mm and 3mm MDF, with 3mm acrylic lenses, and will be painted & hanging on a railway-room wall soon! Jonathan JSModels

Revised lock gates, and handrails on the bridge: These are a sandwich of 2mm and 1mm MDF, so they can effectively have engraved detail on both sides: Bridge handrails from 1mm MDF: A long way to go on this project yet though! Jonathan JSModels

Just a few days after the loan machine was installed, the laser cutter I had on order finally turned up! Since then I've been working pretty much non-stop, cutting all the kits that people have ordered over the last few weeks, and I've now finally caught up with the backorders! I've now moved on to making kits for stock on the website, but just before that I cut some pieces for the prototype for a new kit that I've been working on in the background for a few weeks now: The above are 2mm, with 6mm for the top surfaces. I've also since cut some bits in 1mm MDF too. I wanted to do a kit of a canal lock, so a couple of months ago I went out with a notepad & tape measure, and surveyed Shop Lock, which is lock 18 of the Rochdale Canal, in my hometown of Todmorden. Here's the result. This new kit, with some minor changes (listed below) will be available later in the year, but I couldn't resist sharing some images in the meantime. It's a big beast, at 570mm long, but it's accurate to scale & not compressed. The Rochdale Canal was quite unusual when it was built, in that all it's locks have the same size/design of chamber, and all have exactly the same drop of 10 feet (40mm in the model). The kit is designed to have 2-3mm of resin form the water, which will bring the water level up to the correct level. The bottom gates can be modelled open or closed, and the steps at the bottom end can be placed at either side. The lock gates shown above were the first attempt, and I've already redesigned them. I've also done some handrails for the footbridge over the bottom end. I was initially thinking of 3D printing the gates, footbridge, and the sluice gate mechanisms (which go it the 'T' shaped recesses next to the pockets for the top gates) but I think they're going to prove quite expensive done that way so I'm going with the laser cut (the sluice gate mechanisms will still need 3D printing though). The main change I'm planning to make is to engrave cobblestones into the top surfaces of the 6mm pieces, which will look awesome. There are currently 2 barriers to acheiving this: 1. I don't (yet) know how to do it; I've engraved some test pieces quite successfully, but don't know how to make that happen in anything other than a basic rectangle, and; 2. If I do manage to figure it out, it's going to add considerably to the cost of the kit, as it would more than double the machining time. Anyway, there's a lot of work to do on it yet, so don't hold your breath. I was just so chuffed with how it went together I just had to post the pictures! Jonathan JSModels

It's really difficult to give you an answer to that one, as it depends on exactly what thickness the '6mm' ply is. Whereas 6mm MDF is usually slightly over in thickness (6.1-6.2mm) 6mm ply is usually undersize - it can be as thin as 5.3-5.4mm, but occasionally it can be quite accurate. I would (initially) draw them at 6mm, in order to have a drawing you can get quotes from. Then, when you've decided on a supplier, ask them what width you need to allow for & alter the drawing accordingly before they cut it. Jonathan JSModels PS - I would offer, but my machine is only 900 x 600mm...

Is it a secret?

Noticed a new addition (at least, I don't remember it being there before) to the list of suppliers: Clicking on it just brings up an empty page. Just wondered what it was for?