Marly51

I’ve used Swann Morton standard handle no 3 and surgical blades 10a and 11 all of my working life and find them ideal for most scratchbuilding work. I prefer the lighter Swann Morton handle to the Xacto one. As already recommended, I was taught to use several light passes to get a clean cut. Generally I find my blades seem to last a reasonable length of time and I keep the old ones for odd diy jobs around the house - eg scraping stray paint and varnish off glass after repainting window frames. I always use a new no 11 when cutting out fine detail in paper and card kits. Must try sharpening some old ones sometime, as I do have an old oil stone. Good luck with your modelling. Marlyn

Great! Just need a backscene with Ayers Rock! Only kidding Geoff. I have virtually no knowledge of the Australian railway network I have seen some lovely narrow gauge layouts online. Progress on my Cake Box is a bit slow at the moment - making a start on the Dapol kit of Stephenson’sRocket at the weekend. All the best, Marlyn

Hope you are feeling better soon and look forward to seeing your new thread. I’ve enjoyed reading about all your small layouts to date.

I like your plan Marc and look forward to seeing the model itself. I don’t think there has ever been a time when I don’t have a number of different projects on the go at one time. I used to think I was disorganised and should focus on one at a time, but I love the variety and enjoy dipping into the project which suits my mood. These smaller micro/mini/cameo/shelf projects are great opportunities as well as challenges. The forum is certainly keeping me on board and it is really helpful to get feedback and advice.

Thanks Alan - it is always good to keep an eye on what is available commercially and decide which aspects of modelling I want to focus my time on. I love the detail in scratchbuilding structures and happy to spend a bit of time trying to get the atmosphere of the landscape just about right, but I definitely leave locomotive scratchbuild and small scale engineering to the folk who have those specialist skills. Marlyn

Agree with you totally, John. My first shot at using the twig armatures, polyster fibre and various foam and flock scatters has given me a feel for the materials. Think I will draw a quick diagram for myself with buildings and tree structures drawn to scale as a guide. Many thanks for the feedback. Marlyn

You’re right about species of trees - I just went with the flow of the material I had collected, without direct reference to structure of different local species. Have found some photographs I took about 15 years ago - relatively near the project location and at the same height above sea level. Will scan a couple and post later. It’s a fascinating subject. Thanks for all your suggestions. Marlyn

I am happy to play around until I get a reasonable representation for the wooded areas on my layouts. Not afraid to go back to the drawing board, but usually find there is often a compromise. Don't think I'll go as far as growing my own sea moss though, enough projects on the go! There is such a wealth of experience on this forum - it's great! Good luck with your modelling.

Just discovered your post - I love quirky layouts and creative solutions using mundane containers for micro layputs. Well done so far and look forward to your updates! Marlyn

Very interesting topic and lots of technical advice! Hope you had success with the kits? Marlyn

Looking forward to following your progress!

I love this version - beautiful modelling detail!

Great scenery modelling with all the little details, on its own, and also with the locomotive, which does dominate, but love the contrast between powerful modern technology and the bare landscape it is passing through. How about a photo of the locomotive head-on from a similar view to image 2?

Lots of tree lichens here on my Northern Highland patch, but mainly the light green/grey green slightly more brittle types. Not tried painting it myself. I have bags of lichen bought for modelling years ago, but the colours were often too bright and it is quite moist - maybe from the dyeing process? I have read that lichens are not so popular with modellers these days? Might try experimenting a bit.

Hi Justin - I'm a canny Scotswoman, always looking for an inexpensive option for producing my models. As I mentioned to Daddyman, this is my first attempt and I shall see if I can adapt these. The trunk height will be greatly reduced, but I may still start afresh and try to take more care getting the trunk and branch skeleton proportions in scale before proceeding with foliage.Appreciate all the advice - many thanks. Marlyn

Thank you Roja - someone else suggested 4mm trees as a possibility too. Will persevere and post some more images. Marlyn

Thanks for your response. I have seen Gordon Gravett's book online, and think I may try and get a copy. These trees are very much a first attempt and delighted to receive such good feedback. I live in an old Highland crofthouse and we have a sycamore on a slope just below the house whose branches are above the roofline. But again it is a matter of scale and I do need to doctor these. I am multitasking on the various elements of the project and just need to stop and focus on each area a little more. There are some good examples of scrub birch, crack willow and Scots pine all around, so I have no excuse. Unfortunately the original woodland copse behind the old station building, being modelled, no longer exists as the land was acquired for a modern house. Height wise a good inch of the trunk will be bedded into the landscape, but I need to make more notes about canopy shape as well as the spread in relation to the height of the individual trees. Marlyn PS I see Kylestrome purchased his Scots pine trees from MBR Models and checked these online. Will keep experimenting with my basic materials, in the meantime.

Working on two layouts in N Gauge based on Sutherland 1930s - 1940s. Currently experimenting with various scratchbuilding techniques for the 2mm scale buildings, but mainly card and paper at present. Trees feature in both layouts and I have been checking out various topics on the subject in RMWeb Forum. My first attempt is similar to http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/117427-the-tree-modeller/?hl=trees having an endless supply of dried twigs and roots, which will need to be treated to ensure they last. There is the question about realistic height of trees as many commercial trees are often under scale. My specimens are a bit generic but should be OK as a group, once the trunks have been bedded into the landscape and the colouring modified to resemble the more muted tones of the landscape in Sutherland. I have constructed non-railway models, in the past, with some organic materials and they are still intact without evidence (yet) of insect attack or deterioration. The station building is card with commercial brick and stone papers. I hope to create some texture paper of my own from photographs of the actual stone and brick finishes in subsequent buildings.

Enjoying reading your research to date. Looking forward to watching your progress.

Will definitely purchase some knotting fluid and maybe try making some sample textures first.Thankyou to everyone who has responded - very useful tips. Marlyn

My Pantone Colour Guide is for printing CMYK on reflective surfaces such as paper, vinyl, etc. RGB is used in transparent media such as computers, TVs etc. If you have a program like Adobe Photoshop or Corel Draw, you can select your colour on screen and using the colour picker window - this will bring up the colour details in CMYK, RGB and also the Hex colour code for the web. Sorry, I am very much old school and not really up to date with things these days. I noticed Pantone has online products for colour referencing, but haven’t found any free online guides ☹️

Really useful topic for me as a returning beginner with a particular interest in pre-grouping. So far I have been focussing on modelling buildings and used the website http://www.stationcolours.info as reference as well as checking with various pre-grouping societies. My working life involved design for print and as I use acrylics, still find an old Pantone colour formula guide useful when mixing paints - it details the percentages based on the primary colours and black and white. It was recommended that these guides be replaced regularly as the colours do fade with time, but It was quite an expensive item, so I just stored mine away from direct light.

Oops - sorry Shaun, did not mean to hijack your topic. Your comment just triggered my interest in how things have evolved over the decades! Enjoying following your progress. Marlyn

Possibly, Richard. Will check out with some of the Sutherland historians. A lady called Anne Coombs also undertook research into the female herring gutters who followed the herring fleet. She discovered that fishwives from Embo used the train to come to Lairg to sell their fish and collected cones from the woods near the station on their way back (for smoking the herring).

Very interesting link. Thinking of creating a model cameo (sometime in the future) of a Sutherland Station during WW2 when the Jellicoe Express carried troops to and from Thurso. I have seen some photos from WW2 of Lairg Station with troops milling on the platform and being served refreshments by the local ladies. Will see if I can get permission to post a copy of one of these photos.Marlyn