hicksan

Under 18s were explicitly excluded. Insurance and safeguarding.

There are plenty of 'stars' that would probably think of themselves as ordinary modellers and might be delighted - and humbled perhaps - to be invited on the show. I think of Peter Snow as an example, or Jools Holland. I think it might help the public see how widespread enjoyment of the hobby is, helping to break the 'geek' stereotype. It doesn't have to be rock or film stars. Celebrity rather. The more widespread the better. It's a good idea Laurie.

Yes. Will Hay was a comic genius. Same considerations as Thunderbolt, plus the fact that many of the younger viewers will (sadly) never have heard of the film so it would mean nothing to them - just another pretty branch line with an animated windmill and figures clinging to its arms plus a train with the fireman on the roof.

We did. It was there. Up by Mrs Willoughby's house from The Ladykillers - back left. We had the scene - being filmed by Michael Balcon with lights and camera crew as well (as he recorded in a home movie, which can be found on youtube) - of the mocked-up loco mounted on a lorry chassis driving along the road and bursting through a wooden fence. Not animated, sadly, which would have been nice (might even have counted as yet another train running - just not on rails :-). I had wanted to use the Faller lorry for that careening through the townscape but we only had one and the team preferred to show it driving soberly to the dock with a load of whisky for the SS Cabinet Minister - and anyway the upper road was impassable (for reasons already explained). So many animations got cut. My favourite would have been the vanishing Ladykillers - disappearing in a puff of smoke from the tunnel, one by one, each time a coal train passes with the body apparently fallen into the last wagon. Not to mention the zombies from Sean of the Dead (also filmed at Ealing Studios, like the modern St Trinians films), which got vetoed on grounds of being out of character, out of period and just a bit creepy. We did briefly consider doing a layout based on Thunderbolt, but that would have been much simpler - more of a one trick wonder - with less opportunities for forced perspective and animations. I did even plan one with an N gauge viaduct along the back, to show the train changing scale like the Basingstoke Bodgers did on their (excellent) layout. It would have been much easier to build. Heck, we might even have won with that, but TBH we all prefer to have lost but built Ealing Road - which is starting to look rather splendid now. We decided the London docklands cityscape offered more opportunities for cameos, better perspective effects and more of a challenge to stretch us. No looking back, only forward.

Thank you, Colin. I wasn't making a joke or trying to be funny. Done enough of that lately. What I said is what actually happened. No-one got hurt, nothing got broken and nobody died, much like the GMRC in fact, though you wouldn't think it from some of the comments trolling around on this and other less well moderated forums. It would be nice if some other contributors tried for once not to assume the very worst about people they have never met, at every opportunity and before they actually know the facts, or at least to hold back from casting unfunny uniformed snide aspersions that just make themselves look foolish.

My understanding is that, like all proper comic tragedies, we are meant to think that the protagonist has got away with it till the very last minute when it is revealed that he has actually been arrested and is being led off to spend the rest of his life in prison and disgrace with the rest of the gang. Not what I would consider a happy ending, but satisfying nonetheless. Rather like The Italian Job.

The 'Fire and Ice' episode with Fawley was the first to be filmed. The 'Movies' episode with Missenden was the last. Lots of rules got changed after the first episode because the production team were still figuring out how everything would work. There was supposed to be an on-site shop, according to the rules, but that vanished. Something to do with laws on product placement that no-one had figured till then. The feedback we (Missenden) got through the grapevine was that the prebuild rules had been completely ditched - in part due to the panic in completing one of the layouts and the fact that another didn't run when required - so the priority was to throw everything at making sure trains actually work on camera and that the layouts all look passable. We learnt that there was no points system behind the judging, that the scratchbuild challenge was more a piece of fun which didn't seriously impact the outcome, except perhaps as a tie breaker, and that the final result depended only on the overall impression. What no-one had realised till then was how little actual modelling time people would have on set due to filming interruptions - enforced silences, layouts simply being picked up and carried out of the way of cameras, toolboxes being moved by stage-hands and disappearing for hours, etc, and that the actual working time was less than 24 hours and more like 17 in reality. Further feedback from subsequent episodes confirmed those observations. So we set about drastically slashing our plans; simplifying the design, removing unnecessary cameos and animations to bring the projected build time down. The advice turned out to be accurate in practice, except for the rules not actually officially being changed (just not enforced till we pushed things too far), and we still ran out of time anyway. Of course it also helps not to appear as arrogant or smug gits, on or off camera, whatever leading questions might get asked. Some lessons just have to be learnt the hard way.

Sadly that was only the first part of a longer dialogue, which continued more or less as follows: The protagonists in The Lavender Hill Mob and The Ladykillers failed, in both cases, because they lacked the ruthlessness to carry through their dastardly plan to its logical conclusion. They were defeated because their own consciences would not permit them to win - because they weren't clear in their own minds exactly what winning was. After making this point I went on to explain that, for Missenden team, winning the competition was not as important to us as building an inspiring layout that showcases the best of what we have been taught by the real experts at Missenden Railway Modelling Courses. What really mattered to us was not competing with the other teams, who each equally deserved to win, but competing with ourselves: to build something better than any of us had ever built before, better than any of us could ever build individually and have a good time together as friends while doing so. We accepted that we had broken rules, albeit unintentionally, for which we would have to take the consequences but had decided to build the layout as designed knowing that we wouldn't then win. If doing so meant that we would be effectively disqualifying ourselves then so be it. As close as I can remember, word for word. One of my colleagues remarked afterward that it was far too philosophical for mainstream television. Regrettably he was right because it all got cut. Thanks for spotting it though, giving me the chance to clarify how creative editing can completely change the context of what is said and turn something intended as positive and gracious into something which appears negative and arrogant.

It landed on the camera.

Correct. That was our understanding also, after discussion with the production company. They were supposed to have been mounted on a common base (into two long street-length blocks each consisting of a road with terrace on either side, counting as two prebuilt items - not one as stated incorrectly by me on the programme) - which, at least as far as we were concerned, had been agreed with the production company as such in the detailed lists and descriptions we had sent them and with specific correspondence and phone conversations on this particular question. The station on the viaduct and dock scene with animated ships were similarly listed as single items, as was the warehouse complex which should have been connected together with gantries and walkways. Whether the rules were meant to be interpreted like this is a matter for clarification before the next series, but we had no doubt that we sought and received confirmation to this effect. Obviously somewhere along the line between us and the production company and the judges there was a misunderstanding or miscommunication. At the end of the day we, the team, have to take responsibility for that. We accept that we lost and deserved to lose under the circumstances. However the question is moot because the prebuilds were not completed on arrival but broken into individual terraces because we had run out of time. Scratch-building is much more time consuming than kit-builds - there would not have been time enough to build even a couple on set - the printing alone takes days. The road sections had been lost in transit so had to be rebuilt. Ultimately the design was too ambitious given the techniques we were using and time constraints. The fact that the prebuilds were not finished as integrated units meant that they had to be counted as multiple items once queried. We accepted that we had no grounds to argue against the concerns raised by the judges. We agreed that the rules had been broken but that there had been no deliberate attempt to cheat. We stand by that. We offered to remove items but were privately asked not to do so because the production company wanted footage of the layout completed as designed. We agreed that building it was anyway more important to us than going through to the final. This is why we decided effectively to disqualify ourselves rather than compromise the layout. We knew that decision meant we would not win, but honestly we were not bothered. All the rest is pantomime.

At Oxrail a few weeks ago, the 'Snakebend' US-themed N gauge modular railway allowed kids at the exhibition to drive huge freight trains along five scale miles of track through three large rooms using handheld digital controllers, supervised by operators. The operators took over once they reached the fiddle yards. The concentration and pleasure on the faces of the young drivers was priceless. I wish there were more modular railway groups in the UK, in different scales, because they offer opportunities for public participation like this.

I did offer. She asked for a railway instead. Sensible girl.

You would know as well as the rest of us that participated that all teams were required to submit detailed plans, diagrams, schedules, budget breakdowns and lists of pre-builds in advance. Missenden certainly did so. Does anyone still seriously doubt that we wouldn't have directly asked the production team specifically for confirmation that our plans were within the rules and have had extensive discussions with them on this question? We were scratch-building nearly a hundred houses, in several different scales, not just knocking up off-the-shelf kits. And there were plenty more to build on camera. The production team encouraged us and were excited by our design and ambition. I do not think we were set up but quite clearly there was a breakdown in communication somewhere between us and the judges, for which - in the final analysis - we have to take responsibility and did so on camera. Clarification of the rules for next year will certainly be helpful, but I caution against making them too limiting because it penalises any team that wish to go beyond commercially available card kits or resin casts and excludes scratch-building on any scale pretty much completely. While encouraging a level playing field it would be a pity if any modellers felt unable to participate because they found the rules too demeaning for any design that were remotely ambitious or so unclear as to risk theatrical humiliation on national tv and subsequent trolling on social media if they accidentally found themselves on the wrong side of the line. (not as good as Laurie's drawing, I admit...)

I have been taking my daughter's * layout - Oakworth to Maidbridge - (sometimes with her as well) to exhibitions over the last two years since it featured in Railway Modeller, and allowing kids to drive it, and we are always mobbed from the moment the public are allowed in till closing time. Parents and grandparents like to see something attainable built from commercially available parts yet to scenic standards comparable to the 'pro' layouts around us and laid out prototypically. Because it has no back (the back-scene runs down the centre, over the hinges) the whole structure is visible and the subject of endless conversations about how it folds away. The only problem we've had was when someone [young, male] was a bit too rough with the meccano-operated turntable (a conversion of the Airfix/Dapol kit) and caused a short circuit which killed one of the controllers for a few hours (until I fixed the problem by ripping a wire out). What I've learnt is that people really like layouts that are open to view, especially fiddle yards, and where the operators are at the front rather than behind and happy to talk. Layouts that kids can drive especially, given the rule that going at the right speed gets longer goes. It also gives the chance to talk about railways - like how are freight engines different from passenger engines (wheel size, number of wheels, livery) - that gets the kids thinking and interested. * Girls can be train drivers just as much as boys. It's great Daddy/Daughter time building it together, gets domestic approval much more than a sole project would, and far more rewarding to build than a flipping dolls' house.

Speaking for the Missenden team here, there is no question the judges got anything wrong, and there will be no pretence otherwise. The best team won, fair and square, and we acknowledged that on the day. We just have the small matter of 'manky roads, unpainted plastic cobbles and bare plywood with screws showing' to address, which were perfectly fair criticisms. The layout will be finished to the standard we would have wished, had we had the time and budget. There will be more buildings, including some replacements of better quality. There will probably also be display boards showing the layout as it was during the show, as well as detail on the movie scenes and prototypes we based it on. Our purpose always was, and remains, to demonstrate the best of what we have been taught at the Missenden Railway Modelling Courses; to produce an inspiring model we remain very proud of. The competition aspect was not important to us, despite what might have been suggested by a combination of leading questions and selective editing. We thought we made that point clearly enough when we unanimously decided to build the layout as designed, recognising the judges concerns as valid and accepting that we were effectively disqualifying ourselves. It is a matter for regret that the reasons for that decision, stated to camera quite clearly and unequivocally and including praise for our rival teams, were cut from the broadcast version, leaving an inaccurate impression that we were defying the judges and thereby reducing the show to an amusing pantomime.

Actually off camera Kathy Millatt is a really lovely person and a truly gifted modeller in her own right. It was a great pleasure meeting her on set and talking about the 3D back-scenes and forced perspective we (Missenden) were trying to achieve, not to mention orreries and 3D printers as well. So no trolling her, please, folks? The show may seem like a pantomime sometimes, if that's how they choose to edit it, but the participants are still real humans.

As one of the Missenden team I can say actually we thought about exactly that - both examples you cite - and prototyped mechanisms for how to, but they had to be sacrificed as we ran out of time. We did have at least twelve cameos though, and scenes from three films.

I've also re-done the Hornby Gresley Suburban Brake-third. And got the number right this time too. Here in chequerboard stage. Teaked and decalled but not yet weathered with the black/brown ink. Chassis also to be weathered and rusted. Also yet to be re-glazed. Not perfect, or as good as yours, but still an improvement on the Hornby printed teak and on its previous near-black dirtiness after the methfix/soot disaster. To me this looks closer to prototype colour photos of the period. Again the photos don't flatter the model - the graining looks better to the eye than it does to the camera and the chequerboard panels do show up with nice contrast.

Making good progress here. The three clerestories have come out nicely - just adding chassis and interior detail now. I found that (a) using the meths as sparingly as poss and (b) varnishing before and © after - mitigates the bleaching pretty completely. Also added a layer of decalfix to stop them moving during the weathering stage. The Windsor and Newton ink gives a nice result. Not fully assembled yet, but this gives the idea. They look better in real life than in these closeups, I think. The idea is for something imported from the M&GN, who had coaches like these, and relegated to a backwater branchline just prior to nationalisation. In reality they would probably have been painted plain brown by this stage; one can but dream.

As an alternative to the Modelmates I followed your suggestion, Mike, and tried water-soluble ink instead. I used Windsor and Newton, a combination of 'black' and 'peat brown' (to give a mixture of soot and general dirt effect), diluted. I tried this on one coach side only (an Ian Kirk 'all third' kit that I acquired from eBay sporting a BR crimson livery), so you can see the before and after together below. I think the raw teak effect comes up nicely, with the different panel colours just showing through on the unweathered (upper) coach side. The ink did tend to ball up rather than spread over the surface, so I might try adding a tiny drop of washing-up liquid next time to reduce surface tension. The result is quite good, I think, and more the sort of subtle effect you were getting. One other point though: it did take a bit of rubbing to get it to spread the way I wanted into the crevices and leave the panels clearer, and - despite being done very gently - this did lift off the R in the 'LNER' decal. <Curses>. I will have to sort that, and the other side will get an extra coat of varnish before I start. However at least the bleaching effect is now sorted.

In the original case I varnished the model after applying decals, before adding the diluted Modelmates soot, however I noticed that the decals all came loose and moved about. It may be that the Modelmates includes something that reacted with the decal adhesive again, or at least allowed it to spread again over the varnish. Having weathered the model I didn't think to re-varnish it again so tried to cover the ruin with additional Games Workshop 'Abbadon Black' (acrylic). The result (below) is now so dark as to be nearly black - much darker than any post-war colour photos I can find (and they were pretty dirty and neglected in that period, especially in back-water branchlines) - so I think this one will have to be redone from scratch. The white bleaching can still clearly be seen under all that black.

After further testing I think I understand better. I think the problem is coming not directly from the Modelmates soot but from the decal adhesive. I am using HMRC methfix decals, which use dilute methylated spirits to dissolve the glue. This leaves a white powdery residue on the (varnished gloss) model. An additional coat of varnish resolves this.

I have tried your technique and found it excellent up to this point. I had two coaches finished in beautiful teak I had never thought possible, with decals added and then varnished in Humbrol clear gloss. Then I tried the Modelmates Soot black. It does what it says: it is removable with water and cotton buds - however it also bleached the model. I presume this was some kind of chemical reaction with the varnish, but it left most of the coach sides streaked with white like they had been bleached and no amount of water, solvent or rubbing could do anything, other than lift my already bleached decals. In the end I reverted to my Games Workshop 'Abadon Black', heavily diluted, however it needed three coats to cover the bleached areas and now one of the coaches is so dirty as to be near black. This is sort of ok as I am modelling LNER immediately post-war when everything was pretty run down, however even the dirtiest colour photos I can find from that period are not as dark as mine now, so it is sort of spoilt. Hopefully as part of a mixed rake it won't stand out so badly. I checked online to see if anyone else has experienced this - it happened to two coaches, processed separately (the first one didn't bleach as badly and the effect took longer to appear so I didn't notice it until the second coach started going white) - I can't find any reference to this but I did see that Modelmates are no longer producing this stuff. In which case what alternatives would you recommend for future coaches (I have several more in process)? The Games Workshop paints leave a nice finish but (a) dry very quickly and (b) can't be shifted once dry (unlike the modelmates stuff). Any thoughts from the Master?