Miss Trees

Now that I can officially add "As seen on TV" to my CV, I wanted to clear up a few things about 'those trees' and the amount of time it took to make them. I was a participant in the GREAT MODEL RAILWAY CHALLENGE programme for Channel 5, as part of the McAlpine's Fawley Fliers team and despite the fact that the presenters stated that we were a professional modelling team, in actual fact, only half the team were... I, definately, was not... As I have previously stated, I got 2 Gorden Gravett books shoved in my hands and asked to get on with it... however, the whole experience has stayed with me and I am continuing to practice railway scenery today. The attached gallery shows only a few photos of my Baptism of Fire into railway modelling scenery. I did indeed take an inordinately long time to make my first trees but what I neglected to say on 'tape' was that they were produced in one large batch, as any savvy scenery modeller would do... I think...!¬ I'd like to thank the members of my team, the other participants in the show and everyone here who is showing an interest in the programme, it was terrifically hard work to film and participate in, but it has got me into modelling and that is becoming a serious interest in my life.. well, it is a major break from a full time job in IT...!!

Hello Sir Douglas, I'm very new to this site but I think I fixed the photo view, there is a gallery linked photo at the top and my PC saved photo should be viewable in the blog post now, thanks for stopping by...

Hello, The purpose of this blog is to document the progress of a complete beginner in modelling railway scenery. This post, however, is to detail how I got here. Now that the first two episodes of the brand new series The Great Model Railway Challenge have aired on Channel 5, I can reveal that I was a participant in the TV show. I was asked to join a team that will be featured in episode 4. Despite having virtually no previous experience in railway modelling (apart from a very ambitious Christmas decoration - which I will post about later on) I was tasked by the team to model some scenery elements, provide the back-scene and make the team name plate. So a couple of books by Gordon Gravett were shoved in my hands and I was asked if I would 'learn to make trees' I was very nervous both before and during the filming of the TV show, but in the end, I was proud of my contribution to the layout. A consequence of being involved in the making of the series has been that I have caught the railway modelling 'bug' and continue to this day to practise scenery modelling techniques. With the wealth of material available online, in books and opportunities to visit many local model railway exhibitions and shows, there is a great deal to inspire me and I have decided to follow not only Gordon G, but Kathy Millatt (one of the Judges on the TV show) and the amazing Martin Welberg to use as mentors in my new hobby. It is Martin Welberg's approach to layering in scenery that inspires me the most and to start with I have been creating a couple of small dioramas to practise new techniques, trees are still proving a challenge though and so I welcome any and all advice. Thanks for reading