salmonpastures

Rite on Granfam bro,,, dere's truckin an dere's truckin,,, an we hangin wiv de Mancunians dis weeken wiv de Barney Wallis geezer!!! Got visas an evryfink,,,, how kool is dat,,,,seeya. Laterz SAD PS,,, Tony,,,,,this is like wot happenz wen you spend de last 6 years of yer careeer at a secondary school,,,, wicked,,, but you know all about that!!!

Thankfully we all get some satisfaction from doing things our own way. I can also see exactly where Tony is coming from and having had the pleasure of seeing the end results at LB in the flesh his results speak for themselves. For me [who is nearer 70 than 60] I have to say "my modelling time" is a factor I now consider more and more & so personally I have no problem putting a Bachmann D11, 04, J11 or Hornby A1 or D16 on the tracks for following reasons: a, They are IMO truly wonderful models,,, and these days built to a standard I will NEVER achieve. b, They very quickly & easily fill in pieces of the pictorial jigsaw that I am trying to create with my own layout. But Messrs Bachmann & Hornby I have to say as an "active exhibition layout owner" some of the bits you include in your lovely models either: 1, never get put on as they stop the loco working properly 2, simply disappear 3, get knocked off incredibly quickly,,, and I have spent far too long replacing the driving wheel pickups on a couple of them because again IMO the original designs are nowhere near up to the rigours of bouncing around in the back of a van 3 or 4 times a year on the way to a show. However I also get an enormous amount of pleasure from either scratch building a loco or putting a kit together and this pleasure is multiplied 10 fold if somebody at a show either comments on them or even better recognises my efforts at scratchbuilding for what it is supposed to be. Lucky me,,, my fingers usually do what my brain asks of them and I am well aware not everyone is as fortunate as myself,,,, so if they are modelling "in their own way" by using RTR product than for me it is a definite case of "gud on yer" as you are keeping the hobby alive to the benefit of all.

Flocked turntables,,,, there's a prototype for everything if you look close enough!!. SAD

Is that grass growing in the turntable pit????? If so I want nothing more to do with it!!!!!! SAD [PS: thanks for your help this afternoon]

Richard, I think we have just found it. Clive, I read somewhere that the GC drivers weren't that impressed with Gresleys pacifics when compared with the B3 / 9N Mind you it could have been more to do with "old loyalties" than actual performance. IMO the B3 looked the part,,, as did most of Robinsons locomotives apart from the L1,,, that one is started as it now has a running chassis.

2750,,, many thanks for your post,,,, simple one liner's like yours make it all worthwhile,,,, and it did take a while!!! Tony was kind enough to try and re-create this picture even down to the telegraph poles!!! Mr J.G.Robinson and a lot of his Edwardian counterparts seemed to feel the aesthetics were as important as the performance. I don't really care what the real one's were like,,,, I don't know enough about it to comment. But when Valour pulled 9 pullmans round LB I was "rather chuffed" to say the least. Tony then decided it needed glazing,,,, and 15 minutes later it had some!!!! Typical teacher,,,, things can always be improved,,, and I am not complaining. Many thanks Tony,,, what a wonderful day out,,,, again!!! SAD

Congratulations Tony, I'll see you next week in the The Willoughby!!!!,,,,assuming my glasses come back from the Optishuns SAD

Hello Bon Accord, The engine and chassis are scratch built out of brass and nickel silver. Markits wheels and a Portescap motor and gearbox The tender was from a very early K's ROD kit,,, but it need a fair amount of work to get it close, I ditched their "chassis" and built one with pickups. If I had to start again I would build a scratch tender as well,,,, but I can think of all sorts of things to do before building another B3 !!!!. Mick's painting makes all the difference and as mentioned on a previous post I will post pics of it when it has been reunited with the chassis. Many thanks for your interest. SAD

Can you still by PAFRA??? Really useful stuff,,, it lasted about 6 months and then everything converted back to being a kit!! Those were the days!! SAD

Graeme, My initial reaction to all this is "in the end does it really matter"?? For me "scratch building" is taking a drawing and a few bit of brass and having a go at recreating the original in a smaller scale. And I thoroughly enjoy the process. You achieve the same results but from a completely different starting point and perspective. I have to assume if you did not enjoy the different process you would stop doing it. The end results are the same,,, we produce something you cannot buy in a box, and to me that is very important. The guys who are computer literate and can get a machine to do all the hard work in my eyes are without doubt much smarter than me,,, but they are also producing something you cannot buy in a box ,,, and good luck to them. [i struggled with a polaroid camera!!!] Your comment on, quote "the business of programming the machine to make the model becomes so user-friendly that it simply consists of selecting component shapes from an extensive library of "ready made" features" to me proves the point that the first ever computer was obviously invented in Swindon!!! SAD

Mike, I bet there are numerous people looking at your bridge thinking, "I wouldn't mind that at all". That's your bridge and you built it to fit your layout. NICE ONE The really important thing is you have had a go,,, you may not be 100% happy with it but you can always improve it or replace it at some point in the future. What was the old cycle wheel and stick analogy,,,,"once you've got going if you don't keep hitting the cycle wheel with the stick IT WILL fall over". SAD

Scoobyra, Uneven ballasting colour right on the baseboard joint,,,,, welcome to Murphy's 3rd law on ballasting!!! Happens to everyone,,,,it happens to me every time I go near the bloomin stuff. You are running diesels,,,, which stop against platforms,,, how about a nice hugely huge oil slick which starts at one side of the join and finishes at the other?? In fact you could run it all the way down where the track is adjacent to the platform. I like the iron railings in silver,,,, where from??? SAD

Hello Skaran, Couldn't agree more with the suggestion to look at the GCR Society pages for detailed questions such as coaching stock,,,, they are a very helpful and friendly bunch. There are quite a few GC/LNER modellers on here as well,, myself included. Loco's situation is slowly getting better with the assistance of Bachmann & John at http://www.greatcentralmodels.co.uk/ which are designed for P4 but apparently can be used for other 4mm systems with a bit of effort. SAD

scoobyra, As Orford advised,,, I also suggest you get your efforts posted on this thread,,, if you are just starting out the amount of assistance and constructive suggestions you will receive will be invaluable. We all had to start somewhere,,,, and you are very fortunate to be able to draw off the vast experience that is freely offered on sites such as this. You can waste an awful amount of money and time learning all the wrinkles the hard way. Good luck and happy modelling. SAD

The mind boggles,,, and as a regular exhibitor at exhibitions it is also rather worrying. I will seriously have to look at these recently available cheap and cheerful cycling camera's in an attempt to offer a deterent. But to take something from a past modellers estate leaves me completely COLD. SAD

Full credit to you Simon,,,, you are achieving 4mm levels of detail whilst actually modelling in 2mm. Not easy,,, particularly with an urban landscape. Lovely modelling sir. SAD

Kevin, Allan, Many thanks for your encouragement, & it really is appreciated. The considerable number of winter nights in a luke warm shed suddenly become worthwhile. For me a hobby has to be enjoyable otherwise why do it,,,,, but there are times where I question my "enjoyment level". Forums such as this are a wonderful way of improving your skills and taking on different perspectives/approaches. Long may it continue and thanks to all for contributing. SAD

Derek, Thanks for the compliments,,,, I also have "happy" memories of trams,,,, like driving round town with father circa 1956-8 in his standard 10 van,,, my vocabulary expanded considerably each time we got stuck behind one,,, my expletives knowledge came from a different source,, the shed foreman and his various henchmen at Doncaster works. We weren't vandalising anything but we did have a manic desire to get a few more cops in the Ian Allans compendium,,,, oh happy days,,, but looking back for sure it was hazardous but luckily long before the days of "Def by Elf & Safety" The granite sets are from Wills,,,, I toyed with the idea of modelling clay and scriber but the deadline for the next show got the better of me once again,,,, I started off by trying to get the "grain" all going the same way but quickly realised it was going to cost me a fortune,,, compared with a cost effective mix n match approach!!. Luckily where the shops are is about 3 feet from the viewing public and so hopefully not as noticeable when compared with a quality camera about 4 inches away. Another of westerners shots and perhaps my personal favourite,,, it shows the foothills of the pennines just how I remember them. The older trams really did "grind" up the hillier routes. I also get rather frustrated with the tram as it was added as a novelty,,,, but it generates more questions at shows than anything else. I know very little about trams apart from Sheffields solar powered versions!!! I know this pic has been on RMweb before and I apologise for that. SAD

Edwardian, Many thanks for your kind words,,,, Sheffield Library has a digital archive of 1000's of photo's of the old city,,, most are in black and white and when I first found the site I could not believe how many photos of the old buildings I remembered were available on line. The layout is fictitious and based on my youthful memories of trainspotting but most of the buildings are based on actual buildings I remember as a kid, particularly the terraced houses and shops & the chapel is where I went to Sunday School!!!! The terraces over the fiddle yard were a "great idea" to stop folk peering into the fiddle yard,,,, but doing 28 different houses became a bit of a chore,,, a field with a few cows would have been so much easier but somewhat out of character for the Sheffield I frequented. I am happy with the general appearance of the buildings but finding this site I am going to have to read in detail how people get that "au natural" appearance which in reality so far escapes me,,,, mine still look like models. But it will be great fun experimenting and I am in no rush to get them finished. I copy some "scratch" buildings I have done from the library site and I really enjoy the challenge of converting old photo's into a working drawing. Probably a pointless excercise but I do get a kick from having buildings nobody else has got. Many thanks to all for the notifications and "westerner" again for the photo's SAD

Have only just found this thread and have to congratulate everyone for posting pics of some pretty wonderful buildings. I suppose mine don't really qualify as scratchbuilt as they started life as Howard Scenics terraces,,, but then I decided to make life interesting and put them on a hill. I used their brickpapers and templates but fitted my own windows as they are pretty close to public scrutiny at exhibitions. I thought they would be a "quick" way of covering the fiddle yard,,,, that was until I got started,,,,, approx 9 months later they were still driving me potty. But worth it in the end as they generate a lot of interesting conversations,,,, usually " I was born in one of them" reply "you and me both" I just wish I had found Captain Kernows efforts before I started,,,,, what a benchmark to follow. Many thanks to Captain Kernow for the inspiration to get mine finished,,, eventually,,, and to "westerner" for the photo's. SAD

Alan,,, not having a LARGE circle of friends [although it is getting bigger!!!] is for me one of the benefits of living in the middle of nowhere. Whilst I would be delighted if Norm-Salmon popped in to improve my trackwork or be able to recruit Ian Rathbone to do my painting,, lets be honest it's not going to happen. Having said that I'm actually rather proud that my layout is all my own work. As I'm sure you are with Wencombe. Having been involved with "big club" layouts,,, unless you have a Stalinesque project manager they can end up as horrible compromises in lots of area's. Good or bad it is my trainset and I really wouldn't want anybody else getting involved with the serious decisions/activities. I also fully understand your lack of interest in building locomotives,,, with your chosen interests it would get pretty boring pretty quickly. SAD

What a great idea,,, I also found Tony W's colour shots of Buckingham very interesting to say the least. His workbench is of particular interest. The fact that Tony G is now lovingly restoring it is surely an indication of how important Peter Denny's work is to the whole hobby. I know I am biased as a GCR fan but some layouts are quite simply "special". What Denny was doing 60 odd years ago will still be relevant to the hobby for a long time after we are all gone. An archive of "special" layouts would benchmark what is possible without relying on the next release from China. Power to you Tony G,,, I am sure Divine Inspiration will flow your way on many occasions. SAD

Jamie, it should be us offering you our thanks,,, the little breaks mean we can go and look round the exhibition,,, and on the odd occasion spend some money!!!! If you want to come and join us again just let me know through a pm.

After spending far too long sitting looking at my airbrush and compressor I have eventually summoned up the enthusiasm/courage to give it a go,,, my first 3 attempts at a spot of weathering. More experienced comments would be very welcome. SAD

Neither am I Jamie and for sure taste is a very personal thing,,, can't be many USAAF types who didn't rate the Packard Merlins in various Mustangs,,, SAD