Reptilian Feline

I'm modelling fictional Yorkshire 1942-1945. You see, I want some spitfires and "Dad's Army" and the diversity of rolling stock in a mostly branch line rural setting with lots of grass and rolling hills. I've read about T-scale in Railway Modeller. It seems almost too small, but if there is enough to work with, it would be an option to consider.

Rokuhan makes some chassis that might work for early diesel shunters, and I did a search a while back that pulled up some interesting alternatives, but of course I can't remember exactly what I was searching for when I found it. I think making the wagons and coaches look OK with card kits using the basic wheels provided by Märklin might work. To my untrained eye, it's the distance between the wheel sets that looks off comparing German to British. The layout is for my pleasure, but I'd like to be able to post pictures and videos of it without people laughing at me.

I'm pretty good at making things in Inkscape and Gimp, and am using both for tweaking and scaling buildings. If I have access to blueprints/ construction drawing with proper scale printed on them, I probably could make small models using Inkscape. I don't know anyone with a laser cutter, but I came across "printers" that cut after SVG-files when looking into making my own punch cards for my knitting machine.

The thing about ready printed kits, is that they are usually very good for assembly (I only have experience with Metcalf kits) but might not always be so good for scanning. Books are easier to scan because there are not pre-cut edges. British outline isn't popular in Sweden, no matter what scale, even though we do get the railway modelling magazines. I think it is because most people used to do local places for their models and Märklin and Fleishmann have a large range in H0 and N, and many German setups can easily(ish) be made into something Swedish. It probably has to do with track width. What I'm also a bit curious about, is how you go about fixing the wheels and couplings on card kits. I know it's possible to buy spare wheels, but they have to be... connected? somehow to the undercarriage. Where the old kits paper only, even down to the wheels? Older wagons have some very interesting spoked wheels.

It might be hard to buy from someone who usually only sells things at shows. Also... with brexit looming, who knows if it's even going to be possible to get anything without it costing double in postage compared to what the item might cost.

I read that there used to be card kits for wagons and carriages and even locos. I'm the odd one who wants to build British outline in Z-scale, and I have found that my only option for proper looking houses that fit a WW2 setup, is to download, rescale and print my own. When I read that something similar at least used to be available for rolling stock, I got excited. I wanted to find some. So, I ended up here. I haven't printed anything yet, and I have no used Märklin rolling stock or locos yet, so I'm open to making it in 1:220 or figure out what true British Z-scale would be. Rescaling is rescaling and if I'm not going to dress up a German steam loco to look like it would fit an LMS line, then I can go either way. I'm not really bothered about it not being properly prototypical in scale, just as long as the rest is proper. There seem to have been books available as well. If I can find such a book, I can scan it and rescale it to fit as well. Any help is appreciated.

That is impressive work!

That's the problem with scale when it isn't properly prototypical. I'm thinking that when I can afford a 3D printer, I'll find some files and then scale down and adjust so it would fit whatever I have to put it on. It would be easier to do that if I have a donor loco to measure first.

Rolling stock would be mostly short based since I have a few sharp turns. According to the railway modelling book I've been reading, around the time I want, most rolling stock could end up just about anywhere. This gives me a chance to make a lot of different liveries and companies and just mix it up. The line is a branch line, the placing (even if it's fictional) says it's in LMS territory. I'd like a couple of early diesel shunters and an 0-6-0 steam engine. I have no real need for those fancy express locos, even if they do look nice. There are two options (or three) for locos to kit bash or replace the casing on. Märklin as they come used at a reasonable price in Sweden, and Rokuhan engines... and I think I've seen some engine kits in Z that I can buy when I have the money for it.

Hello everyone! I'm a bit of an oddball. I have made the decision to model a fictional Yorkshire setup ca. 1942-45. I started out working on it in British N-scale, but then the space I was putting it in had to be used for other stuff, and I shelved the idea. Last year I was bitten by the modelling bug again, and tried to figure out a space for my model. Turns out that if I do things just right, I can put it in the walk in closet/room. Just a slight problem. I need to scale down to Z-scale. I have tinkered with the layout, looked at what track to use, and that is OK. It won't be perfect in scale to the prototype, but I can live with that. For buildings, I have downloaded some in larger scale and is in the process of working on them digitally to fit the 1:220 scale and then print and assembles normally. There is quite a lot I can do in that respect and then do some digital weathering and personalisation. It's fun. I enjoy it. The problem is with locos and rolling stock. I don't have a 3D printer (yet), and I read that there used to be paper or card models of rolling stock and even locos as well. And that's why I'm here. I will have to make a load of wagons and some carriages, and there are very few options. I might have to scratch build if I can't get the wheel configuration right from some Z-scale Märklin models (used most likely). I know 3D printing is a way to get things done, but I thought I would save the cost for the locos and stuff, and make the simpler rollong stock out of paper and card. Anyway... I'm looking forward to getting some help in the card building section.