The Bandit

Strips of roof tiles can be bought. I make my own from paper strips with tiles cut vertically and enough paper left to overlap as you lay each strip. It’s time consuming so bought is much quicker and you get a more even result - unless you want the rustic down at heel effect or you’re tight like me! Grey paint and weathering powders finishes off the DIY ones.

Looking good. Your own baseboard will definitely give you more scope. Is the picture frame set up still a goer? One suggestion if I may - getting rid of the printed roofs makes such a difference. I have done so with my models - a bit of time invested in this gives a very satisfying result. Looking forward to seeing further progress.

I have my layout in a 14ftx8ft timber shed bought 7 yrs ago for about £3500 including erection, electric supply from my garage, lights and 4 double sockets. It has heavy duty felt on the roof which was blow-torched on. It sits on large paving slabs which I laid, the shed just overhanging by the outer skin to avoid rain settling underneath. I added a concrete haunching to the edge of the slabs to further ensure rain ran away. The roof has a steel beam to avoid sagging. It has two timber double glazed windows and double doors - the doors let in a little draught but I reckon it aids ventilation. The roof space has rock wool and I used bubble wrap with a silvered outer to insulate the internal walls. I then used tongue and groove to line out the inside - this was included in the quoted price. Any gaps where walls met were sealed with clear sealant and trimmed with quarter quadrant timber. The timber floor is covered with cheap carpet tiles. I use preservative on the outside every year. The shed is water tight and only needs a 5 or 10 minute blast with a free standing electric heater to warm it up - and I live on the north-east coast which is cold and windy. I live in a fairly safe area and have a wife and Rottie - both formidable creatures for would be burglars. I model in card and up to now have no damp issues. A bit long-winded but I hope this helps you.

A bit late now but for future reference - no nails dispensed with a sealant gun sticks polystyrene well. The cheap and cheerful stuff works just as well as the more well known brand.

A bit late but thank you to all those who organised the show, exhibited and provided trade support. As always it was a very friendly show with plenty to inspire. A great day out and looking forward to next year.

Fantastic modelling - hats off to you. Really enjoying this thread. Can also sympathise with your earlier moving dilemma and can understand your concern for locals unable to afford property - not everyone is as considerate as you.

Being rubbish at IT I failed to get a comment to work with the picture - sorry about that. My comment was ‘Just brilliant. I love your work.’

That happened to me - my loco just stopped working for no reason so I too turned off the handset and then went for total belt and braces and even pulled the plug out of the wall socket - sad I know! When plugged back in it all worked perfectly. Weird!

As I said before, I only use dcc in the most basic way. I’ve read the instructions but they seem to assume you already have some knowledge of dcc. I would like instructions which have very small steps to reach the desired result.

Coming back into the hobby just eight years ago I opted for dcc as having little knowledge of wiring, section switches etc it seemed simpler. Of course, every single piece of track has two droppers then I added lights so there were more wires. However I use wire in tube for points and no polarity switches so that keeps it simpler. Buying locos one at a time means I buy decoders as I go along. I don’t have sound chips at the moment so that is a big saving. Not being technically minded I use dcc at a very simple level - I was chuffed when I completed my track and wiring to find that locos went backwards and forwards and at different speeds. A bit of a waste of dcc some would say but it is enough for now for me and I get good slow running which I feel is very important. I’m glad I chose to go dcc.

Really enjoying following your latest build. Your previous layouts are superb and inspiring - showing what can be achieved in a small space with this scale.

A brilliant piece of modelling. A pleasure to view. You’ve had my vote.

I’ve used Metcalfe industrial kits on my layout and they are sturdy and can be modified with pre-planning. I tile the roofs because I don’t like the printed look. Corners coloured with watercolour paints or filled then painted improves the look no end. Add pipes, groove planks on doors, add details inside, add lights inside and out and the models become a lot less generic.

I got my led tape from screwfix. It’s a long length so I doubled it back on itself. It had its own driver so it can be plugged into a wall socket and away you go.

Those backscenes definitely produce a sense of depth.

Planning ahead is the key. We started saving to help our son as soon as he was born - yet he still had to borrow to pay the course fees and therefore began his adult working life with debt. The way things are going, a university education will be the preserve of the rich - just as it used to be. Very worrying for all our futures.

I always get a buzz when visiting an exhibition. Seeing a layout in the flesh as it were, is I find, more inspiring than seeing a layout on YouTube. Being able to see close up and the layout in its entirety is exciting. Being able to talk to the builders at smaller exhibitions is also helpful. I hope exhibitions remain as it will be an area of the hobby I will miss if they were all to fold.

I love a micro - the small space demands plenty of thought and careful planning. Well done for showing the space-starved what can be achieved.

I don’t want to be awkward, but neither do it for me as they both seem too large.

Astounding. Pure talent!

I really do hope that our great hobby continues well into the future. There are many other distractions for young people these days, probably more so than ever before so the numbers who take up railway modelling are diluted. Yes, there is still the image of anoraks but people who find I’m a railway modeller are usually impressed not disparaging - unfortunately these people tend to be of a more mature age. I came back to railway modelling in later life and really enjoy it but to help keep me on board manufacturers need to look at price. A new oo gauge wagon for £30+ is a joke whilst many new locos are way beyond my means. The problem seems to be our demand for ever increasing detail and ‘sophistication’. Why can’t manufacturers offer rtr locos that run well and leave the detailing to the individual modeller. That way more people may enter the world of railway modelling and present modellers may be encouraged to continue in the hobby.

A superb piece of modelling. I feel like I could walk into the scene. Stunning.

Incredible and inspiring modelling.

Wish my modelling looked half as alright! I’ve enjoyed following your build. Lots of food for thought - the knitting circle beckons again!