noiseboy72

I think a better Bake Off analogy would be if you had planned and practised your 3 hour showstopper to be emailed on the way to the tent to be told you now only had 2 hours... The production team would have had a fair idea just how long the layout filming was likely to take, based upon previous rounds and previous years, so I guess it was a tough call to have to allow another 3-4 hours for this and would have been based on discussions with Senior Camera Bloke Sig, the mini cam guys and the senior lighting rigger. I would image that they would also have had a deadline to get out of Fawley and there was obviously a lot more rigging put in for the final as well, with lighting trusses to strike along with the rest of the kit. WCR, Sorry to see the damage to your layout. Did it come apart at the joint while it was being dragged out? I amazed at how well ours survived being moved. We managed to get both of them into the back of a Sprinter in one piece by reinforcing them across the joins and then putting the first one in, lifting it up and screwing it to the legs - positioned on the outside of the layout. Once that little trick was achieved, we slid the 2nd layout in underneath, lifting it onto the wheel arches and screwing it to the legs. When we came to remove them at the unit we stored them in, they were still in really good condition, requiring minimal work to split them back into 3 boards and subsequently reassemble them. Hopefully yours can equally be repaired.

In both our heat and semi, we were short of members due to availability. In the heat neither Helen or Lucy were there on day 1 and Lucy was also absent on day 1 of the semi. Being 16, she was also limited to 8 hours on set, so wasn't there for the final golden hours each day. It is a handicap, but a self imposed one!!

We exhibited our layouts at a local open day yesterday. It all went pretty well and we got to understand how to present the layouts and what guests like to see. We've got a few bits to finish off, but operationally both layouts behaved themselves. We have a couple of dates in the diary for next year but would welcome invitations to other shows. Please just have a look at our website

Apparently the Surprise Surprise theme came from the Channel 5 commissioning editor himself! It stumped us during our planning and had we made it through, planned to present magic tricks - all involving the layout. Quite how that would have worked with the way the demonstrations were orchestrated, I don't know, as we would have needed interaction with the judges and presenters to make it work.

Having chatted with Sarah the director and also production assistant Shannon, the shoot to show ratio was about 9-1 for the main cameras, plus all the mini cam and time lapse. Each director works with an editor on a single episode, deciding what stories to tell, concentrating on the winning team and any emerging problems or team strife that might occur. The rough edit will normally be longer than the requested programme length and will then be tightened up to fit. After that it will be colour graded and finalized so that it matches the other programs. Things can change even after the edit is finalized. In the programme introduction Kathy is shown discussing an infraction of the rules, but whichever episode this was from appears to have been re-edited and that scene removed. The late change in the rules seems to have led to all the layouts being less finished than the teams would have liked, which might be why the final judging put more emphasis on the 3 layouts as a whole. Disappointing I'm sure, but still massive congratulations to the winners and all involved.

Was it just me, or did the demos tonight feel really rushed? Looking at Kathy's photos, we missed loads of detail and seemed to concentrate as much on the previous layouts as we did on the ones just built. I feel the episode should have been at least 15 minutes longer, given there were 4 teams in the final.

It must have been so crowded and hot in there for the final, particularly when the rest of the layouts arrived. I'm looking through Kathy's photos now, as I find that gives a better representation of progress and some of the details the TV show misses.

I gather a box of goodies arrived from Bachmann... The series final was filmed in late June from memory.

Great final, well done teams! Railmen - Congratulations, worthy victors HCR - I have to say, I thought your layouts looked the best! Team Grantham - I wish you had managed to finish the layout, it had great potential Rail Riders - Some great little cameos and big builds, just a shame it didn't work as a whole layout so well.

I think it's fair to say that that the time change probably hasn't worked as well as they would have hoped. Hopefully it won't affect the chances of a 3rd series. Really looking forward to the final

I thought it might be nice to see what's happened to the layouts from the 2 series. I know some are being exhibited, some have found new homes and some have been broken up and recycled. I'll start the ball rolling... Team Muddle and Go Nowhere have loaned theirs to a local model shop in Grantham and he's rented extra space so that they can both be displayed. He's also putting out some feelers to see if there's any interest in setting up model railway club in the town. If this goes ahead, we'll donate the layouts to the club.

Yes, Maddie was chatting to us about them during filming. Did we prefer the MDF or plywood boards? The MDF ones we got are lasting OK. They've stayed niced and flat and they've not fallen apart yet!

We had access to a certain amount of Bachmann product, but nothing much from the others you mention.

Hi All. Team Muddle and Go Nowhere's GMRC layouts will be on display at Rocket Railways this Saturday, complete with Chris's wonky chimney and and my gaffa taped road surface... We'll be there from about 9.30 - 4.30 and it would be great to see you all. Come and poke fun, pass comment or just watch us trying to get the trains to run... Address is Rocket Railways Unit 6 The Old Maltings Springfield Road Grantham NG31 7BG There will also be an extensive range of 2nd hand stock and track for sale, as well as a limited amount of new Hornby Models. Subject to space we hope to have some other attractions including some other gauges running. Free entry and donation box to local charity.

Hi All. Our layouts will be on display at Rocket Railways this Saturday, complete with Chris's wonky chimney and and my gaffa taped road surface. We'll be there from about 9.30 - 4.30 and it would be great to see you all. Come and poke fun, pass comment or just watch us trying to get the trains to run... Address is Rocket Railways Unit 6 The Old Maltings Springfield Road Grantham NG31 7BG

I thought it was a real shame they didn't show the war memorial, as I thought that was an excellent piece of work. I think the audience would have thought it was a much closer thing if they'd seen it. (And yes, you should have done the grounded boiler )

I think this shot summarises the crew quite well. Chilled, friendly and professional. We really enjoyed making the show and would love to compete again. To come effectively 4th in the semis - if you you look at the points, was gratifying for us and we would have loved to have gone through, but rules is rules and we wish the finalists all the best with no ill humour. We'll be playing with the layouts at the Rocket Railways open day in Grantham on Saturday. The address is The Old Maltings, Springfield Road, Grantham NG31 7BG. We should be open 9-5, coffee dependant...

I like that! BTTF was one of the ideas we submitted - Full western scene, train wreck - maybe even a flying loco... Would that count as a pre-build??

From what I gather, there's 2 sorts of adhesive. One that gets stronger over time and the other that weakens. A good quality tape from LeMark will remain well adhered and won't fall apart for quite a long time - I have some covering baseboard joints that's been down 20 years. Acrylics work pretty well onto the matte tapes and even the shiny stuff we had to use on the Challenge was OK, although we did have some drying issues. For the roadway, I would have preferred a Fablon type "sticky back plastic", but I didn't have time to get any and had the tape in stock at home. This would not be my approach for a home or exhibition layout, where I would have filled the road surface back to level, painted it grey and weathered it. There simply wasn't time to do this on the show though. Team Grantham had the better approach with their roadway - thicker wire and some thick card over the top. As this was our first time using the Faller kit, it was a learning curve for us, but the end result was good

Let's not start a Gaffa tape debate... Chris and I both worked in AV / TV and occasional film production and have laid many, many miles of the stuff over the years! I brought a 6" wide roll of Gaffa tape with me to do the roadway, as the texture is perfect for Faller road vehicles and it takes paint with a bit of patience. Unfortunately I mislaid it and never saw it again, so had to use the emergency backup 2" wide roll instead. Once we'd weathered the road it actually looked pretty good. Just a shame Kathy caught us struggling!!

At least you didn't have to do any filmed running...

...and did you need to return the train afterwards?? I do think that Hornby and Bachmann are missing a trick here. Rather than us all ordering whatever they have in stock (And I think between the teams we probably cleaned Hornby out of Scarab Sentinels) why don't they supply some of their pre-production stock to showcase what will be available by the time the show goes out?

We were quite careful about that, as quite honestly the dark and twisted sense of humour pervading from some of our team would probably have had us ejected from the show...

Actually, this is Matt, the team captain... Professor Yaffle is Chris! And yes, looking forward to bringing the layout. If you are free this Saturday, they are on display at Rocket Railways in Grantham from 09.00 - 17.00.

Correct! Had we had a little more time, it would have had red wheels and some German transfers. Yes, we found a number of models of the trains during our research. If we'd built this for the heat, we would have modelled more of the structures, including a representation of the Peterborough sugar works as a backdrop to the Goldeneye train, along with the Zorin quarry from A View to a Kill. In the semi. there just isn't time to build as much as you would like on the day!