BG John

I agree with everything you say Simon. It's just that I wouldn't have started this layout if it was going to cost much. One of the reasons to build it is to practice with my new Silhouette Portrait, so I've got in mind using it to cut the infills. All the track components were drawn up in Inkscape or GIMP for the mockup, so it shouldn't be difficult. I'll probably do temporary infills using printed paper for now though. Much as I'd love a wagon turntable, I think it would end up too cramped if I tried to squeeze one in.

But all of my track cost about the same as two bits of yours without rail! Your salesmanship won't work with me . But I could reuse the rail with some of your track in future. Or use my Silhouette Portrait to cut the cobbles and solder it to widely spaced copper clad sleepers! And this is just somewhere to run my Terrier until the layout that doesn't need paved track is ready for it!

I'm hoping my K&ESR Terrier won't need anything at all done to it, except maybe change the couplings. My plan is that it's the only 7mm RTR loco I ever buy, and I become brilliant at scratchbuilding everything else I want! 7mm rolling stock kits are too expensive, so if I can't get them cheap on eBay, the plan is to scratchbuild that too! Of course what I plan, and what actually happens, may differ .

I'm not sure your 3D printing is compatible with my Low Cost objective!

I almost succumbed to a Hudswell Clarke while I'm waiting, but my self-control is still intact. They may have run on light railways, but not on the Kent & East Sussex, and I'd have to backdate it anyway, adding to my growing to-do list!

Presumably a lot of people do a Google search for "spears repers", as when I tried it it asked "Did you mean: spares repairs". So it may have been a clever bit of marketing. Or maybe not!!

That's only part of it. I inherited quite a variety from my Dad! They've now been removed, and what's underneath is exposed, but it's in a different part of the house to the camera.

The baseboard, with it's new covering of cork underlay, is currently being used to display part of my hammer collection. What's underneath will be revealed when the glue dries. Meanwhile, battle is being waged with a Chinese eBay seller, who sent the wrong linear bearings and only one of the two shafts I ordered for the fiddle yard. He's slowly starting to realise I won't give in without a fight!!!

Dave Jones and Hattons are obviously wasting their time and money

Oh well, I don't need to rush the baseboards I've just started then!

You had a dog called Mr T who could do concreting and tiling? I wish my waste of space was that useful

The layout is currently in my workshop, where I started building the fiddle yard board. I ordered the bits I need for the traverser last weekend, and had a delivery on Tuesday, but one bit was missing and other bits were the wrong size, despite the packaging saying they were the right size! The eBay seller is being a bit slow in dealing with it, so I need to get tough, and it's delaying construction. I stuck down half the cork underlay today though, and it's currently weighted down with my big box of power tools, and the box where I keep most of my supply of screws. Hopefully it won't be crushed under the weight! I should get the rest stuck down in the morning, and when the glue is set I might start track laying.

I don't really want a main line, just somewhere to run a few 4-4-0 saddle tanks. Although as I'd like to create a scene similar to the area around Nynehead boat lift (see page 3 of this PDF), maybe I'll need some!

Fortunately, my list is a bit more vague and can be achieved on a smaller scale. 40-47 years after adding them to the list, I'm working on, or towards, all of them with small/micro layouts: Broad gauge: Part built 4mm micro layout, but hardly any working locos or rolling stock yet Early 1900s GWR: Just cut the first bit of the baseboard for half an EM BLT, where I can run the stock that hasn't moved for years. You'll have to wait to see how half a BLT will actually work though!! Light railway (preferably Colonel Stephens): Waiting for the new Dapol K&ESR Terrier to arrive, and hoping it will be suitable for either 1905 or 1910, as those are the dates I've picked. I've got the track, a plan, and some rolling stock to get started, but I'm building an Inglenook micro layout first to dip my toe in the 7mm water. Narrow gauge: Some O-16.5 included in the micro layout mentioned above. I should get through that lot in the not too distant future, even if it's a few years, and my very long held ambitions will have been achieved. After that, my current inclination is a big 4mm Bristol & Exeter Railway broad gauge layout, but I'll have needed to master my Silhouette Portrait (or whatever comes along to replace it), to mass produce the locos and rolling stock for it. Which is what I'm starting to practice now.

Thanks. With five small/micro layouts in various stages of planning or building, I'm intending to use the same controllers on all of them, and don't want to buy more unless I really have to!

Does anyone know what current they will draw? Will I need an O gauge controller, or as they're pretty small, will a 4mm scale one do? I only have a Gaugemaster Combi at the moment. To start with, it won't be doing anything more strenuous than shunting two wagons.

If it ain't broke......... And my windows 7 ain't broke! I acquired my HP Color Laserjet on Freecycle because the previous owner couldn't get it to work with Windows 8. If there's even the slightest chance I might have to waste hours messing about trying to get it to work, or worse still, buy a new printer, I'm not risking it. It's one of my most important railway modelling tools!

Hattons have replied to say they're hoping to deliver Bodiam "towards the end of August but unfortunately we have not yet had notification from Dapol as to when these will arrive with us.". So maybe a bit optimistic.

I've just e-mailed Hattons to check when I need to have enough money in the bank, so I wonder what they'll say.

I was aware of the Stanley knife blade, but my stock of them are downstairs, out of one door and in another one, it was dark and wet last night, and all I had to hand was a craft knife with the blades you break bits off as they blunt, so I wasn't making it easy for myself! I've got as far as using red for cutting lines, and I'm not sure if there will be any scoring on this one. I want to keep it simple to start with, and just cut everything from one thickness of material, and not complicate it by scoring too. That will come later. I'm thinking about starting a "Me and my Silhouette" thread to document my progress from simple stuff to things that may prove to be way beyond my abilities. I have a loco scratchbuilding plan that starts with a new cab and other bits to convert a Hornby OO Smokey Joe to O-16.5, then progresses via a simple O gauge tram engine, some O gauge Colonel Stephens locos, and eventually arrives at a fleet of 4mm broad gauge locos. Plus rolling stock, buildings etc. My new Cheapside Yard layout is being built partly with the aim of practising on things where accuracy and detail aren't too important, as long as it looks neat and presentable, so I can get really proficient before moving onto the serious stuff. But maybe I'll get so carried away with building things I won't want to spend much time writing about it! Or maybe life will get in the way again!

I'd set it to "As-is", but it appears that "Centered" is also As-is, so that works. I hadn't got consistent measurement units, but I have now! DXF R14 is the only option. It defaulted to "use LWPOLYLINE type of line output", but that's what was adding the extra lines. Clearing this option solved the problem. I'd already followed your suggestion from ages ago to convert all objects to paths, but have just noticed that you also suggested using "Object --> Release Compound Path" in Silhouette Studio, but I didn't do that. Anyway, it worked, and I cut it on printer paper successfully. I noticed that the measurements on screen were slightly different in the DXF file than in the original in Inkscape, so printed it on the laser printer too to compare them. There's a very slight difference, but I'm not sure which one is most accurate. It's not easy getting the paper off the mat cleanly. I did some minor damage to the finer detail, but it doesn't matter for this as the finished version will be done with Plastikard. After following the on screen suggestion to set the blade to 2 and cutting the mat with my first test of the Portrait last night, this time I set it to 1 and it cut the paper cleanly without marking the mat. Thanks for your help.

Is aircon some sort of expensive, complicated replacement for a sunroof?

In recent weeks I've read all of this topic, played around with Inkscape, and pretty much understood it all. With my first attempt to do it for real, I'm now totally confused, and overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I'll have to wade through to find the answer. So, how does this: turn into this: Extra lines have appeared, it's miles off the page and several times larger than it should be!

Phew! That was a close one. I was just about to chop up the Nellie I bought on eBay to provide a cheap chassis. I've got a few surplus coaches, so I could make enough money to pay for decent wheels and a motor instead!

A month after it arrived, I've just set up my Portrait. The delay was due to starting on a layout to make things for with it, and I thought baseboards and track would be a bit much for it (or the results would be rather flimsy) . It went fairly well, but Windows 7 couldn't find the driver until I installed it manually. I cut a reduced version of the bike from the Library, and a couple of words of text, and they came out nicely. I used 90gsm printer paper, and set the blade to 2 as recommended for copy paper, but it's scored the mat. I assume that's not supposed to happen. I suppose it makes sense to start with a lower setting than recommended, and work up. It took a bit of patience, but it's amazing how the fine bike spokes came off the mat in one piece. I need to produce a drawing of something I can cut in Plastikard next.