maq1988

I'll reach out to Grange and Hodder. Thankfully I think my requirements are quite simple - two boards 1200x900 and another board 800x900. Making a total run of 3200 x 900 with the smallest board in the middle. I feel my current baseboards aren't good enough and it's putting a stop for me continuing.

For those who use Woodland Scenic risers (something I'd forgot existed as I wouldn't use the inclines), how do you go about baseboard joins? My normal method is copper clad sleepers either side of the join. What do you do? If you use copper clad how do you attach it to the foam to stop it from moving? I normally pin mine. Also - given Tim seems to have more than enough on his plate does anyone know of other similar baseboard manufacturers? I'd rather not go for traditional softwood runners as I've always found these to never really align neatly. Martin

I'll send over a quick email. I've not fully decided on the positions of the trackwork just yet apart from I know I'll have the 1 foot wide storage area at the rear. It's only a basic scene of trains running through countryside so a nice gentle sweep, no stations to mess with.

I wasn't sure what to search for or where to post, so please move / point out any threads similar. I'm not good at carpentry and I've been looking at getting some laser cut baseboards for my N gauge layout. I've already got some home-made boards but they aren't great. One thing I'd like is the track work to be elevated by a decent amount (3 inches) above the natural flat top of the boards. How are people achieving this with laser cut boards and getting the trackbed joins at the right heights throughout and at joins. My current efforts is a thin ply trackbed on 3' risers but it's not quite as precise as I'd like. I've not found any 'riser kits' that are laser cut. (Quick edit: my boards are likely to be 2ft 6inches x 4ft and three boards in length. It's a chaser layout with a 1ft x 4ft space at the rear for the storage lines. I did wonder if getting some 1ft x 4ft boards to go on top of the 'base' layer and then cut some of those down to make the thinner trackbed in the remaining front (scenic) area. Seemed a bit wasteful) Martin

My desk doesn't make for the greatest photo background. Close ups do look a little cruel. From a foot away the body side text is almost impossible to read, I can't comment on how accurate the livery detailing is but it makes a nice addition to the collection.

I'd forgotten I had pre-ordered this. Oops. That'll be expensive. I hope that as the 'pre-order' isn't actually an order and more of an expression of interest that Dapol don't have the bottom fall out with people backing out at the last moment. Having a few hundred sitting around for a HST-P rake might not be realistic right now. (Although people shouldn't overstretch themselves for a model)

Thanks for the info, the cuts look really clean. Does the 2mm art board go through your silhouette cutter or was it all done by hand?

Hi Richard, The new 'lot' / industrial space looks much better. Can I ask what you are using as the main layers of your industrial units? Looks like it's thin MDF or very very thick card?

Code changes and content changes are different things. Content changes should be swift with little repercussions managed by some form of CRM, but the poster above spoke about code changes at an impressive 11.7 seconds per change. Code changes are back-end, and require more consideration. Don't get me wrong - I'm not disagreeing that RM shouldn't be selling a service they cannot deliver (lol), but at the same time things aren't as easy as some people hope. The world is full of things that shouldn't be. Gaugemaster was storing account passwords in a reversible ** format for years (at least 2011 to 2018, I don't delete emails) - if you did a password reset they sent you your actual password via email, that's bad web security practice 101 (seems now fixed on their new platform). I raised it as a security issue. I'm sure turning off a 'service' on Royal Mail is easy - but how long is that approval process? How far up the chain does it need to go? How long is testing and Q&A. How many people will be upset that it's no longer a service offered?. There are factors we don't know. Edit - ** I doubt it was even 'reversible', it could have just been plain text in a DB column

There is a reason Amazon has the largest online retail presence. Code changes are vetted. They have the single largest cloud platform in the world (AWS), okay it could be Google but they hide their numbers. You can't just make code changes for fun. If you take down a datacenter region because you've screwed up a router config or DNS change you'll be in trouble. Should RM be selling the service - no. Should they change it - yes. Are Post Offices struggling for multiple reasons - yes.

Twice I've shipped things privately with DPD in 'these times', both were picked up on time and arrived on time (next day in the UK). I've had multiple 8am drops also by DPD. I sent a model off somewhere with in the UK and Royal Mail delivered it on time (Monday sent - Wednesday arrived). Seems random. Most of the time I'm now waiting for shops to have staff / complete their back orders first. I'm waiting on C&L to send me some copper clad sleepers and some coaches from Ebay. I'll just find something else to work on.

Wow, I'd have thought it would be a lot higher than that. Have you designed all the 3D printed items yourself?

Wow, this is some great stuff. I hadn't realised 3D printing had come on quite so far. A nice little scene that fits together nicely - love the tin shack and the mill.

I think you do an excellent job on the YouTube videos, and for me, you explain things a lot better than a lot of 'tutorials' do. Your chosen era isn't my thing but it's the quality content that matters. Going back to some of your earlier videos you can clearly see the improvements in your skills over time.

I'm sure plenty of others have said - I've enjoyed finding your thread and spending some time reading through the layout development. What you've achieved with plasticard, glue and paint is astounding. Love the low track level shots of the already imposing retaining wall - topped by huge factories and the mill. Such scale created in such a small physical space. All that with the attention to detail like the workshop interior, cat on the roof and the cut down posts of the old canopy. Weathering seems spot on all around. Only 16 pages on here, one of the best layouts I've seen.

Indeed, walking work this morning it was nice and sunny - the daffodils were out. Blossom on some of the trees.

Show is a show, health is health - most important thing is the well-being of everyone. That's not just attendees at the show, traders, Ally Pally staff but also and those you've travelled around to get there. I for one would have two-hours on a train both ways. Hopefully the traders/public/exhibitors can avoid any major financial losses and layout owners can post some more pictures and progress of their layouts here online. Postponed?, cancelled? Either way It will be back.

I've been waiting for a re-run of the Blue/Grey for a while now to get a second set so this is welcome news. The EMR ex-LNER looks interesting, although I live nearish to the MML I've not seen one in this livery yet. Glad we get to keep the HSTs running a little longer

I also went years ago, that day there were a few layouts I think in that green shed in the first photo. My mate won a Bachmann locomotive in a raffle. There was also an old coach filled with books and old models for sale I think. Always good to see more pictures of the smaller / industrial locos and cranes / diggers

I'll add my name to the list of part-paid, waiting for final invoice. I assume that things have been quiet over Christmas / New Year and that final payments will be requested in the next few weeks.

Excellent selection of photos. Thank you for sharing them.

They should pick a prototype and go with that. At least 08 709 had a black roof at some point. I actually think this is the first photo I've found of a pair of Blue 08s together with black and non-black cab roofs. Anyway - that chat was from a few years ago. The EWS livery looks okay to me, although the red feels a little off. Maybe because I'm used to seeing it faded in photos. Hopefully someone can reproduce that and the peeled EWS lettering with some superb weathering.

I saw your comment on the Warley thread about attracting more visitors and I'll admit I'm one of those who stopped for a a little bit and went away. I didn't know that this layout had a thread on RMWeb and if I had saw it previously I certainly would have stopped and looked more closely. I often find that picking out detailing - such as the scenes in the background buildings are hard for me to see from afar, and so I miss them completely. Having the close up shots on here do make a difference and that's when I'd stop, look more closely and try and spot these things for myself. That's how I like to see layouts. I find trying to focus on layouts trying to spot things really difficult, especially when it's quite crowded. The fairly drab grey 'concrete' boxes may not appeal to everyone but to me it does feel like the representation of what I'd think a line passing through a city/town in China would be like. It's not all green hills and meadows. The video of the layout over in the Warley thread does an excellent job of showing the layout off.

Oh - don't be like me and forget to check the rest of the packing box for paperwork. Oops.