David Holman

Got my RM yesterday and very impressive their model is too. Would not look out of place in a museum.

To the above I would definitely add the following: 1. Start small - a branch line terminus or small through station can easily be incorporated into a later, larger layout. 2. The above will certainly cost you less and with the limited amount of Irish stuff available RTR, you will have a better chance of getting something that looks and runs well in a reasonable length of time. 3. Minimum 90cm radius curves will always look better than set track, right angle bends 4. From a visual and operational point of view, trains need to be able to run 3 times their own length on the scenic part of the layout, to look 'right'. No worries with 20x10 then, but build accordingly. 5. Checkout the Modelling Irish Railways book, some interesting ideas in there 6. Why not consider 21mm gauge, or at the very least, EM gauge and finer profile track. For all the practicalities of 16.5mm, nothing sets an Irish layout better than broad gauge - though if you are heavily committed re stock, then appreciate the issues.

At the risk of incurring the wrath of the purists - scale colour, indeed ANY colour, is a personal thing. Indeed, there is a less well known fact that blokes tend to lose the ability to match colour as they get older anyway, favouring the blue spectrum ahead of the yellow. Hence real implications for perception of shades of green. Women, on the other hand keep their colour perception into their dotage, which is another reason why they tend to dress better and moan at us when we don't! The moral of the story might be to seek help from the fair sex, particularly where green is concerned. At least there are only 40 shades. Grey, it seems is even more complex.

Likewise a big fan of the Chagford fireman. He has the ability to make believe what he describes is achievable by everyone. Amusing too. His layout design books are some of my all time favourites - Finescale in Small Spaces and Light Railwsys especially. My own absolute essentials are: The Art of Weathering by Martyn Welch, essential for getting colour right and applicable to the whole layout, not just stock. Landscape Modelling by Barry Norman, the instigator of modern scenic techniques Both tree books by Gordon Gravett ,plus his new book on grass, roads and mud. Builds perfectly on the above and the best 25 quid you can spend this year. If you can get them, John Ahern's books on buildings and locos from the 1950s cover all the basics and are still very useful today, while Geoff Holts two books on loco building and David Jenkinson's one carriages make these challenging topics very achievable.

One very impressive piece of work. Really interesting to see how it developed too! VERY well done.

Thanks for the merging BosKonay, am guessing I stick to the same thread in future. A bit slow, but I get there in the end. Bit of a butterfly mind too... Re the grass, Barl, 'tis incredibly easy if you possess one of the wonderful static grass machines. Whether the cheap, tea strainer one [Freezinghall Models], or of the more expensive type, they are the poodles' privates for scenic work. Mine cost me £75, but has been worth every penny. Also use the Noch puffer bottles too, which are great for tight spaces. My local model club invested in one & is be loaned out. Nice idea if you don't want to splash out yourself.

Thank you again for the kind words. No idea re the moderator thing, advice anyone? Must admit to being pleased with the pictures. Believe me I am not expert, though an eye for composition perhaps helps. I mainly use a fifty quid Nikon Coolpix, set on auto and lowest resolution for the website. Only adaptation comes from using the Microsoft Works 'crop' tool in the photo editing bit. The other thing is to mostly go for low angle shots, putting myself on the same plane as if looking at the real thing. This can really help hide stuff you do not want seen and improve overall perspective. Taking pics is also like doing a proof read of your modelling. Sometimes they show up stuff that really needs improving, other times you can get a nice surprise. Guess which ones I share! 25 years doing fine scale modelling, mainly in 7mm scale has helped me gain the skills I now use. However, there is so much fine stuff available commercially now That I really do feel it is well within anyone's ability to produce an effective layout. For me it I'd the scenics that can make all the difference and what I do is very much thanks to the writings of John Ahern, Barry Norman, Iain Rice, Martyn Welch, Tony Hill and Gordon Gravett. They have done all the hard work and then shared how they achieved it. Am wary of repeating what they do, but will try to put something on Workbench to show my interpretation of it

I did my wagons from the drawings on our website, though still fret from time to time over how accurate the underframes are... However, well done with your efforts thus far, especially the brown van - built on commercial underframes I presume? In 4mm scale, others may correct me, but the Ratio wagon chassis was always a good starting point, especially if you change the wheels for something closer to scale [and better running]. Given that many of the so called Irish RTR wagons look to me like re-branded BR ones, a bit of scratchbuilding and kit bashing is the way to go if you want greater accuracy. One day perhaps, someone will write a book on Irish wagons, like the many which exist for English railways - preferably with lots of scale plans & clear photos. If so, I will be first in the queue to buy one!

There's an interesting thought... If I remember rightly Z is 6.3mm gauge, so using N track [9mm] in Z scale would equate to around... too much, probably. Shame as am sure diesels in particular might be adaptable. At the other end of the scale have often consider 1:48 [American O gauge] as 32mm track would be very close to 5' 3" and EM track [18mm] spot on for 3' narrow gauge. Wheels then become an issue though. Like most things on the Irish scene, a degree of compromise and scrathbuilding is essential.

The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed a change in the backscene on the middle board. I'm not quite sure what was wrong with it, but the view was certainly too flat, with not enough perspective to give the scene depth. The latter is a real issue with 7mm scale layouts, for if you stick to around 60-75cm baseboard depth, it leaves very little room for anything outside the railway fence. Hence a backscene of some sort is essential in my view. Backboards on Arigna Town are integral with the baseboards, so as I became more disgruntled with the middle view of the layout, realised something had to be done. In one of my occasional fits of enthusiasm out came the white emulsion and the whole lot was blocked out to start again. Not exactly easy with some scenery now in place, but a few days of neck and arm ache later, the new scene is in place. As before, most of the painting is with acrylics [cheap tubes sold in The Works], plus felt pens for some of the details. Hopefully the view looks more typical of the area being modelled & I made regular reference to my 1:50 000 map to do so. It will however necessitate a further change in that to have the Arigna mountain area behind the station, its orientation has had to be turned 180 degrees. Hence will have to re-draw the maps and indeed re-engineer the line to come from Dromahair, south through Drumkeeran and down the west side of Lough Allen. Before and after picture below:

Have tried to follow my own advice in last week's blog by returning to the 'little and often' approach. The problem I have with scenic work is that the first application [on top of previously bare boards] seems to make such a difference, that I either then try and go on to do too much, or think it is ok and don't need to do any more. In the first case, it definitely helps to let paint, glue etc dry [seems obvious but have far too many of those t-shirts in the drawer], while for the second, a return visit, even an hour later soon shows how much still needs doing. When applying ground cover, you only have to look at nature to see how varied everything is. Hence my scenic work is built up in layers. The basic sequence is: - scatter foam on a bed of PVA glue, then wet with water/dilute PVA and apply a layer of static grass straight on top. - this is when it pays to wait for things to dry! - after out with the postiche/scenic matting and spray lacquer to add layers of weeds, brambles etc - alternatively, use the static grass for a second layer - additional detailing then comes by planting previously made nettles [horse hair dipped in crumb], dry grass etc These last few jobs can be done quite quickly and are very satisfying in terms of seeing things build up. Beware over doing though! Equally, a trim with the scissors can soon restore order. Hope you like these latest pictures. The 'end' board is now nearing completion, though every time I go back to it, the list seems to get longer - mainly in terms of stuff still needed for the garage. Am hoping a shopping trip to the Reading Trade Fair in December will help.

While some way from being finished yet, I very much hope the layout will make its debut at the Chatham show, at Gilingham leisure centre in June next year. Assuming all goes well, will then be open to invites. Main tasks still to be done are 50% of scenics, a triple armed signal, display boards/fascia, plus another small tank and a few more wagons. Reading that makes me sometimes wonder if I am on schedule, but hey winter approaches which is very much the modelling season.

Have always used car body filler. A bit smelly, but goes off fairly quickly and is easier to mix than Milliput. Sands and files well too.

Wrong size, shame! Though am sure the majority will appreciate the 4mm. Think the bread containers will be on the back burner for now. Will cast some more GN vans and also do a couple of semis, plus a horse box. By then the fiddle yard will be full, so have to be choosy.

Pierre is a fighter pilot. And French. One day, he takes his girl friend, Fifi on a picnic and after they have eaten, the settle down for a cuddle. Kiss me Pierre, she says. Pierre responds but first pours red wine on her mouth. Pierre! what are you doing? He replies - I am Pierre the fighter pilot, and when I kiss your lips, I must have the rich red wine to compliment them. Soon, Fifi's top comes off, but to her surprise, before kissing her bosom, he pours half a bottle of chardonnay over her. Pierre!! What are you doing? I am Pierre the fighter pilot and when I kiss the soft mounds of your bosom I must have this fine chardonnay to go with it. Things progress and Fifi huskily requests Pierre to 'kiss her down there' Pierre responds by pulling down her knickers, pouring brandy on her muff and setting fire to it PIERRE, what are you doing????? I am Pierre the fighter pilot and when I go down, I go down in flames! Easily expandable and best done in a suitable accent. Must be one of the best ever.

Two thoughts: 1. why the feck would anyone EVER want to move from such a paradise 2 what on earth are they moving to - as it would have to be even better

In SE England, it has been half term week, which for a consultant primary school advisor [ex headteacher to boot] like me means some welcome down time. That said, I'm semi-retired these days, so try my best not to work too hard/often anyway. So, an opportunity to get some serious modelling time in... However, things did not go entirely to plan - probably because I tried to do too much, in too many areas & ended up being less satisfied with my efforts than my usual 'little and often' approach. The moral of this little story is that you can have too much of a good thing and that building a model railway should definitely not be a race - even if you are working to an approximate deadline. Work quality suffers and satisfaction levels fall. It also reminds me of one of my modelling rules - namely 'stop while you are winning'. so many times, I have found myself trying to do one more job at the end of a session, only for it to fail, with much language unbecoming of a headteacher, though actually, as a profession, I have found we are pretty good at profanities, though never in front of the children of course. Hence I now regularly remind myself that if a particular task is not complete, then it is better to leave it for another day. Nevertheless, procrastination is the thief of time, it is said, and what certainly does work for me is to try and get in an hour or so of modelling at least 4 or 5 days a week. If not, it is very easy for a week or more to go by with nothing getting done & it then becomes ever harder to start again. The antidote should this happen, is for me, to either dig out a kit, or do a bit of research. Happily, the extensive resources of this website are a fine source of inspiration. Enough of this wittering! There are books to be read, websites to visit and a glass of Bordeaux awaits.

Humbling comments chaps. You certainly know how to make someone feel good! The white, corrugated building started life as a dairy, believe it or not, but there wasn't enough room for it on the previous layout. However, you are right, it is Wills sheets, the corrugated asbestos version, which to my eye look fine in 7mm scale. The provide the overlap of sheets much better than Slaters. The building is now serving as the Arigna Town Miners Welfare... The barn is also all Wills sheet, on a card formers. The stonework is used all over the layout and is marginally easier to paint that brickwork. The trick with the corrugated roofs is to run dirty thinners into the gullies and when dry, dry brush the ridges with a lighter shade of the top colour. See Martyn Welch bible for details. Meanwhile, have become unhappy with the back scene behind the goods yard, middle board, so that has been painted out, pending a mark two (or maybe mark 3) attempt. Will keep you posted.

Have been working my way along the layout, towards the station, from the fiddle yard. A couple more trees done and much fun experimenting with the electrostatic grass tool. 6mm fibres mainly, but also judicious use of postiche [artist's hair], spray lacquer and fine crumb. Have had to adjust the colours on the backscene as the trees did not match the colour of the Woodlands scenic matting I used for the foliage. Still more work needed here as the colours are still probably too bright.

Here are a couple of pictures I promised, showing how the use of an electrostatic grass tool can enhance a rubberised horse hair hedge. The first is showing bare 6mm fibres, the second after a spray with beige paint. Good possibilities for a winter hedge methinks.

No varnish Mr P - whatever the powders are made of, they stick quite well without it. Am sure the process of roughing up the surface keeps the particles in the crevices and most is brushed off anyway. Doubt if it will stand up to a lot of handling, but my fiddle yard is a full train turntable, so shouldn't be a problem [i hope!]

Good stuff! Always a positive when trains not only look good, but run well too. By no means a given, in my experience, so well done.

Very nice, though a further enhancement is described by Gordon Gravett which uses an electrostatic grass tool to put 6mm fibres on to the rubberised horsehair, then spray brown/grey, before then adding the fine crumb. The fibres are great for hawthorn, gorse or any thorny or fine branched hedging. Dead simple and very effective. Will put up some photos at the weekend.

If I hadn't been committed to SLNCR, I would certainly be having a go at the T&C. Argadeen has long been one of my favourites and roadside tramways are another. Add in the ability to run a C class diesel and it becomes almost irresistible. One day...

Thanks - Sprinks album is my bible, while have five cattle vans to date, all scratch built. Are yours 4mm or 7mm? Mine are the latter. Bread wagons currently on hold as may not have room in the fiddle yard. One day though...