Jaz avalley

It was an excellent build, I like the harmony of colour, with the building reflecting the green and yellow tones, and the grey and white reflecting a true building, you should have cut the tip of a cocktail stick for the lightening rod, excellent show layout, you made a eye catching scene with little hardware, often this can lead to it looking a bit sparse but track to front and well executed old road looked exactly like a sleepy hollow. lovely scene. Perfect for a show model,quick to pack,not so many bits that light fingered people think they can appropriate some of the detailing.

We bought sound stuff from him as well as other kit, and if asked he will express his opinion both good and bad about his own product, not many people are so honest. We have dealt with him at fairs or in the phone, but not been to a fair for a few years, he also has a good sense of humour, my other half (we are a husband and wife pair of modellers, he is electronics back ground so asks quite technical questions at which point I usually go look at a stand lol) and he have had a number of chats over the pros and cons of product.

I prefer a straight answer, so do not see it as rude, often people bend over backwards trying to be nice ‘ not nasty, and never spit out what they actually mean, sometime even criticism sets you up to improve, or at least evaluate what is important to you.

Well thought out, sorry the comment is against something earlier, but your approach is not something I have seen previously, and I love innovation

Cobbles Cut with a metal ruler and scalpel,I needed the ground to drop but the area was flat so I cut in a false slope making the cobbles look lifted when actually the same height different levels of growth reference and the model the gate the menu board 94780C1D-238B-4FBA-B774-AB773C8D3BD2.MOV Lol I was just looking at the Goathland reference photo and noticed a couple of bald on top heads, I think that needs modelling, anyone wanting to offer reference need only throw up a picture…..lol.

Goathland luckily I have access to loads of reference pictures

I am a bit of a cheap skate on the sly, despite spending loads on buildings and rolling stock, if I can buy cheap and modify it for pennies I will. I needed a large wall,a load of cobbles,I wanted some stairs,and tried a couple of mediums when I looked at left over insulation, and found it easy to carve, and then it made making water features a bonus. Plasterboard was too crumbly insulation board was a great find

Thank you very much for the positive comments, I really appreciate it,and it really encourages me to post, so you only have yourselves to blame.

I have water, big and small all over my layout more a Ford than a river you cannot beat a reflection windmill by a Bachman ; water by Jaz the yacht is European, the boat a gift as it was battered still water, ripples,waves, if it is water I’ll give it a go ripples catch the light like real life adding a lot to the look white washed waves, I rarely do it but I think I photoshopped the bottom of the boat to stop it floating. I prefer honey coloured varnish for large expanses imitate real life better dark,green,brown,honey, rarely blue i over egged the white on the waterfall, I keep meaning to go add more ‘water’ to lessen the effect reflection as usually captured as low angles, and when photographing a keep wipe with a damp sponge removes pesky dust, and adds a nice thin sheet of real water enhancing the overall water effect an early piece, with paper lily leaves, and tissue lily flower heads, I keep meaning to do it, but I have seen small tin foil fishes added into the water layers giving excellent effects, I often use a cocktail stick (to not waste a brush) and drag white through the water in the direction of flow, moorhens geese swans were a white metal set. wash day, old tea towels cut to size, pasty is eyeing the German shepherd with some concern I can do a how I did mine, hell you’ll probably have to tie me down on a track and run a loco over me to stop me….grins.

Excellent reference photograph screaming to be modelled, I adore water features, I am liking the climbing plant on the pub wall,I think that deserves ‘stealing’ coughs copying,

Cont’d it needed some rails, evergreen plastics supplied a solution photographed to avoid the clunky oh so not a kaddee lol. sunlight on the boiler. I really must sort out a driver as it cannot drive itself. I just noticed the round porthole windows I did paint white trimmed are not as noticeable as I would like, sometime I’ll thicken it a little. I was probably concentrating on sone other detail at the time and did not realise. and I should sort a decal for the livery as well.

I have some old cheap ‘toy’ trains and was looking into what they were based on, some Hornby trains lineage are questionable to say the list. but with sone help from people on another forum I managed to find a suitable match for this little baby, which led to an upgrade Cont’d nice reference photo

Old photo, loco as from box,not SR but on track I have some older running stock, but to be fair it does not often see the light of day, have a love affair with A4s but do not update them these are old pictures. There are plenty of others.

A tree different thickness wires modelling medium DAS clay in this instance I wanted an old beech, the really old ones end up with exposed roots a foam support helped colouring the tree and the earth adding the age appropriate moss, generally grows on one side but on older trees can have some all around fauna and flora a nice beef steak fungi, a weasel, higher up a birds nest and more birds, may as well go whole hog I went for spring to not block the view, and I went for the largest beech that I knew of but a hundred plus tree does kind of look BIG. still I enjoyed the process and it is on the layout just not in a prominent position finer copper bendable posable modelling a foam base to push into a reference picture or two

I like vanilla, straight up modelling, as realistic as possible, but I also have a kids view, and so try to add some very tongue in cheek moment, and I can happily admire someone else layout that does not conform to me personal modelling, my brother likes his layout old school as it was in his childhood no trees no people no cars just a round and round and perhaps a wagon at the back with sone cat food to amuse him and the cat, he always makes me laugh when I see it, European modelling can be very realistic but often it is more plasticky less weathering and very careful,do I admire it he’ll yes, do I want to emulate it , not so much. A person with a small layout and a lot of time can aspire to home made track, and highly detailed locos and scratchbuild of the highest level, a person with a larger track may need to stick to peco 70 and admit itthe bigger you go the less high detail you’ll have time for. I often have people praise me heartedly over many of my buildings on how close they are to the real thing,and I hold my hand up and admit I buy resin made Hornby Skaledale or Bachman, sometimes I weather them at least to sone degree but plenty are just plonk and play. I do scratchbuild, but usually only when I really want something I just cannot buy, and that is not always a building. to date I have not bough any 3D people either but not because I won’t I just haven’t go around to it. But a tree, a person, even a dog, if there is no way I can buy just what I want then I roll up my sleeves and have a go. Copper leftoversmodelling medium which is bendable allows me to pose the animal and once enough layers a paint job

Forums often give great advice on the locos,the wagons,any of the rolling stock,they pop up pictures old and knew but they forget about the paraphernalia of life,and even it’s time line. When it is appropriate for something to be in view. The locos often ran well after their era, moving through main line stations to a preservation station or overseas visitors, any number of p,aced lovingly brings back to life rolling stock of a bygone era, and it is often quite easy to know when these eras are just by asking. But telephone boxes, post boxes,dustbins,pig bins, plastic bags, skips, the type of bicycle, lamp posts, road markings and signs, post office vehicles, policemen, this can be harder to spot, and those items are worthy of a little love and attention, if they are out of context do not despair age them and create a rubbish pile, do not hammer them too much in case you change you mind and wish they were pristine again. the box telephone and post box could date sone years ago,but the bin and the cars in the distance instantly give it away. look at the figures at this distance there are no features. sometimes we feel compelled to add detail not required. older cars,older bins older telephone box and post office box but there is no shadow in the posting area, the post box is lifeless some white dabbed for light reflections some dirt in the creases, run water finely then touch with dirty water,thinned black so as it dries most dries in the crevices just like dirt and real rain thr hole for the post box painted black, instantly there is more realism, you can do this when cleaning your brushes from another job, the snow on the floor and on top of the telephone box and post box add a season, not much just a touch, and if you do not like it a small decorating brush can remove it again, I use grated insulation, but be careful if you have breathing issues as the dust is fine,and I warn you if you have natural light it turns yellow over a few months. But I did mine for Christmas then tidied it back up.

Nowadays you can get 3D printed figures, but the prices are still high,and we all have old stock not of such high quality,as and when we can we replace them with better stuff,but with so much cost,and even time you need some tricks or quick fixes to sort them out. I have a load of the cheap Chinese figured bought when you could get 100 for £3 pounds uk, those days are long gone, but I had time to make improvements some better than others. Even in those figures sone were better than others, I liked those that could stand without support,easy to move. facial features are pretty poor, but to be honest if you look at pictures with figures not in the foreground you don’t see much in reallife either,so you just need careful placement, or turn them to best advantage when closer,and sometimes the back is the best choice! The colognes and hair on these was the worst offenders in my opinion so that is what I aimed to improve, and if I accidentally over egged the amount of paint, I just waited for it to dry and pushed back with paint from the other direction, stress over these is not worth the aggro. looking at photos I plumped for jeans, I painted the parts I knew I would not paint well first, the t shirts so knowing I would spill onto the jackets, I paint the t shirts let them dry,paint the jackets, I painted the boys jacket pale blue then crisps crossed darker paint once dry to give the impression of a pattern. I avoid shine on figures at all costs, never used enamels always acrylics and often as you were not matching liveries or weathering on rolling stock cheap discounted at after Xmas kids paints did the trick. I improved the hair, not meticulously just enough to do, and as I have natural I did not need to paint in any highlights but had I wished to do so adding a little white to the colour and touching a Shoulder or a knee, BUT you must touch the whole group on the same side for this highlighting to work,if the ‘light’ comes from all different angles it looks wrong. if in doubt just don’t highlight even electric bulbs offer a little naturally, do not high light hair on models this size it is not likely to go well. bach left I added shoes laces, and bumper toes, and I coloured all the cats,now best to not put these close together as who walks around with cats. Unless they are stuffed cats as prizes from a fun fair,plenty of people have circuses,fun fairs etc so then you can mix and match but even so the three exact fire groups are best not placed together. for this Scooby doo scene they are an audience not main characters so I see just their backs and the cat issue then is not even an issue. k in this party scene,placing them at a different angle helps a little but putting them in the mix away from each other helps more.. You may notice a lot of these figures are side on,because in my opinion that is how I get the best out of those figures. As mentioned good faces,good hair,good stances,good arm gestures then use those for prime spots for photography. Always hide the supports, even if tacky wax,if you can. If possible use photographs for reference, and never ever paint blondes yellow,blondes are pale beige. yes Iknow I broke my own rule,but on Scooby do the cartoon his hair was pretty yellow. rules can be broken lol. Here the side on just shows off the nose, the texture of the jacket, and the shoes, always look to get best features into a photo if you can. those motorbikes are poor and later I updated those. looking at the last picture, I always look for what is the worst feature and try to improve it,doing this often leads to removal or improvement, it is not about the best features it is usually about the worst features. A few reference photos, a quick paint, I chose acrylic but as the motorbike was a vehicle enamel would have been ok, I also turned the motorbike to it best angle

To get the best photographs on your layout, the most important factor is getting the camera lens at a height similar to a model within the layout, if the camera views the layout how we view the world, you are already do the most important thing to give a realistic picture. the second is to avoid placement of any items that are obviously plastic ‘toys’ because they scream model, weathering of all items in a photohraph should be worthy of upgrading in order to achieve a realistic look this close up shows the wheels with mouldings, the lack of a pedal, the lack of detail in itself is a give away A little less focus in the foreground can help, sonething in the distance that passes muster when focused on as not too close for sharp scrutiny helps,our brain knows the detail that should be there,and if you’re carour brains will automatically fill that expectation, choice of focus placement is a valuable weapon. fyi I have no figures in my passenger coaches so photographing at this angle does not give this away. I have velux windows that let in natural light and thus shadows, natural ilks a valuable source also,this can be manipulated through light bulbs or a directional lamp but with more difficulty, real light if possible is a valuable aid, the reason so many modellers get oi defects when they do a small in the garden photograph with real trees real sky able to make the best of anything that helps get the right look. Figures are an important feature also I will discuss them later as they are worthy of a whole chapter on best placement, you can get away with cheap Chinese figures with appalling faces you just need to find their best feature and use it, or at least their worst feature and hide it!

Wagons roll

Someone already said it, but I wholeheartedly agree a light weathering like this is a serious upgrade,they photograph much better,the whole toy model look has gone, and photographed with the clunky connectors out of sight these will totally look the part, excel,ent upgrade. I do not upgrade to kadees on all my stock either, yes it looks better but it gets so tedious.I just use the better upgrades for close ups. Well worth popping a dirty load in that bucket,some Ballast and PVA glue can dry out making the load look like wet ballast, excellent upgrade. apologies for poor typing edited to correct

Nice upgrade, they look much nicer on the layout with figures onboard rather than ghost vehicles, I particularly like the effort on the doors, great upgrade.

bridging the divide On the layout

His coat screams model close up but set back a little he blends quite nicely,he needs a white dot on his eye I need to look into that.

Before I return to railway stock I’ll try to avoid making a donkey of myself Ii like the figures of my animals to blend in and enhance the layout