May I suggest a few topics that need fleshing out in the hope it kick starts a few threads here and there?
- Use of poster paints and backdrops, do's and dont's, making your own, curved backscenes versus flat etc. There must be someone here with an interest in landscape painting/photography who could add some thought?
- Lighting - There must be a sparks or a leccy engineer here who understands lux, luminaires, and can give tips on places to source affordable lighting to suit model railways etc.
- Scenery - tips on cheap and easy ways of customising lichen etc. to make bushes, sharp sand to make ballast etc. Again, Do's and Dont's rule the day.
- Layout operation in general - we all desire to have something operational, DCC or Hand of God. What do you do with it when it's "finished" [lol] the best way to maximise your enjoyment.
- Signals - Could somebody explain them, in a completely "idiots guide to signalling"?
- Layout planning - Facing crossovers and catch points - the terminology of the real thing still baffles me. Can we have a proper stickied thread so we can learn? And the things not to do?
- Papier Machier - Learned it 25 years ago, since forgotten. Can you still buy chicken wire, and where? General large landscaping too. Make and do type - Mary Fitzgerald please? Toilet Roll inserts at the ready....!
- Running Line Underlay - Necessary? Tedious? Cheap Alternatives? Discuss.
- Ballast - Cheap alternatives, weathering it, glueing the stuff down.
- Painting - people and small incidental objects that bring layouts to life, tips in general that may help the beginner
- LED's - polarity, sourcing, dimming, colours, wiring, and general layout lighting that's not for rolling stock.
- Free stuff - The internet is littered with it. If you've a source of stuff - buildings, signs, photos etc. post it up!
- Scratchbuilding thread - How to source excellent materials for sod all [happy to take this one up]
- Model Photography - How to get the best from the iPhone to the Canon EOS
- So Called Professional Materials - crappy do-all glues, fillers, dodgy spray paints, what to AVOID, rather than anything else.
- Experts on handling the perennial Mother In Law problem, perhaps with a penchant for leather gloves, bald head, 20/20 vision, and twin glocks. To be stickied beside the "Weedspray" thread=))
Richie