Category Archives: research

A noughties Bachmann Makeover

An introduction to a makeover I’m giving to a Bachmann BR Standard Class 5. The model dates from the early noughties, and still holds its own today. The overall accuracy is excellent, the shape and core dimensions are all there … Continue reading

Posted in Bachmann, blog, British Rail, Conversion, DC, DCC, dcc sound, Eastern Region, finescale, heljan, HO, ho scale, hobbies, Hobby, Inspiration, journey, justdoit, life, man cave, mansplaining, Midland Region, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, OO, OO Gauge, planning, railroad, railway, realism, repair, research, scale modelling, Scottish Region, shelfie, skill, Southern Region, toy train, train set, Uncategorized, Western Region, youtube | 2 Comments

Transformation Tuesday Engaged!…

Yep, I’m N gauged! This won’t come as a surprise to some readers, as I’ve worked in N gauge previously. A good few years back I built Collier Street which featured in Railway Modeller This was built from a plan … Continue reading

Posted in Bachmann, blog, BR Blue, Branch Line, British Rail, Cameo, Cameo layout, D&E, DC, DCC, finescale, hobbies, Hobby, Hornby, Inspiration, layout design, man cave, model, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, n gauge, OO Gauge, railroad, railway, realism, research, scale modelling, seventies, shelf layout, shelfie, toy train, transformation tuesday, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Art of Railway Modelling, James Hilton (Book Review)

The Art of Railway Modelling £18.50 Wild Swan Books Ltd ISBN 9 781912 038558 The Art of Railway Modelling” by James Hilton is a very different look at the captivating world of railway modelling. James, an experienced modeller himself, shares … Continue reading

Posted in accurascale, americana, Art, art reference, artist, Bachmann, baseboards, blogging, book, book review, Cameo, Cameo layout, DC, DCC, Exhibition, finescale, freelance, HO, ho scale, Hobby, Industrial, Inspiration, Layout, layout design, life, model, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, n gauge, Narrow Gauge, O Gauge, o scale, OO Gauge, OO9, peco, planning, railroad, railway, Rapido Trains, realism, reference, research, review, scale modelling, shelf layout, track, track plans, TT Gauge, Uncategorized, united kingdom, wild swan | 1 Comment

Wordless Wednesday (The Wheat Sheaf)

Posted in america, americana, Bachmann, baseboards, blogger, Cameo, Cameo layout, canada, Canadian, canadian national, canadian pacific, dcc sound, decals, Eighties, exactrail, Exhibition, free-mo, fremo, HO, ho scale, hobbies, Hobby, Industrial, Layout, layout design, man cave, maple river, media, model, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, n gauge, Narrow Gauge, O Gauge, o scale, OO, peco, railroad, railway, Rapido Trains, research, scale modelling, shelfie, shelfie4, test, toy train, train show, TT Gauge, usa, wordless wednesday | Leave a comment

Motivation Monday, Take me to the River

So the motivation today was checking out yesterday’s application of the AK Interactive Atlantic Blue onto a test piece of plastic sheet. The luminosity above is caused by the light falling on the wet acrylic gel medium. It dried well … Continue reading

Posted in accurascale, ak interactive, Art, Bachmann, baseboards, blog, Cameo, Cameo layout, canada, canadian national, canadian pacific, DC, DCC, dcc sound, heljan, HO, ho scale, hobbies, Hobby, Inspiration, justdoit, Layout, layout design, LED, LED Lighting, man cave, mancave, maple river, model, model photography, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, monday motivation, motivation monday, n gauge, Narrow Gauge, O Gauge, o scale, OO, OO Gauge, peco, Rapido Trains, realism, research, review, scale, scale modelling, scenery, shelf layout, shelfie, shelfie4, the river, toy train, train set, TT Gauge, Uncategorized, youtube | 2 Comments

Shelfie 4, The River

No, I haven’t gone all Springsteen, not that there’d be anything wrong with that, but the river in question is Maple River, the layout title and water feature on Shelfie 4. On this riverside shelf layout I want to try … Continue reading

Posted in ak interactive, barmouth junction, baseboards, blog, Cameo, Cameo layout, canada, canadian national, canadian pacific, DCC, dcc sound, Eighties, Exhibition, fall, finescale, HO, ho scale, hobbies, Hobby, iain rice, Ian Futers, Industrial, Inspiration, justdoit, Layout, layout design, LED Lighting, man cave, mancave, model, model photography, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, n gauge, Narrow Gauge, news, O Gauge, o scale, OO, OO Gauge, OO9, penmaenpool, planning, railroad, railway, realism, research, review, scale, scale modelling, scenery, shelfie, shelfie4, the river, toy train, train set, TT Gauge, Uncategorized, youtube | Leave a comment

Motivation Monday, Mindheim’s Musing

I don’t need to mention the current (October 22), cost of living rises in the UK to anyone. If you’re awake you’ll be all too aware of the impact of Brexit, Ukraine etc etc on national and world economic and … Continue reading

Posted in accurascale, america, americana, Bachmann, baseboards, blog, Branch Line, British Rail, Cameo, Cameo layout, canada, DC, DCC, dcc sound, Exhibition, finescale, freelance, fremo module, gouge, Hattons, heljan, ho scale, hobbies, Hobby, Hornby, ikea, Industrial, inglenook, Inspiration, Layout, layout design, man cave, man-cave, model, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, monday motivation, motivation monday, n gauge, Narrow Gauge, O Gauge, o scale, OO, OO Gauge, OO9, peco, peco bullhead, Peco TT, railroad, railway, Rapido Trains, Ratio, realism, research, scale modelling, shelf layout, shelfie, skill, toy train, train set, TT, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Motivation Monday, Iain Rice, Influencer

This weekend the hobby lost one of its greatest influencers, Iain Rice. So why might that be a motivation? Well Iain was a prolific writer and modeller across the hobby, not only here in the UK but its fair to … Continue reading

Posted in accurascale, Bachmann, blog, British Rail, Cameo, Cameo layout, DC, DCC, Eighties, epitaph, finescale, heljan, hero, history, ho scale, hobbies, Hobby, iain rice, Inspiration, Layout, layout design, life, man cave, media, model, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, Modelu, monday motivation, motivation monday, n gauge, Narrow Gauge, news, O Gauge, o scale, obituary, OO, peco, prototype, railroad, railway, Railway Modeller, realism, research, scale, scale modelling, scaleforum, shelfie, skill, toy train, track, track plans, TT Gauge, Uncategorized, wild swan | 4 Comments

Lost Diesels, Lost Lines (Review)

In a, ‘Does what it says on the tin’ kind of way, this book pretty much does that. This is a new Transport Treasury album that covers diesels that are withdrawn, and closed lines, so this book is very much … Continue reading

Posted in b&w, black and white, blog, book, book review, Branch Line, British Rail, Cameo, Cameo layout, Eastern Region, finescale, great britain, Great Western, history, hobbies, Hobby, Inspiration, Layout, layout design, library, life, LMS, LNER, man cave, media, Midland Region, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, n gauge, new release, O Gauge, o scale, OO, OO Gauge, Photography, product news, prototype, railroad, railway, reading, reference, research, review, Scottish Region, Southern Region, throwback thursday, TT, TT Gauge, Uncategorized, Wales, Western Region | Leave a comment

Unashamedly product plugging!

Yup it’s a product plug! Due for imminent release, a new layout design book from James Hilton and published by Wild Swan! I’ve been fortunate enough to have a content preview and if you follow James’ work, this blog, Geoff … Continue reading

Posted in america, americana, baseboards, blogger, book, book review, Branch Line, British Rail, Cameo, Cameo layout, canada, DC, DCC, Eighties, Exhibition, finescale, freelance, HO, ho scale, Hobby, iain rice, Ian Futers, Inspiration, Layout, layout design, library, media, model, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, n gauge, Narrow Gauge, new release, news, O Gauge, o scale, OO, OO Gauge, OO9, planning, product news, prototype, railroad, railway, reading, research, scale modelling, Toy trains, track plans, TT Gauge, Uncategorized, wild swan | 11 Comments