Scalefour Forum

I have used artists’ acrylics for painting models of buildings on my layout (see my Burford Branch thread), but all my rolling stock is painted with enamels (mainly Humbrol, but also Precision, Revell or Railmatch in some cases). My understanding is that, whereas you can paint enamels over acrylics,...

On glancing through this thread again the other day, I noticed that several photos were still displaying upside down on the screen (even on a Lenovo PC). I have re-edited these, using ‘Paint’ (as recommended by Keith Norgrove) and I hope that I have finally corrected all the shots that were the wron...

I suspect that at Swindon Works there was a difference in the practices of the Locomotive Works and of the Carriage & Wagon Works. In the loco works, the standardisation of components was started by William Dean and continued and developed by his successors, so that many parts were interchangeab...

I think this has always been pretty widespread in industry, and also in the construction industry. (Getting builders to follow the architect's drawings in detail and with complete accuracy is like trying to herd cats!) Many years ago, I was involved (as a very junior assistant) in some litigation in...

My efforts in the construction of this bridge pale into insignificance compared with the massive retaining wall and bridge abutment that my good friend Karl Crowther built on his Hebble Vale Goods layout, and which he described in MRJ 247. I agree that the small size of the Wills scenic sheets is a ...

Thanks, Doug, for that encouragement. Over the years, I have used various methods for cutting Wills scenic sheets, but in the case of this model I have used only a Stanley trimming knife (with a sharp blade, changing the blade when necessary). I cut from the back of the sheet against a heavy steel s...

While the ‘lockdown’ drags on, I have continued to make slow progress on the bridge. The complexities of this structure, with its buttresses, pilasters and parapets has made this a time-consuming project. My attention in the past two weeks has been concentrated on the Up side of the bridge, first ad...

On the subject of the black lining on the beading, I applied this with a Rotring pen, using Rotring black ink. IMG_6223 (4w B3rd).JPG This is the early 1920s livery, so no brown line (and hence slightly off-thread). Incidentally, I would enthusiastically add my endorsement of Mikkel Klartjens' 'Fart...

My own choice in both these cases would be to leave out these very thin lines. [But I am notoriously cavalier in my attitude towards scale accuracy and very fine detail. My excuse is that my models are "only an artist's impression".] Incidentally, the problem of the thin brown line on GWR ...

Andy should theoretically add a very thin brown line around the insides of the cream panels in this period, but it would be so thin in 4mm scale that it would be extremely tricky to do (unless it is overscale, in which case it might be better omitted). It is the sort of detail whose absence, if it w...

By the time I posted the last set of photos of the bridge, I was beginning to get a bit bored with this model. So I took a week off and indulged in some armchair modelling instead (mainly browsing through old model magazines). After this short break, I got on with adding the stone facing to the Up s...

The second arch was formed in a different way from the main arch, due to its narrower radius. I decided to stick formers across the arch in this case, rather than longitudinally. The formers were cut to the same radius as the underside of the voussoirs on the faces of the arch, plus a slight allowan...

Before moving on with further work on the stone facing of the bridge, I decided that I really must sort out a few design details that had not previously been resolved, such as the precise height of the bridge parapets, how far they should extend at the end of the bridge nearest the front of the base...

Further progress on the bridge has included adding the piers, buttresses or pilasters (whatever you prefer to call them) on either side of the main arch on the Downward face of the bridge and at the point where the approach to the bridge turns through an angle, plus filling in the facing stone at th...

It was only after I had posted the two photos above that I realised that the oil lamp tops were out of true. A quick tweak with the fingers was enough to sort this out. I haven't photographed this correction, but those of you who may have noticed the fault can rest assured that it has now been remed...

A couple of weeks ago, I was bemoaning the fact that my castings for oil lamp pots were now out of reach, so that the loco crew mess hut (a grounded broad gauge coach body) would have to remain uncompleted until I could eventually retrieve these castings, when the current lockdown is relaxed. Paul T...

There would only have been a single dolly covering egress from both the converging sidings. Yes. That is the arrangement I have planned for Burford . Just one ground disc for exit from the yard, which applies to both the converging sidings. Incidentally, the point lever that selects which of the tw...

I was able to grab a moment to take a quick photo sooner than I had expected. IMG_6130.JPG I can't for the life of me remember why I put a staple into the track bed over the end of one of the timbers. Perhaps I should dig this out. A lengthened timber was originally fitted in order to mount a ground...

I found this thread. It seems to have hit a dead end. Has anyone modelled one? https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/89871-all-in-one-bodmins-turnout-and-double-catch-point/ Yes. I have traps built to exactly the same arrangement on my Burford layout. They protect exit to the main line...

Before adding further facing stone to the Down side of the bridge, I decided first to add the voussoirs to the other face of the main arch, and to insert the soffit (or intrados) of the arch. I had originally intended to use vacuum-formed brick sheet for the underside of the arch, but decided instea...

In the past couple of days, I have begun to make further progress on the overline bridge (after a gap of four and a half years – which is all too typical of my model-making). This is what the carcass of the bridge looked like in October 2015 (although photos of this part of the project were not post...

While I was completing the loco crew hut, my wife took the opportunity to build the Yard Office kit that came free with the January 2020 issue of Railway Modeller . IMG_6070.JPG It was not a particularly easy model to build, due its design, and the thin plastic from which it was moulded. Holding the...

Rummaging around under the layout a week ago, I found this essential tool, which had somehow got buried under a pile of assorted debris and detritus. With its help, I was able to complete the model of the loco crew mess hut seen here (a grounded Broad Gauge coach body). IMG_6057.JPG I had fun buildi...

Plan B The present situation has rather mucked up plans for moving the layout to its new home. The situation when the Coronavirus crisis broke out was that the layout, shorn of buildings, and with electrical controls and baseboard fascia removed, was awaiting final dismantling and removal from its ...

If the government's advice is followed (as it should be) it looks as though all meetings and events up to the end of June at the earliest will have to be cancelled. The government has not called for such cancellations, but if people heed the latest government advice, no-one will turn up at any event...