Scalefour Forum

jim s-w wrote: I hope we don't go down the route of inviting a guest layout for the sake of it.

The style of the layout is similar to others but the reasons for inviting the layout were to do with presentation, lighting effects, a modified automatic coupling and smooth operation as well as fine model making. All of those qualities are of course present in other layouts and in the last 10 years we have had some of them at Scaleforum both in P4 and in other scales/gauges. We have not always had a guest layout and what happens in the future will not be my call.

Terry Bendall

I regret to announce that GW Models will not be at Scaleforum. George Watts is now unable to drive himself to exhibitions and he has not been able to find someone to bring him to Scaleforum so will not be present.

Our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

Terry Bendall

oh dear .... bang goes my chance to have a look at the options for the rivet press - shame

Le Corbusier wrote:oh dear .... bang goes my chance to have a look at the options for the rivet press

Perhaps there is a kind person who has one and could bring it to the show for Tim to look at.

Terry Bendall

Hi Guys
If you've read the Scaleforum addition of Snooze, you should realise that I will be manning one of the demonstrations covering, it claims, Loco Construction. Perhaps it should have said "Steam" Loco Construction. While I have built a few which I am tolerably proud of, and I'm quite happy to discuss my kitchen table and machine tool free approach to metal bashing the bodies (so long as somebody provides some sort of kit), regular readers will know it the chassis and how its suspended that really floats my boat (well I'm not as young as I was), so I will happily address any questions about supersession systems and their implications for loco performance. What you get will be, of course, my opinions, and if you insist the glimpse of a spread sheet or two. Being my opinions, it is entirely possible you or I will find others in the hall that take a different view, but this isn't Brexit so there should be no need to fall out about it.

Most of all it would be good to meet and chat live with people I have trade post with on this forum, so please don't hesitate to stop by and introduce yourselves. I would also ask, me being better at modelling than remembering name and faces, (which isn't claiming much for my modelling skills), pleased don't be too upset If I should know who you are but apparently don't.

Le Corbusier wrote:oh dear .... bang goes my chance to have a look at the options for the rivet press - shame

Tim,

I'm taking mine out of the "Heavy Metal" drawer of my modelling bureau right now... Come and find me/it on the Society Stand over the weekend.

Cheers
Paul Willis
Deputy Chairman

Flymo748 wrote:

Le Corbusier wrote:oh dear .... bang goes my chance to have a look at the options for the rivet press - shame

Tim,

I'm taking mine out of the "Heavy Metal" drawer of my modelling bureau right now... Come and find me/it on the Society Stand over the weekend.

Cheers
Paul Willis
Deputy Chairman

Terry Bendall wrote:

jim s-w wrote: I hope we don't go down the route of inviting a guest layout for the sake of it.

The style of the layout is similar to others but the reasons for inviting the layout were to do with presentation, lighting effects, a modified automatic coupling and smooth operation as well as fine model making. All of those qualities are of course present in other layouts and in the last 10 years we have had some of them at Scaleforum both in P4 and in other scales/gauges. We have not always had a guest layout and what happens in the future will not be my call.

Terry Bendall

Good model-making is good model-making in any scale or gauge, and is always worth studying, even if the subject is the North Hebridean Light Railway. I was looking forward to seeing Shelfie 2, but maybe another time (maybe Railex, Mr Bigcheeseplant?).

I have always found the guest layout at Scaleforum a welcome addition to the mix of layouts at this event . I hope the new Scaleforum team may continue to invite a good example each year, whether 2mm, 3mm, 00, EM, S, or 7mm scale. (And let's not dismiss a layout out-of-hand just because the track is not built to allegedly 'finescale' standards.)

I am still looking forward to this weekend, as always.

Hi Martin

I didn’t say it wasn’t a good model. It’s just that the previous guest layouts I’ve most enjoyed tend to bring something quite a bit different to what’s already at the show or that we usually see.

Cheers

Jim

Well that was very relaxed. Not many people and plenty of space to roam around.

Actually the Bring 'n Buy was quite a thing, interesting items on offer (including some lucky sod who walked off with two Exactoscale C10 point kits, 60 quid the pair, and a big RG4 for forty quid) and levels of queuing not seen since the glorious days of the Communist era.

Burntisland keeps getting better each time I see it, but the sheer scale of Balcombe, God Almighty:

Not sure what the collective term for a carload of P4 modellers is, but whatever it is, it will be heading up to Aylesbury tomorrow.

Balcombe does hit you with its size. I was pleased to note that Rod was happier towards the end of the day than he was at opening. What I like about Balcombe is that a 10 coach train can be lost in the landscape. I remember seeing Chiltern Green as a child at the Bristol Show, with its sense of a railway in the scenery. That is what you get with Balcombe.

I have not seen Burntisland for years. Its shear size is impressive. The 'action' pieces should make a couple of TV judges bow down in worship. I especially liked the coal tipper at the end the harbour and the ferry bridge is magical.

However for shear impression, I must admit that Splot took it for me. The internal details was just something else, the pump house, the offices and rolling mill were lovely vignettes. It reminded me of driving past Allied Steel and Wire in Cardiff, and the tin-plate works in Ebbw Vale My two suggestions for the layout are: 1. a greyer tinge to the lighting because it should look like it is raining, or it has rained, or it is about to rain, and 2. a John Raymond Transport going across the bridge, these artics are as synonymous with South Wales as Eddie Stobart's trucks were to the M6, or Dukes Transport for Northern Ireland.

Great Show, many thanks Terry, for the memories that will keep me going until I can next get over from Ireland.

regards

philip-griffiths wrote:Balcombe does hit you with its size. I was pleased to note that Rod was happier towards the end of the day than he was at opening. What I like about Balcombe is that a 10 coach train can be lost in the landscape. I remember seeing Chiltern Green as a child at the Bristol Show, with its sense of a railway in the scenery. That is what you get with Balcombe.

regards

Thanks for that Philip, and good to talk to you after many years. Yes, we were a bit disenchanted early on but by the end things were much better. The floor at Aylesbury is definitely not flat, and one or two visitors reckoned some of the underfloor springs had gone. But looking forward to a calmer day tomorrow.

Cheers, Rod

It was a cracking show and Balcombe will be outstanding as it nears completion. Unfortunately when I saw it Rod was fighting to get the dcc operating, so I didn't get to see it being operated. Teething problems on the first day of a show are not unusual and it doesn't detract from the standard of modelling. I have been down and up the Brighton line a number of times after the Christ Hospital to Shoreham link was closed by Dr Beeching. I thought that Splott was a bit blue and I had difficulty in seeing some of the detail.

Phil.

Bring 'n Buy yesterday. See if you can identify yourself in this scrum, taken minutes after Japan defeated Ireland in the Rugby World Cup....

I had a cracking day there yesterday.

The Radio Control chaps were incredibly helpful and I learnt a lot from them as I too have standardised on the Deltang system. Never knew that my BT wifi router could interfere with it though which answered one of my hopefully not-too-naive questions. Thankyou Ted Scannell and colleague.

The Bring'N Buy was hectic, but they then separated the queue to pay into two - cash and card. Two visits lessened my wallet by £120! But several traders seemed to have problems doing card payments which made me happy that I'd brought cash for all my pre-ordered purchases.

No box shifters for those hoping to find bargains but this can only help direct spend towards the specialists on whom we rely.

Slight downside - last year, after a bit of badgering, they did finally slot in odd chairs and tables around the hall for us who need a brief rest and to pack our purchases. Not so evident this year. And it did seem a bit more spacious to me. But this did make me go upstairs to the viewing area to eat my lunch which then produced the bonus of realising the delight and expanse of Balcombe Viaduct.

But once again thanks to the Scalefour team for putting on another excellent show. A 200 mile round car trip for me but well worth it.

decauville1126 wrote:Slight downside - last year, after a bit of badgering, they did finally slot in odd chairs and tables around the hall for us who need a brief rest and to pack our purchases. Not so evident this year.

There were at least three tables, though not all in the same place. One provided a good long-distance, realistic and rather effective horizontal view of the viaduct.

I very much regret failing to get to the show as there were many things I was really looking forward to. I do hope that everyone who made it had a great time and found it profitable in all senses. I'm sure a huge vote of thanks is due to all those who were involved in any way.
Roll on 2020!

decauville1126 wrote:....Bring'N Buy was hectic, but they then separated the queue to pay into two - cash and card.

I can't say that this made things move noticeably quicker. I had twenty minutes standing in line. Glaciers melt faster these days.

.... several traders seemed to have problems doing card payments ....

Only High Level had a problem with the card reader; Chris was a rabbit of negative euphoria.

The lack of a box shifter was fine by me, but it looked like a major tool supplier was missing - no Tools2000 or Squires. Didn't see Hobby Holidays either.

The other missing style of trade noticed was scenery, but what/who were there more than covered my needs.

I really enjoyed the weekend, so thanks to the organisers and entertainers! I think the common crossing & switch blade workshops were brilliant - and having seen the feedback on here that some people prefer the skills days concept over the exhibition concept I was surprised they weren't over subscribed - maybe some people just like to moan?!

Decent mix of layout types/sizes/eras/geographical locations.

Footfall did seem light, but hopefully this was partially an illusion of the layout allowing space to move/talk on the way around.

I may be a little biased (well, actually a lot biased!) but congratulations to the “Burntisland”team for winning the Ken York Trophy.
Congratulations also to Lindsay Galloway et al (particularly Lindsay) for his vision and implementation of the building of the roundhouse and works, which won the Eileen’s Emporium prize
Jim P

Horsetan: Hobby Holidays was definitely there, as was Eileen’s, both with plenty of kit

Just back home from another great Scaleforum.

Firstly, thanks to Terry and the team for putting so much effort into a great show. Certainly on my go to list of shows (even if I were not exhibiting there with a society stand).

The selection of layouts was great and varied. The trade met my needs (which this year mostly amounted to books rather than anything else as Bill Hudson Books had a box load of cheap books (always lethal!)).

Thanks to all those who came by the DEMU stand and spoke to Natalie, Peter (Saturday), Richard (Sunday) and myself. Now I really must get back to putting together the next UPDate!

Now for a much needed cuppa tea, hot water bottle for my back and rest.

Phil was certainly there with Hobby Holidays. There were some wonderful layouts this year, but Burntisland was my favourite, not least because it presented me with some very nice long shots which often don’t come off. Although I haven’t looked at them yet on a big screen!

Congratulations to Terry, too, for a fitting conclusion to his decade as organiser. I have enjoyed his tenure these past years and it is nice to enjoy organisation that seems to work without having to work at it! I could not think of a more fitting recipient of the Unsung Hero award. So thanks Terry, and enjoy going back to modelling!

Philip

An enjoyable show. Arrived just gone 10:30 left just before closing time.
I ended up doing lots of talking and shopping, but no impulse buys this year.
Good work by Terry.

Gordon A

I also enjoyed the show. Thanks to all those who stopped by for a chat at my ‘tarting up tat demo’ (as someone lovingly titled it for me!)

Thanks to Terry and his team for all their work over the years.