Second childhood (or extended first?)

[Dorsetmike]

OK this question was raised on another forum; How many of us will admit to what some might look upon as "childish pursuits".

One of the more obvious (being my interest) is possibly having a Model Railway, or being known as a Railway Modeller - AKA playing trains; where does one draw the line between Modeller and train player, that has been argued almost continuously on modelling fora.

My contention is that the true modeller builds as much as possible with his own hands, track, locos and roling stock and all the scenic work. The player with trains builds it all with his cheque book and/or credit card. I would think that those who model aircraft, boats and cars will probably have similar outlooks.

What other pursuits have "mature" follow ups? And what about the ladies - collecting dolls?
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[teddy]

I want to go back to flying model aircraft. A childhood pursuit. Touble is most of the kits are snap together or you have to work just from plans. Not quite ready for that yet.

teddy

 

[JHC]

Mike, I did not make my own track or points but I did weather all tracks and add cant, locos were from kit sets (Farish mostly) I did not have the means of making white metal castings but it was easy to modify the stock body’s, making the loco chassis would have been beyond me let alone the wheels also I used transfers for Loco and stock detailing. I did a few buildings and things such as coaling plants and platforms etc from scratch but with the ‘brick paper’ and all the other aids it made sense to me to use them, btw I modelled ‘N’ gauge I think in ‘O’ or ‘HO’ it would be more feasible pity the ‘Z’ gaugers eh.
The thing that interested me the most was doing the research to get the lay out historical right, (I did the last years of LMS – 1946 to be exact) and the actual construction of the layout, this is going to sound odd but I did not work it often is that sad?

 

[Dorsetmike]

Like you Colin I do draw the line at making my own track, life's too short, some of my locos are almost "out of the box" with a few added details, I have also made a few from brass but using a proprietary chassis; in a few cases I have made my own transfers (decals) where the ones i wanted were not commercially available, also I don't have white metal casting facilities, these days there are enough "cottage industries" making bits and pieces. Buildings I do mostly use "raw materials" card, plastic and paper, trees and bushes made from "trees" sold on chinese Ebay shops.

Some of these are fron Kits, but most I design, print and cut myself, the cutting is made easier by using a Plotter Cutter, imagine one of the plotters used for CAD drawings etc, replace the pen with a knife.

(click on images to enlarge)





Sod's law comes into effect now though, with selling this house and moving to a flat, there won't be room for all of it, so need to decide what goes and what stays.

 

[teddy]

Liked the space saving ideas you e mailed me Mike. I think I mentioned my friend how ran the track around the room on a ledge. A lift out section bridged the door and a fold up board provided a shunting yard.

Teddy

 

[Dorsetmike]

Teddy, knowing your liking for the Welsh narrow gauge railways , were you aware that you can get models of some of those, in 00/4mm:1' scale but running on 9 mm track gauge, this linked one is not Welsh, but should give you an idea of what is possible (albeit a bit big for the living room!

http://www.wimrail.org.uk/tvr.html

Scroll down for photo tour.

 

[JHC]

Liked the space saving ideas you e mailed me Mike. I think I mentioned my friend how ran the track around the room on a ledge. A lift out section bridged the door and a fold up board provided a shunting yard.

Teddy

I had the same lay out plan the hinge idea is OK in theory but requires great accuracy and complicated connections

 

[Dorsetmike]

I once had a loft layout where the loft hatch was near the centre of the loft, so was able to have an uninterrupted run with no lift out or hinged bits.

I'm currently ripping out my layout prior to moving from this house to a flat; hopefully I can find space to still have a layout, but it will either have to be a long narrow end to end along a wall or a fold away plan; various ideas spring to mind, a tall, deep box which is made to look like a cupboard where the "door" hinges down to a horizontal position to reveal the layout on the inside of the door; alternatively a similar idea but with a long shallower box again disguised as a piece of furniture mounted over a cupboard, the cupboard doors provide support for the layout when it is hinged down, I prefer the second method provided there is sufficient wall space.

 

[JHC]

Heck Mike, you could run tracks in every room the choices are extensive keep us informed. what is your present lay out plan I assume it is 'N' gauge what is it based on?

 

[teddy]

Thats an interesting site Mike. I would love to do some modelling based on the Talyllyn Railway, and they have some interesting models on their shop site. Have a look and see what you think.

teddy

 

[teddy]

Any news (or pics) of your layout Mike

teddy

 

[Dorsetmike]

I finally moved at the end of March, so been here just over 8 months, the flat is small, but I was lucky enough to get a 2 bedroom one in a retirement block. The second bedroom is now the railway room and a layout is "under construction". Just under 10' long and 2'6" wide, with a small extension at the right hand end making an "L" shape. With 2 work desks/benches and a large cupboard to hold all the associated tools, materials and "might come in handy one day" stuff there's just enough room for two people, three if they're very friendly.



Some progress shots;1/ two inch thick Celotex foam (light weight, easy to work, quite firm) covered with cork tiles, with foam cut for incline to second level ;2/ figuring out what track to put where, an oval on the base level useful for running in new locos or just watching the trains go round with an incline up to a second level with a terminus station, goods yard, and loco depot;3&4/ adding a backscene before I do any scenic work in the main area (saves knocking chimneys off etc when leaning over to work at the back) The "L" extension is out of pics 2&4 to bottom right and is known as a "Fiddle yard" where one can hold trains after running or ready for their next run, also change locos and/or other stock.

 

[teddy]

Nice work Mike. Just shows what you can do even with limited space. In answer to your original question I believe that a modeller spends as much time, if not more, and gets as much enjoyment from the making, as from the using.

teddy