Journey to the Centre of the Attic

I hate going into our loft. After we cleared out the garage, any chance I had of putting a layout up there went out the window.  I also hit my head, and, worst of all, is coming down the ladder with anything in your hands.

And I'm sure there is a reason why Issy needs so many boxes of Xmas decorations, half of which always go back up there, unused.

But I braved it today, in search of various 4mm items from the stalled pre-move East Coast-based layout idea. It is amazing what you forget you have stashed away. In this instance, unfortunately, much of it is of limited use, for now. But some of the other things I've found are going to make life easier, and provide most of what I'll need for the fiddleyard board  I've got a couple of key scenic decisions to make, which will impact the track plan.   I'm wondering about their visual aspect, because I want to keep the scene minimalist whilst hinting at what is off-scene. I also really want to avoid using a bridge as a scenic break. 

Which brings me back to Dark Hall Halt. 

And THAT bridge.

I don't know why it has become such a blocker for me, so to speak.

It isn't going to be 100% accurate, whatever I do, and I know I could get away with using a combination of the Scalescenes and Lcut parts. But I keep overthinking it, whilst at the same time struggling to keep my mental model of it in focus. There is one other factor. I've got to deal with the Mosslanda shelf's limited width whilst giving the illusion that the path to the platform descends from the road over the bridge. In my head, I can't quite visualise how I do that. I'm beginning to think it could mean increasing the slight skew of the real bridge to make it more extreme in the model. That means playing around with a lot of 3D geometry, but I think it's the way to go. At 3am this morning, I had to remind myself that I can just build a card carcass and throw it in the bin if it doesn't work. But it also means I wish I hadn't cut panels off the Lcut plategirders. 

Whilst all that is going on, in the real world I'm trying to design a qualification and online course for a client, and having pretty much the same problem in a different way. How to lead people into a model, and help them quickly see connections.

Meanwhile, the garden now looks very different, having had a mature tree felled. Needless to say, the tree surgeons seem unaware of how expensive LGB track is....

Anyway, next week I'm paying a flying visit to Chris Stockdale, the doyen of 7/8ths scale, to pick up my James Hilton Ruston.

A Tale of Two Books

I've been on the road for the last couple of days.  I returned to my old haunts around Pimlico, revisiting the offices where I worked for The Met, as well as two of the pubs we frequented, both now very different, but nothing to complain about and good ales available.

The real reason for my visit was the Lee Miller exhibition at Tate Britain.  On a dreary Monday, it was absolutely packed, despite the £20 admission fee. That is probably because some of us would have paid twice as much to see it. I really recommend you go, even if you have no interest in photography. I've known her work for forty-odd years, but seeing some of the original prints was still an education, and the exhibition adds a lot to both the story of her life and the development of her art. It is also very harrowing in parts.

Then it was off to Milton Keynes to an industry conference, and a chance to meet up with many old friends from around the world at the awards dinner. I had to pay the price for my late night because I was one of the speakers the next morning.  

So, where is this going?

On the way down to London, I finally got a chance to read the first issue of Ribbons. I really enjoyed it, though I suspect it will bemuse quite a few modellers if they were to pick it up at random. There was something about it that reminded me of issues 0 and 1 of MRJ. Part of that enjoyment, and the connection to MRJ, came from the photography. daring to be different, and the articles not being blow-by-blow accounts of construction.

On my way home, I got a chance to read the other book. Not exactly for the first time, since I was one of the authors and the soft book launch took place at the conference.

Let us just say they are very different books. 

The Morpeth Arms.
Once the hang-out of spies.
Now they've turned that into a marketing ploy.

 

Don't you hate models of narrowboats that aren't the correct length?

In my romantic youth, Rodin's The Kiss was under the Rotunda. Epstein's work is incredible - but it isn't on the same level  

The calm before the storm. I'm glad to say Akshay and I presented to a full house.

There is something about the Up view at Stoke station

Hitting the Bottle

I'm a Knottie, born in North Staffordshire, who has returned to the roots I spent years running away from.

My wife knew virtually nothing about the area until we moved here to be closer to my mother, who now lives with us.

But we love the place, the people, well, most of them apart from the flag shaggers, and the countryside.

And if you love the history of the place, then you have to love the bottle kilns. Though being pedantic, there is a difference between bottle kilns and bottle ovens.

We are building up a small collection of them, but our current favourite is this one, made by Chris Twigg.

It does an incredible job of capturing the reality of how the survivors now look.

Could it become a feature on a layout? It could, but it won't.

It is hard to convey the emotional heft to something like this. It might be best to let Chris tell you himself.

Little Things.

 No prizes for guessing who I have been shopping with.

Their usual impeccable service means I got a box full of goodies that are key to progress on the various N gauge projects. Nothing major, but those things that would be hard to source or build without their range. Various types of fencing, a backscene, and scenic textures that are a perfect match for what I need. 

It is just one of those small family businesses I love dealing with.