Does anything change?

[James Spooner]

I think you make a good point there.

I'm very much a scratch builder. (Mainly because I can't afford RTR and they don't make what I want).

That said I am happy to admit my scratch building isn't very good and certainly not up to the standard of RTR. But does that matter?

The key thing is that what I do makes me happy. I find it fun and relaxing. In a chaotic world of stressful job, endless DIY, social life, family etc it is nice to have something that provides some distraction and has a calming effect.

That said although scratch building locos is calming. Building baseboards and wiring layouts I find really annoying.... But I enjoy running trains.

So why, for example, should we judge someone for buying RTR stock and track if what makes them happy is building scenery to run through? I don't think we should.

We seem to hold ourselves and others to an undefined standard of high fidelity.... And only by achieving such standards do we gain happiness And by doing so do we apply pressure where there is no need?

I believe that everyone who partakes in this hobby are welcome to do so in which ever way suits them. The most successful modeller is the one who enjoys themselves the most and has the most fun.

George,

I would heartily endorse your comments. It’s all about enjoyment, relaxation and fun. In my project, I have set myself an objective to create a certain scene, based on a broad location and in an era. To achieve that end, I have had to make some elements, but others I have happily taken from RTR and adapted, simply because there are only so many hours in a day. My enjoyment comes from (ever so slowly, ‘cos I’m not the fastest worker!) working towards that objective (dream?). Keeps me happy and out of trouble anyway!

Nigel

 

[76043]

I'm currently putting together some stock for a forthcoming EM layout. I've looked at what is available on the RTR market and realised I simply don't have the time left to make it, so why not get a leg up from RTR? Those Hornby Gresley suburbans and Bachmann autotrailers just need new wheels, couplings and some weathering and are good to go. This saves me time I simply don't have and can concentrate on other areas.

I don't think I'd ever bother to scratchbuild stock for the same reason, no time. But I can do, I choose not to. As a former professional propmaker and architectural modelmaker, everything was scratchbuilt, it had to be. But why bother if it's available. Similarly my Dapol I gauge Pannier, Jinty and 08 may have their faults, but look really good to me.

Rule 1 always applies anyway.

Tony

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Coming back to the original point - as I see it in the UK, encouraging younger generations into the railway modelling hobby will always remain a 24/7 365 conundrum unless we are able change the perceived C19th-mid C20th mindset held within to alter the broader perception of our hobby to make it enticing for younger generations.

 

[LarryG]

I received neither encouragement nor discouragement in anything and made up my own mind. Maybe most of us do that.

 

[Herb Garden]

as someone who's fast approaching 30 eekkk...

I've been involved in model railways since well being brought home from the hospital , but i am 3rd generation railway modeler , my grandad liked railways and was of that generation that built everything , he wasn't the most prototypical and that didn't bother him at all , his triang fleet of 31s and 37s forever being striped and repainted into the latest liveries . he got his love from the gasworks outside his window and then the wcml from his back garden and his dad building the things 12" to the foot scale , so naturaly my dad got hooked on model railways and plastic kits in the 70s , but his younger brother , played with stuff and went spotting a bit etc, but has no real interest at all . and its the same thing with me , i am hooked , but my young brother is the same as my dads brother plays with a few bits he has and thats about it .

So i feel its just one of those things you either get it or you don't , but then tbh when i was small my dad worked in the model shop soo that may have helped .

But i too now frequent many shows both big and small as trade having worked in a model shop myself , and you do see lots of older guys and girls , and little kids with family's but you do see a fair few teens , not a majority but more than 2 but then please bear in mind that a local show in a school/church hall in a town may not be the easiest thing to get too when you cant drive and that for many will put them off .

And having that trade back ground ive dealt with a lot of railway modelers and just as in any aspect some are nice and others frankly you'd rather pee on a 3rd rail .

I've had all the snooty comments , you cant tell me anything i know more than you because i am older... and like wise ive seen traders act awfully with children , i forget who said it ..... but "children are the future" and if you don't play nice they wont be back . *yes i know who said it*

one of my fondest memorise from working in the shop was when after being berated by a customer for 20 minutes , because we hadn't received a part yet for a loco of his that was being repaired (this was less than a week of him giving us said loco) . a young lad walked in about 7 or 9 years old with his mum , as nicely and as politely as you could said that his diesel loco wasn't working , so i took a look at it 5 minutes and it was whizzing around our track , the smile and gratitude of that little lad made my day . I've seen him at a few of the local shows in the years since and to me that's what we want to see.


i don't think the hobby is in danger but maybe the hobby of old is and maybe the local shows in the next few years will be a thing of the past ,the yuff are active on social media , less so the railway toddelr or any other paper based mags .

James,

Your post has been a real positive uplift. As someone of the same generation I'm glad in a way that many of your experiences echo my own. I did find myself asking at points... "Is it just me?"

Glad to find it's not!

George

 

[Pencarrow]

Coming back to the original point - as I see it in the UK, encouraging younger generations into the railway modelling hobby will always remain a 24/7 365 conundrum unless we are able change the perceived C19th-mid C20th mindset held within to alter the broader perception of our hobby to make it enticing for younger generations.

I actually think that social media, and various personalities, have brought quite a few young folk into the hobby. I just think we don't see them as easily. There are some prolific modellers that have quite a following on YouTube and Facebook etc.

I don't always agree with some of what the influencer types are saying, or the daft stuff they do or say to get clicks and reactions, but I would argue the hobby is now more accessible than an arbitrary 10 or 20 years ago.

Anyone can sit with their phone or other device, type train or model railway or even, god forbid, GWR and instantly see a lot of stuff to inspire and educate*.



*especially if part of the former LSWR lines...

 

[Herb Garden]

I simply don't have the time left to make it,

I know that feeling, 2years and counting to research design and build one loco is my current personal best....

 

[Herb Garden]

inspire and educate*.



*especially if part of the former LSWR lines..

Errm inspiring? Surely then you meant the finest railway in the land then... The GER!

 

[Bagnall built]

James,

Your post has been a real positive uplift. As someone of the same generation I'm glad in a way that many of your experiences echo my own. I did find myself asking at points... "Is it just me?"

Glad to find it's not!

George

Glad someone found it similar , i was at a show 4 months ago , and spent a good hour with one lad not to much younger than me chatting about bodging and building late 60's units etc and was very refreshing . people do still build things but maybe not in the way some of the old guard and i say some not all , frown on as not proper modelling , but then we've never had it so good.

 

[simond]

George,

I would heartily endorse your comments. It’s all about enjoyment, relaxation and fun. In my project, I have set myself an objective to create a certain scene, based on a broad location and in an era. To achieve that end, I have had to make some elements, but others I have happily taken from RTR and adapted, simply because there are only so many hours in a day. My enjoyment comes from (ever so slowly, ‘cos I’m not the fastest worker!) working towards that objective (dream?). Keeps me happy and out of trouble anyway!

Nigel

fully agree. My long term project has been some twenty five years in the making, and might, maybe, if I’m lucky, be beginning to progress over building stock and the loco shed. If the planning permission goes through, and if I can find the right builder, and if the stars and planets align…

meanwhile, so far, it’s kept me happy and out of trouble, mostly!

 

[Jordan or Plymouth Mad]

I actually think that social media, and various personalities, have brought quite a few young folk into the hobby. I just think we don't see them as easily. There are some prolific modellers that have quite a following on YouTube and Facebook etc.

Not sure what got them into the hobby, but a couple of years ago at my local Club's Show a group of 4 or 5 teen lads were buying up loads of old/boxed Lima diesels, clearly with the intention of using them. Most encouraging, I thought.

 

[Herb Garden]

Not sure what got them into the hobby, but a couple of years ago at my local Club's Show a group of 4 or 5 teen lads were buying up loads of old/boxed Lima diesels, clearly with the intention of using them. Most encouraging, I thought.

Lima diesels are great. Very affordable by modern standards. Basic, but a great foundation for developing skills in detailing and mechanical upgrades. But some etched components to go with and you are on your way. There's a great thread on this somewhere on WT....

There was also when I was in my teens a series of masterclass articles in model rail that demonstrated how to upgrade your budget models to super detail standards.... It was the kind of projects where I cut my teeth as teenager and into my student years before I properly got into kit building a year or so before the pandemic


So this is a case in point and still one of my favourite models that I have. It an old triang Nellie that I converted to an 0-6-0 by sticking on a old Hornby terrier chassis back in 2017. Plus some other details and bits of wire etc. (I can't believe that was only 6 years ago!). Crude maybe by my current modelling standards but I'm still very proud of it (it even was a feature in the may 2018 railway muddeller). Going to get converted to EM at some point and get a new paint job

My point is projects like these are fantastic stepping stones to gain skills and confidence. Case in point if you look at both locos in the picture above, 6 years apart, one toy train conversion one full scratch build....

We still need the Lima, old Hornby, triang, mainline, old bachmann models etc. Oh and metcalfe and superquick. These provide a bridge between starting out and asking on a really complex project. Without them it's a scary prospect getting into the hobby and having the space to experiment and learn

It would be interesting to know what those lads did with Thier lima purchases. I hope they had fun. I'm almost sure they did

 

[James Spooner]

Lima diesels are great. Very affordable by modern standards. Basic, but a great foundation for developing skills in detailing and mechanical upgrades. But some etched components to go with and you are on your way. There's a great thread on this somewhere on WT....

There was also when I was in my teens a series of masterclass articles in model rail that demonstrated how to upgrade your budget models to super detail standards.... It was the kind of projects where I cut my teeth as teenager and into my student years before I properly got into kit building a year or so before the pandemic

View attachment 194779
So this is a case in point and still one of my favourite models that I have. It an old triang Nellie that I converted to an 0-6-0 by sticking on a old Hornby terrier chassis back in 2017. Plus some other details and bits of wire etc. (I can't believe that was only 6 years ago!). Crude maybe by my current modelling standards but I'm still very proud of it (it even was a feature in the may 2018 railway muddeller). Going to get converted to EM at some point and get a new paint job

My point is projects like these are fantastic stepping stones to gain skills and confidence. Case in point if you look at both locos in the picture above, 6 years apart, one toy train conversion one full scratch build....

We still need the Lima, old Hornby, triang, mainline, old bachmann models etc. Oh and metcalfe and superquick. These provide a bridge between starting out and asking on a really complex project. Without them it's a scary prospect getting into the hobby and having the space to experiment and learn

It would be interesting to know what those lads did with Thier lima purchases. I hope they had fun. I'm almost sure they did

It’s worth hanging on to your converted Nellie because, in any future darker moments in your modelling life, you can dig that out and realise that, whilst that was great in its day, you have made giant strides since…

 

[Herb Garden]

It’s worth hanging on to your converted Nellie because, in any future darker moments in your modelling life, you can dig that out and realise that, whilst that was great in its day, you have made giant strides since…

Oh I plan too, I think a happy occupation could be found for her on some yet to be developed industrial project.... Maybe something based on the wissington railway or maybe cantley?

 

[Jordan or Plymouth Mad]

Lima diesels are great. Very affordable by modern standards. Basic, but a great foundation for developing skills in detailing and mechanical upgrades. But some etched components to go with and you are on your way.

I bet a lot of us on here 'cut our teeth' in the 1970s/80s detailing & repainting Lima diesels. Most of the body shells were decent moldings.

 

[John Duffy]

I bet a lot of us on here 'cut our teeth' in the 1970s/80s detailing & repainting Lima diesels. Most of the body shells were decent moldings.

That is a great point. I consider myself to be a reasonably competent modeller but the thought of taking a knife or a saw to a £200+ locomotive certainly focusses the mind. As a younger modeller, it would definitely put me off the type of projects I learned the most from.

 

[Herb Garden]

That is a great point. I consider myself to be a reasonably competent modeller but the thought of taking a knife or a saw to a £200+ locomotive certainly focusses the mind. As a younger modeller, it would definitely put me off the type of projects I learned the most from.

So here is a possibility foolish idea but also might not be so.

Why don't we create a collection of budget modeling projects, ones that help develop skills but don't break the bank. Something that could be used as an inspiration for those starting out to have a go.

I think a separate thread would be best rather on this chat. Happy to set something off and kick it off.

All in favour say.....?

 

[Bagnall built]

So here is a possibility foolish idea but also might not be so.

Why don't we create a collection of budget modeling projects, ones that help develop skills but don't break the bank. Something that could be used as an inspiration for those starting out to have a go.

I think a separate thread would be best rather on this chat. Happy to set something off and kick it off.

All in favour say.....?

by all means , ermm The lima bodging works ( or James does some bodging ) i can edit the topic

 

[Herb Garden]

by all means , ermm The lima bodging works ( or James does some bodging ) i can edit the topic

I wouldn't want to impact your thread that feels unfair to you. Was more thinking of a new shared thread that everyone could contribute examples to

 

[John Duffy]

A new thread where some of these projects can be located would be a grand idea.