Morning Gang!
Here we are again and it's nearly blummin' Christmas! Can't believe how quickly it's gone. And I can't believe how shocking my typing is either! The number of red underlines I get from the spellchecker when I write these is astounding! I'm sure it just gives up after a while. It's like when I used to get “see me” on the bottom of my English homework at school :)
How's things then? Firstly… huge thanks to everyone that popped into our open evening on Thursday night. I was lovely to catch up with a few regulars and see some new faces. Quite a few are just starting out in the hobby and were looking for inspiration or had been recommended by friends of SMS! Thanks Debbie & all for referring them to us. Very much appreciated. Overall, it went very well, and we raised a little bit of cash with our lucky dip and raffle which has now been donated to Cornwall Air Ambulance as of 10am yesterday morning. And of course, huge huge thanks to Dave & Jane for the epic Christmas cake! Another culinary masterpiece from Dave’s kitchen. Thanks also for all the Christmas cards you’ve been sending! As always, we’re so blummin disorganised when it comes to all that stuff! Must try harder!!!
And we had our Works Christmas Lunch on Thursday too, which consisted of some rather tasty Christmas Burgers from Tom's Take Out on the A390 at Hewas Water. If you're ever passing the layby there, drop in and grab a burger. It's a little roadside burger bar but my god they're good! Check out his reviews on trip advisor! He's even had some celebrity chefs stop by over the years as they're that good! And we taxed our rather befuddled brains with some Escape Room style challenges that came in the Christmas Crackers that Tina chose. They took a bit of solving but we got the hang of it in the end.
So, are you ready for Christmas? We're not. We seem to have reached the penultimate weekend again with very little shopping done or actual organisation. And every year we tell ourselves, we're going to start sooner, but it never seems to work out that way. It looks like this weekend will be mostly scouring the web for presents for parents etc… And I've really got to get something organised for Tina too!
What are your plans for the Christmas break? We're despatching orders until lunchtime on Thursday the 21st, then we're heading up to the midlands on Friday for a few days, to spend some time with parents and family. Kate & Carl are here at the unit between Christmas and New Year, dispatching orders and I'll be monitoring the ticket system over the whole of the festive season (well probably not Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day) but the phone lines will close at 4pm on Thursday. So, if you need us over the festive period, just drop me an email via the help desk and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. And of course, if you want to order anything in time for Christmas, it's time to get your skate on! Our last posting dates etc can all be found here.
Behind the scenes this week, I've been working on a load of stuff on the back end of the website… There's always a ton of stuff to do and the new search functionality is taking a bit of tweaking. Tina's been working on the back end of our order management system too, fine tuning the order processing system to we can streamline a few more processes. With a bit of luck they'll have quite a positive impact on reducing our order processing times in the new year. I always find it amazing how quickly things add up. If you can shave off just 10 seconds or so from processing an order it doesn't half save a good chunk of time over the year! And there's much more to do once that's sorted too in terms of customer service and general day to day management that needs systemising.
And we're trying to develop a standard set of “Ikea Style” stickers that we can put on our racking in the laser room and out on the shop floor which will indicate what goes where in terms of materials and supplies and how they should be stacked. Then when we get deliveries it'll be so much quicker to unpack everything and get it all in the right place first time.
Product Development - Latest News
This week, Sam's been taking a new wall kit from concept through to the prototype first build. It's a new, easy to assemble, modular wall which will have a good selection of finishes to choose from, and it'll work nicely with some of our factory gates kits etc. It's also got nice, solid MDF cores so it's much quicker to build than card equivalents. Hopefully we'll be able to get that up on the site as soon as we return from the Christmas Break.
I've inched forward with a couple of new kits… one of which I'm hoping to get finished early next week so it's on the site before Christmas. I'll get back in the groove properly after Christmas.
An Incredible N Gauge City Layout
Sam here again - got another 4 videos for you this week. The first video comes from NekoNekoRailway who is a Japanese YouTuber who films his layout as well as his cat. His layout is based off the Keihin-Tohoku Line which connects Satiama, Kawaguchi, Tokyo, Kawasaki and Yokohama. Luckily he chose to model in N gauge otherwise the skyscrapers would be through the roof!
How Professional Architectural Models Are Made
Our next video comes from Stewart Hicks who covers a professional model-building shop in Chicago called Presentation Studios International. These models are primarily for developers and architects as a proof of concept. They have worked with a massive list of clients, some you may have heard of include Canary Wharf Group, Bank of America Corporation, Kraft Foods and The Trump Organization. Definitely not your ordinary model makers. (Something for me to aspire to - JN)
Building A Railway Without Breaking The Bank
Next, we have a video from DIY and Digital Railroad highlighting how to build your model railroad without breaking the bank! As we are all aware, the hobby can be pretty pricey, so this video just goes over a few methods which can save you some cash. Hopefully you guys find this useful.
Manchester Christmas Model Railway Show 2023
For our final video I wanted to find something (somewhat) Christmassy. Recently there was a Christmas Model Railway Show in Manchester. I'm aware that most of these layouts aren't actually winter based but it's still worth a watch as there are many extremely impressive layouts on display.
This Week's New Stuff… Big(ish) News!
Well, the big news this week… although I've not actually been able to list anything on the website yet, is that we're now an Official Peco Stockist! Whoop Whoop! As we enter our 10th year in business in 2024, it's something I'm rather excited about. We're just stocking track and the associated bits and bobs that go with it at the moment but will look to expand the range over time all being well. Our first delivery arrived a few days ago and we now have good stocks of Code 75, Code 100 and the new Bullhead range which even to a railway simpleton like me looks pretty darn decent. The plan is, in the new year, to hopefully offer some pre-configured packs for micro layouts and inglenooks that will fit on our baseboards. So they'll hopefully give you a bit of a head start if you're just getting going.
I'll try and crack on with getting the track sections listed on the website this coming week though.
Last Minute Stuff
If you're stuck for gift ideas for the modeller in your life, or you other half wants to treat you to something for your hobby, don't forget we do eGiftCards. They're delivered be email so they're super convenient. Super easy to purchase and super easy to use. And the best bit is… unlike other gift cards, they don't expire so you can use them whenever you wish! Click here to order a Gift Card. If you're local to Truro, we can offer them printed if you're able to come in and collect them.
Alternatively, you can use our Wishlist function on the Scale Model Scenery site to share your wish list with your family & friends. Just click on the Heart symbol in the top right of the screen, then click on Share and you can send your unique link with them.
If you're really leaving it until the last minute, then we have now added Express Delivery to the website, which is basically Royal Mail Special Delivery. But last orders for that I think are Wednesday lunchtime, to give us time to get things lasered, packed and out the door.
Going… Going… Gone…
It's absolutely last orders now for the First-Class layout plaques for 2023. Barry picked his up at our open evening and I think we have 4 or 5 left. And when they're gone, we'll be switching to the new 2024 ones from the beginning of January. So, if you're a First-Class member of the Railway Modellers Club, you can jump on and order yours here. You will need to enter your First-Class membership username for verification purposes and have and active membership so please have this to hand when you order.
Next week then it'll be a case of finishing off any last-minute jobs… consuming the left over mince pies from the open evening and tidying up loose ends before planning world domination next year… I'll try and get the Peco track listed on the site, but if you're local you can pop in and purchase it on site until Thursday lunchtime if you prefer.
Have an amazing weekend folks… and of course…
Keep on shunting…
Justin, Tina, Elizabeth, Lola & The Team
P.S. This weekend's header image comes from Matthew who sent this fantastic image in yesterday afternoon via email of a crossing scene he's been working on with a few of our kits. As soon as I saw it I thought, that's the newsletter header this week.
Create your own railway crossing scene like Matthews with this selection of handy bits & bobs…
OO Gauge:
- LX184-OO Weathered Sleeper Barrow Crossing/Foot Crossing Kit OO/HO
- LX185-OO New Sleeper Barrow Crossing/Foot Crossing Kit OO/HO
- LX056-OO Laser Cut 4ft Post & Wire Fencing OO/4mm/1:76
- LX131-OO Whistle/Sound Whistle Signs (Pack of 19) OO/4mm/1:76
- LX004-OO Laser Cut 4ft Garden Fencing OO/4mm/1:76
- AX162-OO Metal 55 Gallon Drums / Barrels (Pack of 8) - OO/4mm/1:76
- LX486-OO LMS Lamp Hut - OO/4mm/1:76
- LX488-OO GWR Lamp Huts (Pack of 2) - OO/4mm/1:76
- LX006-OO Laser Cut 4ft Post & Rail Lineside Fencing OO/4mm/1:76
- LX094-OO Laser Engraved Beware Of Trains Sign (Pack of 6) OO/4mm/1:76
N Gauge:
- LX184-N Weathered Sleeper Barrow Crossing/Foot Crossing Kit N / 2mm / 1:148
- LX131-N Whistle/Sound Whistle Signs (Pack of 17) N/2mm/1:148
- LX004-N Laser Cut 4ft Garden Fencing N/2mm/1:148
- LX006-N Laser Cut 4ft Post & Rail Lineside Fencing N/2mm/1:148
You'll also need some Static Grass Tufts, Thistles & Brambles too… And if you need it, we also do a range of model railway ballast should you need it.
P.P.S. Missed a newsletter? You can read all of our recent newsletters online here.
Just wanted to say I am enjoying the newsletter and thanks for the efforts you all put in to producing it. Also, I thought the header image of the crossing was great and I want to create something very similar on my layout - blow me down if there wasn’t a list of items to recreate it towards the end, brilliant and thanks!
All the best for Christmas and the New Year to all at SMS.
Hi Justin and family (work family as well) as an avid railway modeller of over forty years I myself liked the kit downloads which you did.
But going forward, would you go back to doing these again as well as all the MDF models, a lot of people like me might like this as well.
Have a Merry Christmas to you all
Kind Regards
Andrew
Thank you again for the wonderful newsletter, so much improved from the older style ones! Sam is doing a grand job of putting together the videos, certainly a varied mix which gives us something new to think about - so thank you, Sam.
Even though we couldn't come down from bonny Scotland for your evening, it was grand to join you via the video link - especially seeing all of the inside of your premises - seen some parts over the months but to see it all in one go makes it all so real.
Anyhows - have a great Xmas and New Year - see you all in 2024
Very best wishes to you all for the festive season and.for a successful 2024.
Justin and Tina hope your parents are ok and safe journeys.
Not a lot of modelling done this end in Staffordshire as we have had a premature granddaughter 8 weeks early so have spent a lot of time at our daughter and son-in-laws in Hampshire.
Bloody marvellous. Nothing more to be said