Morning gang!
How's things? Hope you've had an amazing week… That's it then… it's then last day of August, which means it's the end of the summer season pretty much, and into autumn we dive, head first! Time to dust off the modelling bench, put a new blade in your craft knife. Peel the caked up glue of the tip of your glue bottle (we've all done it… admit it)… and get ready for another busy autumn & winter of making Realistically Better stuff!
The summer holidays have gone so darn fast! In just a couple of weeks, Elizabeth will be heading north again, back to Liverpool for her final year (well, 9 months) and then she's all done and got to decide what she wants to do. I don't think she really knows yet, but she's hoping to get a job doing something in the musical theatre industry. Whether she'll come back down here or settle further north, who knows! I didn't really know what I wanted to do when I left uni. And in hindsight, I rarely use anything I learned there other than it giving me a strong appetite for learning, which I hope stays with me until I can no longer learn anymore!
So what have we been up to this week? Well not a lot really… Scott, Carl & Sam have been looking after HQ as Tina and I worked the weekend as Elizabeth was working. I think they got on ok generally. Tina's been feeling a bit rough since then having picked up a stomach bug, so I've been tinkering on the computer with a few things while she's been resting.
Jess has been cracking on with rearranging the website most of the week and lots of other stuff and Stu's been doing stuff on the blog while he's been at HQ.
New Product Development
While Tina was picking orders over the bank holiday and stacking them up for me to pack, I had some quiet time at my desk so finally made some decent progress on low-relief versions of some of our kits. They're about ready to laser cut the first prototype now. In fact, I'm hoping that by the time you read this, I'll have cut them and hopefully built and tested them… Just got the wraps to sort but that's the bit I really enjoy!
In the meantime, it's over to young Sam for this weekend's videos.
Good morning! As per usual, the SMS team and I hope that you've had a great week. However, it is now time for the weekend. So whatever you may be up to, make the most of it. As you all know, Monday was a bank holiday so this week was cut short. The weather has been very nice recently so lots of dog walking and sitting outside occurred. This week was spent doing stuff in the background as well as the usual social media, nice phone calls from you guys and any custom jobs.
Last week, I made a video showcasing some of the dioramas we have around the HQ. Well, this week, I've made a Part 2 to that! You can check it out here:
The abandoned house diorama will have a full video going through the process shortly as I've recorded every step.
Right then… time for some videos!
Log Fencing Tutorial
For the first video this week, here's a brilliant tutorial for you to try out. In this video, TheCreativeModellerHO takes us through his process of making Log Fencing. At SMS, we have a ton of different fencing for you to choose from but we don't have this type as we can't manufacture it on the lasers. The method he uses doesn't take long (hence the 5-minute video length) but results in some great lookin' fences. Before you say "Oh but it's in HO scale" - this method can be used for any scale.
Goodbye To Steam!
Bringing it back to 1958, here's a cracking video from British Pathé. This channel has been featured before in this section due to the fact they have some of the best archived footage I've come across. Covered in this video is the journey to modernisation and the transition away from steam-powered trains. I'd highly recommend checking out their channel for videos similar to this.
The National Model Railway Museum of the Netherlands
Like the last video, this comes from a channel that has been featured many times. PILENTUM provides a fantastic walking tour of The National Model Railway Museum of the Netherlands. They have done an excellent job at creating an immersive experience. There is an absolute ton of dioramas, locomotives and more to look at.
Inverness Model Rail Exhibition 2024
To finish off my section of the Newsletter, here is some exhibition coverage. This week, we take a trip to Scotland for the Inverness Model Rail Exhibition 2024 which took place on the 17th of August 2024 and was organised by the Inverness & District Model Railway Club. The video itself is by Model Railway in Action who frequently cover exhibitions and do a great job at it.
For up-and-coming exhibitions, you can click here.
That's all I have for you this week, I hope you enjoyed them. Let me know what you think in the comments or via email (sam@scalemodelscenery.co.uk or help@scalemodelscenery.co.uk). I love seeing the modelling that all of you do so please send me any photos. Have a great rest of your weekend!
Let's Make A Scene…
Right then… Over on the blog this week, we've been taking a look at these…
- Creating A Miniature Harbour in OO Scale
Again, carrying on from Jess's email on Wednesday… we've been taking a look at a diorama Klaire made for us a while ago that's on display upstairs at HQ. The only trouble is… somebody recently nicked the rusty chain, so we've got to do that bit again! Anyway, we've tweaked the article a little to improve a few sections and make it a little easier to follow. It's a great tutorial and if you're thinking of adding a little harbour scene with a bit of a beach to your layout, it's a great place to start! Read it here! - Let's Make A Scene - Council Roadworks Depot
Every town needs a council depot and it's something you can easily model in a spare corner of your layout. And with council depots naturally being quite untidy places, you don't need a load of pristine, perfectly arranged stuff to make it work! So in this weeks Let's Make A Scene, Stu takes a look at things you'd find in a council depot and how you can model them. Read it here… - Let's Make A Secene - Factory Yard
Industrial scenes are common place on model railway layouts and also diecast dioramas, and they make a great excuse to really go to town with detailing! Old factories make are great for adding depth and atmosphere to the backscene on a layout… lots of heavy weathering and a few broken or boarded up windows! Have a read of Stu's second let's make a scene post this week for inspiration on creating your own Realistically Better factory scenes.
New Products!
It's a kinda two in one this week and it's something for N gaugers… I hope you're sitting down for this!
- DC033-N Customised Factory/Warehouse Signs - Self Adhesive - N/2mm/1:148
Finally got around to sorting these out for N gauge modellers. Each sheet has up to 3 white painted, weathered signs on black backgrounds. These are actually now available in two formats: Self-adhesive peel & stick for card models, or waterslide decals for resin & plastic buildings.
New In Stock
Here's the links for the new static grass tufts… We'll be using these very soon on some new dioramas!
- FB022-OO Straw Grass Tufts Bulk Pack
- FB023-OO Swamp Grass Tufts Bulk Pack
- FB024-OO Marsh Grass Tufts Bulk Pack
Back In Stock
And we have a few 3D printed items back in stock this week for detailing your farm scenes…
- Faller 151918 Black Headed Sheep - HO/OO
Great for adding a bit of life to a rural hillside next to the railway! Order Now! - Noch 15217 Passengers with luggage (Pack of 6) OO/HO
Is your bus or railway station looking a bit sparse and quiet? These are just the ticket! Order now! - Faller 180455 Workshop Machinery & Accessories OO/HO
Got a workshop or machine shop that needs detailing? Then this could come in handy! There's everything from a pillar drill & thicknesser to a lathe, milling machine and more! Order now! - Faller 180903 Sacks (Pack of 40) OO/HO
Lots and lots of sacks for detailing warehouses, goods yards, freight depots etc and great for lorry & van loads! Order now! - Preiser 17007 Luggage OO/HO Scale
Right, that's about it for this edition of the weekly news. Elizabeth is at work most of the weekend, so we're off out with Lola now for a wander round the fields, then I'm not sure what the plan is… a bit of gardening and tidying up. Then we're at the unit tomorrow working on a new kit and packing orders as Elizabeth's at work all weekend.
Next week, I'll have the new low-relief versions of our cottage kit finished and hopefully get some other bits done.
Have an amazing weekend folks… And of course…
Keep on shunting…
Justin, Tina, Elizabeth, Lola & The Team
P.S. This weeks newsletter header comes from Mark Crocker over on the Railway Modellers community with this excellent shot of his engineering train about to head off on its next assignment.
P.P.S. Missed a newsletter? You can read all of our recent newsletters online here.
Please don't give me a shock first thing on a Saturday morning with ngauge announcement