Morning gang!
How's things? Hope you've had an amazing week… August already! We're back in the Southwest again this weekend after a whirlwind trip up to the midlands and Liverpool to visit family, lay a few slabs and go to the Mr Big/Living Colour gig. Which was really good by the way. Great to see Billy Sheehan in action for one last time before they call it a day. Not sure Tina enjoyed it that much as she's not keen on them or gigs where you have to stand for the whole time! I definitely owe her one for coming with me.
Back at HQ things have been ticking over pretty steadily with plenty of you guys calling in while you're down on holiday. Great to put faces to names and have a bit of a chat about your layouts and the parts of Cornwall you're enjoying exploring. It's also been a bit blummin warm, so we went for a dip in the sea on Tuesday evening and half an hour or so on the paddleboard down at Portholland. It's a tiny little village, well, more a hamlet, which we'd only ever driven through once I think while exploring. So we thought we'd give that a try and it was rather lovely. Not too many folk around, lovely calm sea and plenty of sand, so it was ideal for practising not falling off the board for a bit.
Work-wise, it's been business as usual with Tina, Scott & Carl keeping the shopfloor & fulfilment running smoothly. Jess has been up to her ears reorganising and tagging products on the website to make it easier for you guys to find things. It's a massive job! Sam's been busy shooting videos and taking photos for our social media channels. And I've been busy catching up on stuff I didn't get chance to do while Thomas was here last week.
Free UK Postage On Orders Over £40!
The biggest news this week is that we've slashed our Free Postage threshold! After a bit of a haggle, we've managed to be able to almost half our free postage threshold, bringing it down from £75 to just £40! So now you can get free Standard UK Tracked delivery when you spend just £40! There's no codes to enter… so long as your order is being delivered to a UK Mainland address and you're spending over £40 (incl vat), standard delivery is free, gratis, nowt, on the house!
New Product Development
There's been a bit of development work going on behind the scenes this week. I've been preparing a few new mortar line templates for OO, N, O & TT:120 which we'll be using on some forthcoming kits and textures. I've also been tinkering with a couple of 1:32 scale bits and pieces for a local company which will ultimately be scaled down to 1:76 when they're done.
Stu's rescaled one of our OO scale fencing kits up to O gauge as we've had quite a few requests for it recently. Not sure why.
And we've dug the big box of electronic stuff out from the cupboards upstairs and managed to track down a supplier of simple servo control boards so we at last have a simple way of enabling you guys to experiment with other forms of movement on your layout than just trains running round in circles and the occasional road vehicle if you're a Faller Car System user. So we've been able to put together a simple starter set that allows you to move a simple servo back and forth at the push of a button, without any fancy electronics, programming skills, Arduino or other fruit based control system. You can simply plug everything in… power it up and press a button! So so simple. Anyway… more details on that shortly.
In the meantime, it's over to young Sam for this weekend's videos.
Good morning! I hope that you've had a fantastic week and are looking forward to the weekend. Unfortunately, I was sick for the first half of this week so it has been quite disrupted, but there we go. Last week, I said I hoped for some sunshine and it looks like it has been delivered! I'm not sure about where you are but down in Cornwall, it has been very hot which is a nice change of pace. Justin mentioned in the last newsletter that I put together a couple of bundles so be sure to check those out. I also made a YouTube video which covers Choosing The Right Ballast for your layout, with a few examples of different blends you can use to get different effects, depending on which region you're modelling.
I'm quite proud of this video and there will be more uploaded from myself, Justin and Jess over the coming weeks, showcasing a wide variety of our kits. We are looking to improve our social media so please leave a comment letting me know what you think and would like to see from us. Don't be afraid to tell us the truth!
With all that being said, it's time for some videos.
Scenery Tips & Techniques with Jason Jensen
Let's kick things off with a great new video from Jason Jenson, who's got a whole host of scenery hints, tips and techniques lined up for us including static grass, rocks, adding weeds & grass tufts and much more!
Express Lines on the London Underground
Next up we have Jago Hazzard, who is quickly becoming a regular feature in this newsletter. In this video, Jago covers the idea of an Express Line in the Underground. Other countries already have this (and so does the Underground to some extent). One of the most notable rail systems that includes Express Lines is the New York Subway System. Also, I didn't know until this video that the NY system is 24/7 but it doesn't surprise me! It's a city that never sleeps.
End Of The Hobby - 6 Months Later
For the next video, we have That Model Railway Guy. We featured the original video he's talking about in this at the start of the year. This is a retrospective. In this, he covers the events that have taken place in the last 6 months. These include the closure of Hattons, Hornby announcements and the Warley Exhibition. There was a lot of doom and gloom at the start of the year, with a lot of the mainstream media covering “The End of The Hobby". However, as many of us predicted, it wasn't the end.
Marklinofsweden Layout Tour
Like the last 2 videos, this also comes from a channel I feature regularly - Marklinofsweden. In previous newsletters, I have featured some of his tutorial videos. His tutorials are entertaining and informative. However, I can understand that before you follow a tutorial, you would want to see some sort of “credentials”. I think this video does just that. His layout is incredible and full of detail, I'm surprised he's managed to squeeze the video down to 11 minutes. He hasn't made a layout tour for last year which is why the video is from 2022.
Larkrail Model Railway Exhibition 2024
Finally, we have a bit of Exhibition Coverage for you! On the 13th of July 2024, the Larkrail Model Railway Exhibition took place at the New Oriel Hall, Larkhall, Bath. This was a relatively small show which featured 9 layouts and dioramas in a variety of gauges and scales (layouts can be found in the description). This video comes from SDJR7F88 who I have featured before when they covered the Exeter Model Railway Exhibition 2024. There are some brilliant industrial layouts in this video so check it out!
For up-and-coming exhibitions, you can click here.
That's it from me. I hope you enjoyed these videos. Feel free to let me know what you think about them in the comments or via email (sam@scalemodelscenery.co.uk). You can also send me any videos that you enjoyed or made yourself. Have a great rest of your weekend!
New Stuff
Right then… if you're thinking of taking advantage of the new, super-duper, incredibly low, limbo contest winning Free Delivery doofer then here's a bunch of bits that might just take your fancy…
- Servo Animation Starter Kit
This is my new favourite thing! It's so darn simple to set up and gives you everything you need to add a bit of basic movement to a layout or diorama. The kit comprises of : SG90 Micro Servo (the bit that does the moving), a Simple Servo Control Board, Micro USB cable and a laser cut Universal Servo Mount. It takes about 2 minutes to build the servo mount and about 20 seconds to plug everything in and you're ready to roll!
There's no power supply included but you know that old USB phone charger you've got sat in the drawer that you though might come in handy one day? Well now you have a use for it! Just make sure it's capable of delivering up to 500mA at 5v… it should be printed on it somewhere… so anything greater than 0.5A or 500mA and it's perfect for the job. An old iPad or tablet charger will definitely work.
The servo control board that comes with the kit has a built-in micro-switch for triggering the servo as well as solder tabs for connecting an external momentary switch and an external, hardwired 5v dc power supply should that be your thing. So you can build an entire control panel if you wish. There's also a micro-potentiometer on the board which you can adjust to control the length of travel of the servo. Just give it a twist and you can adjust it from a couple of degrees, up to a full 180 degrees. The speed of servo travel is however fixed on these boards, but they're great for testing new ideas, learning the mechanics of layout automation and experimenting with new ideas.
What you use the servo to move is entirely up to you… points, signals, doors, gates, lifts… anything you fancy. Doesn't even have to be on your model railway… you can use them for all manner of things on dioramas. And priced super keenly at just £11.99 for a set, they're an incredibly cost effective way of motorising points etc.
Fancy having a play? Grab Servo Animation Starter Kit here… and the world's your lobster (complete with moving head, tail and legs if you fit servos to it! 😂
Want more than just simple animation? Martin, the inventor of the Modulus system that we looked at a while back is making great progress with bringing it to market. It's been a challenge, but it's finally seeing the light of day… If you'd like to know more and speak to him about using it on your layout, you can contact him via the Railway Modellers Club here.
- LX223-O 6ft Laser Cut Wooden Fencing O/7mm/1:43
As mentioned above, Stu rescaled this earlier in the week to O/1:43. It's a pristine version of the LX077 Old Wooden Fencing and is ideal for gardens, along the sides of footpaths etc. Loads of uses. And it's supplied in a natural, light wood finish which you can paint with acrylic paints or even real wood stain. It's great value with 1500mm of fencing in a single pack and it takes just a couple of minutes to assemble each section. Fancy some for your layout? Click here to order yours.
Need it in another scale? No problem… We have it in N gauge here. And of course OO gauge here. If you need it in TT:120 we'll get that done shortly but feel free to nag us via email and we'll bump it up the list.
- 50% Off Circular Micro-Diorama Bases
If you're not one for sitting in a hot & sweaty loft or shed during the summer bit still want to hone your modelling skills, why not have a crack at building a few micro-dioramas on our circular bases. They're great for practising your static grass, painting and weathering, kit building & bashing and more. They're available in a variety of sizes and we've got 50% off them at the moment. Here's a beach themed one we built a couple of summers ago…
Fancy building a beach or coastal themed micro-diorama? Check out Jess's Beach & Coastal Modelling Department for plenty of inspiration. And talking of beaches…
- Beach Sand, Pebbles, Rocks & Seaweed - Suitable For All Scales
Just in this week from Sarah, our scenic lady… the new Beach Sand & Pebbles blend… perfect for er… modelling a beach would you believe. This is the blend that Dan Evason has used on his beach scene how-to in the latest issue of Hornby Magazine if you've seen it (sneaky pic above), with lovely, super-fine golden sand for modelling that idyllic beach scene. Each pot also comes with a bag of rocks too for detailing the back of the beach and there's even a choice of finely blended seaweed too in green or brown. Choice of 100ml, 200ml and 300ml pots available. Click here to order yours.
Also used in the image above: LX285-OO Harbour Railings, LX494-OO Beach Huts, LX483-OO Deck Chairs and LX291-OO Quayside Steps.
- Low Relief Buildings Bundle - N/2mm/1:148
Sam's also put another bundle together this week for the N gauge modellers among us… This particular bundle comprises of several of Stu's latest N gauge low-relief kits as well as the modern image ultra-low relief industrial unit scratch-building blanks. Fancy one? Click here!
Oh, and before I forget, the latest edition of the First Class newsletter is now available to download too, here.
Right, that's about it for this edition of the weekly news. We're off our with the dog for an hour, then it's time to get some gardening done… lawn needs mowing, then there's a shed load of weeding to do plus a lot more besides… I think the boss wants to sort the compost heap out so that'll be fun for a few hours 😊
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 Kevin over on the Railway Modellers community again with two steam trains passing each other at Little Muddle station. What an idyllic scene!
P.P.S. Missed a newsletter? You can read all of our recent newsletters online here.
I was delighted to read that you've cut your postage costs, then I read on and saw those dreaded words 'UK Mainland only', which caused me to run to the toilet (p..s me off) 😁😂 as I live in the hinterland of the polar north on an archipelago but still part of the UK where the Royal Mail still deliver, some companies even waiver postage for here and some don't but heyho that's the way of the world.
My ethic is 'support the small companies', I'll still buy from you.
Lastly, I know my modelling skills ain't that good - due to a shaky hand (caused by meds and health issues) but the enjoyment I get from it far outweighs that.
Hello,
I am becomming disallutioned with your company - NO N GUAGE!
Roger Jones
Please let me know the status of my Account.
Am I still at "First Class" status and when will my membership fees be due?
Thank you, in advance, for your assistance in this matter
Roger Benson