Our world in miniature, hobbies

I'm liking it but I'm concerned about the water quality of the canal. It looks like it might have a fair few shopping trolleys at the bottom.

Hi Helen I hope not. It's had a new coat of yacht varnish.

Oh well in that case I'll just assume that the colour is from the suspension of sediment from the natural sandstone bedrock. Those spring rains have been heavy.

Testing picture loading Just a tablet picture, but all appears ok.

Hi all A hint of better weather for next week, but at least I have had more model tidy time during this terribly wet spring. Have tidied up Hounds Hill canal marina, new wall and gates. Hope you like.

Looking very good. The gates are a nice touch. Was the little path off the edge there before? Anyway I like it. Your landscaping is particularly effective. I know the stars of model railways are the trains and the buildings but the land and foliage makes them come alive. Each photo could be a different place, you've got so many details in but the whole works great too.

I hope your village is 'doggie friendly' Philip, it looks so nice for a good walk.

A tablet camera picture, showing the effective use of sequins as signal lamps. The green light is showing well for the last passenger train of the day to Nethermill.

Hi all Am not sure if this should be in model canals, not railways, but hopefully our canal is complete. Down pipes, swing-bridge or plank they call it at Brinklow, as well as outdoor lights.

Morning all A thoroughly wet day yesterday induced me into our railway room, where I swapped several of our locos, one of which has languished in the display cabinet for twenty years or more. It was a maid of work loco, that goes back in time to my Michael's teen days. It's an early days Bachmann split chassis & had become a lumpy runner, so I decided to add axle leaf springs (phosphor bronze) at the same time as a motor clean & oil job. The result is brill. It's a smooth slow speed runner to match anything currently manufactured. A picture tells its own story, I do hope you like. J39, waits its next turn of duty after service. It is seen next to Longford Park coaling stage. It looks odd, as it was a Bachmann early weathered finish loco. You would have at least thought that it would have had a lick of paint, hey!

Sorry to barge in like this but just a reminder that I too collect models. In my case they are mostly models of buses, cars, and commercial vehicles of the 1950s. Over this past wet, and cold winter I have been introducing my friend Steve to model photography. (With the forecast for tomorrow he'll be getting more practice.) As well as photographing individual models we like to compare the size of different models of the same scale - hence the Greyhound bus with a Mini.

Hi Do you ever get the urge to set them out on a scene, say a road junction or an enthusiasts open day at a stately home?

Hi all The J39 now attached to the Sunday afternoon parcels to Coventry.

Oooh parcels! I just ordered an expandy hose pipe and three books, perhaps they're en route? Chuff, chuff, chuff, poo pooop! Pixrobin, my mum used to have the original mini and being lower than the wheel arches of buses and lorries convinced me I never wanted one, long before I could drive.

Hi Philip, I have tried quite a few times. I think my most successful was this Dennis Fire Engine set up in front of a flame effect electric fire. I have also played around with using a suitable photograph as a background. But, Steve and I have plans to set up the Greyhound coach in front of the Council House to see if we can get it to look as if the coach is passing along Earl Street.