Modellings tips and answers - Inspiration - Unusual vehicles - Cameo figures

Mike Stamper sent us pictures of one of his diorama with the following explanations: "Some years ago I visited a local garage and was struck by the place. At the time I made 1:24 scale cars so a garage seemed to be a good idea. Apart from the compressor and the wall cabinets on the right and the two figures (painted by me), the rest is scratch built - from the cups and soap dispensers to the sun analyser. The analyser is powered by a 9v battery and there are 3 flashing LEDs inside to give the impression of a working oscilloscope..." To read further explanations, click on the pictures.

This week in history

On March 19th 1924, the Baldwin Locomotive works completed the last commercially manufactured locomotive for the Maine narrow-gauge railway.

Hopefully, you will have remembered to include locomotives and rolling stock on your layout, you may have even added some buses, cars and lorries too, but what about all of the weird and wonderful specialist vehicles that are out there, hiding in plain sight? Well rest assured, they have not been forgotten in the world of 00 gauge. For a spot of added interest why not try adding a rare vehicle to your layout? There is a large variety to choose from and you can find them in both kit-form and ready-to-plant options.

Vehicles that are less mainstream can help make a cameo scene out of most dioramas. For example, why not add a combine harvester to a field, a converted trailer to some scrubland or a gypsy caravan to a country lane. And it doesn't stop there, with a whole world of exciting industrial, practical and specialised model vehicles waiting to be discovered you could place a portable toilet at an event, a Scammell Scarab on your station or a ballast cutter helping with engineering works. Your next cameo scene could be just around the corner.

You can also create convincing cameo scenes using little more than figures. There's an almost endless selection of figures portraying mini cameo scenes to help make your streets, buildings and fields more interesting. You could try adding a kite flyer, some people playing golf, a stubborn mule, bee keepers, divers or even a carnival. These are just a few of the thousands of ideas out there!

 

We keep on adding modelling tips to our website. Here are the latest ones:

You can also access all the articles by visiting this page or simply click the link called "tips" on our website.

Send us an email or give us a call to check availability or to reserve anything, whatever scale you model in. As usual, if we do not have in stock what you are looking for, we will order it for you and you will get it fast (usually within a week if the manufacturer has it in stock). We place weekly orders with most suppliers.

Upstairs Downstairs is usually open Tuesday to Saturday 10am till 4.30pm. However during lockdown, we are open for collection only. Please call us if you are on the Isle of Wight and want to collect an order. If you are further afield, simply place your order on our website as usual as we are still dispatching daily.  

Upstairs Downstairs
3 Pier Street
Sandown, PO36 8JR
Isle of Wight
Tel: 01983 406 616
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