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Modellings tips and answers - Inspiration - Modelling Christmas scenes - Videos

Hello

Don't forget to read our latest modelling tips and unboxing videos located at the bottom of the newsletter.

This week in history

On the 20th of November 1920, the State Railway of Thailand began works to convert all of its 4ft 8 1/2in railway track to meter gauge. This was done to harmonise the railway with other domestic lines in the country and those of surrounding countries also using the meter-gauge. The conversion took ten years to complete.

Tool of the week

This week's tool of the week is a Street Markings Starter Set from Noch. The set contains a curved ruler (to easily create parallel curves), a street marking pen and a street markings template to create HO, TT, and N scale road markings (HO compatible with OO gauge).

Deck the booking halls with boughs of holly!

About this time of year, many public places are planning their Christmas displays. But also, in many lofts, garages and spare rooms across the country, there is the distant sound of rustling as many modellers are busily unpacking and choosing which hint of Christmas they are going to add to their layout this year.

Adding a Christmas theme or scene is somewhat a tradition amongst modellers at this time of year to bring a spot of festivity to visiting family and friends. This could be anything from adding a spot of tinsel and fairy lights to their baseboard to installing purpose-built models.

Just how involved individual modellers get when creating Christmas scenes depends on many factors such as budget, the number of visitors likely to see and enjoy their efforts, and the amount of time they have to prepare.

Whichever category you fit into, you should be able to find a model to suit your needs. Purposely themed OO gauge figure sets are fast becoming a favoured way of adding Christmas cheer to layouts, and it's easy to see why. Sets come in all shapes and sizes and range from a solitary Santa Claus figure or a Christmas tree that lights up, to a larger manger set or family Christmas vacation scene. And for those wanting to keep their scenes real, snowy vehicles and a few street decorations allow you to festively customise your street in a way that's believable.

While some appreciate the virtues of subtlety and realism, others get a little giddy about Christmas and desire a scene with lots of snow, a Santa in a boat and a Christmas Coca-Cola lorry like the one in the ads! and that's not only fine, but achievable too (even if you do blame your creation on visiting grandchildren).

Other wintery figure sets fall nicely between the two extremes. Why not use some ice skaters, an ice sculpture or some reindeer to create a festive event of some kind in your town's square or park. These kind of attractions are becoming increasingly popular in towns and cities across the world and make for an interesting scene in model form too.

Whatever type or kind of Christmas scene you are wanting to achieve, there will be a model to help you do it. And if you have been good this year, you may even get one in your Christmas stocking, alternatively, we sell them at the shop!

Unboxing videos

You want to know what is inside the boxes of modelling products? We open them for you! Subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified before everyone else or simply click on this selection. Please note that videos are at the bottom of each page.

You can access all the unboxing videos by visiting this page or simply click on the link called "videos" on our websit e.

Modelling tips

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

You can read all the articles sorted by categories or from the most recent published one on our website.

Do you need to order?

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.

Remember, you can park for free for one hour on the High Street. So no excuse not to come and visit us!

Upstairs Downstairs is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am till 4.30pm. Obviously, our website is open 24h a day and we can post to most locations, including Europe, USA and Australia.

Upstairs Downstairs
3 Pier Street
Sandown, PO36 8JR
Isle of Wight
Tel: 01983 406 616
http://www.trainshop.co.uk or find us on Facebook

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