Bentley 3 1/2Litre Windover Sedanca de Ville

[John McGuyer]

I want to thank you for the links. So much to learn from those guys even though I'm many generations away from England. Barry and I refought the war many times.

John

[Nurser]

Bill,
 how did you even know about MRJ in the first place?  I was lucky to find it by chance. It is now available in WHSmiths, our national newsagent and when I flicked through the latest one it was thin and full of uninteresting crap so you've saved your money wisely. It used to be all scratchbuilding, but is now all kit based. Assuming you have ?500 to waste on a Finney or Mitchel Pacific.  It's too full of people whose faces are the current snug fit.  Next year it'll be someone else. Remember that kite flying know-it-all Rice?  I saw Welch's layout (it was his wasn't it?) Hursley at an exhibition.  It was all out of a box with a bit of basic weathering.  I could have built it in about 3 months.  It sold for alegedly ?30,000.  That sort of thing pisses me off, big time.  Neither do I think Barry bloody Norman's scenery is up to much. I've seen his layouts. His trees are crap.  I get very snotty about people when they imply or even tell me they're the best.  If there's the slightest hint of less than perfection I tear 'em to shreds.
If they just DO it like the guys on here, I'll sing their praises.  Where scenic work is concerned I'm very fussy and I'm afraid Welch, et al don't come close for me.
I bin around too long, pardner.
Hector

[RoughboyModelworks]

Don't hold back now Hector.. tell us what you really think  . I know if I could build a display layout out-of-the-box or not, in three months that was half as convincing as Hursley and sell it for ?30,000 I'd be a happy camper. Would leave me plenty of time to pursue the more esoteric modeling madness that's good for my soul at least. And I still maintain that when it comes to weathering, Mr. Welch is one of the few who has it down and I recommend his book (The Art of Weathering from Wild Swan Publications) to anyone who's tired of the overwrought caricatures that we see so often these days.  OK... got that off my chest...

I believe I picked up my first copies of MRJ at an international news agent in Washington when I lived in the DC area. After getting hooked, I was able to build up a collection through colleagues, a couple of dealers in the UK and the prodigious use of a photocopier.

Bill

[Nurser]

Oh, I'd do it too, Bill and I could , with knobs on, but I don't fit!  Welch fits because he drinks with the big boys at Wild Swan.
Don't forget I used to do it full-time, so 3 months wouldn't tax me.  Hursley fitted the back of a single garage, which is not big in England.  I queued for hours to get into the exhibition in the rain. It was the MRJ one-off show in Westminster back in 90-something. Last time I ever went to that stinkhole, London.  And when I got in I had to queue again!! to see Hursley up on the stage.  When I got there I couldn't believe how simple and thrown together it was. All the track, stock, locos and vehicles were out of boxes or kits if you prefer. Same thing to me.  The weathering was very good, no doubt, but it was nothing special and no better than a dozen others I've seen, or done, for that matter and was left wondering what the hell all the bloody hoo-ha was.  I then got clear of the over-rated train set and was allowed by the equally obnoxious Mitchell to hold a George Stokes model and it DIDN'T disappoint. 50 years old and still as fresh and wonderful as I remembered it from a boy of 8.  That one glimpse of genius, real scenic and, yes, artistic genius was worth the trip, the cost and the wet wait.  I glanced at some of the other layouts, bought some brass and buggered off home, vowing never to hear a good word about Welch or a bad one about Stokes.
Hector