Ian Lindsay website

Well, good news the Ian Lindsay website has been updated recently in April. This site is particularly of interest to me as without his offerings of the O scale Victorian narrow gauge wagons available I may never have taken up the challenge. Coupled with the release of the Haskell NA the combination of the two suppliers should allow anyone to model this style of model railway.
The site is improved with the addition of many images now to allow a visual of the product. Of particular interest is the new section of enhancement parts to upgrade the Haskell NA and also the recently released NQR wagons. There is also two photos of the stunning end result of Alan Rockett's NA that he has superdetailed. Some of the Ian Lindsay parts were used in the rebuild.
Finally I will be able to get bags of potatoes to put in the back of the ute, delivering them for loading into a NQR. There are also other new products such as narrow gauge buffer stops that have never been previously advertised.
I believe that Ian Storrie will be attending the Narrow Gauge Convention over Easter at Geelong. Its good to see him back making hard to find items especially for O scale in 1:48. I believe this is the scale that the USA modellers also use so there are many items that may be of interest to them as well.
The link is here: Ian Lindsay Models

An Inspiring website

There are many facets to model railways. Most people have a main interest usually the one that they are most comfortable doing. This can include carpentry, electrical work, kit building, tracklaying, operation and of course scenery work. If I was to pick my favourite of the above listings then it would have to be the scenery side of things. This item to me has a visual end result that brings a railway to life. 
Recent work at our house had the plumber tell me that they were the least appreciated group of tradies because all of the work was usually hidden. He said the painters and tilers were the most appreciated as their end product was visual.
This is my feeling towards doing scenery. Carpentry and electrical work although important is generally all hidden. This is why I didn't have to be a high achiever in woodwork at school. I must have known one day all my crook work would be hidden.
To anyone that has seen the work of the Red Stag On30 team, Geoff Knott and friends will know the high standards that can be reached. This layout impressed me so much that I was glad I was able to actually say to Geoff at an exhibition that his scenery work was the most impressive I had seen in my over 40 years of modelling. He modestly accepted my praise.
The advent of the internet has allowed the world to share the hobby on line with just a few clicks of the mouse. Most blogs have followers i.e. people who are interested in what you are doing and are happy to declare their interest as a follower. One day looking at the background of some of the followers, I came across this particular site called: Trainscape 
For some reason Jose Manuel Gomez was following my site. I am glad he did. Now I am following his site as he has done some magnificent scenery work. Now amongst some of the blogs that he follows I came across another site: Drawn From Life

Image by Marcel Ackle from his blog " Drawn From Life"

 Where the key element in Red Stag was the scenery, the Drawn From Life author Marcel Ackle has made model buildings that look like real life photos. It is some of the most brilliant modelling work I have seen. The timber work even has the moss growing on it. Words cannot describe the workmanship, you have to look for your self. And he has kindly provided some tutorials listed down the left hand side of the blog. He sets a standard that most people can never attain but it is always a goal that we can aim for never the less. Although the site is in German (I think that's what it is) there is a translation option available. 
Have a look through his blog it is truly amazing modelling!!!