A 4mm scale model of Risca Signal box in South Wales

indentBefore I took up model railway building as a profession I decided I had better make a few models as carefully as I possibly could just to see if I could do it!v This model is one of the results!v
indentAs a keen amatuer railway modeller I got most of my knowledge from railway books of the day and, largely because of the fascinating engines I found in photos of the area, took an early interest in the Welsh Valleys.v I took the opportunity of visiting a model railway exhibition in the Principality to take a trip up the odd valley or two and found myself at Risca.v Partway up the valley side I found a railway, a level crossing and a rather attractive signal box. . .

And here's another early model...

An early model of a typical Dorset stone village.

indentThere are many villages of this character throughout Dorset and South Somerset.v Few, it must be admitted, still have a village pond but some do while the use of a second "lane" paralleling the main one is typical of the area.v (I am sorry many of these older photographs are in black and white but, since in the early 80's most magazines only published in black and white, there was no point in taking colour photos as they wouldn't print them.v Another advantage with black and white was that all you needed was a tripod and you could take a time exposure with the available light; nowadays to take colour one has to get out some seriously powerful lighting and arrange it carefully for every shot!v This is progress?)

indentDetails here are the village pond with its protective railings, the signpost and, hidden away in the undergrowth, the ubiquitous village war memorial.v Although the stonework is more or less the same throughout the model village, the character comes from the apparently hap-hazard mixture of gables and roof lines.v In fact, of course, it is all most carefully arranged to look like it just grew over the years, one building at a time.