Review time

Well, I finally managed to source a copy of the journal this past weekend. primarily to see if any pictures of the Lady of the house were inside. This could possibly resulted in the untimely death of the editor and me being an 'accesory after the fact'. Fourtunately its now not something that I have to contemplate.

So, whats inside. Peter Ross discusses the convention, with a stack of photos. The close up ones are brutal on the/my modeling. I must build in some sort of digital camera disabler in future. Just having another look at the winning model, and while it is beautifully engineered, it just doesn't float my boat. Some of the other models were more realistically executed (there is a beautiful Wf with nicely understated weathering). Oh, and there is a very good shoot of Michael's line side hut which won the inagural John Rappard trophy. There are some good pictures of various convention goers. I am described as being silver tongued (which is better than lead arsed I suppose). The Editor has missed an excellent competition opportunity with a particular photo on page 15 just screaming out for a caption. I should ask nicely if I can use it here.

So what else is there;
-A 3 page photo spread on the One track minds layout. Again, beautifully executed, but its just missing something to my eye. Possibly the colour pallet is a bit on the washed out side? maybe tehres just not enough dirt for me?
-An article on building Napier trams. There have been a handful of tram articles in the journal over the years, but its really not a common topic. This does show promise, especially if there is a layout on offer in future articles.
(I have contemplated building a tram layout in the past, and Napier would have been one to choose, up there with Maori hill. I must dig out the Kato 4 wheel mech and see what the wheelbase would be in several scales. OK, its 28mm, or 11' in NZ120. A bit longer than 8'6". Maybe it wouldn't look too odd...)).
-Les Downey delves further into his personal history modeling NZR.
-The UDK/UDA well wagons figure on the plan pages. S scale modelers are catered for and the rest of the rif-raf have to go to the members pages for their plans (Unless you are a freeloading bum, in which case its off to the photocopier with you).
-An article on radio controlled trucks for your layout. This goes a step further than the faller system, but if you are busy playing trains, do you have time to drive a truck as well? and what happens at the edge of the earth?
Then its to my "bette noir page' (if it was blank I could scribble layout plans on it) and the trade news and reviews.

Previous convention issues have left me a bit cold. this time round its a bit better. Possibly I think this as there are pictures of my models in it, which is a bit narcissistic. Others may have a different opinion....