Greeting Dear Reader's - Komata's 'Blog has reappeared, and once again it's off on the magical mystery tour. . .
Those of you with good memory's will recall I'm sure that I had been invited to exhibit at New Zealand's premier MR show - the NZ model Railway Guild's Convention08, being held in Napier (a city on the RH side of NZ's North Island), over Easter 2008.
Easter 2008 has of course come and gone and I, the layouts I displayed and operated, and the convention, have all survived the experience.
I won't bore you with too many details, except to say that I took 3 layouts down (the Kaiser's, Six-Mile Bush (SMB), and Waitawheta) with me to Napier, as well as a small (21cm x 19cm) diorama of a gold mine, and ran the Kaiser's and SMB on public display.
These layouts and diorama were of course all in N-scale (specifically UK-N 1:148)
Waitawheta and the diorama were static exhibits - they are both 'works in progress'.
Surprisingly, N-scale was not well represented at the convention - 4 N-scale layouts on site and I had 3 of them (the other was a superb mountain railway in a coffee-table using German 0-4-4-0 Mallett tanks towing very short trains), with the other layouts that were displayed and operated during the weekend being in a variety of scales - 9 mm, Sn31/2, Gn15, OO/HO/ and Gauge 1. There were even large-scale (1:32) street tram cars!
The Kaiser's and SMB both ran well and were well received by the proponents of the larger scales, with feedback indicating that very, very few had realised how much detail could be put into small spaces (this detailing being something which we do as a matter of course), and evidently what I had done was the cause of some considerable thought and discussion amongst certain members of the larger scales.
Many found SMB of interest as it was the layout's first ever public excursion, and the first public appearance of NZN-Freelance - the concept I have developed whereby modified commercially-available N-scale equipment is used in conjunction with HO-scale and scratchbuilding, to create a believable N-scale railway in a New Zealand setting. A lot of questions resulted.
No converts, to either N or NZN-freelance, but a high degree of interest!.
The Kaiser's and SMB weathered the Public open day very well and the Kaiser's and Waitawheta also participated in a teaching session I gave about modelling New Zealand gold mines in very small spaces in a scale of 1:148 . Again, the layouts were well received, and admired.
I had put various sub-scenes onto SMB (a boy climbing a rope ladder into a tree house, a gardener checking his bean trellis, a lady talking to a dog, a cow trying to go into a shop etc, etc) and the children especially loved trying to find these - the display area repeatedly ringing with cries of 'I've found it, I've found it' as the various things were spotted. Definitely a hit (and even some adults joined in!!).
The Kaiser's also received its share of accolades, and was much admired because of its small size, the 'Cutlery drawer' container in which it resides, and the fact that I had used so much 'Junk' in its creation. Recycling is very big in New Zealand and many were intrigued by what they saw. (MR'rs are of course the original recyclers, as we all know!!)
Overall, a successful weekend, which certainly bought the possibilities of N to the attention of the larger modeling fraternity - especially as they realised that it is possible to use the scale to create something which is uniquely, recognisably 'Kiwi, without the need to model Narrow Gauge or go into the very expensive realm of TTn31/2 - and that it is also possible to put believable trains into New Zealand scenery without these having to be those of NZ Railways (or its variants).
For those used to seeing N-scale as being of either British, US, Japanese or Continental European outline and origins, I gather this was something of a revelation.
The fact that we can put a high degree of detail into what we do in the scale seemed to surprise a lot of those who model in the larger scales, surprise which came through repeatedly, as they studied and handled examples of the rolling stock I was running and scrutinised the buildings that were on each layout - the ore cars on the Kaiser's and the modified Peco and B'mann rolling stock on SMB particularly, coming in for a lot of attention.
And photographs? While I have not to date come across any videos or photos of either the layouts or yours-truly operating the layouts and lecturing (perhaps it is just as well(LOL) I have got some photos on 'Ordinary' film, but as the film-roll is only partly used, putting them on here may take a while.
But thank you Dear Reader for reading this far.
I trust you have enjoyed the experience, and look forward to your company when the 'Blog once more appears.
Happy modelling.
Komata
"TVR - serving the Northern Taranaki . . . "
PS: NO cliff-hangers were used in the making of this 'blog
