Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

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philipy
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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by philipy » Thu Oct 11, 2018 2:16 pm

I finally saw the first episode last night. Started off doing a "Dr Who" and hiding behind the sofa watching through my fingers, but actually I was pleasantly surprised. Actually, of course it had next to nothing to do with model railways, but having said that, there was some very nice modelling if you didn't blink too often.
Nobody in their right minds would try to build a layout in 3 days; 3 months minimum and 3 years preferably, so some of the criticism of things not finished was a bit unfair to say the least, although the Missenden lot deserved everything they got for their shear unfounded arrogance,IMO.

Taken as a piece of pure escapist entertainment it was actually streets better than most of the dire tripe the tv companies push out nowadays.
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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by FWLR » Fri Oct 12, 2018 7:48 am

philipy wrote: Thu Oct 11, 2018 2:16 pm
Nobody in their right minds would try to build a layout in 3 days; 3 months minimum and 3 years preferably, so some of the criticism of things not finished was a bit unfair to say the least, although the Missenden lot deserved everything they got for their shear unfounded arrogance,IMO
I agree Philip, The Grandkids are still adding stuff to the N Gauge layout I made for them over 4 years ago now.

And Missenden are typical of most small gauge exhibitors. They should have been banned well before the judging..
philipy wrote: Thu Oct 11, 2018 2:16 pm
Taken as a piece of pure escapist entertainment it was actually streets better than most of the dire tripe the tv companies push out nowadays.
I agree with this also Philip, it was a great bit of escapist entertainment..

I am sick and tired of all the repeats and all that dreadfully load music they play when the presenters are talking…..WHY.

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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by practical_phil » Mon Oct 15, 2018 3:57 pm

tom_tom_go wrote: Wed Oct 10, 2018 5:50 pm I would like to make the point that being an editor of a magazine does not make you an authority or knowledgeable on the published subject.

They may be employed simply for their skill at their job (yes I have known people who have been editors of publications with no knowledge or interest in what they edit).

I run this forum, doesn't make me the lord of any scale any gauge :thumbup:
I agree. But if you are a TV company looking for a judge, it's easier to pick the editor of a magazine published by one of the companies supplying product to the show. Also, if he's from the north (London based TV people gasp and wonder if he has a colour telly yet) it adds character. He's also likely to be within budget, which wasn't huge for this programme.

That said, Steve does come with a pretty serious modelling background so he's a long way from a beginner. I think they have probably picked the right two people.
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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by ge_rik » Mon Oct 15, 2018 4:09 pm

I missed this week's instalment - through circumstances rather than deliberately. Has anyone seen it? Was it any better than last week's.

While it does irritate my sensibilities, if it does encourage any youngsters to enter the hobby then it's no bad thing. I'd still like to see a serious model railway series though. I'm sure I read somewhere that railway modelling is second only to angling in terms of popularity.

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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by BorisSpencer » Mon Oct 15, 2018 4:42 pm

I thought this week's was better.

YouTube has to be the place to go for the less mind numbing content, although there is a lot of chaff to sort through before you find a grain of wheat.
I even enjoy some of the smaller scale content, if it's interesting, informative, and scripted well then I'll give it a watch.
I have a small flat panel TV in my modelling room, connected to t'interweb but with no ariel attached.

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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by Clockwork » Mon Oct 15, 2018 4:49 pm

I enjoyed the small scale content very much well worth the watch but I found the DR who part boring as there was not a lot of railway content. ;)
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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by philipy » Mon Oct 15, 2018 4:55 pm

ge_rik wrote: Mon Oct 15, 2018 4:09 pm I missed this week's instalment - through circumstances rather than deliberately. Has anyone seen it? Was it any better than last week's.
Yes, we watched, mainly because there was nothing else on that wasn't worse.

I did think this weeks episode was slightly better and I agreed that the winning offering was the best of the three.
Having seen both episodes I think my reservations are mainly centred around the concentration on animated features and very little attention paid to the railways.
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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by FWLR » Tue Oct 16, 2018 10:34 am

I agree Phillip, it seems to be more on animation then the actual building of the layout. I think thats because most people generally wouldn’t have a clue what was being showed and the viewing figures would drop rapidly…

I also agree with Rik, in that why isn’t there a series on Garden Railways….

Maybe Practical Phil, could apply pressure with other editors from other publications to program makers…..

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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by ge_rik » Thu Nov 01, 2018 7:25 pm

I'm actually beginning to warm to this programme. Last week's episode included some good quality modelling, given the timescale, and the outcome of the scratchbuild challenge showed what an accomplished modeller could achieve. I'm also relieved to see that my worst fears have not been realised. Rather than the presenters and editors portraying the participants as nerdy anoraks, they are recognising their talents and giving praise where it is due.

Let's hope it encourages a few people to take up the hobby. Be good to see one of the teams going large scale, though.

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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by FWLR » Fri Nov 02, 2018 7:57 am

ge_rik wrote: Thu Nov 01, 2018 7:25 pm I'm actually beginning to warm to this programme.

Let's hope it encourages a few people to take up the hobby. Be good to see one of the teams going large scale, though.

Rik
Totally agree there Rik…Hope they do.

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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by Peter Butler » Fri Nov 02, 2018 3:00 pm

ge_rik wrote: Thu Nov 01, 2018 7:25 pm I'm actually beginning to warm to this programme. Last week's episode included some good quality modelling,

Rik
It makes me wonder whether these are being screened in the sequence they were filmed as there is a progression in standards. Perhaps tonight's programme will be outstanding, or is that too much to ask?
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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by philipy » Fri Nov 02, 2018 3:08 pm

Peter Butler wrote: Fri Nov 02, 2018 3:00 pm
It makes me wonder whether these are being screened in the sequence they were filmed as there is a progression in standards. Perhaps tonight's programme will be outstanding, or is that too much to ask?
Thats an interesting thought Peter, could be. I must admit that last week, all the way through I kept thinking that the home team were producing the first model railway that we'd seen as opposed to a toy train set. The judges seemed to be making negative comments all the way through that the team hadn't kept to the brief and I was most pleasantly surprised when they won. It did occur to me that perhaps somebody had been got at, one way or the other!

Lets hope tonights continues the trend.
Philip

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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by FWLR » Sat Nov 03, 2018 8:05 am

Do you think Phillip, that they won because of their better modelling skills. The guy who did the scratch build used the bits to a far better effect didn’t he.

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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by Dwayne » Sat Nov 03, 2018 2:24 pm

I wanted to see what the fuss was but unfortunately it seems I have to be within the British Isles to watch the videos. :protest:

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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by Busted Bricks » Sat Nov 03, 2018 3:48 pm

Dwayne wrote: Sat Nov 03, 2018 2:24 pm I wanted to see what the fuss was but unfortunately it seems I have to be within the British Isles to watch the videos. :protest:
They are on Youtube and I can watch them here from Denmark. Not that they are worth watching - I lasted all of 5 minutes.

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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by Andrew » Sun Nov 04, 2018 7:03 pm

I went to the birthday party of an ex-colleague last night and found that the GMRC was a major topic of conversation, by people I had no idea had an interest in railways! They seemed quite impressed, and tell me that a second series is planned... I still haven't got beyond the first one yet but really should since I know someone who was in the second one and will be in the final - he couldn't reveal if he'd won, but judging by what I could glean from him I'd guess not. As I understand it there was a budget to be spent with a couple of main manufacturers, which probably explains the OO-centric approach.

Incidentally, I Googled the female presenter, and she's a great modeller - so despite the made-up drama, she knows what she's talking about. For me it's just a shame there's seemingly so little interest in realism, but I guess that's one of the ways I happen to get my toy train kicks and not one that's universally shared...

Cheers,

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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by FWLR » Mon Nov 05, 2018 7:43 am

Actually Andrew, Anne and I have started to enjoy it more. There does seem to be a lot of people talking about it, so I guess it is bringing it too people’s attention. If that gets them into modelling all well and good in my mind.

And I have even started my interest back into N Gauge again, but only a little bit. I have a small test board, that has a removable top, so it doesn’t have any scenery. So I am going to do something with it, nothing too fancy, just enough to use the bit of stuff I have left.

It will be done in-between my 16mm though, that’s my main interest now for life………….

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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by ge_rik » Tue Nov 13, 2018 9:07 am

Well, now the series is over, I must admit to changing my initial impressions and grew to quite enjoy the programme. However, I think it would have been more interesting if they had spent more time showing the detailing on the layouts. There was a glimpse of the atmospheric railway on the Brunel layout, for instance; I'd have liked to see more.

I really enjoyed the way the hardcore modellers undermined the presenters' attempts at engineered jeopardy by, for example, refusing to test run their locos until the last minute and ignoring the pressure to link up their layouts until they were ready.

Looks like another series has been planned which I will now look forward to.

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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by philipy » Tue Nov 13, 2018 9:27 am

I agree with you in general Rik. Part of the problem is that they didn't give enough air time to letting us actually see the layouts.
The winning effort went from pretty much bare boards to finished multi-level creation with no insight into exactly what they did. My initial thoughts were that it was too gimmicky to really be a worthy winner, but then on reflection I thought that actually, if it was in your average local exhibition it would be impossible to get through the crowds around it.

A 2nd series with a bit more thought into the production could actually be something to look forward to.
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Re: Great Model Railway Challenge - Ch5 tonight

Post by BorisSpencer » Tue Nov 13, 2018 9:39 am

ge_rik wrote: Tue Nov 13, 2018 9:07 am However, I think it would have been more interesting if they had spent more time showing the detailing on the layouts.
I stumbled accross some videos on YouTube, the team that made the WW1 trench layout in the heats had been filming their efforts, and also when they rebuilt it for a later exhibition. Simply search for "The Great Model Railway Challenge".

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