LAYOUT CLUB

Reading Matt’s post provoked mixed feelings. Exceptional modelling as ever, with his trademark dedication to craft and detail. However, it also made me painfully aware that I have little to show for recent efforts. Obviously it’s only a few weeks since my last post, but that feels like an eternity in the modelling cycle of someone with an attention span as short as mine.  Juggling two conflicting inspirations - the masterful Tollesbury Quay by Martin Stringer, and Rye Town by Stephen Hannington I find myself stuck between two rocks, and my enthusiasm is in a hard place. On one side is Coursehorn, on the other Butley Creek. Both are layouts derived from prototypes to which I am immensely fond, and which I am very keen to see complete. However, I find myself paralysed by two opposing dilemmas.  Coursehorn is far advanced and looks from a glance to be coming together. However, I find myself dissatisfied with the basic composition and form of the layout. The Kent and East Sussex p...

Well I managed one whole post about Butley Creek before my attention moved to another layout, but in fairness this is one I have been working on for some time.  Coursehorn is the manifestation of a long-held desire to model a Colonel Stephens light railway. It is also in part an homage to one of my favourite layouts, Old Parrock, but with the chocolate box dialled down and muddy puddles taking the fore. It's intended as the successor to my current exhibition layout, Rye Sands, but is really more of a passion project than the result of any pragmatic choice. The genesis of Coursehorn had parallels with that of Butley Creek - a few inspirational photos, a site visit to Rolvenden, and hey presto, a winning layout idea. I had been toying with schemes for a light railway terminus for months, if not years, but these were always too big and too generic - halcyon summer scenes that lacked that certain je ne sais quoi.  Come November 2025, and I stumbled back upon a wonderful image from...