SKALEDALE SHED

Yesterday, I received a flattering email in regard to the new Model Rail DVD, ‘The Scenery Expert’. While my own input to this title was limited to being a foil to the excellent Peter Marriott – a real scenic expert if ever there was one – MR reader Geoff Castle asked about the Skaledale shed that appears towards the end of the programme.

Having enjoyed a complete repaint inside and out, plus a detailed interior, it’s a Hornby Skaledale building that’s been knocking around my shed for a few years. In fact, it appeared in a snow scene in a Christmas issue of Model Rail a few years ago. When that diorama was ‘recycled’, the shed was cleaned of the snow covering and packed away, assuming that it would come in useful again someday.

When we moved office in early 2009, we had a bit of a clear out and I managed to bag a loco shed diorama that, although pretty badly damaged, did have some real potential for redevelopment. While the full story of the re-modelling will appear in the July issue, the small Skaledale shed did, indeed, prove very useful.

The shed has already appeared in Model Rail, as part of this Festive snow scene a few years back.

Another upgrade to the building was the replacement of the shed doors. The big lumps of resin were removed and replaced with a scratch-built pair, crafted from strip wood with brass hinges. The difference can be appreciated by glancing at the two images above. Now coupled with an S&C-style Skaledale water tower and a Ten Commandments coaling stage, the completed scene looks pretty convincing. Just painting Skaledale (or Bachmann Scenecraft) buildings to a better standard makes a big difference, especially if you use the same stone shades across the board; making everything look like it’s meant to be together in the same scene.