Very interesting and enlightening
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Although I didn't get exactly what I expected to out of this book I still found it to be an excellent volume. The author seems to really know his stuff when it comes to realistic modelling of British railways, and I mean very realistic. There is a lot of good background information about both prototypes and models and the focus is on getting the models to accurately represent the prototypes in as many aspects as possible.
The area that I would have liked a lot more on is that of actual techniques for layout construction, scene modelling, weathering, kit-bashing, etc. Don't get me wrong, the author does delve into the actual 'how to' in most areas but he generally only covers the one or two techniques that he uses and then he mostly just broadly describes them and only occasionally includes a photo of the end result. This is where a few more details about the intermediate steps of many techniques accompanied by more photos would have added a lot of value to this book. One exception to this springs to mind - making your own trees - and there are probably one or two other example but none in as much detail as I would have liked.
Another good point about this book though is that in many cases the author discusses good sources of materials and parts and describes any benefits or shortcomings that should be considered when deciding on what to buy and from which manufacturer, particularly with regard to locos and rolling stock.
I have been building model railways for almost 20 years, and because my leaning has been simply towards believable rather than highly realistic models, I found this book quite enlightening and I do recommend it, although again, I would have liked more exposure to new landscaping and finishing techniques and more detail on or alternative approaches to techniques that I already use.
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United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada