Model Rail

Model Rail magazine is the UK's biggest-selling magazine dedicated to railway modelling. Every issue is packed with the country’s finest home and club layouts, stunning photography, unbiased and in-depth product reviews, expert tips, layout plans and step-by-step articles that really show you how. In our unique ‘Workbench’ section, we tackle a wide range of modeling skills and projects. Our expert writers and model-makers will help you to get the most from your hobby and build the layout of your dreams. Model Rail is published 13 times a year, every four weeks.

Welcome

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Model Rail essential information

Opening the box • The latest happenings from the world of model railways

News

On the road

SHUNTERS IN ‘O’ AND ‘OO’

COACH KITS IN BRASS

Incoming • Updates on exciting new ready-to-run model projects

Rolling stock releases • Models coming to a model shop near you soon

Show & Tell • The place to share your projects with the Model Rail community.

According to Chris… • …It’s the buildings that can make your layout different from everyone else’s.

Tipping the scales • The scale and complexity of Steve Wright’s ‘N’ gauge layout is a sight to behold.

The buildings

Workbench • 16 pages of projects, advice and top tips that show you how

HOW TO STRIP AND REPAINT A DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE • Better late than never: George Dent has waited years to finish repainting this Hornby model. Here, he shows you how it was done.

Spraying acrylics

HOW TO CREATE RUST EFFECTS… WITH THE REAL THING! • Authentic materials produce authentic results, so George Dent decided to try a pack of the new and improved Scenic Rust weathering medium.

Keep it clean

Away from the tracks

HOW TO DISTRESS YOUR COAL WAGONS • George Dent reveals a fragrant and therapeutic technique for recreating battered and rusty steel-bodied wagons.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN TREES • Peter Marriott was pining for a unique model tree on his layout… here’s how he made his own out of wire.

Before you start…

Don’t worry...

HOW TO BUILD A SIMPLE LEVEL CROSSING • There are no barriers to Peter Marriott’s modelling prowess, unless a level crossing is involved…

The warning disc

WHEN PUSH comes to shove • Against the backdrop of a mighty industry in its death throes, the Class 13 was born, destined for a short, undecorated life. Ben Jones tells the story.

HOW TO BUILD A CLASS 13 • Dave Lowery uses a conversion kit to show you how to model your own Class 13.

PAINTING AND WEATHERING: Q&A SPECIAL • Over the past few months we’ve received a raft of reader queries about various aspects of painting and finishing models, so we decided to bring them together into a special edition of Know Your Stuff. This month, our panel of experts offer plenty of hints and tips, concerning preparation, painting and weathering, as well as how to keep your paintbrushes in fine fettle!

Going for a deeper clean

The Airbrush Company

Atmosphere by the yard • Numerous touches and meticulous planning make Shaun Harvey’s goods yard layout far more than the sum of its parts.

3 things we like

Couplings

BR livery guide • BR’s livery history can be shunted into five main phases. George Dent has compiled a list of the main locomotive liveries employed between 1949 and 1992 – and what paints you need to model them.

Reviews • In-depth and unbiased reviews of the latest products

EFE Rail Class 17

System builder • Other items to complement this model…

EFE Rail Hunslet ‘Austerity’

Performance

Oxford Rail...