Features

Featuring
Thumbnail

Model Railway Features

SERIES 8: Digital Sound - installing Hornby TXS chips

MIKE WILD and JONATHAN NEWTON

In part two of our Digital Sound video series we start our trilogy of sound installation features by working with the new Hornby Bluetooth Triplex Sound chips. In this video we show how to add an 8-pin chip to a Hornby Class 60, a 21-pin chip to the LMS 'Turbomotive' and a Next18 chip to a TT:120 scale 'A4' 4-6-2 taking you through every step of the journey. Watch today with a FREE member account exclusively on Key Model World.

MIKE WILD and JONATHAN NEWTON
Feature Premium

Class 104 Conversion

TIM SHACKLETON

In a classic piece of hands-on modelling, TIM SHACKLETON takes a brutal-looking selection of saws, files and knives to an elderly Hornby model. In the first part, he tackles the chassis.

TIM SHACKLETON
Feature Premium

GWR Steam Railmotor

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES

Railways have always faced the problem of how to work their most lightly used routes cheaply. One solution that found much favour in Victorian times was the steam railmotor, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES explains.

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Feature Premium

Creating a Waterfall

DAN EVASON

For a very different feature on a layout, DAN EVASON shows how to create a stunning waterfall scene in this detailed step by step modelling guide.

DAN EVASON

NEW SERIES 8: Digital Sound Introduction | Part One

MIKE WILD and JONATHAN NEWTON

Launching today at 8pm today - March 8 2024 - is our brand-new video series offering an introduction to the world of Digital Sound for model railways. In this new four part series, we will explore what digital sound has to offer and how to install and use decoders from Hornby, ZIMO and ESU.

MIKE WILD and JONATHAN NEWTON
Feature Premium

The Dawlish Sea Wall

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES

Few railway locations are as recognisable as the famous sea wall at Dawlish in Devon, where for a hundred years trains have done battle with the elements, sometimes in spectacular style. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES explains why this railway was built and what the future may hold for it.

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES

Upgrading Newton Grove

JONATHAN NEWTON

With some structures having been damaged in the long journey from ‘Oz’, JONATHAN NEWTON reveals how he is building a new engine shed and road bridge for his ‘O’ gauge layout.

JONATHAN NEWTON
Feature Premium

The short and winding road

DAN EVASON

A veritable spider’s web of country lanes links villages and farms in the countryside. DAN EVASON shows how to model one in 4mm scale.

DAN EVASON
Feature Premium

LESS IS MORE

TIM SHACKLETON

TIM SHACKLETON takes a scaled-down approach to giving ‘N’ gauge models a life-like finish.

TIM SHACKLETON
Feature Premium

REALITY CHECK: Southern Railway CC1 ‘Booster’

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES

To power goods trains on its electric network, the Southern Railway built one of the most innovative and unusual locomotive designs ever to appear on our railways. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks into the history of the Class 70, otherwise known as the ‘Booster’.

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Feature Premium

What Next? LNER

TREVOR JONES

Continuing his survey of the ‘Big Four’ railways, Trevor Jones picks out some ‘missing links’ of the LNER and constituents that could be modelled in ‘OO’ gauge.

TREVOR JONES
Feature Freemium

Building a GNR tunnel portal

MIKE WILD

In the fourth and final feature following construction of our new ‘TT:120’ scale layout Twelvemill Bridge, MIKE WILD explains the techniques used to build our exclusive GNR tunnel portal kits.

MIKE WILD
Locoman Sounds GWR Manor sound demonstration video. Feature Premium

Speaker upgrade for the Accurascale ‘Manor’

MIKE WILD

Accurascale’s GWR ‘Manor’ 4-6-0 is a superb model, but it left room for improvement in the speaker setup. MIKE WILD shows how he fitted Locoman Sounds’ latest profile for these two-cylinder locomotives together with a speaker upgrade.

MIKE WILD

Staff Projects: Reviving Topley Dale

MIKE WILD

It’s approaching two years since Topley Dale was dismantled and put into storage, but now the layout is being rebuilt in a much bigger, extended form. MIKE WILD explains the first steps and the vision for the future.

MIKE WILD
Feature Premium

Speedlink freight operations

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES

The 1960s are usually best remembered for Beeching’s railway closures but this period also saw a number of innovations, not least the rapid Speedlink freights with their distinctive long-wheelbase wagons, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES remembers.

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Feature Premium

Class 57s

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES

While remanufacture of existing locomotives is common practice in other countries it is quite rare in the UK. The Class 57, however, is an exception, having been rebuilt from the Class 47 two decades ago. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES takes a look at this successful conversion and its subsequent service history.

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Feature Premium

MAKING A SCENE: Submerged Spitfire scene

DAN EVASON

DAN EVASON was inspired by a story to create this stunning scene in 4mm scale - which, with adaptation, could be set in any era from the dawn of flight to the present day.

DAN EVASON
Feature Premium

Creating the cover for model for Hornby Magazine 200

RICHARD HALL.

Marking the 200th issue of Hornby Magazine called for a special cover shot. RICHARD HALL reworked a Bachmann class 40 to mark the occasion in style with a unique headboard.

RICHARD HALL.
Feature Premium

WORKBENCH: Tyne Dock steam finale

TIM SHACKLETON

The Tyne Dock-Consett iron ore circuit has always fascinated modellers. TIM SHACKLETON blends consistency and variety within a nine-wagon rake of KR Models iron-ore hoppers.

TIM SHACKLETON
Feature Freemium

Installing Hornby Triplex sound in ‘TT:120’ scale

MIKE WILD

Hornby’s new collection of ‘TT:120’ scale locomotives makes use of the smallest and most compact DCC interface - Next18. MIKE WILD explains what it is and how it works.

MIKE WILD
Feature Premium

What is Hornby's HM7000?

MARK CHIVERS

Hornby launched a new way to control model railways in 2023. MARK CHIVERS explains how the HM7000 system works - and why you should consider it.

MARK CHIVERS
Feature Premium

MAKING BUILDINGS FROM SCRATCH PART 6

MALCOLM BRIGGS

In the final part of his series, MALCOLM BRIGGS shows how to add the finishing touches to model structures to make them look as realistic as possible.

MALCOLM BRIGGS
Feature Premium

Making a scene: Snow covering tips

MIKE WILD

Recent weather and the arrival of two new steam locomotives with snowploughs in the accessory pack prompted MIKE WILD to give Shortley Bridge’s viaduct scene a quick winter makeover.

MIKE WILD
Feature Premium

Iron bridges on the ‘iron road’

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES

Although greatly favoured by early railway builders, the deficiencies of cast iron as a material for building railway bridges meant that its period of predominance was relatively short. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at the history of this material and finds out what there is still left to see.

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Feature Premium

Making a Scene: Locomotive Rescue!

DAV EVASON

What do you do with a model beyond repair? DAN EVASON creates a scene of salvation in ‘OO’ scale using in the latest Making a Scene modelling guide.

DAV EVASON
Feature Premium

Cleaning Up Dirtying Down

TIM SHACKLETON

Are you unhappy with factory weathering or unsure what to do about unwanted paint and pigments? If you want to change the appearance of your models, TIM SHACKLETON has the solution.

TIM SHACKLETON
Feature Premium

REALITY CHECK: The BR Standard '2MT' 2-6-0s

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES

The old saying of ‘if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it’ is often used in railway circles and this saying was never more true than in the design of the ‘2MT’ 2-6-0s which, despite being a BR Standard design, were near identical copies of an earlier type, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES explains.

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Feature Freemium

Building Twelvemill Bridge's Platforms

MIKE WILD

New to the Key Model World Shop are laser-cut platform kits for ‘TT:120’ scale. MIKE WILD explains how they were built and painted for Twelvemill Bridge.

MIKE WILD
Feature Premium

Southern Region first-generation DEMUs

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES

Forever identified with the Southern Region, British Railways’ first diesel-electric multiple units, affectionately known as ‘Thumpers’, were developed quickly due to a unique set of circumstances, yet proved very successful, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES explains.

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Installing digital sound in the Heljan GWR AEC parcels railcar. Feature Premium

Installing ESU sound in the Heljan GWR AEC railcar

MIKE WILD

The revival of Grosvenor Square for the Spalding Model Railway Exhibition on November 4/5 prompted MIKE WILD to go back to the ‘60s by installing digital sound in Heljan’s new ‘OO’ gauge GWR AEC parcels railcar. Here’s how he did it complete with a video sound demonstration.

MIKE WILD