Titfield Home Page Modelling Full List Bookshop Guide

Modelling

Books Published
pre-2000


The 4mm Coach Part One Wild Swan
Stephen Williams £10.95 100 pages Softback 1995
Part one of a series, this book covers basic modelling techniques and includes a section on the whys and wherefores of all those intriguing bits and pieces to be seen on the ends of coaches, all very well illustrated and fascinating. Four basic "project" models are covered, building a plastic kit, modifying a ready to run item and two more complex rebuilds. This book is fully up to the standards one expects from this publisher and will be considered a standard reference work in future years.

4mm Coal Wagon, A Step By Step Guide Wild Swan
John Hayes £14.95 154 pages Softback 1999
This is a very good modelling book, covering every step and method of representing this most ubiquitous of British wagons in 4mm scale. The photographs and diagrams really could not be any better, and the resulting models are miniature works of art. The author has achieved much more though, producing a wonderful pictorial record of these wagons in service, and showing particularly well the state of private owner wagons after pooling and nationalisation. This is one of the best books that Wild Swan have ever produced - and they are all good.

The 4mm Engine A Scratchbuilders Guide Wild Swan
Guy Williams £9.95 110 pages Softback 1988
Temporarily out of print. Artistry in three dimensions, how to scratchbuild 4mm scale locomotive models to any gauge by Guy Williams, locomotive engineer to Pendon. Great Western types predominate and there is much information on and photography of the prototype included. No date for reprint yet as at Nov 2006.

The 4mm Wagon Part One Wild Swan
Geoff Kent £12.95 86 pages Softback 1991
Covering open, mineral and hopper wagons, this book is up to the usual high Wild Swan standards. Apart from being useful for modellers, it contains a wealth of fascinating views of this neglected aspect of railway operation. Reprinted in November 2008. I had forgotten how very good the opening chapter on generalities was, very clear pictures and explanation of the differing types of brakegear being a particular strongpoint.

The 4mm Wagon Part Two Wild Swan
Geoff Kent £12.95 162 pages Softback 1995
An excellent modelling reference book, liberally illustrated with photographs of the prototype and with a lot of interesting history of freight movement before the days og juggernauts and motorways. A beautiful colour photograph of loading vans at Aberdeen on the covers highlights just how such things hace changed, Iwonder what this scene looks like now? The work shown is easily achievable, with much of the modelling based around easily built kits. Basic underframe work is covered in part one, still available, see entry in list.

7mm Modelling Part One - An Introduction Wild Swan
Gordon Gravett £10.95 94 pages Softback 1996
The first of two books from the creator of "Ditchling Green", a breathtakingly realistic and atmospheric model railway. Gordon's ideas and techniques are refreshing and often original, appealing to both established 7mm modellers as well as newcomers. A number of models are featured, including a coarse scale line, and there is a sensible discussion of what the trade has to offer.

An Approach to Building Finescale Track Wild Swan
Iain Rice £12.95 110 pages Softback 1991
Working from the principles behind prototype trackwork this book concentrates on point and crossing construction. I know from experience what goes wrong if you don't do this! The problems of wiring and operating are also covered.

The Art of Weathering Wild Swan
Martyn Welch £14.95 112 pages Softback 1994
A superb book, a practical manual of how to weather model railways of both historic and modern eras, but a book which is also a delight to look through for the sheer artistry of the results achieved by the author. One slight word of caution, the techniques assume the use of an airbrush, although the principles guiding the application of paint apply equally well to all methods.

Building a Model Railway - Designing a Layout Wild Swan
Barry Norman £12.95 106 pages Softback 1997
An original and inspiring book on how to design model railways. Drawing on experience gained with projects such as Inkerman Street and North Shields, the author gets right down to basic and useful features of design that can be applied to any model. A good idea are the photocopyable template sections to aid the planning process - an excellent book. On page 10 there is an excellent detailed view of a dairy siding, if anyone knows where the place was I would dearly like to know. The caption reveals no clues to its location although it looks like a Western Region installation to me.

Carriage Modelling Made Easy Wild Swan
David Jenkinson £12.95 130 pages Softback 1996
Concentrating on earlier types, ie not flush sided, David Jenkinson is at his readable best describing how to tackle scratchbuilding coaches in plasticard. His arguments and methods are cogent, and the whole is well illustrated with drawings and photographs of both models and interesting prototype shots. The quality of production is superb.

Cottage Modelling for Pendon Wild Swan
Chris Pilton £12.95 92 pages Softback 1987
Inspired by Roye England and his Pendon museum of landscape and transport in miniature, Chris Pilton started building models of vernacular architecture in the Vale of the White Horse. This book shows how he goes about this from detailed site measurements and photography through to the modelling and finished painting of each structure, following progress on two particular buildings, one of which is thatched. Modelling aside this book is spiced with many of Roye's priceless images of the Vale taken from the 1930s, including several interior shots which graphically illustrate just how much life has changed on the "home front" for normal working people.

Etched Locomotive Construction Wild Swan
Iain Rice £11.95 78 pages Softback 1990
Starting with a history and description of the genre, the intrepid Mr Rice takes on the de-mystification of the etched kit. There are lots of useful tips (now I know why my chassis didn't work) and clear and attractive photographs. The book culminates in a detailed blow by blow account of the construction of a "Dukedog" kit - rather you than me! I would say that this is a useful reference on the subject for all scales, despite the author being a predominantly 4mm modeller.

Great Western Branch Line Modelling Part 2 Wild Swan
Stephen Wiliams £12.95 110 pages Softback 1991
A deservedly popular work of reference for modellers covering prototype buildings, fittings and traffic operation. Fully indexed by location, it is also a very attractive book about branch lines in its own right, with images tending to be historic pre - BR and detailing and illuminating the detail of the subject very well.

Great Western Branch line Modelling Part 3 Wild Swan
Stephen Williams £12.95 96 pages Softback 1993
The trilogy is completed with the building of a scale model of Farringdon Station in Wiltshire, all aspects are covered from track building to operating shunt signals and lineside vegetation.

Landscape Modelling Wild Swan
Barry Norman £12.95 66 pages Softback 1986
An inspiring book, visually pleasing but also very practical in its advice on techniques for model railway scenery. Although the author is very skilled, and the book illustrates some of the most convincing model scenes ever created, the author does not "talk down" to the beginner and the methods and ideas he describes are easy to understand and adopt.

Light Railway Layout Designs Wild Swan
Iain Rice £8.95 72 pages Softback 1991
Reprinted in 2000, Iain Rice's classic book on modelling light railways, containing inventive plans and inspiring sketches, all accompanied by photographs of different prototypes and some of the author's super models. A very appealing book, as enjoyable for its light railway content as much as its modelling content.

Locomotive Kit Chassis Construction In 4mm Wild Swan
Iain Rice £13.95 158 pages Softback 1993
A very comprehensive work covering the construction of kit chasses for both OO and scale gauge 4mm railways. All sorts of components from Romfords to state of the art Ultrascale wheels are considered.

Model Railway Layout Design (Finescale in Small Spaces) Wild Swan
Iain Rice £9.95 64 pages Softback 1990
All sorts of ideas are explored here with practical, objective and down to earth advice on various aspects of the hobby, but all with the theme of "fine scale in small spaces". The author is no mere theoretician as his models amply demonstrate, and he has produced a useful and attractive book.

Modelling Historic Architecture HMRS
Derek Bidwell £8.95 70 pages Softback 1998
The author is a professional model maker, and in this large format book he describes the methods he uses in recreating all sorts of buildings in miniature. This is much more than a modelling book, it is also a guide to architectural details from sash windows through brick bonding to roof construction. The photographs and diagrams are very clear and reproduced to a good size.

Narrow Gauge Adventure Peco
P.D. Hancock £7.95 122 pages Hardback 1980
Speaking as someone who's early interest in modelling was nurtured by articles in the "Railway Modeller" and the Peco "Shows you how" series, I had to include this story of the evolution of one particular model system of the period, the "Craig and Mertonford". Utilising both narrow and standard gauge and based on North British practice, it is a wonderful work of imagination which will appeal to day dreamers the world over!

Peter Denny's Buckingham Branch Lines Part 2 1967-1993 Wild Swan
Peter Denny £9.95 88 pages Softback 1994
The second part of this detailed account of what is undoubtedly one of the best model railways ever created. A real imaginative tour de force and superb modelling too - puts "Heckmondwyke" into perspective.

Plastic Bodied Locomotives Wild Swan
Tim Shackleton £14.95 164 pages Softback 1999
An excellent addition to the modellers bookshelf, a detailed and well illustrated look at creating finescale models through "bashing" proprietary locomotives. The results are convincing, and the techniques and comments apply to working on any injection moulded body. For the record, the prototypes created are; Fowler 4F, B1, Terrier, County, West Country and 9F.

Plastic Structure Kits Wild Swan
Iain Rice £9.95 76 pages Softback 1988
A whole book devoted to using and getting the most from the versatile "Wills" moulded plastic sheets, kits and scenic details. In addition to showing you how to build bridges stations and all sorts of other structures, the author's excellent sketches show in detail the methods of construction adopted by the prototype and the book is theefore useful for modelling in scales other than 4mm.

Whitemetal Locos Wild Swan
Iain Rice £10.95 64 pages Softback 1989
In his inimitable and readable style, Mr Rice explains how to extract the best from the various qualities (!) of whitemetal kits, including the remedying of faults and detailing.

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