Which Magazine for N-Gauge?

[fratton]

when it comes to magazines i have to admit to being like a fly to a bug zapper, the mrs doesn't let me in WH smiths and she's thankfull that our nearest tesco only offer railway modeller,,,




thats why i drive up to chichester to pick up copies of the others


although recently i have felt guilty for shopping at gaugemaster rather than my local model shop so i buy my magazines from there more often now,,,

am an NGS member too gonna sign up for the modern group me thinks,,,

[Grahame]

when it comes to magazines i have to admit to being like a fly to a bug zapper, the mrs doesn't let me in WH smiths and she's thankfull that our nearest tesco only offer railway modeller,,,thats why i drive up to chichester to pick up copies of the others

am an NGS member too gonna sign up for the modern group me thinks,,,

As an NGS member you get the 'Journal' every two months. Other membership only circulation magazines that might be of interest to you are 'UPdate' from DEMU and 'The 2mm magazine'from the 2mm Scale Association. And, of course, there's N'spirations which is available to everyone (you don't need to be a member of anything).

Although you can join the NGS 'Modern group' as a society member for free, they are currently rather dormant, and no 'Red Death' newsletters have been produced for a while. However, you'll have access to the archive of back issues.

G.

[ste234]

Although you can join the NGS 'Modern group' as a society member for free, they are currently rather dormant, and no 'Red Death' newsletters have been produced for a while. However, you'll have access to the archive of back issues.

G.

I tried to join the NGS Modern Group not so long ago (well, few months maybe) but I can't access it for some reason
Maybe this explains why...
Ste

[joe 90]

As I also can't seem to use their sign-up web page does this meen that the NGS 'Modern group' are no longer operating?

[D306Whistler]

I used to buy Continental Modeller as they sometimes have great articles on the Overseas N gauge layouts like Katami Mittsu and "Tera no Taki" (Temple Falls) which are both great layouts and I have seen them both at Exhibitions in the past. Though recently I have not bought any mags as most of the information is on the web nowadays.

[Mustermark]

Being in the US, I can't drive up to WH Smith anymore like I used to do. I subscribe to Model Rail. They do sometimes have N gauge articles and they review N gauge items. I like that they always clearly show the scale for each article. The main reason I get it is for the photography - I think it is fantastic and very inspiring to see good shots of quality layouts. Being over here it is also useful to get some info on new releases etc (but then that is quicker on here) and also to have the adverts. When they do 'show-you-how' articles, I usually like these whatever the scale because I can try things at 2mm scale if the technique is adaptable.

One of my favourite articles was the one on the NGS kits for JJA autoballasters. I fell in love and straight away ordered them. I hadn't seen NGS show these and without the Model Rail build I wouldnt have known what they were called! I built them and (I think) they turned out really well (I was happy anyhow):
http://www.marksmodelrailway.com/Marks_ ... Image.html

I also subscribe to NGS and get their Journal, and recently found out about N'spirations.

[briantwigley]

I get quite annoyed with the amount of adverts in each magazine, I mean half of Railway Modeller is adverts.

I only buy them when I like the look of one of the articles but my local (and only) newsagent only sells RM so thats all I can get.

[Grahame]

I get quite annoyed with the amount of adverts in each magazine, I mean half of Railway Modeller is adverts.

I only buy them when I like the look of one of the articles but my local (and only) newsagent only sells RM so thats all I can get.

Worse is when the adverts are intermingled in the editorial/articles. At least Railway Modeller keeps them apart. But ads are essential revenue for the mags and helps keep prices down; I'd hate to think what the prices would be otherwise. And at least they are relevant (about railway modelling) and a helpful reference for comparing prices.

A number of mags now offer an on-line version/service so there are others you could get. And there are companies that offer a mailing service for mags at a reasonable price.

There are very, very few ads in 'N'spirations' and a reasonable postal service.

G.

[briantwigley]

I do have a look at the ads and sometimes there are decent little shops that I've never heard of or one offering something I haven't seen before.

[ParkeNd]

I know this is an old thread but it's potentially quite interesting.

Having returned to the hobby after a break of 15 years I have bought most of the mags. Nothing really concentrates much on N but does that matter. Just about all the gauges are interesting, and when reduced to the printed page it's necessary to hunt around to find what gauge a review layout is - it doesn't leap off the page at you does it.

The most interesting mags to me are those that cover building bits of a layout, in which case Hornby Mag does it for me.

The only real pain with most mags is the photography. Undeniably talented over depth of field etc, but the obsession with trying to make a model railway layout look better than it is is just too false. Smoke from electric locos, and dropping in new backgrounds via layers in Photoshop, are my major irritations.

So - best mag for N ? - there isn't one. But why does their have to be ?

[ParkeNd]

Have just read NGS Journal 2/2014 which is the first issue under the management of its new editor. There are no comments about it on here (my word this IS a quiet forum) so I thought I would mention it.

The content and quality is greatly enhanced and should now be taken very seriously. Apart from a couple of people who should have gone to Specsavers moaning about the size of the print it seems to have been universally well received. Future editions promise to be even better.

[Grahame]

Journal 3/14 is now out.

G.

[ParkeNd]

Journal 3/14 is now out.

G.

It's much more serious than before but probably better for that. Best article IMHO is about scaling and selecting trees for a layout - and very expensive they look too. Quite naturally by avoiding amateurish material the magazine looks desperately in need of articles from new and recent projects. But I would say the layouts/buildings/rolling stock will have to be of an astonishingly high standard to make the grade. Certainly my own N Gauge buildings for instance would not meet the standard based on Issue 3/14.

[Grahame]

Best article IMHO is about scaling and selecting trees for a layout - and very expensive they look too.

Worth checking out the 4D model shop for trees - they also make to order and although they look very good and expensive are certainly not pricey.

But I would say the layouts/buildings/rolling stock will have to be of an astonishingly high standard to make the grade. Certainly my own N Gauge buildings for instance would not meet the standard based on Issue 3/14.

Quite a range of standards of buildings in 3/14 if you look closely. The cover photo features Kestrel and Ratio kit buildings, the office block is a fairly simply and straightforward build (and is missing details like coping stones on the parapet walls), and those on page 70 are very much beginnerish but, yep, those in the Collerton article are very nice.

G.

[ParkeNd]

Thank you for responding H. I have had a look at the 4D shop website but couldn't find a price list. The Model Tree Shop looks an attractive proposition at about £2 per tree, in which case a few specimen trees are worth a try. Overall though I am going to need about 150 trees!!

I take your point about the buildings featured in small parts of the NGS Journal. Prior to seeing Collerton's buildings I was going to send in an outline for an article based on "a first time scratch builder's work since January 2014". See Rails through the Forest in N in this forum if you have time.