One of the Most Detailed Model Railway Layouts in Narrow Gauge O Scale - Old England by Samuel de Zutter

Published on June 16, 2023

At many model railway exhibitions, model train layouts and model rail dioramas are presented on which O scale narrow gauge trains operate. Often those trains become a secondary matter because the viewer is overwhelmed by countless lovingly arranged details. A true master of model making and scratch building is Samuel de Zutter from Belgium, who always stands out with his model railroad layouts because he decorates them with an infinite number of brilliant details.

His latest O scale train layout, called “Old England”, depicts a narrow-gauge railway located somewhere in an English village. The model railway includes a workshop, a pub and a brewery (“Mule Beer”) that generates its energy via a water wheel. Samuel de Zutter explains that the illustrated book “Old England, Scotland & Wales” written by Jürgen Sorges inspired him to build this model railway layout. In the book, there were so many beautiful and inspiring pictures that he wanted to recreate the English landscapes and English houses in his little miniature world in 1/43 scale on an area of about 2.5 x 0.6 meters.

Samuel de Zutter is known for constructing his miniature worlds according to the so-called scratch building method. This is the process of building a scale model from scratch, i.e. from raw materials, rather than building it from a commercial kit, kitbashing or buying it pre-assembled. Scratch building is easiest if original plans of the subject exist; however, many scale models have been built from photographs by measuring a known object in the photograph and extrapolating the rest of the dimensions. The necessary parts are then fashioned out of a suitable material, such as wood, plastic, plaster, clay, metal, polymer clay, or even paper, and then assembled. Some purists consider a scale model not to be truly scratchbuilt unless all of the parts were made from raw materials.

One particular feature that Samuel de Zutter follows in all his miniature worlds is finishing and weathering respectively, i.e. making his model look like it has been used via dust, dirt, stains and wear. Finishing work, for example, sanding, polishing, painting, weathering, distressing by forming dents and rust, dust, etc. is done to complete the model and bring it to a lifelike state.

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc9J6rWVVMU

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