Build A Bookshelf Layout

Another New Year... and another new book project!

It's hard to believe another year has gone past. It's 2022 and the world is still showing no signs of recovery from a Global Pandemic such as COVID. Perhaps it is timely that my latest book, and my first ever Arts & Crafts non-fiction book, takes root from my personal hobby that has kept me occupied through periods of lockdowns and restrictions here in Australia. It's also a hobby that I can now boast having over 40 years experience with. Welcome to my world of model trains, and my new book Build A Bookshelf Layout.

In the midst of a busy Christmas Holiday Down Under, the courier dropped my box of advance release copies of the new book at my door on Christmas Eve. But with Christmas, a short camping trip, New Years Eve, our Wedding Anniversary and my wife's 50th Birthday all condensed into 11 days of celebrations, I think I can be excused from making any announcement until now.

So, armed with a small platter of olives, cheeses and sun-dried tomatoes, and an absolutely exquisite bottle of Chandon bubbly courtesy of my niece Eleisha, I thinks its a safe time to set my next book project loose into the world.

Five years in the making, this 72 page colour instructional book is a great starting place for newcomers and old-head model railroaders alike to read before constructing their next model railway project layout. A good finish begins at the start, and I've often found that overseas books offer little beyond a trackplan and some diagrams that leave you floundering to work out why your finished layout doesn't resemble the masterpiece shown on the cover. This book is the opposite! Its' hands-on, step-by-step approach is designed to fast-track your skills and enjoyment, without learning what works, and what doesn't, the hard way!

There's over 40 years experience laid-out inside, more than 70 photos and enough informative text that will talk you through what you need to consider on the way to constructing an enjoyable small model railway layout. The book covers the planning process, benchwork construction, painting and layout presentation, lighting and basic track laying skills that all result in a rewarding model railway experince.

Two more books covering scenery secrets and trackside tips will also be available in 2022. Build a Bookshelf Layout is to the best of my knowledge, the first Australian model railway how-to book to hit the market.

Books are also available to download as eBooks direct through Blurb or the Apple store.

   

While my model railway hobby can now boast gracing the cover of Australian Model Railway Magazine and appearing in 8 different model train exhibitions Down Under, seeing my handiwork now spawning a short series of books brings me the uppermost delight. The models and modelling examples you see on the cover of Build A Bookshelf Layout have now all moved on, replaced with a new and bigger project that is taking shape above my desk. Its a hobby that is continually evolving, and one that has now rendered the instructional books of the 1970's that I read as a young child obsolete.

So here's to the next generation of modellers. May this book serve you well as an example of how to fast-track your modelling skills and get a lifetime of enjoyment out of the world's greatest hobby.

Cheers,

Phill O