What defines a good model? Well I would say it is when you get a feeling of familiarity and recognition. When it looks and feels right. Okay we probably all know what a model needs to feel right – but what then, makes it feel wrong?

Usually it is something that is not there. You can’t put your finger on it but something is missing. This something is usually the smaller details that we take for granted in everyday life. They should be represented on the model.

Many layouts are spoiled by too much being crammed into a small space. Not every station platform has to have milk churns, chocolate machines, trolleys, sacks, and every other accessory that’s on the market. A smaller selection, properly balanced, will look better.

But there are small accessories and there is detail. What makes the scene real is the crack in the paving stone, the little weeds growing and so on. It doesn’t need overdoing but it cannot be left out either.

When you are faced with a large area covered in painted plaster or whatever, the longing is to get it covered. Down goes the glue and down goes the scatter – there that’s better. Or is it? You now have a large area covered in scatter.

My method is to imagine an invisible grid of squares around 4 inches. In fact it might help to cut out a four-inch square hole in a sheet of paper and hold this over a portion of the layout. Now REALLY look at it. Think of everything that should be there. If it’s a grassy section you are looking at, is it too even in colour or too level. Will a few weeds improve it?

If it’s a structure, how about the water marks on the walls at the ends of window sills, running down the roof either side of the chimney stack, and so on. If you really look around when you are out you will notice that weeds and blades of grass manage to peep out from every single crack and some form of algae grows wherever a surface remains damp for a few days.

Another method if you have one, is to use a digital camera. Take loads of pictures of your layout from angles where you can’t normally view. It will make you see your layout in a different way. It can be like seeing it for the first time. (Many military modellers hold their figures up to a mirror to gain a different, fresh view. Study the pictures and ask yourself if it looks like it could be a real place rather than a model.

I always keep a couple of pots of very diluted green paint – just a light stain really. This goes wherever two surfaces meet. - around the bottom of every building, between paving slabs, where lamppost and paving come together and so on. Other small details include:

Dirty gutters
Bird droppings on railings, roof ridges and wall tops – in fact anywhere a bird can sit!
Chipped corners on buildings – especially if rendered.
Peeling paint
A wall patched with new bricks
Dead leaves
The remains of old peeled-off posters
Boot scrapers on old doorsteps

Just spend 5 minutes looking at your 4-inch square and you will soon see all the things it needs. You will be surprised how much is missing. And be prepared to spend a couple of hours on each square. But remember – details are like accessories – too much and the effect is ruined. When you