Terraces getting closer to finish - chimneys on

This week I was able to complete the chimneys on the terraces. I have to add the optional chimney pots which are just styrene tubing painted clay colour with a bit of 'black soot' around the top. Then once these are done, just the wall edging and the foundations to go. A coat of dullcoat will finish the lot ready for the club modelling competition in early December.

Other things this week I have been researching are Ratio semaphores and Will building kits for some options I am considering around the layout. Firstly I am interested in mechanising the semaphore signal via MERG module controlled servo control.

As for the building kit/s I had been thinking of adding shops to either end of the terraces with another Scalescenes kit however as the terraces have taken long enough I was thinking of trying something like a plastic standalone set of shops that could be postioned in a different area of the layout.

I have also been reading up on PICs (Peripheral Interface Controller or a type of programmable integrated circuit) as a means of assisting with the localised automating of some features via integration with the MERG modules I have been testing out. They seam to be a very powerful yet cheap way of potentially doing some of the handoff control of lighting, sound, sensors, etc. More research in how PICs work is required, but I have just read a small book on programming PICs in BASIC and this is all that would be required to start with for model railway use. MERG uses C language to program their PICs but this is a simple step up from the use of BASIC but I think I have to take small steps first before moving up to that level. But it has got my interest that is for sure.