Still not done anything much on the two dogs project. Been rather busy trying to finish a load of loose ends between now and Christmas.
One such project is this Dapol BR standard brake van kit that was started several months ago after being bought some 12 months before that! As you can tell I tend to take time to get a "Round Tuit"
I remember these kits when they first came out made by Airfix cica 1962 I Think.
Now, considering the moulds and tooling used for these models are getting on for 5
By way of a little interlude from the "Two Dogs" project I dug my old Bachmann 45xx Prairie tank out of the top drawer and thought it was about time I did something with it!
When shopping for bits and pieces at the Warley exhibition I picked up a few sets of GWR cab side etched plates from Garry Wells at 247Developments.
Cambrian based 2-6-2T No 4560 being one of them.
The loco as it came to me second hand and a good runner was finished in BR lined green with late crest, whereas witho
Progress at last!
After the disaster of a few weeks ago with the "Dukedog" chassis and motor failure another attempt was made on getting a working chassis.
I had to wait until the Warley National model railway exhibition (where I was assisting a fellow CHMRC member with his layout operations) to purchase the necessary parts from Comet Models.
I chose to use their GB5 gearbox and Mashima 10 series motor, (Shown below)
Assembly is straight forward, The bearings are soldered i
After the recent set back with the "Dukedog" chassis I decided to leave that one alone for a while until I can get some more replacement parts.
So, as I am a glutton for punishment I made an attempt at my clients "Bulldog" Chassis.
My client had very thoughtfully provided a set of Romford drivers and extended axles, some Romford fly cranks and a few other better than the kit bits.
Despite using all brand new stuff, getting the chassis to run smoothly, quietly and reliably has taken me the bes
It's a case of one step forwards and two steps backwards this week!
I've started building the chassis for both locomotives.
While I was waiting for the motor and gears for my clients Bulldog to arrive I pressed on with the chassis for the Dukedog.
Both locos chassis are identical so I had to make sure I didn't get all the bits mixed up!
Anyway, after assembling the frames for the Dukedog on a piece of plate glass to ensure all is square and flat.
The frames come pre drilled for th
Latest up date on the "Two Dogs" project.
Whilst I am waiting for motors and gearboxes to arrive from Scalelink I decided to do a bit of work on my own "dog"
The Dukedog arrived from the seller on Ebay nearly all built but painted in GWR green. As I wanted mine in BR black some real cleaning up was needed.
I tried paint stripper but found out that the loco had been stuck together with 2 part epoxy and NOT soldered!
So, Major strip down and reassembly using 70deg lo melt solder. I to
Here we go!
Work is now under way here on Duke's kitchen table!
Day one of operations took me thus far....
I have started with the tender as i "Thought" this would be the easy bit! Not bloody likely!
The castings although reasonable in terms of moulding flash, (although there is a fair bit of fettling) were slightly distorted and took a while to get reasonably straight.
There is still loads to do on the tender but you can see the basic body shell coming together.
I need asbe
"Two dogs?" I hear your say!
The two "Dogs" concerned here are these K's white metal kits.
A GWR "Bulldog" Class loco
This is not mine, I am building this kit for a client, and this is my very first commission job!
Work will commence very shortly on this one as it needs a lot doing to it. No motor or gears have been supplied with the kit so I shall have to buy in a motor/gears for it.
The second "Dog" is mine and it's a DUKEDOG! :RO
This is how it arrived from the s
Mystery Loco revealed!
Following on from my last entry "Love me Tender"
Here is the loco I have been working on, although still waiting for etched number plates and shed plate as well as loco crew. Seen here running light engine on Morfa Bach.
Now for the history lesson and the reason for the secrecy...
The loco above was bought from the estate of our deceased fellow member and good friend Richard Lacey (Wheeltapper)
Like Jim SW I wanted something as a memory of Richar
Sorry that I have not updated the blog for a couple of weeks or so, I have been busy getting Pen Y Bont ready for Midland Railex (more about that in a future entry)
OK so, what have I been up to? Well quite a bit actually but nothing of real substance to post here until now.
I have acquired yet another ex GWR locomotive (not saying from where or what it is yet!) all I will say is that it is a RTR job from Bachmann.
Anyway I digress (as usual!)
I have made a start on adding extra detail and
Thank goodness for some decent weather so work can be continued outside on the East fiddle yard for my new Cambrian modular layout "Steam on the Cambrian".
Those who have read my first post on this subject will know that the layout requires two such fiddle yards, one at each end of the modules.
Both fiddle yards will consist of a three road turn table so that complete trains can be turned at each end without having to lift off any stock or cassettes.
Today's progress on the east fiddle yard i
Such a nice day here at Dukedog Manor I decided to have a modelling session outside on the front deck.
So, after returning from our Sunday lunch at the pub I set to and made up a few little bits that I am going to need soon for a little "project" I have on the workbench at the moment. (more on that as and when)
One of the jobs was to make a replacement Brake standard (Well water scoop standard actually) to replace one on a Bachmann GWR 3500 gallon tender that got dropped by me( Clumsy so
My Cambrian modular layout is now nearing the stage where I need the proper power supplies for testing.
(Also tied in with this entry is this thread from this forum entry on RMWeb.)
As a qualified person I am quite capable of building my own electrical equipment for my model railway projects. However I must state here that anyone contemplating building anything involving 230V mains equipment should be aware of the consequences of their workmanship, and if in any doubt do NOT even think about b
Just another update to say that all the track is now laid on Penmaenpool MPD. Well almost all, There is still about 75mm of track to be laid on the L/H exit-entry road.This will be laid once the West fiddle yard is started and aligned so as to ensure good track alignment across the baseboard joint.
All flexible track is C&L Finescale with hand built turnouts.
The track is glued down direct to the baseboard with no cork or any other material between track and wood.
I don't subscribe
After what seems like ages work as again restarted on the construction of my new Cambrian Modular layout Morfa Bach / Penmaenpool MPD plus fiddle yards.
Poor weather for outdoor "wood butchering" and taking a holiday abroad have contributed to the long delay since the last update.
Today has been the first opportunity to get the modules built so far or under construction linked together for the first time.
This picture shows the three modules that have been built /under construction t
Yes! it's wood butchering time again!
I've made a start on the first of two fiddle yards for my new Cambrian modular layout, currently one module is built and finished (?) Morfa Bach.
The second module (Penmaenpool MPD) is under way and the track is down. Next job there is the turnout operating motor installation. How ever this has been put on the back burner for a day or two whilst I took advantage of dry weather to work outside and butcher some more wood!
The fiddle yard shown here is
I'm always on the lookout for the unusual to include on my model railways. Either as scenic cameos or wagon loads.
Like 100's of others I have a Bachmann "Weltrol" wagon, usually these come with either a boiler or transformer type of load and like all mass produced rolling stock looks the same as everyone else's.
So when the opportunity of purchasing a non working 009 model of this Alco locomotive came my way I jumped at he chance of getting it before it's owner put it on Ebay.
The Alc
All the track is now laid, and power feed droppers connected.
I haven't taken any pictures yet because no doubt you have seen 00 gauge track and turnouts before.
The points are home made copper clad sleepers and bullhead rail, so need some thing a bit less stressful than solenoid point motors to operate them.
I have chosen to use Fulgarex slow action motorised switch machines, unlike the Tortoise type motor the action is a linear movement rather than a fulcrum wire used on the Tortoi
Finally made a start on building Penmaenpool MPD
Butchered some wood and started track laying.
The first turnout and main running line are laid.
Hand built points and C&L track is being used.
The drawing pins are just to stop anything moving while the PVA sets. I don't use track pins, just glue.
Once ballasted it's not going anywhere.
This picture shows the view from the Morfa Bach end looking towards the next board/fiddle yard.
This view is looking away from the fidd
When I started railway modelling back when Adam was a lad if you wanted decent looking rolling stock you had to either scratch build it or use kits.
The only RTR stuff available was either Tri Ang or Hornby which in those days were intended to be sold more as toys for boys rather than railway models.
Since then RTR stuff has come on leaps and bounds each year the accuracy and standard of detail improves.
Take this Bachmann ex Southern Railway Van, The chassis is superb. Long gone are th
I haven't updated this blog for a couple of weeks mostly due to the fact that I have have had a few health problems and to be fair not much work has been done on the modelling scene.
However, Morfa Bach made it's very first outing on Sunday 22nd April to the MRG Forum's members meeting day at Bristol. So, the couple of days last week saw some last minute tweaks and a general tidy up.
I was hoping to get rid of the temporary back scene and replace it with something more suitable but, time ha
This time last week the weather was bright and sunny with temperatures around the 20degC mark, To-day it is blowing a blizzard outside, putting the damper on any chance of wood butchering the baseboard for Penmaenpool MPD, the next module in my Modular Cambrian model railway layout.
As it happens there is always other work that can be done indoors in the warm!
I need two points, (turnouts) for Penmaenpool and one Trap (catch) point.
I also wanted the minimum radius to be no less than 36inches
Getting towards the finishing stages now, that's if a model railway is ever "finished" there are always little jobbies to be done somewhere.
Morfa Bach is no exception and I shall still be adding detail and paint in 12 months time!
But, all work and no play is no fun, so, taking advantage of this weeks fair weather I dragged the layout out on to the back yard and posed a few locos wagons and coaches for some natural daylight pictures.
Here's a few of the many shots taken this afterno
After using Xtrkcad and other layout design software I've downloaded Templot to try.
I'm still getting my head round it at the moment but have made a start on this.....
The above is a screen shot of my attempt to draw some track work for Penmaenpool MPD.
Not bad for about 30mins work, I still have a lot to learn about this software though, I'll have to keep looking at the tutorial videos!
All I really want to do is produce some templates for the turn outs, I'm not too bothe
PENMAENPOOL MPD.
Now that Morfa Bach is nearing completion it's time to consider my options for board 2 of my new modular layout.
This board (whatever the final decision) has got to fit next to Morfa Bach to provide a continuous run from fiddle yard to fiddle yard.
Yet more scenic boards could be built, making the layout more flexible for exhibiting.
One option I am considering for module 2 is Penmaenpool MPD.
Unlike most small steam sheds Penmaenpool was not located at a terminus, ne
