009 micro £100 budget challenge

[bridgiesimon]

Thank goodness I mentioned it then, check out the piccies of the saddle tank on this thread here - 

https://www.lner.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2737

 

Best wishes

Simon

[mjcampbell]

Luke, welcome to 009! It's a great scale with so much potential. £100 is a tight budget challenge in any scale, but I see you are up for a bit of scratch-building so I reckon you should be able to do it, just make sure you have fun along the way. Like many others I did a "pug-bash" in my early days, it's a great starting point, and yours is coming out well. The Kato chassis is not only ridiculously cheap, but is a surprisingly good runner - it can be a little fast, but add a little lead and a good controller will make it smooth and controllable. (I got a bag of roofing lead off-cuts free from a builder friend, so ask around! Use impact adhesive e.g. Bostik or Serious glue, or even superglue, but as said Not PVA). There are lots of kits for it too, from simple 3D prints through to etched brass. 

 

Despite the tight budget don't get a crude controller like a H&M clipper, it will overheat the small motors. Anything from Gaugemaster will be fine. I use an AMR or KPC hand-held (neither still available but appear on ebay), or I've heard a Trax is good, but they need a separate transformer. A cheap option is to get a cheap speed controller off ebay and add a DC power supply and reversing switch, but some have a minimum speed. 

 

Small locos and short coaches and wagons will manage a 6 inch radius (12" diameter) curve, but it will be limiting and can cause problems with couplings. 9 to 10 inch radius is much better and will allow mid-size locos and smaller bogie coaches to operate, though for larger/longer stock go for 12"+. Go for the biggest radius you can of course, if nothing else it looks better! For couplings if you are mainly using N-gauge chassis you can save money and effort using the N-gauge coupler. The Bemo / Peco type is more widely used, but many use the Greenwich coupling which can be compatible, but can also be made to uncouple over a magnet, and works out cheaper - but you have to fold them up from an etch. 

 

There's not much narrow gauge on here but try the NGRM forum too where you will get loads of advice and inspiration. I'd also heartily recommend the 009 society - there's a great magazine, extremely useful sales operation, and local area groups. There are also narrow gauge shows around the country, often attended by the 009 sales. 

[luke the train spotter]

Thanks again Simon. Looking at those pic I see how serious it can be. I dont think my plastic loco body could survive the expansion at all!

Thanks for the tips of the radius curves and I have joined the NGRM forum as well so I will have a look around on that. Just for simplicity and price I plan to stick with n gauge couplings as I plan to scratch build all my rolling stock on n gauge chassis. Here is a quick pic of my new pug bash after a week of modeling work on it. It is pretty much finished with just a few bit of detailing required and a quick coat of varnish. I plan to fit a standing footplate crew in it and I have found some good contenders for the figures from various brands except postage is more than the product!!!! So I think I shall wait till an exhibition before I pick them up. As I mentioned here is a pic of the new loco:

[hayfield]

Luke

 

Looks very good, how does it look with a coach or two behind?

 

As for lead, most glues are fine or just get some sheet so you can glue one side to the body

[mjcampbell]

That's come out nicely!

[luke the train spotter]

Thank you very much for your kind feedback. As I am very new to 009 scale i currently have no coaches and only one wagon which I scratch built for a fiver. So the wagon is the closest thing I have to a 009 coach so here is a pic with the new loco (think I might call it dragon?) with my wagon

[SDJR7F88]

A very interesting topic indeed! Excellent work with the little loco! Really does look the part!

[luke the train spotter]

Thanks. Glad you like it. It's my first attempt at an 009 steam loco and I pleased with the results.

[luke the train spotter]

So today I got all the stuff I need for my folding baseboard new for just £11. Now that it is one pound more than my budget but I think I can allow that. So today I bought a sheet of mdf:

Then some flush hinges (I bought two packs of two to be safe):

And finally I picked up 2 simple slide locks that will hold the baseboards and electrics in place:

When I got home I measured the mdf and split it in half length ways then sawed it in two. I did go a bit wonky at one end but I hope that won't make a big difference. Here is a pic of that:

I also broke up that pallet so I now have some free planks of wood. It was a bit labour intensive to remove the 2 1/2 inch nails with a claw hammer but I managed to do it. I plan to get a bit more done by the end of the week if I get any free time. Recently I found a small half used £1 tin of black gloss paint which I think will make the fascia look quite smart. I'm also hoping that it smooths down the rough grain of the pallet planks.

Edited September 11, 2017 by luke the train spotter

[luke the train spotter]

So I have some baseboard progress to report. I broke the pallet up and built the baseboards as I would normally then added the hinge blocks. Flush hinges were then added. Here is a pic of that: I plan to make a youtube video on it in the near future so when that is done I will post a link here. Since the baseboards are pretty much done I can move onto laying some track!!!! :)I'm very excited for this stage because even though I have been modelling for a fair few years I have never had an oval of track to just run trains around. I would really appreciate your advice on ballasting and what looks good with 009 track. Thanks in advance.

[mjcampbell]

Narrow gauge railways are all different. Even those of the same track gauge may have different loading gauges, couplings, track construction, and ballast styles! They vary from main-line looking through to earth and weeds. So it all depends what you want to portray. 

 

For a well-kept (e.g. preserved) line use N-gauge ballast. For a less well kept line I've used a mixture of sand, plaster, and powder paint before, and I've known people use DAS clay. 

[luke the train spotter]

Sounds interesting. Would it be possible for you to post a picture of your ballast please.

[mjcampbell]

A close-up of my ballasted and weathered track, for well-used but not neglected look:

 

 

There's a thread on here somewhere but it's not been updated for ages, as NG doesn't get much interest on here. More on the blog though:

 

http://michaelsrailways.blogspot.co.uk/p/awngate.html

[luke the train spotter]

Thanks! That ballast looks great so I might try to replicate what your ballast looks like. I got some free time this afternoon so I have glued down the track. Here is a pic of that:

After that is done I can wire it all up and let some trains loose before I paint the track and sleepers.

[luke the train spotter]

So the track has been wired up and trains are running. Also, I have weathered and painted the sleepers and rails. Let the landscaping begin now.

[luke the train spotter]

So I have cracked on with some scenic work. I have created a rough idea of the landscape with some polystyrene that has been hot glued down to the baseboard. I have also put some chicken wire (left over from a fencing project long ago) which will be the fram work for the paper mache. On the right there will be a railway cutting and a forest / woodland. The strip of cardboard will be a road with a bridge going over the railway. On the opposite side there will be a tunnel. On the left hand side on the outside of the curve there will be the small halt station. Opposite to this will be a small coal/freight yard that will connect to the road. The road will cross the railway by an unnamed crossing. It is quite hard to explain but if you have any questions about the plan (I still do!) then I am happy to answer them.

After this I will give the layout a coat of paper Mache the work on the tunnel and road bridges before I make the road and rock face. I plan to use scatter after this.

[mjcampbell]

Looks a very natural formation.

 

Just a thought, but narrow gauge railways avoided expensive earthworks. Bridges were not uncommon (though less likely than on busier lines), but tunnels are rare - and only where the landscape really dictates them.

 

On the left I think thick woodland would disguise the track exit well enough, without need for a tunnel. That would look more natural. Some black paper forming a tunnel behind the backscene helps too. If you don't believe me, look at the top track exit on this layout!

 

[luke the train spotter]

Thanks for bringing that to light! In that case I shall convert the left hand side into a low cutting with a dense woodland on top. Speaking of cuttings...... I have managed to get some more work done on the right hand side cutting with the basic rock work put in. The rock work is sculpted DIY plaster filler that just needs a black wash on top. I have also done a fair bit of work on the bridge. I have scratch built a cardboard shell, covered it in plaster and then carved the bricks on it and made some capping stones. This also awaits a black wash but requites the bricks in the arch carving first. After this I will make the road and the level crossing.

[hayfield]

I think there is with narrow gauge models a situation where reality differs from perception in what looks right. It may be that deeper cuttings hide the tightness of the curves, plus many of the Welsh narrow gauge railways run through cuttings etc.

[luke the train spotter]

Very true.

[luke the train spotter]

So I've got a fair amount of progress for you today. Firstly, I have painted the railway cutting rock face with a black acrylic wash and the bridge bad received a coat of that too. This is a pretty instant affect but I will go over it again with another wash in certain areas and acrylics to highlight certain areas.

 

I've also made the road. The road bed was hot glued down coffee stirrers then a plaster filler, 1mm granite ballast, sieved soil and black paint mix was added. This was left for 24 hours to properly set and dry. After this I made a start on tooling the strip of plasticard that would go between the rails on the level crossing. I used wills wooden planking and it needs a bit more fine tuning and a good paint and weathering but apart from that I am happy with it.

 

Now my attention has turned to the station building which will be scratch built. I plan to base it around one of the Metcalfe lineside huts in terms of size. It will be a wooden clap board structure (I think) but that will be built at a later date.

 

My next big job is to build the station platform, re landscape the left hand side then get some ballast down. After that i can get stuck into the more scenic work such as scatter materials and trees.