Hmm, wonder how many versions I'll get through before I finish the loco.
Anyhoo, you know when you do something really stupid... well I had my own doh moment when I remembered I'd bought a set of GW Models rolling bars off the bring and buy at Scaleforum.
2 minutes later and I had my boiler.
The wrapper quickly followed and I made a new outer wrapper with the GW rivet tool (must be keeping George in business). I bit of filing here and there and it's starting to come together. Front end is sit
Hmmm
Two steps forward and one back. Made a start on the body work. Goes together quite nicely. All well and good.
Then the smokebox. The instructions did not prepare me for the hassles to come. 'Roll wrapper and fit to boiler. Apply outer wrapper'. OK so I was supposed to prepare the whole thing dry and apply heat. I just about managed to do this with the aid of the RSU on warp 9 and some choice expletives, but the results are not brilliant. The thickness of the boiler tube didn't help. Th
Progress of sorts with the chassis. The wheels are on, quartered and the rods have been trial fitted. High Level gearbox and motor (not shown) now assembled. I wouldn't like to try this in EM as there's no clearance between hornblocks and motor final drive. Anyhow, it all runs freely up and down the track under finger power and the CSBs seem to work (at least they did after I had folded the wheel guard irons out of the way ). Not fully convinced about the bogie pivot arrangement yet. The brake p
Dunno where the last month's gone, Scaleforum only seems like yesterday. Thanks to all those who came and said hello. A thoroughly enjoyable weekend, if a little tiring.
Weston is out and about at the Taunton show this weekend. Hasn't been out this year and won't be doing too many more shows.
Managed to find a bit of time once the layout had been prepped and stock cleaned etc to dig out the O2 which has languished on the tinking table for a while now. I've fitted the High Level horn blocks wi
The yard area has now been ballasted, with a gradual blend of ash creeping into proceedings. The rails have been sawn through and the boards separated as I need space to get Wheal Elizabeth up and checked in advance of Scaleforum. I've got a few rail droppers to add (I missed some despite soldering on loads) and you can see the make up piece of shiny track linking the two ends of the loop. Now the boards are apart, I'll be able to take a board at a time up to my modelling room and work on them i
A week off work has seen some progress with the laying of track and ballasting. You can see how I use pins to transfer the track position from the paper Templot print onto the boards. Just the shed area to complete now and then I can start the bridge approach. I'm quite happy with the way this has worked. I've got a couple of rail joints to tweak but that shouldn't be a problem with copperclad track.
And on another note, I see my plan to get Kernow to do an 02 was successful!
All systems go!
Have started laying the track. I'm ballasting as I go by laying the preformed sections into a bed of pva and then ballasting over. Track plan is now pinned to the foamboards and track positions, ballast shoulders etc are just transferred through with dress making pins. Pictures show the first section and I'm pretty pleased with the results. I'm soldering droppers onto the underside of the track before laying. You can see some of the wires which will need hiding once everything
No, not the mobile sort, but the ex LSWR 0-4-4 type. I just wanted to make sure Kernow do one and as we all know, building a kit is the best way of ensuring a r-t-r offering appears.
Mine is the Gibson variety, acquired years ago for a Christmas present. It doesn't really fit any particular theme, other than a some point in the future passenger alteration for Wheal Elizabeth. It could appear on a non clay goods I suppose.
I decided that I needed to free up space in the modelling cupboard and t
Taking a break from the tedium that is painting rail sides for Clevedon (yawn), I've been playing with 'Highland Region', Vi trains cl 37 acquired from Kernow Models following 43179's guest appearance at Epsom. It should look very nice hauling a rake of bullets. Also have sprayed up my R&H (aren't photos great for find you've over-sprayed). I'll try and have the latter ready for Scaleforum - just need to find the roof now. It's on the workbench somewhere.
All trackwork has been built and now the long process of painting sleepers and rail sides begins, before I can lay and ballast. Two and a half hours this afternoon has seen all the sleepers air brushed and one board's rails painted.
I had the local EM area group round on Thursday so I built mock ups of the sheds and water tower to help visualise what the finished article will look like.
Have almost completed the bench building of the track work for Clevedon. The photos show the track work for the loco and carriage sheds. You can just about see the shed outline on the Templot print beneath. Not shown are the now completed plain line sections. The next stage will be final painting detailing etc before I glue to the baseboard and ballast. I have to admit building track on the workbench rather than baseboards (leaning over all the junk in the garage) is the way I'll be going in the
Well despite having a staycation the other week, progress has been limited somewhat of late. Must be the weather. It certainly isn't the football...
A couple of jobs that have been floating around for a while have been done. I finally finished off the handrails for the R&H 165DE and duly applied a blast of ECC Blue. More painting required yet - it's way too clean but I'd like to have it finished before Scaleforum in Sept.
The weathered silver bullets have been subjected to the sam
It's coming along OK. The last three turnouts are being prepped on the workbench. I couldn't resist putting the boards up and seeing how the track looks. I haven't actually measured where the various sub-assemblies are supposed to go, but you get the general idea. Once I've finished the turnouts, I'll overlay the trackplan on the boards and once happy, will make up the remaining sections. I haven't gapped all the copperclad yet (still have that joy to come) so no electrical test as yet. Wagon ru
I'm pleased to say that track building has started for Clevedon. Once I found my EM track jigs (haven't used them for 9 years...) and once I remembered what on earth I was supposed to do, progress has been slow but steady. The EM demo at the Bristol show has helped too - it is EM gauge track after all. In case you're wondering, it's code 55 on copperclad, which is the closest I can get to replicating the WC&PR's 'permanent' way. The check railed curve is only 540mm radius (can't remember the
Having taken the day off to get ready to take Wheal Elizabeth to the Epsom show, I've finally got around to putting up all the baseboards and taking a picture or two. My carpentry is never going to win any awards. Nothing in our house seems to be square or flat and my baseboards are no exception. Mark1 track plan has been laid to give a flavour. After the Epsom show, I've a break until it goes out to Scaleforum. The plan is to start trackbuilding on the Bristol EM demo stand next weekend and see
Have had a play around with the Dapol Silver Bullet I purchased at York. Re wheeled with Alan Gibson disc wheels and replaced the ladder and handrail assembly with ladder etch from Model Signal Engineering and origami in 0.33mm brass wire. I've given it a light weathering blast with the airbrush. I'll probably add some drybrushed white and rust streaks yet, but probably not in time for the Epsom show this weekend. Any RM webbers are very welcome to come and say hello.
Now the ladder's been trim
Evening all
I've sorted out a shortage of fitted brake vans highlighted at the last show with a view for York next weekend. Always amazing what a deadline does. It was made up from a Connoisseur kit which has been lurking in the cupboard for ages. Sprung with Bill Bedford w irons and packed with lead.
Also gave the R&H a run out this afternoon. It's a flight of fancy really but will end up being a works shunter. I'll probably paint it red (it's going to be called James) though it really
I have finally started on the baseboards for Clevedon. The final impetus was spending an evening with half my Weston layout at a local village society meeting at Kingston Seymour last Saturday, meeting lots of people who travelled on the line. Also seeing a number of artefacts which were very inspirational. The jigsaw was duly applied to plywood on Sunday and I've spent this evening planing down the end plates and inserting one set of alignment dowels. Only 3 more to go, then I'll prepare the si
Don't tell anyone but the slow acquisition of materials for the 'real' new layout continues...
Code 55 FB rail from C&L, Modelfoam 1220x610mm boards from Trylon and 4mm & 9mm birch from Avon Plywood are all safely stored. All I have to do now is find an excuse to start to cut and stick it together. Not sure about a suitable DCC system yet but one will be required at some point. At the moment it's a toss-up between Lenz and NCE, with the latter edging it.
I'm hoping to have made p
Modelling progress has been made, I'm pleased to say, in many forms. The show last weekend was a blast. Really enjoyed Rochdale and didn't get back too late.
Also, I've built a new layout. This took almost all of last Monday morning and comprises a 1.5m x 1.0m board with an oval, loop and couple of sidings. Oh and some grass mat. I painted the board grey first and then cut away trackbed and roadways. All this was duly presented to my son on his birthday on Tuesday and was a big success. The
...or put another way, is it really 2 weeks since I posted anything? I should start with a big thumbs up for the Weston show back on 17 Jan. Just under 1000 through the door for a one dayer and over ??1500 raised for Weston Hospicecare. A very well attended and staged show. Well done Keith if you're on here.
Not much is happening at the moment. Stock has been cleaned and checked ready for the trek up to Rochdale this weekend. Must remember to pack thermals and phrasebook. It'll give Geof an
I'm still thinking about Cheddar and have come up with a track plan using Templot which scales out at the right length, but bends the layout into a 180 degree curve. The reason for the plan is to fit into a 15ft x 13ft space which I could theoretically use in the garage. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to put the layout up at home, which is something I'm keen to avoid. The prototype was on a curve, but nowhere near as severe. I think it works and has potential but I do wonder if going to the troubl
As the next outing for Wheal Elizabeth beckons (Weston-super-Mare 17 Jan), it's time to start wheel cleaning. A necessary evil but something that has to be done. Slaters track cleaner and cotton buds is all it takes.Thankfully rewheeled rtr is a lot easier to do than the kitbuilt stuff.
Mind you, when the list is a long one (Well tank, 1366, 57xx, 42xx, Cl 03, 08 X 2, 22, 25/1, 25/3, 35, 37/2, 37/6, 42, 45, 47, 50, & 52), it still takes a while. Maybe it's time to start cutting down what I
Finally after foolishly painting and decorating the stairs hall and landing, oh and stairs to the loft room, I've finally found some time to finish off one or two projects.
D2127 brings in some new fangled conflats to Wheal Elizabeth. Once loaded, they'll be off to Avonmouth for onward shipment to America.
Funny isn't it? My friend Dave used to shunt these on the dock system at Avonmouth...
Hope Santa brought you all what you wanted. I was fortunate in that he brought me the new Lightmoor Press book about the Cheddar Valley and East Somerset line aka the Strawberry Line. A thoroughly recommended read. It has rekindled my interest in a long held ambition to build a layout of one of the stations on the Cheddar Valley, mainly because they're so close to home. As I've muttered before, I very nearly built Congresbury with the junction for the Wrington Vale Light Rly before I eventually
