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Exploring some ideas for modelling in 1/50 scale 

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The 1/50 project, making tracks.

I decided to have a think about making track. I have a number of reference photos, including the excellent one of Corsican track kindly uploaded by  5&9 models earlier in the blog. So, timber sleepers, medium weight flat bottom rail held down with track screws.   Firstly sleepers. These are cut from some old mahogany, pretty hard but it saws well.  A scale 2.1 m long which seems like a reasonable average from the info I can find.     Track screws next. Sometime

The 1/50 project, a second loco part 3

It has been a bit chilly for modelling but I have pushed on with the details and bodywork to the point that I reckon that is fit for service. Same livery as the first loco with a bit of light weathering. At some point it will need a number and stuff, but I still haven’t decided on that. Seems to be a solid if slow runner, I see it as a heavy shunter and perhaps short trip duties.   Removal of the body for battery changes is straightforward, the cab can just slide back a bit on its magn

The 1/50 project, experiments with magnetic feet.

The whole point of the 1/50 project is to mess about with ideas.   Magnets have always fascinated me. When I was very young I had a home made toy,  a fishing rod with a horseshoe magnet on a bit of string and some cardboard fish with a paper clip on the nose which could be caught in a bucket of shredded paper. These days I suspect 4 year olds would consider that a bit naff, but it kept me quiet for hours.   So, as suggested by Mikkel this is a bit of an experiment to see whet

The 1/50 project, a second loco loco part 2

Some progress over the last couple of weeks.   That is all the electrical equipment installed oh the frames. A bit tight but it can be got at and maintained if anything breaks. The connector on the right is for the lights at the cab end, the hood end will be hard wired. Power is switched from a small push button above the uncoupling servo positioned so that it is just under the exhaust pipe and can be controlled with a cocktail stick.         The main bod

The 1/50 project, a second loco loco part 1

I think the battery tests have given me confidence to move on to making a second loco. Not sure exactly what yet, but ideas are forming from various photos of metre gauge stock. Back at the beginning of the project @NewFangledNonsense suggested a look at the Derby sulzers site. Well what struck my eye was an early single cab diesel hydraulic on this page.   https://www.derbysulzers.com/outremer.html   Quite modern looking for its 1954 build and fairly compact.   As

The 1/50 project, Batteries and another loco

I was looking for batteries for my old phone on the cheap end of the net. The direct from china end. This thing popped up and I had one of those “hmm, I wonder” moments. Add to basket.   Essentially they are Li batteries stacked to form a pp3 size with all the gubbins for charging inside, even has a bi coloured led to say when they are charged. Twin pack with a neat twin usb charge lead for 12 quid. Easy to lift the lid off a loco and swap them out.     But are the

Dave John

Dave John in The 1/50 scale project

The 1/50 project, A low loader wagon

I have been running trains on Kelvinbank. Some cleaning needed but things are running smoothly with one slight annoyance. That tool/riding van I butchered from a Hornby brake. I got annoyed with the wheel flanges hitting chairs and rattling so I swapped the wheelsets out for a proper pair of 51L EM  ones. Ahhh, much better…..   That left me with a pair of 14.2 mm 00 wheels rolling about on the bench. Not going to be used on Kelvinbank, but in 1/50 th thats 710 mm dia. Perhaps a bit sma

Dave John

Dave John in The 1/50 scale project

The 1/50 project, A Tank wagon, part 2

Given that it is just a background project the tank wagon has come on well.   I spent a bit of time faffing about wondering how to make something that looked like the clamping straps and hawsers that hold the tank on. Eventually it dawned on me, at 1/50 the simple answer is just to make some straps and hawsers and hold the tank on with them.   So I splashed out a tenner for 50 m1 nuts and bolts.   Some bits of brass and m1 nuts and bolts. Five strands of 5A fuse wir

The 1/50 project, A Tank wagon, part 1

I’m slowly painting 263 but some setbacks mean it is a bit of a waiting game. So as a background project I have been making this tank wagon.   It all started when I came across a foot of 38 mm o/d waste water pipe about to be thrown out. I squinted at it and thought that it looked about the right size for a tank wagon in 1/50.   Some styrene sheet and a bit of glue later and I had a tank.         I put it on a card frame and sat it on the track w

The 1/50 project, A Lorry.

I was browsing for some modelling materials and I came across a Tamiya kit for a 1/48 scale Opel Blitz military lorry at a knockdown price due to a damaged box.  So I bought it.   My thinking was that it might be suitable for this project if I could convert it to a civilian version, the difference in scale might not offend if it was a background object. If not I could just enjoy making a plastic kit for a change, a long time since I did one.   A bit of research provided plent

The 1/50 project, A self uncoupling wagon , part 2

The body is made up in my usual way, 10 thou styrene cut by the silhouette and laminated to form the structure. The mechanism takes up about 2/3 of the volume so I had room to form a simple brake compartment. Never all that popular in the UK, but quite common elsewhere in the world.   Four 2x2 mm round magnets hold the body on, as in the loco these carry the current for the marker lights at the ends and the cab light. The leds have come out very bright in the photos, much less to the e

Dave John

Dave John in The 1/50 scale project

The 1/50 project, A self uncoupling wagon, part 1

Ok, I know what folk are thinking. A self uncoupling wagon? We have all got one of those, a wagon which uncouples in the middle of a train at the most inconvenient part of the layout when folk are watching for no apparent reason. Indeed I have had a few over the years.   Ah, but how about a wagon which uncouples where you want it to when you want it? Anywhere, not just at a specific point. Could be a fun idea.   The starting point for this was me looking at bits direct from C

The 1/50 project, A loco in service and some thoughts.

Various colours were tried on a few dummy sides. I felt the greens looked a bit too military and the brighter reds looked a bit too Swiss. The blues I have just didn’t say late 50s austerity, In the end I went for a practical colour, Tamiya hull red.  Weathered a bit with powders.             I decided to fit the “clearview” style marine windscreen “wipers” Not found that often in railway use, but I thought it would add a bit of style.  

The 1/50 project, Building a wagon

I managed to get the loco body sprayed up, but experience has taught me to give paint a good while to dry thoroughly before moving on. So in the meantime I thought I would have a shot at making a wagon to go with it. Nothing fancy, just a simple open wagon.   Hmm. It has taken a bit longer than I thought, mainly because I can’t keep things simple. Just me I suppose but I do tend to try and work down to as much detail as I can. Anyway a few pics of it unpainted. I used a lot of the mast

Dave John

Dave John in The 1/50 scale project

The 1/50 project, Drivers with magnetic personalities

They say that joining the railways is a job for life. It certainly is if someone chops your legs off and superglues you into a model loco cab.   Right back at the beginning of this project I was looking at what was available in 1/50 scale. I found that figures were made by several suppliers. Clearly they are aimed at modellers who want to make dioramas with their 1/50 scale  diecast road or construction vehicles. There are some nice accurate expensive ones made by Prieser, or you can g

Dave John

Dave John in The 1/50 scale project

The 1/50 project, A body and lights

My silhouette has been busy.   The body is made up of five layers of 10 thou styrene. I find that it is easier to use than thicker section and gives a clean cut which can then be laminated. Also the window relief can be thin. Start with the central three layers, allow to cure overnight between flats, then add the outer layers. It might just be my impression, but I feel that a larger number of thin layers is less prone to warping than thicker layers.   The louvres are individu

Dave John

Dave John in The 1/50 scale project

The 1/50 project, An experiment using magnets as connectors.

So, I’m building a loco with batteries inside. To change the batteries I need to be able to lift the body off without messing about with screws or clips. You may have noticed, I do like magnets and since I have used them with reasonable success on both rolling stock and buildings they are the logical choice.   Having some lights at each end of the loco would be nice. My original thoughts were to use some sort of springy contacts, a trailing wire with a mini connector would get get brok

Dave John

Dave John in The 1/50 scale project

The 1/50 project, cosmetic bogies

How do you make a freelance bogie ? I started by looking at many photos and drawings of stuff built back then. That gave me a lot of ideas so I sat down, fired up the silhouette software and drew a lot of shapes. Cut them out and stick them together. Simple, inexpensive, but rather time consuming. Though I might argue that is the point of the exercise.   I also wanted to try the resin boltheads from Masterclub.  Airnimal uses them with excellent results, so I bought a couple of packs.

The 1/50 project, Buffers and couplings

Looking at a lot of photos it seems that there is a very wide variety of buffers and couplings fitted to metre gauge stock. Knuckle couplers, chopper types, single buffers with one or two chain couplings, all the way through to fully automatic stuff on modern stock. I researched both knuckle and chopper style couplings which would be about the right size for 1/50 scale. A  few might be suitable, but would be difficult to achieve what I’m looking for.   Since this is a freelance project

The 1/50 project,power and control.

Over the years I have spent a lot of time cleaning wheels and track. Carefully designing multi wheel pickups with exotic contacts. I do get good running but I have to keep on top of it, never found any quick solutions to it all.   I have also tried dcc and I just didn’t get on with it. Sure, I made it all work, the electronics is fairly straightforward. My issue was that I ended up watching the controller not the trains, all the button pressing to make the right light come on and remem

The 1/50 project, Some bogies and frames.

A wheel to start with. That’s a 20mm  tyre from an old romford wheel soldered to a turned steel disc with a bit of brass tube in the middle. Tube is 3 mm id, 3.5 mm od.       From which a pair of axles The unpowered one has a 3mm silver steel axle , the n20 is a snug fit into the tube for the powered one.  The bearings are Gibson, carefully opened out from 1/8 to 3.5 mm     Bogie frames cut from 1mm brass. I have used the Gibson hornguides. These days

The 1/50 project, a cardboard loco.

I think it will take me a while to get used to the size of a larger scale. Years of working in 4mm has put me in a mindset of the size of things, experience tells me the kind of internal volumes of things so I can make a reasonable guess at what will fit where.   A change of scale, period and a move to diesel means that I’m not totally sure about things. Spending a bit of time looking at various photos on the net has condensed my ideas. So an imaginary line in an imaginary country or i

The 1/50 project, deciding on some dimensions

I suppose a reasonable place to start would be to decide on a rough loading gauge. Now I know it can be complex in theory. Real railways have to consider all sorts, overhang on curves, cant angle and so on. So I dug about and found a selection of mainly European loading gauges and did a bit of rough averaging. Hmm.   Having done that I made a realistic guess at the profile of stock to run in it.         That looks sensible to me, subject to change. Very si

Thinking about scale, the 1/50 project

During the lockdown periods various things set me thinking about scale. Somewhere in my head is a desire to have a go at some modelling in a bigger scale. Something I can actually see as I age. Perhaps something  a bit out of the ordinary, perhaps something out of the UK spectrum.  Hmm, but what ?   So the next logical scale up would be O.  Thing is, which flavour of O, and anyway it isn’t really unusual. Folk would just compare anything you do to that which is commercially available.
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