I have now entered Claverton Engineering in the 2010 layout challenge, so progress will be covered in its thread there - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/topic/3355-claverton-engineering/ . I will keep this blog going, but probably as more of an archive for future reference than for frequent updates.
Paul
My first hand built point is now complete, apart from the tie-bar and control mechanism. I started with the one closest to the rear of the layout, so my dodgy first attempt won't be too visible. Building it was quite a challenge, and has taken rather longer than I expected. I found that the Roy C Link crossing jig was at the wrong angle for a Y point, so I had to solder together the "v" on a paper template. On my first attempt I got the gap between the rails too large and it looked a bit crude,
I've now painted all the sleepers in a more appropriate aged timber colour.
I used a variety of shades of Humbrol enamel, starting by painting each sleeper a light tan, then applying dark brown to the sides, ends and edges, adding some white to the middle, and blending it all together in an appropriate wood grain sort of pattern.
I have also now pinned down the first few lengths of rail. The procedure for fixing it was much the same as on the test length - glue and pin one r
Okay, that might be exaggerating a bit. But now that I've downloaded Opera* and can see the pictures again I thought I'd post what I've been up to during the intermission.
Boards
? ?
To join the two boards together I've used the simplest method I could think of, a few nuts and bolts. It's very secure and easy to undo when I need to transport the boards. When I make the travel covers for each board I'll use the same method to attach them too.
With the
Open wagons make convenient temporary storage containers. This one has been holding 90 sleepers as I cut them from limewood strip, but I've had others filled with spare wheelsets, disassembled Dublo pickup assemblies, and all sorts of other things.
The second baseboard is now done too. I've also printed off the track plan so I can use it as a template when I start laying the track. I still need to add a layer of grey card to the top of each board to strengthen the foamboard, which is a bit fragile. When it's more complete I'll clad the boards in black styrene to smarten it up a bit too. I also need to come up with a way to join the two boards together.
Next stage - have a go at building my first point!
PS The lighting in the photo
After much cutting and gluing of foamboard, the first baseboard is complete. It's very light but also pretty strong, so should be easily transportable.
The indent along the top is for wire-in-tube point controls and any other buttons and switches I need.
I now need to buy some more UHU and foamboard so that I can make the second board.
Last night I assembled another wagon kit for Claverton Engineering - a Smallbrook Studios Glyn Valley Tramway box van which I bought at Shepton Mallet in February.
Here's what you get with the kit. The sides, ends, base and false roof are cast in resin, with a small piece of styrene for the top layer of the roof. The chassis is a standard Dapol wagon chassis, sold separately by Smallbrook . All the resin parts appear very well cast, with almost no flash and lots of sharp, well defined f
Work done so far on Claverton Engineering has focused mainly on building rolling stock, and acquiring a collection of materials and bits to use in the layout.
Here is the complete roster of partially complete rolling stock - one loco and three wagons.
The loco is based on that used at Hellingly Hospital, modified to suit narrow gauge.
This photo was first published in 1906 and the copyright is now expired
The real Hellingly Hospital loco
The narrow body on wide frames o
Virtual concept model of the design, created in Sketchup
Claverton Engineering is my planned 0-16.5 narrow gauge micro layout. My slow progress to date has been covered in various parts of old RMweb, but I thought I'd do a recap at the beginning of this blog which will hopefully feature more rapid developments in the near future.
It will depict a small corner of a heavy mechanical engineering works, partly inspired by the Bruce Peebles & Co. Ltd. works in Edinburgh, which built the n
