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About this blog

Ian's Ramblings relating to building Modbury and items for it

Entries in this blog

Modbury - Signalling Diagram (Mark II)

Over the Christmas period I have been giving further thought to the signalling diagram for Modbury, and its associated Locking Chart.   I really want to get this as sensible/accurate as possible because it is my intention to use the signals to allow power to be provided/denied to the various track sections, effectively engines will only get power if the correct signal(s) have been Cleared to allow entry into the section.   To this end, I have come up with the following :   I still have a
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

18

Modbury - Trackwork 4 (Turnout Operation)

Now that most of the trackwork has been installed on the first (Exeter end) baseboard, it is time to try it out!!!   Before I can though, a Turnout Operating Unit needed to be built. The first thing required is a method of connecting the Switch Rails to any under board gubbins. Obviously I had already thought all of this out up front, but I did need to open up the holes that I'd drilled to accommodate these fixings because I couldn't feed them down!! These first items were bent up from some 0.
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

18

Modbury Signal Box 5

A couple of weeks work has seen the exterior of the Signal Box fundamentally complete.   Firstly, I added the gutters. These were simply 0.030" plastic sheet gouged out with a 0.9mm drill close to the edge of the sheet. Once a suitable furrow had been ploughed, the sheet was turned over and what will become the underside scraped with a razor blade to provide the outside curvature. A strip was then cut parallel to the gouged gutter such that the gutter itself would be a mil or two off the bu
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

17

GWR Small Metro Tank (6) - Ready for the paint shop

More progress has been made on this little project, such that she is now ready for the paint shops.   To finish her off, the cab roof needed some detail (the whistles won't be added until she has been painted). There is a rain strip along the back edge of the cab roof, this was added from a single strand of multi-core wire (0.2mm diameter). To get this perfectly straight before attempting to solder it in place it was rolled on a flat surface (a piece of sheet steel) beneath another flat surf
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

17

Experiments in Scenery

Today I have well and truly been brought kicking and screaming into the 21st century!! I've been playing with static grass - the last time I did any scenery on a model railway I used surgical lint a'la Barry Norman.   So having purchased a couple of bags of Heki grass (a green and a beige, both 2-3mm long), borrowed a friends static grass applicator and inspired by Gordon Gravett's book on grass etc I had a go. Mr Gravett seems to advocate blending his static grasses, so that is precisely wh
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

17

Backscenes - Trials and tribulations of a would be artist (Part II)

Armed with the knowledge gained from failure, I have handed the task over to my good friend Percy V. Runce.   So to Mark II...   In desperation, I painted over the previous attempt with 3 coats of white emulsion to cover it. Then I mixed up a yellowy green colour and lathered it all over the area up to where I wanted the horizon to be - in hindsight a slightly lighter shade would have been easier to paint over!   Once this had dried, I then began sketching on where I wanted the fields to b
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

17

2mmFS 3D Modelling - Ready to place order at last

After the reasonable success of the GWR Outside Framed Van that I received from Shapeways, I am now ready to place another order. The images below (from the Shapeways site) show all of the components that I have put up there. What I intend to do now is compile a single .STL file containing all of the various wagons that I want in a single file to minimise the FUD surcharge of 5 Euros per file.   GWR Outside Framed Van with Steel Solebars   GWR Outside Framed Van with Wooden Solebars  
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

16

2mmFS 3D Modelling - GWR Outside Framed Goods Van

Having seen some of the great models that can be produced from 3D Printing, I have begun (for the second time) to produce the 3D model for a GWR Outside Framed Goods Van. These early vans were 15'6" long with a total body height of only 6'8". The earliest ones had wooden underframes, and they had a long life some ending up as Sand Vans.   I am using Google Sketch-Up to do the modelling, and so far have put together the main body, and outside frames. I am now in the process of adding the iro
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

16

GWR Small Mero Tank (3)

Some significant progress has been made with my first scratch built 2FS loco - It works!!!   Following on from the last instalment, I had determined that I needed to construct some of the body work in order that I could determine how well or otherwise my dog clutch arrangement would be successful in transferring drive from the motor to the gearbox. A dog clutch is used in engineering when turning between centres so I had some conviction that it would work, but I was a little worried that if t
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

14

Modbury - Trackwork 3

Finally, a start on building the Baulk Road track work for Modbury...   Initially, the baulks for the station approach along the embankment have been laid. These were fixed to the track bed with really runny super glue, capillary action sucking the adhesive under the baulk as it was held in position. The baulk for the other rail was laid at the same time using the previously prepared "Baulk Roller Gauges". Once the position of the first turnout was reached, the positions for the switch tie bar
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

12

GWR Down Home

Just coming off my workbench is my first 2mm scale signal (actually it's my first completed signal in any scale!) This one is the Down Home for my fictional Modbury layout. The post has been milled to a tapered profile from 3mm square brass bar, the arm, balance weight and ladder are MSE components. The lamp is my own turning fixed to a small piece of L section brass. The finial is an old (overscale) OO handrail knob with a piece of 0.5mm phosphor bronze wire pushed through, soldered and turned
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

12

2mmFS GearBox (for Open Cabbed GWR Metro Tank)

Work has begun in earnest on the GWR Small Metro Tank that I wanted to build, some of you may already have seen the little gearbox that I had built for the project in a reply I had posted in Missy's blog http://www.rmweb.co....-2mm-finescale/.   Well as the chassis was being built I decided that the gearbox already built was a little too large and would encroach into the cab space (the model I am attempting to make will be an open cabbed Metro Tank to suit my preferred modelling period of c190
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

12

Backscenes - Trials and tribulations of a would be artist

Whilst I do not consider myself to be an artist, over the last few days I have tried to add a painted back scene to Modbury. The medium I have elected to use are acrylic paints, and unfortunately I have to report that I have been somewhat unsuccessful so far!!   The whole back scene was covered in a sky to start with and was painted pretty quickly with white emulsion and Cerulean Blue acrylic paint. Because the complete back scene is about 9' long, I had to paint the sky in sections of about
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

11

2mmFS : GWR W1 Cattle Wagon (3D Printed)

Following the receipt from Shapeways of a GWR Cattle train that I had drawn up (http://www.rmweb.co....e-train-in-fud/), I have been working on two of the set, a W1 Large Cattle Wagon, and a W2 Medium (Outside Framed) Cattle Wagon.   The parts received from Shapeways were cleaned of the waxy support residue using an old toothbrush and washing up liquid. Annoyingly on a couple of the wagons (not the ones in this article) I was a little over-zealous and damaged the T section strapping on the wa
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

11

Modbury - Baseboards (3) - Complete

Last week I managed to complete the second traintable for Modbury (the Exeter end one). Over the last couple of days I have painted the baseboards so that I am now in a position to actually start laying the track (although that will have to wait for a few days as I want to get my third 4 wheel coach complete ready for the 2mm Association event at Kidderminster on the 21st.   Below are a few images of the progress to date - I have placed the templet plan on the baseboards and positioned some st
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

11

2mmFS Thoughts on a Layout

Over recent days, I have been thinking about the type of layout that I eventually want to build. As I already have the beginings of a GWR BLT in P4, I wanted something a little different but still a GWR branch line theme (I have a fondness of tank and small tender engines), I also want something that could be built in a reasonably short space of time, and hopefully even exhibit. However, I did not want another BLT, so my thoughts have wandered towards a through station of some sort - I even co
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

11

Modbury - Signalling Diagram

Tonight I have been trying to finalise the signalling diagram for my fictional GWR through station Modbury.   Below is the diagram that I have come up with. Hopefully it is a realistic representation of what the GWR would have provided for my Edwardian modelling period of c. 1906.   All being well others who are better informed than myself will be able to provide guidance to any errors that I may have made. The main query I would have is whether the turnout on the main line at the right of t
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

11

2mm Scale GWR Wagons (Red)

My 4 plank open has now been painted, the colour I originally bought was just too orangey (Humbrol Satin 132) despite the colour on the tin lid, so a second coat was applied this time adding Humbrol Matt 70 to it in a ratio of about 3 x132 to 1 x 70 to obtain the "warm", "light", "dark" red that GWR wagons are reported to have been painted in the later years of the 19th Century.   Whilst I had the paint pots out I also applied a little weathering to the 2 Iron Mink that I had already completed
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

10

GWR Buffalo (1076 class) in 2FS

For my next 2mm scale engine I had been considering an Armstrong Goods 0-6-0 tender engine (which I will also build) but in the end I've decided to begin work on a GWR "Buffalo" 1076 class. This engine is effectively a tank engine version of the Armstrong Goods, having the same wheelbase but slightly smaller wheels (and obviously no tender), and also has outside frames. For my chosen period (c.1906) nearly all of this class still had their saddle tanks (they were later rebuilt with pannier tanks
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

10

2mmFS 3D Printing - GWR Outside Framed Cattle Wagon (Diag W2)

Following on from the successful drawing of a GWR Outside Framed Goods Van (awaiting production and receipt of printed models from Shapeways), I decided to try to capture another of my favourite wagons in Google SketchUp.   This time I've drawn up a GWR Outside Framed Cattle Wagon (which became daigram W2). A SketchUp screen shot of the wagon can be seen below. I do wonder if this may be pushing the current limits of 3D printing as I've made the side planking only 0.6mm thick (although with
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

10

GWR Small Metro Tank (4) - Footplate Detail

As they say the devil is in the detail ...   The body is now in 3 sub components : Footplate, Boiler, Cab & Tanks Bunker   And now comes the slow task of adding the minor components and details to these to achieve a complete model. The first part to be "detailed up" is the Footplate. To this I need to add the springs and axle boxes for the leading wheels, the buffers, the vacuum and steam pipes and finally the lamp irons.   I had already turned up the buffers - I make these as 3 s
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

9

GWR Small Metro Tank (2)

The chassis has moved on a little since the previous post, a gearbox has been milled and the profile of the chassis has been milled/filed to shape.   The gearbox has a peg at the rear right corner which locates in a corresponding hole in the main chassis block, and a 12BA bolt secures the gearbox to the block at the front. Cutouts in the main chassis (and side frame) also locate the gearbox (although the one in the side frame is generous to prevent any shorts between the frame and the main c
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

9

GWR Small Metro Tank (1)

A couple of years ago, I made a somewhat abortive start on a 2FS scratch built loco. I had got to the stage of a rolling chassis, and a body that consisted of footplate, valances, buffer beams and a cab bunker. Where I had failed was getting the chassis to actually run happily. In the end, I decided to shelve the project and move onto my 1854 Saddle Tank that has been documented previously that used one of the 2mm Association etched chassis kits.   Now that I have proved to myself that I can c
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

9

2FS GWR 4 & 6 Wheel Coaches - T47

A mad dash to complete the third coach in the set in readiness for the 2mm Scale Association Supermeet at Kidderminster tomorrow has seen the T47 Brake Third almost finished. Unfortunately, time has just run out so it will have to run on St Ruth as it is.   This coach is another of the set from Worsley Works, and is again riding on a slightly modified David Eveleigh chassis. Once again the chassis has undergone a couple of adjustments to the brake blocks, and also this time to the position o
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

9

2mm Scale GWR 4 Plank Open

I am going to try to move my 2mm ramblings from my original Trefallion blog (which is my P4 layout) to this new blog, firstly with my entry on a GWR 4 Plank Open wagon :   2mm Scale GWR O5 4 Plank Open   Sunday afternoon, Wifey out, what to do?   Well having located some of my old 2mm scale bits and bobs I decided to have a crack at putting together the 9'0" rigid underframe chassis that I had in my box of bits. The chassis had been purchased to go under a 4 plank open wagon body that I ha
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

9
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