After a few months of doing other things, I have once again started work on my 3rd loco. Previously, I had formed the saddle tank (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1009/entry-16413-gwr-buffalo-1076-class-in-2fs/) and there the project had stalled for no other reason than I wanted to progress Modbury for the 2mm Association's Supermeet last month.
Picking up the reigns again, I have made a start on the chassis. Once again I have decided to provide the engine with a milled soli
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
As a bit of a diversion from soldering bits of wire together to make a tree, I've spent a few more hours on my version of Mortonhampstead Goods Shed.
I've been trying to get the roof on. To this end, I'd already made the main part of the roof from 0.030" plastic sheet, but because of the rather open nature of a Goods Shed I wanted to put in the roof trussing, etc too. Unfortunately, I have no idea what the interior of Mortonhampstead Goods Shed actually looked like so I've based the roof s
It's been a long time since I posted anything in my blog. However some of the items I've been working on have been documented elsewhere on RMweb :
GWR 1854 Saddle Tank conversion from Graham Farish 57xx
http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/65499-whats-on-your-2mm-work-bench/?p=904684
http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/65499-whats-on-your-2mm-work-bench/?p=922762
http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/65499-whats-on-your-2mm-work-bench/?p=925638
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I was hoping that I would be able to add this entry to the 2mm Midland Area Group's St Ruth blog (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/595-st-ruth/), but despite assurances from Andy (D869) I don't seem to have the ability. Never mind I'll post it in my own blog for now.
At the last Area Group Meeting, I rather foolishly / bravely / enthusiastically (delete as appropriate) said that I would have a go at making some trees for St Ruth - We plan to have a wooded section behind the b
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
Following on from the last instalment, I have finally got around to getting some of the rodding in place on the layout. This is of the round variety, with stools (or stands) at no more than 6'0" (12mm) centres.
The stools (on their bases) were superglued in place alongside the track using a straightish length of 0.25mm nickel silver wire as a guide to getting them in line. Once they were all secure, the wire was removed and rolled repeatedly between two pieces of sheet steel to remove any o
Although I haven't as yet finished all of the track work on Modbury, the parts that are laid will need ballasting before too long. This in itself poses a few slight problems, like what to use for ballast? But one of the things that I want to install before I tackle the actual ballasting is the Point Rodding - Yes, I will be putting point rodding on my 2FS layout!!
A re-read of the appropriate section of the 2mm Association's publication "Track - How it works and how to model it" gave a pote
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
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
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
A little more progress with the Metro Tank, this time with the Boiler and Smokebox.
The Boiler itself is simply a length of 11/32" Round Brass Tube, cut slightly overlength (finished size 35.4mm long), and the ends sanded off so that they were perpendicular to the outside of the tube. This was done by carefully rubbing the end on a piece of emery, and every now and again checking against an engineers square on a flat piece of glass (tube standing on it's end and the square offered up to it,
Work has begun in earnest on my GWR Metro Tank, I chose this prototype for a number of reasons :
I had the wheels for a GWR 0-4-2 / 2-4-0 (originally i purchased the wheels from the 2mmSA in the late '80s for a Langley 14xx which never got off the ground)
Metro Tanks have both sets of drivers within the side tanks (there are no awkward splashers to make and ensure they don't short out on the wheels)
I have a love of GWR small tank engines
I now have a roIling chassis built (this ca
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
Following on from my previous blog entry, I have again ventured into the world on Templot (it becomes easier each time ).
This time I have taken on board some of my own thoughts and input from others. I have put the whole visible section on a 10'0" constant radius curve. I have also narrowed the gap between the running line and loop (i'm not sure about this change).
The revised plan can be seen in the photo's below (again with some stock on to give me a better idea of what the plan wo
A little more progress with the Metro Tank. I have now made some of the boiler fittings (Dome and Safety Valve cover). Unfortunately, I do not possess or have access to a lathe so these have been turned up in an electric drill using needle files.
To produce the parts, I used an electric drill, a vice (big enough to hold the drill), various needle files, wet and dry emery paper, and a vernier caliper.
The material used is 1/4" round bar, chosen because the widest point on the Dome (the
Another few blissful happy hours playing with SketchUp has resulted in another model almost ready to go off to Shapeways. This time I'm trying to tackle a GWR Outside Framed Brake Van. The body work is now complete, but I intend drawing up the solebars and headstocks so that all I'll have to do is add the W Irons, springs, axleboxes, brake gear, buffers, foot boards and the handrails.
The images below show screen shots of the Brake Van in SketchUp.
I don't know whether they will
Today I received the printed up models of my GWR Outside Framed Van from Shapeways.
I am really pleased with the results (photos below). I had ordered 3 of the little chaps, one of which looks a bit rough on one side (and is in the ultrasonic cleaner as I took the photos of the other 2). Hopefully, it might look better after half an hour or so in there.
The plan now is to scratchbuild some underframes for these vans (as they are a scale 15'6" long and the 2mmSA doesn't seem t
Well having completed my 3D artwork for the Van, I uploaded it to Shapeways. Disaster!!
Whether it is Google Sketchup, the export to an STL file, or me (probably the latter ) I don't know. In any event the uploaded file had several problems, it was a solid lump (rather than a nice hollow van), quite a bit of the detail had also disappered too (rivet detail on strapping plates).
A little dis-heartened, but still keen to try to produce this little van I decided to completely re-draw the
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
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
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
Following a thoroughly enjoyable day out at the RM Web members day on Saturday - many thanks especially to Julia (Missy) for taking time out to talk to me.
Anyway, I came away inspired and spurred on to get some more modelling done. Luckily, the TV content on Saturday evening wasn't my cup of tea (but was very fortunately wifey's), so out came sheets of plasticard, scalpel, and blown up drawing of a 14' 6" over headstocks dumb buffered open coal wagon (courtesy of a book on the Gloucester C
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
The results of my labours with Google SketchUp have finally arrived from Shapeways, detailed in previous blog entries.
This time I have received a complete GWR Catte Train comprising 2 x Large W1/5 Cattle Wagons, 1 x Medium W2 (Outside Framed) Cattle Wagon, 3 x Small W3 Cattle Wagons (this was a bit of a cock up copying and pasting as there should have been 2 of each! ), and to tail them off an AA16 Outside Framed Brake Van. Each of these were drawn in SketchUp in separate files, and a ne
