Three months without an update, I'm sure that's a personal best
Nothing really to report, I'm halfway through installing my 3 way point and have decided to weather my 21T MDV coal wagon.
The above was achieved by first giving the etched wagon a grey etched primer base, followed by brush painting enamels in solid colours (sleeper grime for the chassis, rust for the body). Once these layers havd dried ff fully, I started adding a few basic washes of thinned acrylics. When these ha
Before I disappear onto a long skint of night shifts, I thought it a good idea to make some progress while my brain is still operating normally
I have decided to use the standard Tortoise point motor with the Exactoscale adaptor base, then some how find a way of fixing it to the Easitrac points.
So, here is the end result. Nothing spectacular, but simple to reproduce and easy to maintain.
These small tube pass up through the baseboard and the tops sit just below the turno
Just a quick post to show things haven't totally come to a complete stop. Over the weekend, the track work around the 3 way has been laid. This was done by using the 2mm Associations Easitrac glue, which is similar to VERY quick drying PVA. Sorry about the poor lighting, but it does give a rough idea of what's going on.
For electrical connections I am using the brass sleepers and brass dress makers pins. I've never been a fan of soldering wires to rails, so this is a nice little alterna
After following TomE's approach I've been playing with some test ballast examples. Above shows what I have finally decided on using on Colwyn, it's a 50/50 mix of Treemedus Earth power and Carrs fine ash ballast, all fixed with (still wet and slightly glossy) Kleer. I will do a more indpeth write up when it gets applied to the layout. Thanks again to Tom for the advice
Another experiment was to prepare the plastic Easitrac sleepers to take paint more readily, this was done by brushing on a
Well,
Slow progress is happening in my few days off before my second block of night shifts, the first turnout operating unit (TOU) has been installed. Luckily there was enough play in the whole assemble to stop any excess force being applied to the switch blades. The pictures are pretty much self explanatory, when compared with the previous post.
Also, I've knocked together a 12T van for a bit of a change. I'm quite pleased with it
After some consideration I have decided to withdraw Colwyn Bay Goods from the GJLC. Due to personal reasons, I can not complete the layout to a standard where I would be happy with by July.
Thanks to everyone who followed the thread and gave up time to help with research and construction advice. The layout will go into storage and I hope to have another attempt over the coming winter months.
Finally some progress!
If you cast your minds back to my last post, I was trying to overcome the issue of short switch blades in 2FS using Easitrac components. Thanks to all your feedback, I now have a half built prototype.
Code 40 switch rail with a solid brass dress makers pin attached. The rail was notched out using the trusty piercing saw.
The above switch blade sitting in it's drilled out top hat bearing pivot point.
Two down, two to go! Then it's the "simple" matter of
Just a quick, mostly photographic, update on the recent scenic work carried out.
As described previously, the trees were made from sea foam with the trunks thickened up with builders caulk and ground foam used as leaves. The key is variation of colour and height to give a convincing look, I also painted a green wall on the backscene to ensure to reduce the amount of of blue sky showing through the branches.
And to finish up here are a few artisti
Sometimes all the thinking in the world can't compete with a a well timed bodge up I've been thinking about how to frame the layout for a while now, some of you will remember my BcnPete style sketch from last summer.
After operating Jerry's excellent layout, Highbury Colliery at RailEx, I was convinced a picture frame type arrangement will work very well in this scale. Now time to put concept into practice.
Thanks to Mr Masking Tap and his old friend Double Corrugated I have
After many years of sitting on the back of the work bench, my humble 20T brake has finally been completed. Built from the 2mm Association etched kit, I have to say I'm pleased with the end result. I've still got another to build, I just hope it doesn't take another 3 years to finish it
Next up is my MDO, a Stephen Harris etch. This is stil a "work in progress model". Firstly, I painted it a solid light rust and then stippled on some darker rusts. Then I left it for a few days to dry
Sorry for the rushed post, but I thought I would post my idea for pivoting switch blades before I install them. One of the main issues with my 3 way asymmetrical point was the short switch blades.
The shortest blade will only be supported by 2 chairs, so...
- Two plastic chairs didn't seem tough enough long term.
- Two brass chairs on PCB sleepers would be more than strong enough...
- Now the blade was fixed solid at one end, it would be tough flex the short length of rail using
A few shots of the recent progress with the layout.
Once the sculpimold has set I next give the ground a light pass of short straw static grass, then a second layer of 2mm dead grass.
The back scene arrived, this is a 3mm thick sheet of PVC foam board, it takes paint well and is self supporting.
Scrub bushes added with simple PVA
Seamfoam trees. The trunks were thickened up using builders caulk an
Three years on and history repeats itself as Colwyn Bay Goods returns to Tutbury village hall for The 2mm Association's supermeet. My thanks to John Aldrick for the invite and to everyone else involved with putting on another enjoyable show.
Work has been quietly progressing in the background since the layouts previous outing and below is a quick summary.
- Set up at Tutbury with temporary foamboard fiddle yard wall clamped in place.
The la
Too much track tweaking can drive a person insane. Now for an image intermission.
I know it doesn't look very different from the images from last November, but it now runs and basic shunting is now possible
- Click images to enlarge -
Just a quick post to show I actually get things painted! The Stephen Harris minerals I have been working on are nearing completion, with some finer weathering to add at a later date. 24081 still soldiers on and has now become part of a game of "Where's Wally?" on other 2mm layouts, I'm sure you'll all get fed up of the sight of it soon
Built from the etched kit 2-515 from the 2mm Scale Association Shop (originally an N Gauge Society kit) and fitted with 2-313 Standard BR W-irons, the above kit has been sitting on my shelf for the last two years. Since Graham Farish released a new version of the the RTR wagon, I didn't know which route to take.
In short.... I'm glad I continued with it
After a few "cut n' shut" style modifications I have just about finished the first test build. The top sides have been lowered and the overall hopper shortened by .3mm. Next to that, it all seemed fit.
Even thought it looks a bit worse for wear, I'm quite happy with the out come. I just have to design the hopper operating mechanisms and the vacuum braking components.
Also, since have your attention;
I am still after any images of Herrings you may have. I am modelling the GWR design
On a more positive note, my second set of test etches have come through for the Herring ballast wagon. As stated on the previous version of RMweb, this is a 2FS kit I have been designing from scratch.
So far the basic build it going well, but I have some how left the top side panels 2mm too high! Not seeing the wood for the trees
For all those when attended the excellent RMWeb members day down south this weekend, you might of seen me constructing an etch with a RSU (resistance soldering unit).
The etch in question was one of my own design of a GWR/BR Herring ballast wagon. So far, two years in development and it's finally getting somewhere near! Hopefully it's not far from it's first production run.
The on going saga of my first attempt at etch design lumbers forward once again. Modifications include -
1) Finally I created some axle boxes and springs. Layer etch, Stephen Harris style.
2) Brake rigging/rib issues have been resolved. They don't clash anymore!
3) Beefed up wire on pivot bar, 0.5mm wire from 0.3mm.
4) Clever tab system to line up hopper doors.
It might see production next year, if the slow rate of progress continues
What a great weekend, the 2mm Association's 50th Anniversary show really did live up to the expectations. A great selection of layouts (new and old) and enough enthusiastic faces to keep me talking almost solidly for the whole weekend.... only stopping to a sip a few ales
I've now come home full of inspiration and a note pad full of ideas. I also think I may have solved the issue of the 3 way point (more to come on that shortly). Thank you to everyone who stopped to talk with me and also t
After readings David's excellent article on Easitrack step by step, I was inspired to do the same for fitting DG couplings. So here goes;
Constructing the DG
I'm not going to go into detail here, as the instructions are very good. I would highly recommend that you chemically blacken them now (while they are still on the fret), I used Carrs blackening fluid for this and just leave the etch in a shallow bath until they are a nice dark brown colour. I find dark brown blends in better than so
Just a quick photo update to catch up on a few of the smaller jobs that are on going around the layout;
First up is the fitting of chair plates, 2mm Scale Association part 1-092, to fix them I dipped the whole fish plate in thin super glue and held then in position with the tip of a pin until the glue set.
Here we have one of 5 etched buffer stops, designed by our very own Chris Higgs. Once this has be primed and fixed in place cosmetic sleepers will be added to fill the gaps, these wil
I've been experimenting with backscene materials, I finally decided on use of 3mm PVC foamboard. Unlike wood this has a very smooth finish and takes spray paint well, this was glued to the wooden frame with contact adhesive and kept it's subtle curves.
Track weathering was carried out with a dark brown powder pigment applied to each rail side, this was then faded in with a broad fan brush. Once happy this, along with the road/yard weathering was sealed with a matt varnis
Just a quick post to show the on going progress of the layout. All track work is currently in place and the 3 way installation is still on going. I'm quite happy with it so far, in comparison to the link below;
http://www.2d53.co.u...ynbay/s2378.jpg
(Thanks to Dave Plimmer www.2d53.co.uk)
Anyway, back to the grind stone...
