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About this blog

Reports on my 2mm finescale modelling of the Highland Railway in the Edwardian era. I'm moving over from Blogspot (http://ayeates2mm.blogspot.com).

Entries in this blog

Scrap Tank - body shell

With the footplate ready I decided to press on with the basic body shell. First stage was to laminate two layers of 0.25mm nickel silver, again taken from the scrap surrounding an etched sheet. The pattern is stuck on with double-sided tape - I arranged the parts on the drawing to make use of one straight edge. The buffer beam is crossed out to remind me that I already made it!   Before cutting out the pieces I drilled the various holes using the Proxxon. Then it was a case of cu
antyeates1983

antyeates1983

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couplings

Experimenting with Lin-Cups

In my role as Publications Officer for the 2mm Scale Association, I'm currently working on a revamp of the "couplings" chapter of the erstwhile 2mm Handbook. I was intrigued by the reference to Lin-Cup couplings, which I hadn't heard of or seen. So I went back to the June 1976 issue of the 2mm Magazine to read Lindsey Little's original article. His goal of "something inconspicuous, not too unrailwaylike, close coupling, sturdy and capable of being made by a squint-eyed tyro with ten thumbs" soun
antyeates1983

antyeates1983 in couplings

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barney

Barney - wheels etc.

The next thing I did was to add the reversing lever and smokebox door, which you can see in the photo below. The reversing lever was included (as a single piece) on the etch, but I struggled to fit it between the splasher and the boiler. I think this is probably because of the splasher being a bit over-sized compared to the prototype. In the end I had to file a curved bit out of the lever. The smokebox door was turned on the lathe, doing the curve with a graver. It has a spigot in the back locat
antyeates1983

antyeates1983 in barney

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barney

Barney - tender

Progress will initially appear exceedingly fast because I'm trying to catch up with this blog! But rest assured that I was doing this construction in about November over quite a few odd hours.   First up, here is the tender chassis assembled. The spacers are 6.4mm PCB with gaps filed in on each side, soldered on using the jig described in the previous post. The horizontal one is set slightly below the top of the frames so that there is somewhere for the solder to attach on top. The ext
antyeates1983

antyeates1983 in barney

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barney

Barney - progress

Time for an update on this engine. I've been progressing this build in between other things so it has been quite gradual to develop. This first photo shows me milling out as much clearance for the coupling rods as physically possible. Part of the problem was that the phosphor-bronze footplate is quite thick and extends further down than the real footplate, so I removed the worst offending sections, identified by trial and error with the chassis. For future locos I suppose I will design in these
antyeates1983

antyeates1983 in barney

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barney

Barney - footplate and boiler/firebox

These photos show you the progress so far on the loco body. The footplate is made of two layers for strength, both etched: a top layer of 0.25mm nickel silver and a bottom layer of 0.4mm phosphor-bronze. To enable fitting of the buffer beams and side valances, the p/b layer is smaller, and the underside of the n/s layer has a half-etched rebate around the outside.     In this next photo you see the main etched parts fitted above the footplate, comprising the cab, smokebox fr
antyeates1983

antyeates1983 in barney

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barney

Barney - details

I've gradually been adding the remaining smaller details, which seems to take up a lot of time. This first photo shows those at the front end. The lamp on top of the smokebox was included as a "fold-up" job on the etch (similar to a typical 2mm axlebox). The handle is rather delicate and hasn't survived the process of soldering it together, but I don't think you can see it well anyway. I will make the lens using PVA glue after painting. The smokebox door handles are made from etched handrail kno
antyeates1983

antyeates1983 in barney

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barney

Barney - design and etching

It's about time that I introduced my next locomotive project, which has actually been going on since before I started the Scrap Tank. It's a Barney 0-6-0. It started with the Worsley Works etch, but has morphed into a project using my own etches for the chassis and body, as well as for a 6-wheel tender (the Worsley etch provides the 8-wheel type). The main reason for not sticking with the Worsley etch was the fact that I wanted to do my own tender including axleboxes. I reasoned that I might as
antyeates1983

antyeates1983 in barney

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