kyle 2015 - flat bottomed rail...you make the rocking world go round...
First up Happy New Year all
Resolution nr. 1 - more modelling...less thinking about doing modelling
It's been an intense period of work for me up until Christmas and likely through to Easter but having committed to the BHMRC show set for early May there is nothing like a deadline to get one focused.
I had set myself a slightly unrealistic target of getting the Fiddle Yard finished and wired over the 10 day break and although I didn't quite make it, I gave it a fair crack. The intention was to build the track with a mixture of easitrac sleepers and pcb however the decision was made for me when I realised I had ordered the 600mm straight lengths of rail from the 2mm Association shop in flat bottom rail rather than bullhead...wondered why I couldn't thread it through the plastic chairs to begin with
That said I do still like a bit of old fashioned track making...even if my soldering skills are still shocking. I first made the two feeder roads in the FY extension board which meant a slight revisit on the height and alignment issues - some tweaking still needed but at least this allowed me to progress. I then laid 216 sleepers individually yesterday afternoon fixed with cyno...which accounted for a rather dense headache which thankfully got slept off overnight.
Today I have secured just the front leading edge of each of the 4 roads and this leaves me to pick off each road on a one by one basis as time permits.
The jury is still out on the wiring and alignment however I still favour the brass rod or a mixture of brass rod and mini bulldog clips (I had two really small clips which I thought I had purchased from the 2mm shop but I can't seem to find them now or even in the 2mm product list - maybe I dreamt it)
Here's how it stands at present - its not as neat as I would have liked but I may spray the overall FY in paint afterwards depending how it looks - I do like the rather raw appearance of pcb in FY's set against the scenic section...reinforces the cut off point between front and back of house.
Feeder roads...
Overall view of FY with 4 roads tacked at the critical end...
The other thing I managed to get done this holiday was something I have been meaning to do for ages and hopefully will help facilitate more modelling...a small portable workbench.
Now we no longer have space at home most of my modelling stuff is kept in a garage which is 200 metres from our apartment - needless to say, the enthusiasm to model of an evening fades at the prospect of trekking to said garage with a lamp to bring back various tools and bits and pieces.
The workbench was knocked up after work in an hour just prior to Christmas and finished at home over the festive break. It is based around an A3 cutting mat which is tacked with double sided tape so can be removed if replacement is required. There is space for my soldering iron (as I am hoping to build some 2mm rolling stock kits) and two shelves for test tracks. The upper one incorporates a rolling road and the other end will have a spacer to set my DG couplings against. The lower one will probably be two pcb lengths of track to pose stock and check general running using a battery controller (Thanks Jerry, as I saw one in one of your posts and promptly purchased one )
Beneath the two shelves are two pull out drawers with a mixture of tools and a few materials. The top is completed with a stand for liquids to prevent spillage and a linear light which uses my usual IKEA strip light solution. The whole thing is fashioned from a mixture of 5mm and 10mm foamboard and hopefully will allow me to work on things of an evening rather than sit in the sofa, watch tv and nod off
Here's the portable workbench:
Draws closed - New Farish class 37/4 awaiting running in prior to rewheeling to 2FS standards...
Draws open - A3 mat is recessed to allow drawers to open...
Finally, I downloaded one of those annoying apps to track how many days left to get my act together
That's all - comments always welcome...
Pete
- 9
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