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  1. Farthing, June 27, 1914. Europe is on the brink of war, but noone knows. The staff go about their morning routines, and No. 835 sleepily shunts a horsebox. Station Master A. Woodcourt examines the scene. He likes the order and calm of the bay area. He is feeling his age and hopes it will be a quiet day. But it is not to be. As he propels the horsebox into the sidings, driver T.F. Oberon notices a problem. Throughout his life with the railways, he has been able to smell a hot axlebox. And he can smell one now. As the "hot box" is confirmed, Woodcourt realizes he has a problem on his hands. There is a major event at the Farthing Race Course today, and there are no spare horseboxes to deploy. To make matters worse, the owner of the horse turns out to be the rather brusque and imposing Mr Bull. As Bull launches into yet another of his long-winded complaints about the state of the country's railways, Woodcourt realizes it is going to be one of those days... *** Credits: Horsebox built by Pete Morris. *** Will Woodcourt solve the problem? Will the horse make it in time for the races? What else is in store for the good people of Farthing? Find the answers in the next instalment of "All in a day's work"... Go to part 2
    18 points
  2. Time for the weekly update.... This week it's ROCK & ROLL! First the ROCK.. The spoil heap next to the tunnel portal has been made, glued, stuck down and painted. Some Mininatur grass clumps have been added. The remaining area has now received it's base of hanging basket liner. On the other (Viewing)side I've added some vegetation growing in the crack between the rock, just to break it up a bit. It's a pity that this view will not be seen by the viewing public but here it is anyway. Here's another wide angle shot showing progress on the front of the layout with long grass, reeds and more scree. Please excuse the kitchen table! No other means of support exists yet! Frank Now The ROLLing stock! I've been itching for ages to take a picture like this. 7812 Erlestoke Manor with the Down Cambrian Coast Express! Cheers for now! Frank
    13 points
  3. As promised some snaps of the Duke on Summat Colliery at the Syston Show. I took advantage of the sunlight on Sunday as you can see. and finally, late in the day the ultimate express loco met up with possibly the ultimate mixed traffic loco
    6 points
  4. The bogies consist of an etched frame with whitemetal sideframes. All very straightforward really but there are a couple of points to watch for. When folding up the frames there are some inner striffening ribs to fold down after the sides are folded down. (I used a 2" Hold & Fold for the sides and a pair of square ended pliers for the ribs). If the ribs are just folded as they are they will splay the sides out so a file has to be taken to the edge of the rib that will butt up against the side, arrowed in the photo; With the bearings in place there is too much axle slop, easily remedied by inserting a thin 2mm washer (Gibson) between the bearing flange and sideplate on one side only. Bearing holes, etched quite a bit undersized, were opened out with a 5 sided broach before the frames were seperated from the main etch. The etched holes in the sides don't match the cast holes in the w/m sideframes; A bit of (not too pretty) filework sorts things out; To hold the frames whilst filing I used a small hand vice; Sideframes will be glued in place later on, after I've fitted mounts for tension lock couplers (not included but I have a plan...). All soldering was done with an Antex XS25 using 188 degree solder. Paul.
    6 points
  5. Some more trees and an armature for Balcombe. These are all experimental ATM and will be placed at the rear of the layout. I've still got to improve on tree recognition and produce better models of particular types. Some of these will probably be removable for use on other projects. The smaller ones will be used on the Matford rebuild on the new extension board.
    5 points
  6. Thanks gents :-) This is the result of another bout of "out of period" operation (normally it's 1906-1907). I don't have much lake-liveried stock, but fortunately with a small layout like this not much is needed. Mr Bull's overbearing look was accentuated recently, when he fell to the floor from his normal position at the front of the platform. He literally lost his head, and when I put it back on he somehow looked even more arrogant than before :-)
    4 points
  7. It's starting to come together... A large-ish packet arrived from 'Worsley Works' at the weekend.. Tiny or what! Then today a package arrived containing a '5700' body. (if you're reading this - cheers Ken). Just need the chassis bits from the shop now. Meanwhile a start has been made hacking at the boxes. 2 layers of 6mm 'depron foam' were cut to represent the main tunnel portal and a 'road' from the quarry siding into the fiddleyard box. This was then used as a template to mark the apertures on the box itself. The openings were then cut out using a succession of drill-holes which were then linked up. You will notice that I've reduced the tunnel-mouth height at this stage, trying to re-create the effect inside the prototype. The foam tunnel portal has been lodged in place for effect. The quarry line is to the right - but the actual tunnel entrance is set forward of the main portal - you can see the outline of where it will be. Just for effect - and proving that the end cut is a little 'tight'. Some easement required! Better now than when the scenics are in place! I've used 3mm ply (perfect match for the Depron) - to stiffen the exit points from each module. The first five sleepers will be attached to them. Power leads (fairly thin wire) will be let into the foam & taken to the back of the boxfile. prior to ballasting. The other end of the boxfile was similarly treated to represent the run under Potley Lane bridge. This is a real 'generic' opening as I've not yet found an image of the bridge (or the nexrt up the line) to work out how high they are. I am hoping that they will lie within the bounds of the boxfile depth. Site visit next week methinks! Regs Ian
    3 points
  8. Greetings, Just finished rewheeling and recoupling this loco and what a straightforward and easy job it proved! Compared to the Class 25, everything about this retooled loco makes it easy to work on: Now just need to dirty it up some more... Chris
    2 points
  9. At the entrance to Diddington station is a small loco yard. It has a small shed, and in steam days had coal, water an ashpit and turning facilities. The original idea was to model the depot as it would have appeared in the 1950's, with the loco shed in use and a small turntable to turn the steam engines. I brought the period modelled forward to the 1960,s, by which time the loco depot had been downgraded to a daytime stabling point. The shed is used as a store, and the turntable bridge has been removed, leaving only the pit, which is gradually submerging into the undergrowth. The track plan and scenic idea for the depot were based on Huntindon East. The shed is a Prototype Models kit of the shed at Stamford. The original idea for Diddington had more of a Great Northern influence. Over time the area modelled has been moved more firmly to the East into Great Eastern Territory. The loco shed is a hangover from the original idea. Last autumn I finally decided to work up the scenery in the area. I took some photographs of progress as I wnt along. This is the undeveloped site: The first stage was to complete the Turntable pit. A circular hole the diameter of the pit was cut in 2 pieces of 9mm ply. The bottom of the pit was made from a piece of thinner ply, and the whole was screwed and glued together. The detailing of the pit was done away from the layout. The sides and bottom of the pit were lined with thin card. The edging at the top of the sides was more card, and the duckboards outside this were made from pieces of Wills plastic sheet, with additional grips from bits of plastic strip. The walls of the pit were covered with Exactoscale brick sheet. The bottom of the pit was painted dark earth, and fine ash sprinkled over to give texture. Additional bits of flock and ground foam were added to represent the beginnings of a build up of undergrowth. This is the completed pit: The pit was then installed on the layout. The landform was buit up with strips of card as described in an earlier blog entry. The pit was blended in with a plaster/pva mix whiich was then painted with burnt umber acrylic paint. Grass and undergrowth from a number of sources was added. Longer, rougher grass is from hanging basket liner. Shorter grass is from flock, applied with a puffer bottle. (Since I started, Black Rat came round with his Grassmaster, and I suspect the days of the puffer bottle may be numbered.) Bushes are foliage reclaimed from scrapped trees. Typically, the basic shape is teased out from theatrical hair to make the branches. The branches are sprayed with cheap (non-scented, strong hold) hairspray. Meanwhile some foam leaves are put in a polythene bag. The branches, once sprayed, are dropped in the bag with the leaves and the bag is shaken, which coats the sticky braches with the "leaves". The completed bush is then ready to place on the layout. The area now looks like this. I still need to build a buffer stop and disused coal stage, and to complete the ertaining wall at the back of the yard, and hopefully these developments will be in the next instalment.
    2 points
  10. Once a week, a meeting takes place at Farthing Station where staff and regular passengers engage in learned discussion about some of the great questions of our time... Link to Far Twittering & Oysterperch Link to the Wallace and Gromit layout
    1 point
  11. I thought folks might be interested in a couple of photographs of the new MERG CBUS based DCC system. This uses a CANBUS (originally developed for the automotive industry) to transmit the signals from the handset to the command station which then generates the completely standard DCC signals on the track. The advantage is that this is the same wiring bus as I using for controlling the rest of the layout using other MERG CBUS boards. Ultimately I should be able to run the whole layout with 6 to 8 wires between the boards. Two for the DCC signal. Two for the CBUS. Two for a 12v DC pair to power the modules. I'll probably end up with another pair for a 16AC as this can then be used if I need power anywhere else. There are three components to the DCC system, A command station which is a simple PCB costing around £25 to build, a number of handsets which are available as a kit for £38 and a soon to be released booster which will be another ~£25. Without the booster you are limited to pulling about 1.5amps in total but that is proving adequate to run a couple of trains around Empire Basin with no problems. The command station is pretty straight-forward to build being just a single board and convention 'through hole' mounting of components. As usually you need to take some care with your soldering and reading the instructions but it isn't beyond the skills of a beginner. The handset on the other hand is a good deal more complex requiring the use of surface mount components. These look a bit scary to start off with and I watched several video clips on Youtube demonstrating how to solder a chip with 20 pins down one side an inch long onto a board with trepidation before having a go. In the end I found it wasn't as bad as I feared, a combination of a circuit board covered with a solder resistant surface (except that is where you need to solder!) and the smallest soldering iron bit Maplins had did the trick. I also bought some de-soldering wick which came in handy on the occasion when I did manage to bridge a connection. In the end the little handset really does feel like a quality part and is a credit to those involved with the design. The knob is positioned nicely for the thumb and you can easily drive the loco with one hand. The push buttons are very easy to work and the typical operations of selecting a loco or turning a function on and off are all quite logically and take very little getting used to. There are a couple of limitations with the current version of the firmware around taking control of a loco already assigned to another handset but these are all developments due in forthcoming releases. A combination of the MERG command station, the CAN-USB interface which allows a PC to talk to the CBUS and the Java Model Railway Interface (JMRI) also allows the use of an Android phone or (if you want to sell your soul to Apple) a Iphone as a throttle. I'm tempted, but not tempted enough to want to part with the cost of a loco kit just to try it! David
    1 point
  12. As the railway line enters Diddington station, it passes behind a cluster of farm buildings. I put a photograph of the barns in my gallery a little while ago, and was asked if I had some more pictures. I took a few, and have added a few notes about the models themselves. The buidings are situated at the front of the layout to act as a view block, and to balance the river scene, with the boathouse at the other end. Here's an aerial view od the group: The buildings are made from card. The weatherboarded building was designed with a hole in the bottom. It was originally built for an earlier layout which folded in two by means of hinges fitted on blocks at the front and back of the layout. The back hinge was covered by part of the scenery, and the barn fitted over the front hinge when the layout was set up. The scene was built on its own base, a piece of MDF with a hole cut in it to fit over the hinge. In order that the hinge could not be seen through the arn windows, there is a full height false wall inside the building, about 1cm back from the windows. The design of the barns comes from a sketch by George Illife Strokes, of a group of buildings at Marlow. He made a model of the buildings himself, which appear in some of his photographs. The small cart shed at the right hand end is from a plan by John Ahern in "Miniature Landscape Construction" The large chimney stack was made round a sub frame of plastic card. Panels of exposed brickwork were added from scraps of Wills sheet, and the surrounding areas built up to the same level with pieces of plain plastic card. These areas were then coated with a mix of Artex and PVA white glue, diluted with water. This was applied with a brush, and when it was dry, lightly sanded to smooth it off. The plastic areas were painted with Humbrol acrylics, and the card and plaster parts painted with artists watercolours. The chimney pots were made from lengths of brass tube, with rims from copper wire. The pots were the coated with gesso and painted with Humbrol acrylics. The pantiles on the barns are from paper strips, A false roof is made from card, and this is marked with vertical lines at about 4mm intervals. Lengths of plastic rod are stuck to these lines. The tiles themselves are made from strips of paper, fixed in place with Bostick impact adhesive and pressed down round the lengths of plastic rod to represent the joints between the tiles. Once dry, the roof is painted with artists water colours. I ran out of patience when I got to the cart shed, and the roof on this buiding is made from Wills sheet, which lends extra rigidity to the structure, which has a frame of balsa wood, with weatherboarding from thin card.
    1 point
  13. There has been quite a lot of activity chez mois in preparation for St Ruth's forthcoming appearance at Nottingham, mainly on the buildings front as those watching the St Ruth blog will have seen. This has meant something of a hiatus in areas like locos and rolling stock because once I get started on these the buildings won't get a look in. Those who saw St Ruth at the Oxford Expo in 2010 may have noticed a lack of many things including (but not limited to) coaches. This show came at an awkward time because it was a few months before Farish released their excellent Blue Riband Mark 1 coaches, so we needed more coaches but we didn't want to spend money on things that would be eclipsed by the shiny new offerings. Anyway, that isn't such an issue now and the credit cards have been in action on several occasions since then to acquire some of the nice new things. The only snag being that until recently, they were all sat in a carrier bag inside their original boxes - hardly a convenient way to take them to and from shows, so something had to be done. Some years ago when I needed a stock box I did a 'proper' job and made one from wood and ply with modules inside that would plug into my then layout. Nice, but rather time consuming. This time I decided to opt for a solution that could be done in the bare minimum of time. The trick was to find some sturdy boxes that were just a little larger inside than the height of a coach. The first thing I found was a gift box which once contained some socks. This was then lined with 5mm foam board and some partitions made from the same material. One partition was made from mounting board in order to squeeze 5 rows in. This is a handy box for parcels vehicles but is too short to fit two 64ft coaches end to end. The second box looks almost like a quality product (provided that you don't look to closely). In fact it is a box which once contained a children's painting set (the paints had already been used by said children I hasten to add). After ripping out the vacuum formed plastic inserts and getting rid of the strange adhesive that held them in place (something that looks rather like it might have come out of your nose), the box was lined and partitioned with 5mm foamboard. I didn't keep track of the time for the first one, but the second one took less than 90 minutes to make and cost me pretty close to nothing. Both boxes are already full of coaches, so I'm on the lookout for other suitable items to recycle.
    1 point
  14. I'm about to start work on a Roxey Mouldings John Summers iron ore bogie hopper. These wagons were built between 1952 and 1958 to carry iron ore from Bidston Docks to Shotton steelworks. After steelmaking at Shotton stopped in 1980 some wagons found their way to ICI to replace similar wagons used to convey limestone. Under Summers ownership the hoppers were unbraked, they had to be fitted with vacuum brakes for ICI working. Plate frame bogies were fitted from new, roller bearing axleboxes being fitted under ICI ownership. For more detail see 'An Illustrated History of the ICI Hopper Wagon' by Paul Harrison & Peter Midwinter, which I highly recommend. For colour photos 'Private-Owner Wagons in Colour' by David Ratcliffe. Some good photos on Paul Bartlett's site: http://paulbartlett....ummersorehopper Paul also has a wagon website, with a page devoted to the ICI wagons: http://paul3715.tripod.com/icibogie.htm There's also a thread running on ICI wagons: http://www.rmweb.co....__fromsearch__1 I'll be building two of these, the first one for another RMWebber and another for myself, when it arrives (the first batch of kits being sold out). Mine will be finished in original Summers condition and the other in 1990s condition. The kit comprises of two brass etches, a brass ladder and some whitemetal castings. Etches appear nice and neat and well laid out. Castings are crisp. I'm pleased to see that the bogie sides have roller bearing axleboxes so are correct for the 1990s period, and should be easy to backdate with a plasticard axlebox cover. Instructions cover eight pages of A5, including three pages of diagrams and a fret plan, and look to be pretty comprehensive. The kit is reduced from 7mm and was originally designed by Warren Shephard. There are a couple of problems with the build which are covered in the instructions. I'll be going into my usual level of detail with the build so apologies in advance if that's not your thing! But first some photos of the etches and parts (apologies for the quality of the first two pics, I find that flat brass etches are a pig to photograph!); Paul.
    1 point
  15. Now with the clay dries almost done (bar a few details, pictures to follow) I'm moving on to building another structure, as you may have grasped from the title it's the pub! So far I have the name, and the sign, it had to be something Cornish and Railway related...
    1 point
  16. Despite John's excellent forestry experiments, it's probably true to say that we've 'relaxed' a bit since the intensive run-up to Scaleforum last September - see http://www.rmweb.co....post__p__496055 for a refresher. This hasn't been helped by diversions due to work, other projects, work etc although John and I have been busy at times mulling over some of the lessons learned and ideas stimulated from the exhibition. One of these was to add between 0.5 and 1m scenic section at the front and another 0.5m at the back to really give the structure some context and depth, and to force the viewer (not that force is really needed) to look at the viaduct from some distance away. More on this in a future blog entry. Another lesson taken (or rather realisation dawned) was that the summits of the pavilions were too low in relation to the trains - because we were still deciding on track bed and ballast thickness on the fly - and that somehow the pavilions would need to be raised by about 4mm. We thought about, but rejected, the possibility of cutting out the upper 3mm section of the viaduct deck, and eventually decided to add 2mm to the bottom of the balustrade plinths (and the refuges and pavilions) and another 2mm at the pavilion roof slabs above the columns. Some testing determined that this could be done without destroying the overall 'proportions' (remember this is all being done without any prototype drawings and we can't access the viaduct deck to measure directly). The first phase - adding to the base of the plinths - is now well underway, following another purchase of appropriate limewood sections from the excellent Cornwall Model Boats. All the balustrades have now been done, and as the photos show I am well into the 72 refuges as well. Limewood is lovely to work with, and quite therapeutic, and the photo of the balustrades shows that I have gently sanded the rectangular section upper coping to a gentle arc as per the originals. Otherwise here are the 72 refuges in various stages of augmentation (all but one upside down). 17 of them are complete top and bottom, the remainder are work in progress. And a length of balustrade and refuge together. There is still some trimming, sanding and feathering to do before I get a close fit due to the additional plinth material, and the upper coping on the refuges will need to be shaped to match the newly-contoured balustrades. There will be quite a few gaps and seam lines to fill, probably by PVA mixed in with sawdust.
    1 point
  17. I've not posted in a while, so here are some hoppers on my photo plank I built a month or so ago... I have added some stock to my collection, although there are only so many pictures of dutch liveried dogfish you can really show off when they look pretty much the same. I've been purchasing each one here and there as funds allow. Anyway, I've now added loads to the hoppers, and the rake is coming along - I am aiming for 8 dogfish and 4 seacows, so 5 and 2 is over 50% finished! Loads are woodland scenics ballast, secured using Future Klear, dropped on from a tea spoon. Wagons are painted using the techniques mentioned in my other posts - mostly GW acrylics and Mig powders. The sleepers in the OCA kicking around in the background are from 2mm Society Easitrac, and look vastly superior to their Peco equivalents. On the 'proper' layout front, furniture has been moved and track has been purchased for an inglenook based layout and the plan tested on top of my bookcases - just need to get the baseboard built for it that will fit in the same spot! As for the photo plank, it does what its supposed to I guess, although I really should spray that pink foam showing at the edges another colour, and get round to adding a card backdrop. It might get some other additions too as and when required - I am to test all my techniques on it before committing any to its bigger brother...
    1 point
  18. Another quick but significant update. Finally I have got all the base scenic features in place. I have just finished the hillside around the tunnel mouth. Significant meaning that there will be (hopefully) no more polystyrene balls floating round SWMBO's kitchen! The whole lot being given a few coats of "Gloop of a different colour"! This time matt black emulsion being mixed with white filler to give me that grey granite/slate colour. A fair bit of this will be covered with the ubiquitous hanging basket liner, grass and vegetation of one sort or another as well as more real rock. The front face of the layout has also had the facing fascia of hardboard glued and pinned in place and awaiting painting (Black???) Here's an overall view of Morfa Bach from the viewing side. Still lots to do and a deadline of April 22nd to meet! Must crack on and update again soon. Cheers! Frank
    1 point
  19. Wow! May I just say thankyou to you all for the comments, I honestly didn't expect much of a responce judging from my RWS models. Thankyou very much. I'm still new to RMweb and haven't used it much, mainly due to me finding navigation a struggle so I'm not even sure if I should post this comment here or make a new fresh post...some..-where. Anyway, I will endever to update this thread moreso now I know there is an interest. Could somebody please help me know where to post it? If I post it here I guess it won't be a proper update and no one will be alerted, but if I make one called 'Moving to P4 post 2' or something then this thread will die won't it? *Sigh* I don't know. My account layout is a mess. I joined the Scalefour Society late last year and as I think a few of you have said they are amazingly helpful, much more than I expected. The post about the curve is just a paste from the S4 Forums so as I ask for help in that post, I ask it to you gys too!
    1 point
  20. After searching for a coupling which was reliable, unobtrusive and still allowed for easy shunting with a shunters pole I was at a bit of a loss. The rapido is plain ugly and poor for shunting, the DG I found fiddley to assemble and tricky getting them to couple and uncouple if not perfectly assembled and mounted. The Micro Trains couplings are ok, but expensive and still fairly unreliable if not quite lined up right. So, I had a bit of a brainwave, a year or so ago I read an article by Jim Smith-Wright and he had used magnets and elastic to create connecting brake pipes. I thought perhaps I could mount something similar in a central position and use it as a coupling; N Scale being smaller, the stress on the coupling being less. I did a few experiments and I have devised a visually unobtrusive, easy to shunt and cheap method of coupling. It's fairly simple; I purchased the magnets from here. I then drilled a 1mm hole centrally in the buffer beam either end. One end I used some superglue and just pushed the magnet strait in the hole. The other end I glued in a short length (length depends on wheelbase and minimum radius curve the model must negotiate) of elastic; To the end of this I glued another magnet. Now I have couplings which are much smaller and more covert than Rapidos, couple regardless of height and are cheap to make. Things to watch: Make sure the polarity of the magnets is correct, or else they will repel each other! Hope this is of use to someone! Kindest Regards, Jack
    1 point
  21. I know Pete was eager to see 175, so here she is; Could be better, could be worse! Still plenty to do, all the detail parts, headlamp, windows back in, finishing up the weathering. The 3 part plow is a 3D Print, so it's a bit of an experiment! I decided on 37175 as she was in Cornwall during the 1980s but also in Scotland, so at somepoint I expect a Dapol 26 will cross my bench to become a partner for 175 on my other (non-existant) layout set in Scotland. Better finish the Cornish one first though eh! Kindest Regards, Jack
    1 point
  22. Workbench update January 2012. I’m going to create a few work bench updates here to reflect what I have managed to achieve since “finishing†Nimbus at the tail end of 2011. As some might have read, I’ve had a bit of an issue acquiring the necessary to “P4†a Bachmann 08... so I’ll not touch on that here. I also had to strip Nimbus down to basics and replace the motor due to a unsettling growl which disappeared if he loco was turned on its side (bearings?) Lubrication didn’t help, so a spare was sourced and all was put back together again... although with that level of detail to cope with it wasn’t without incident, but all broken chains and bits were repaired and she’s whole again. I’ll do another entry on that. Here, I will focus instead on the next loco project which is a detailing exercise of a Bachmann Class 47. I started this, really as I wanted something quick and easy after spending well over a year on the 55; so, just a re-wheel and address the known issues with the bach 47... “simples†(gawd I hate that term... now kicking myself for using it... but you get the gist) But.., the project has turned out to be anything but simple. I had a Bachmann BR Blue 47035 [32-802], the one with the “wrong†domino headcode – i.e. it’s a black solid panel with marker lights and not a “Domino’d headcode panel. OK, so “wrong†is a bit strong.... “not of much help†would be closer for this project... and why..? because I wanted an East Coast 47/4 to sit with my Deltic... so in approx 1974 condition. Yes, I know, I’m just awkward. Right... so, I thought... I know, Bachmann did a 4-digit headcode version didn’t they..? I’ll keep an eye on e-bay and if a “body only†comes up, I’ll try and bag it. It did; I did! Great! Not great! Hang on.... what’s that on the roof – three grill panels per side? Where’s the Serck thermostatically controlled panels. Damn. Now what? Think think think (in best winnie the pooh fashion). To be honest, hindsight now tells me that I should have kept an eye out for one of the Bachmann green ones - some of the early ones had the serck shutters and as I'm probably going to end up respraying in total... it would have been no real hardship. C'est la vie... oh for 20-20 hindsight. As you read on though, you'll see that this still might have been the better (if not certainly the much easier) option. Hey ho! A phone call to Brian Hanson – best options? Cut off the roof section of each and fit the rad shutters to the 4-digit headcode version..? OR, drill out the headcode and replace that on the “Domino†one. Brian thought the latter the better option... and until some etch rad shutters are available, I agreed. So, here we have some photos – of each unit – the bodies now swapped over so I can work on one.. and still “play†with the other on my friend’s fairly big OO layout until I start on the chassis – esp as there’s a Howes sound unit in there. Quite fun last night, three of us, some beers and the 47 and his 37 thrashing around the loft layout ... 37 with cement wagons, my 47 with a 7 coach rake of Mk2s. A fun evening! As can be seen from the photos, the roof sections are quite different, so opting for the front end work was certainly the best option... if only it’d been without so many engineering issues! Oh, and to complete the picture, I have the Shawplan/Extreme etchings roof fan/grill mesh as well as the windscreen surrounds and laserglaze set... enough to be starting with. Diversion - my father's L1 that he wanted to be late crest (was early crest) - old one removed and my first attempt at pressfix... satin varnished and handed back. No weathering ... Dad likes them like this... and so be it. A nice model though. Thanks to Tom (was it) for the clue re pressfix. Work done just before Christmas... so warranted a diversionary mention I thought! The 47.... to start, all glazing and cabs were removed, and the headcode panels drilled and filed out. I didn’t open these out to quite the same size as the full opening, detail photos show that there’s a slight lip around the inside... so I left a fraction of a mm to represent this. I also removed the upper handrail (which didn’t look too fine) and then set about cleaning up the edges and profile... just a clean up – no reshaping.... yet! Oh, but the (class 57) riveted windscreen surrounds were removed. The removal of the windscreen wipers highlighted the feeble upper rain strip (is that the right term) over the front of the cab. So, I rubbed this all back a bit and attached a strip of microstrip (glued end on with Zap-a-gap CA Pink (thin) and filed sanded the corners smooth to match the correct corner profile. Looking at prototype photos, underneath this is what one might refer to as “eyebrowsâ€. Now, these seem to differ depending on whether the loco was Crewe built of Loughborough built (for our American readers that’s pronounced luffburra... not louga barouga as we once heard one of our suppliers refer to it) (chortle)... I think the split eyebrows are crew... joined in the middle Loughborough... there’s an American warewolf in London (I think) line in there about never trusting a man whose eyebrows meet in the middle – but I digress. The 47/4s I was looking at seemed (therefore ) to be Crewe built... so I used two pieces of microstrip again... to represent these items. Adding this changes the shape somewhat... and I think, for the better. Right, now, I’ve almost run out of pictures.... but.... what else (one photo at end - sanded off details will be put back correctly at the end): These strips reduce the available area for a windscreen surround... and as the etches are (scale to the 47)... a little paring back of the eyebrow strip was necessary... and then a little work on the nose prow, to deepen the recess between screen mounting surface and almost horizontal forward surface of the node “bitâ€... but eventually, there was enough material removed to allow the etch items to fit in the gap. The laserglaze windscreens needed a little opening up of the openings to allow a “fitâ€... mainly in the corners and mostly at the outer bottom corner... to match the shape better. But these now sit in nicely. Unfortunately, because these were made to fit eh Bachmann model, and the etch surrounds are “scaleâ€... there’s a bit of a mismatch and the glazing is smaller than the internal dimensions of the frame. So, the frame won’t do anything to hold the glazing in place. I need to talk to Brian about this... and I’m wondering whether use of the Heljan laserglaze items might be better... as they’re a bit bigger (aren’t they?) so adapting the model to take these might allow a better fit in this instance... but discussions re still to be had (sorry if you read this/hear about this before we talk... I hate to phone and disturb your evenings) Headcode panel. Oh dear! Right... the spare 47 body came with what looked like spare headcode glazing taped to the inside of the body. OK, so they were too long – but that doesn’t matter – one was cut/sanded to shape/size and tested. All seemed to be working, but when polishing this, I must have bent it a little and it delaminated. Well, it was a nice idea! OK, thinner piece of acetate (I’ve some to hand). Cut to size – yes, but still very thin. This was not very strong, so I wondered about whether to replicate the headcode roller blind (plasticard having no etching means about me) which could sit behind the glazing, look reasonable and reinforce the thin glazing. Attemps shown in photo – thinner one is closest... but not right. I’d still have to work out how to apply the headcode behind this (more glazing?) and assembly might be a pig. Current idea is to ditch this plan, and cut out a window the size of the headcode blind that will sit behind the glazing allowing only a rectangle opening... just like the prototype photos... all still an idea, but will be pursued. But conclusion – this is not as easy as I’d thought... and I’m beginning to question my sanity... but hopefully an engineering solution will be found. (I knew I should have stuck to domino headcodes on that deltic (!!!!!!!!) Hindsight eh!) – actually, I prefer the 4-digit code, so if I can find a solution, a 47 with a suitable “deltic deputising†headcode will be chosen I’ll wrap this up now... as that’s it for now on the 47. Oh, I’ve managed to make my first P4 turnout kit too... still need to work out how to actually “do†the TOU... but I’ll be dropping Mark T a note very shortly... I’ve had the explanation – just need the right flux/solder and skill to put it into practice. Wish me luck! That’s that for now. Jon’s doing some modelling again. I hope some of this is of interest/use. Warmest wishes to all and Happy New Year (if it’s not too late to wish it to you all - 2012 or Dragon) Thanks for reading... as ever... Jon
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