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Showing content with the highest reputation on 29/04/12 in all areas

  1. 120428_4-track_DSC_4215_BW, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. Sunday morning's bit of silliness is the replication of a stretch of mainline in South Wales with an ex-GWR pannier tank in possession of a rake of empties just having left the mainline. The 9F flying along behind has a load of freshly filled wagons heading for somewhere distant or maybe just Cardiff Docks. Sunlight has just started to penetrate the fog and pollution – also known as smog it was a typical feature of industrial Britain in the 1950’s and 1960’s. In those days everyone used to smoke, mostly because the nicotine filled air of the cigarette or pipe was probably less life threatening than the atmosphere around! In the western world we no longer have smog because we exported it to China and other far east manufacturing nations, they now do the dirty work that we used to perform because we became too expensive to make toy chuffers at the price we want to pay. Back to the photo above, this little set piece is just a table bound mock-up using various rolling stock track photo thingies and a few of the coal industry buildings I have been building up over the last couple of years. The smog is of course Photoshop because I have no means generating smoke indoors unless I burn the toast, smoke a big cigar or hire one of those threatre fog making machines.
    8 points
  2. Update - It's been a strange time of late... The following tale of woe's hopefully describes what's been happening here in sunny economic disaster ridden Spain. Having remade the mini sliding traverser beneath the dries covered area which serves as the loco release, this was wired with a very Heath Robinson kind of affair, which thankfully will be hidden from view and work then turned to redoing the inset track...again. Having failed last time using a clay product I found in an art shop here, I decided a new approach was required. Firstly the trackwork was reconstructed and instead of using easitrac I opted for code 40 soldered to PCB, mainly so I could insert a check rail. The plan was to use card for the outer track areas and some kind of filler (be it Sculptamuld or clay) for between the check rails. I revisted the artshop and rather than purchase the same clay as last time I opted for something different. 'It just needs to be fired to make it dry said the very helpful lady...so you can put it in the oven if need be'...then followed my description, in Spanish, of how an IKEA 1100mm long LACK shelf, wouldn't quite fit in our oven Here's the clay opted for... This time...a redish brown colour rather than the off white used previously... So I set to work, carefully applying the clay to the inset between the checkrails and here is how it looked before turning in for the night... The clay was kneaded into place without water... When I awoke the next morning it had all cracked again... I decided to re-read my last blog entry from the disasters before...why did I not do this before I started the clay again... Cracking shot... I had not coated it with a layer of PVA before...I had not put a first lower layer prior to adding a top level...I had not drunk enough Gin-Tonics...what was I doing? Nevertheless, I decided that if I sanded it all smooth, with a little sanding paper, I could reduce the level and then add a second layer...right? ...wrong! As soon as I started to sand it, it started to split into separate pieces, between the sleepers and became loose and unsettled...so, it all had to come up...again... After the Jack Hammer gang had been deployed... So, time for a rethink. Was it the clay? Probably not, although some peeps hinted that using DAS would have avoided this. Undeterred from this, I decided to visit the local DIY shop and bought a tube of flexible wood filler. A small test on this revealed that it did not crack, however rather than fill between the checkrails with all filler, I decided to cut 1mm strips of white artists card and insert between, with the idea of filling the gaps left with filler. Close examination of the track at Moorswater shows a thin line between the rails and concrete where the concrete has cracked and weeds are forming...a precedent! The sides were then added in the same 1mm white artists card secured with superglue. Card infills in place..crude or what?... Before I added the filler, I thought I had better do a quick test to see that the trains still trundled up and down...and disaster struck Only one track worked...the controller was showing a short circuit. Then followed various tests, before I realised that perhaps one of the sleepers which had been pre-gapped, had closed up again...or summat. So I ripped up the infill to that track and began attacking the sleeper gaps with a blade, and just after a got to the other end, it was tested and was working again...hurrah! Card re-inserted again and the flexible wood filler then applied, firstly carefully working around the joints...and then moving at a more rapid pace and opting to clean up afterwards. I removed the offending filler between the rails and first thing this morning I ran a test class 47 into the area...and not surprisingly it coughed after the turnout and struggled to progress. Then followed me attacking it sanding, scraping, skimming, dusting, cleaning, sanding again (the rails must be code 30 now!) until the locos would run...and now they do I attach a few photos of how it is now. It's not pretty, but I think it can be worked with paints and weathering to achieve the concrete appearance...and the locos appear to work okay on it. So, finally it looks like I can get back to developing this board further as the inset area was hanging over me like a grey cloud. Plan shot following scraping... The surface will need some colouring to enhance it... But overall, its hopefully starting to convey the 'inset track' look... In other 'local news', I somehow managed to drop my stockbox yesterday, prior to testing, and sent nearly a dozen 2FS locos flying to the floor, dismantling bogies and various bits and pieces in the process. Rather than tackle it yesterday, I calmly gathered it all, reboxed it and will take a look in a few days to asses any damage. Perhaps my eyes need a retest again to be working in this scale... Is now a good time to mention I have purchased a bit more 7mm scale stuff?
    6 points
  3. When I started railway modelling back when Adam was a lad if you wanted decent looking rolling stock you had to either scratch build it or use kits. The only RTR stuff available was either Tri Ang or Hornby which in those days were intended to be sold more as toys for boys rather than railway models. Since then RTR stuff has come on leaps and bounds each year the accuracy and standard of detail improves. Take this Bachmann ex Southern Railway Van, The chassis is superb. Long gone are the big moulded details like brake levers and brake gear. Even the vacuum cylinder has levers and rodding fitted. The vacuum pipes and body detail is also much better now than it was only a couple of years ago. Anyway, I picked up this van on my last visit to my local model shop. With Pen Y Bont and my new layout(s) you can never have too many vans. It was cats and dogs on Saturday afternoon so instead of layout building out in the shed I decided to do a quick make over on this latest item of stock. My first job was to remove the tension lock couplings and replace them with Smiths instanters. Removing the couplings is easy, just two screws and they are off, with no mouldings left behind to carve away. A few seconds work with my circular saw attachment in my mini drill cut a slot in each of the buffer beams to accept the shanks of the coupling hooks which were then glued in with two part epoxy. To make it look a bit more different to a standard RTR van I painted the roof in Railmatch "Dirty Black." The body sides have been given a wash of Humbrol matt black and thinners. A little dry brushing of Humbrol light earth colour and light grey on the under frames and lower body side tones the "plastic" look down a bit. A dab of dark grey on the vacuum bags to tone them down and job done ...For now anyway. I'm still not 100% happy with it, it needs something else, like chalk markings or posters to bring it to life. That will come later and be another post here some time. Still, not bad for a couple of hours work on a wet afternoon. Cheers for now! Frank
    6 points
  4. 120429_4-track_DSC_4245, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. During the long hazy summer of '69, D6313 is captured near Great Wishford on the Wylye Valley route with a Westbury bound goods. The highly regarded Dapol Class 22 certainly looks the part on a secondary mainline with just a few wagons in tow. The unkempt finish and hazy light I think capturing the feel of the era which is now getting on for half a century ago. This is of course the era of free love, outdoor concerts and drug induced popular culture. Well, for a few dozen rich kids in Chelsea and Bath who could afford not to work and do very much as they wanted. For most, the 1960's was simply a little more plentiful and colourful than the 1950's, your normal working man still wore suits or overalls and had a short back and sides. These people are now all pensioners, which is quite scary to think, not because they're pensioners of course, just that it's now an awful long time ago. Talking of a more colourful world, colour TV kicked off in 1967 on the BBC, with ITV following a couple of years later. Most people didn't have colour sets until 1972, this being due to the Olympics being broadcast in colour for the first time, and I gather the Yen was also rather weak which helped. I do remember a 'posh lady' down the road had a colour set to watch the few programmes broadcast in colour, the thing I most remember was that she had the colour saturation wound up so high that skin tones were bright red. I imagine she wanted to make the most of her telly which in today's money would be several thousand pounds, that and of course the more expensive TV license. Back to the photo; you probably already know that this is the new(ish) Dapol Class 22 after a bit of weathering. I had thought of renumbering it, but I've never really been a number fanatic unless the former SDJR is involved, so for this reason it has remained as D6313. There so many variations between different locos, and because I'm in to atmosphere rather than number-crunching accuracy, I'd be opening myself up for a tirade of hate mail if I got the number wrong for the way the loco is detailed. But I get wound up about model railway bits that probably don't worry others, so each to to our own I guess (low pointless backscenes are my pet hate if you're asking). More pics of the Dapol Class 22 here.
    6 points
  5. Much of my occasional modelling of late has been very much CAD based, with lots of staring (and occasionally muffled swearing) at a computer screen! These projects are making good progress, with a new 'face' for the bridge and a fresh N gauge Class 139 currently in the works at Shapeways. I hope to have the new 'Parry' 139 ready for the DEMU Showcase event at Burton to run the branchline service on 'Kinlet Wharf'.. fingers crossed. I am also making progress on designs for boilers and associated fittings with Google Sketchup, which has its limitations for anything curved or circular, but bit by bit I'm getting my head around it... But away from all this square-eyed monitor gazing (he types, sitting back at the same computer!!), I have been enjoying getting back to more 'artistic' endeavours applying more layers of greenery to Victoria Bridge in N, anticipating the new bridge which will be installed, rivets and all! I have also been playing with illumination, the bank of LEDS will be concealed in a front surround: Retro Foliage looking more natural... I think its all about building up lots of layers... Background still needs work New addition.. which will need its yellow panel down-sizing the match the SVR's real thing, but it is always easier to make a yellow panel smaller, than it is to make it larger. (The Warship was sat on a shelf at a very keen price!) I have also been playing at concocting some 'Toplight' carriages, based on Dapol Colletts with Ultima sides (Shortened 70' carriage sides) and printed tops to the windows. To finish off, a bit of inspiration from the real location. I still need more Dapol Gresley Teaks to complete the set, but more of that in a forthcoming post. Cheers, Will
    6 points
  6. Hi all You may have noticed that the last week has probably been rather damp underfoot. But last weekend, for a few glorious hours it wasnt too bad. Our first proper run of the year (yes i know its april already!) saw us go down to swindon track, in coate water country park. Each year they hold two 5 inch open days for just 5 inch gauge engines, we've been along to a few now, and each time taken a load of wagons. We meet up with a few mates from the area and have a bit of a run. The track is about 7/8 km long, includes 3 road station, station by pass, diamond crossings and a balloon loop flyover sort of thing, as well as a small yard where we can shunt our wagons. three of us turned up this time, with another old friend from basingstoke bringing some more wagons. While it wasnt as well populated as last year (we had 31 wagons and 4 coaches) with only 17 wagons, and three engines, it did provide us with many hours of entertainment! It was also only the second run, and the first long distance run of my recently completed rail wagons. All the wagons performed faultlessly, which is rarity, with all the wheelsets having been replaced, we are now happy! Yes i'm seeing double too. Unfortunately we spent most of the day trying to get a friends metrovick to work. Basically it been around the block a few time and done many amile and is a little tired. we recently fitted radio ncontrol to it, but that system didnt seem to be working, so we had bit of a fiddle, got it working, and it now runs again. however it is now sitting on our workshop floor awaiting a rewire, and some remedial work, but the last run or so of the day we double headed the two radio control engine at the head of a full train of wagons. The other big thing goin on is the iminent completetion of the last two coaches. The frames are now painted, battery boxes, vacum cylinders and dynamos are all on. As is all the drawgear. Currently the last bits of the bogies are being painted or chemically blacked. unfortunately the damp weather has made much painting all but impossible, so has significantly delayed progress. This time last year we had got the last two running. but it wasnt raining then! The biggest obstacle to taking them out down to a track open day next weekend down in bath is th trailer. Because we now have 5, we dont have enough space in the trailer to carry them, so we are havng to buiild a double stacking rack for them. the weather is hampering the build currently, but i thought i'd give you a few shots of the five together, just to illustrate the size. Yes unfortunately that is my living room! Its 10-11metre long, from wall to conservatory door, and the coaches literally just fit in. The plan is to drive from the back by Radio control but really we canbarely see the front of the train from the back! So, might get another post up later reveal the next project. Cheers all, on this wet and windy afternoon. Mark
    3 points
  7. This is my first blog entry. Hope I've got the hang of it! After what seems like an eternity, 46245 City of London is ready for the paintshop. The last few snags were sorted today. The first problem was rough running and I sorted this out with a drop of oil on the gears and driving wheel axles. The other issue was that the loco was getting jammed on curves. I finally found that the front wheels of the bogie were catching against the front footstep. This was mainly because the bogie was mounted fractionally too far forward. I 'moved' the slot in the bogie spacer for the securing screw forward by about a half mil and this solved the problem. Relieved!
    2 points
  8. Well, I have completed the rear lamp irons, this has been a lot of guess work. In the photo's I have you can only see the one behind the buffer. The position of the others is pure guestimation. On the A1 A1X the middle lamp irons are generally an extended one. Fixed just behind the buffer one. So if anyone can prove my positions right or wrong I would be grateful. I also fitted the toolbox behind the bunker. I am very suprised I could find no photo's of one with a hasp on the lid to keep it shut, must rely on the weight of the lid. The only detail to be seen is a weather strip at the top, so I added this using a piece of brass shim Next job was the cab hand rails. These are going to be a bit vulnerable while the engine is being finished. They are soldered at the cab beading, but only located in a hole in the footplate. So I am going to have to be really carefull when I have it in it's component parts,or I will pull the cab beading out. I had thought about fixing them after painting, but I dislike glueing onto a painted surface, it can ruin everything. I think I will be alright for now, as most of thework needs it to be on one piece. Also I have made are new clack valves. The kit comes with white metal ones, which are not cast very well. Plus the fact I seem to have lost one. These are assembled from tube, copper wire, and washers. I am lucky with these ones as all of the flanges are round. I am pleased with the way they turned out, 100% better then the cast ones. The next part of the process is the hand rails. It was an interesting job working out what length handrail knob went where to get them straight and level. I think I have managed. The hand rail itself needs to be trimmed very slightly, and split at the front knob. It then can be fitted after painting. Yes I know I just said I do not like doing it after painting, but here I just cannot see any other way as the smokebox and boiler barrel are seperate parts. Next came a bit of luck studying the only photo I have of 735 left hand side, I manage to spot the vacumn injector pipe. So I have now been able to fix this on. The brake valve in the cab is an educated guess after looking at about five other A1 cabs. If it is not right I will change it, but I doubt I will find anymore photos before painting. Mind you it is yet another sticky out bit to be carefull of when I take apart for painting. Next the footsteps to the cab. Used straight from the kit. They are supposed to be bent under the footplate, but I have a feeling the rear wheel crank pin will foul. I think I need to try and get the bent a little, as they seem to protrude to far, at the moment. The only brass work now left to solder on are the buffers, and the cab roof gutter, which I think I will use to the roof casting on. Did not work the roof casting is to small the gutter would not sit around the out side of the cab. Rethink time, gutter soldered to cab and roof sitting inside? Will have to try. Not east to solder clips to whitemetal so the roof can clip into placethe way I normally do.
    1 point
  9. 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 print up very well (they'll certainly be very delicate), but I've also added the lamp irons. Since comparing my rendition against the photographs of the prototype in John Lewis' article in British Railway Journal No 17, I've noticed a couple of errors in one or two of the corner strapping plates (should have 3 bolts along the side rather than the 2 I've modelled), so I'll correct that when I add the underframe. Luckily, I've modelled them as "Components", so modifying one component will correct them all in one fell swoop. Ian
    1 point
  10. A two-week course in Scotland provided an ideal spring-board for a bit of recording during the middle weekend. Various Scottish modellers have been asking me to record the sliding doors on a 303 and adapt my 304 project accordingly. However, with the help of the hard-working chaps at Bon'ess I've managed to go well beyond that and record almost all the sounds that the 303's made, including horns, driver & passenger doors, hustle alarm, main & auxiliary compressors, guard's right away bell, aws, oil pump (which they had instead of traction motor blowers), brake releases, main contactor & battery charger hum. The only things which couldn't be done on the day were pan up / down (which might be a possibility in the future) and the traction motors themselves (no 25kV!). All this was possible because the majority of things ran off 240V which can be temporarily lashed up from a shore supply. For good measure I took the last trip of the day on 37175 and recorded the start-up & run from the back cab, then captured all the 'auxiliary' sounds when we got back. Hopefully this will yield some improvements to my existing 37 project (better / bi-directional horns for a start) and perhaps another 37 project altogether with the new engine sounds. If you haven't visited the Bo'ness & Kinniel Railway it is highly recommended. They have a great roster of Scottish region diesels which are all in fine fettle and the line has a long and steep bank on the way up to Kinniel.Thrash-tastic!
    1 point
  11. Hi Pete, I don't ever recall seeing trees like that down at Moorwater! Be interesting seeing a Class 66 queeze between those! Excellent stuff though and shows some dogged determination. I love the shots of the dries themselves. There is no doubting the location-Wenford Bridge isn't it? Cheers, Mark
    1 point
  12. Hi Pete. From that final photo, looks like you've cracked it............... Looking good! Hope the stock is all salvageable. Been there, got the spare parts! Tom.
    1 point
  13. Good to see that you're getting the tricky jobs out of the way - they can really hold up progress. Some people might have been driven to distraction and gone off to do some modelling of Scotland or some such. Are you sure those big white spheres aren't just a bit closer to the track than last time?
    1 point
  14. Yikes! Some trials and tribulations there Peter. I had similar disappointments when working on my Frankland tram track - I know how protracted and frustrating this sort of process can be. It looks like it's starting to work-out for you now and hopefully will be worth the effort in the long-run Just one thing though - with those egg-shaped trees I still can't get away from thinking I'm looking at an episode of the 60s series 'The Prisoner' ... I keep expecting one of them to start bouncing around and chasing me down the road!
    1 point
  15. looking good a little surprised you didn't opt for plaster between the check rails any reason why not ?
    1 point
  16. I’m waiting for some araldite to cure on the fifth Banana van, - you remember, the one that is having a sprung chassis. There’s no doubt that araldite is one of the finest adhesives, particularly the old fashioned 24 hour type, but that curing time and lack of initial grip can be a pain. In today’s case the araldite’s job is to fix a lead weight to the plastic body of the van as a part-floor. The weight is drilled and tapped for 8BA and as the thread in lead is likely to strip, an 8BA nut is soldered to the lead. This 8BA hole MUST be exactly on the body centre-line, to match a similar centre hole on the sub-chassis. To ensure everything is correctly centred, the body and chassis must be held in correct location while the araldite cures. This has meant resource to silicon baking sheet to ensure that araldite does not seep its cruel way between parts that later must be free of each other. What a fiddle it’s been! The other four vans are ready for the paint shop but are currently posing on ‘Bowtons Yard’ And a closer shot of a pair These Ratio kits are very nicely moulded and include some really fine detail. In my view some is much too fine, (and therefore fragile), for any but a model destined for a museum showcase. I’ve used the kit’s buffers, draw hooks and vacuum pipes, knowing that there is near certainty that some of them will break because they are all too fragile as plastic mouldings. If, (or when!), they break, they will be replaced by more substantial metal items. The kits have also made up to be much lighter than I expected and even fitted with my ballast-weight/fixing nut they came out lighter than I aim for. All road much better than could be expected on my “ fling testâ€. For this I virtually throw the test piece through a section of ‘Bowton’s Yard’ which includes a double slip followed by a B8 & a B6 in a reverse curve. If they survive a dozen or so throws in each direction then I’m happy, after all, their test speed is approaching Mallard’s record!! These four passed the test but when added to a train and subjected to some shunting there were more derailments than I could accept. Normally I aim for my four wheel, eight to twelve foot wheelbase wagons to weigh close to two ounces (55grm). Much lighter, and when being propelled, there is a tendency to be lifted by the heavier adjacent vehicles and derailment invariably results. For these four I added two further weights onto the chassis floor, either side of the ‘fixing’ weight and they now run very acceptably indeed. Dave
    1 point
  17. Dan. Its nice to see a Castle in 'Great Western' livery as Hornby seem a bit shy on doing this.I would fit etched plates myself and take that hideous front coupling off.You could make her better with a few tweaks.
    1 point
  18. More progress! The solebars were bent to shape using nothing more than a vice and two steel rules as bending bars then they were joined to the buffer beams using 188 deg solder. The angle plates were then added using 145 deg solder. You will see from the photo that the ends of the angle plates stuck out beyond the edge of the buffer beam - soon sorted with a file! This assembly was then fitted to the superstructure and the buffers added. Starting to look like a Sentinel now
    1 point
  19. I must admit I forget to read the blogs most of the time, but just stumbled across yours and read it all. I love the idea of the school fundraising show. As an ex-PTA chairman myself, I had thought about this many times myself but I managed to keep my mouth shut fortunately! Let me know when the date is confirmed and I will see if I can help in any way. COME ON YOU RAMS !!! Regards Dave
    1 point
  20. There's something rather magical about Graeme King's modelling. The ability to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse - such as a commission he took on for me, making a Hornby Railroad A4 into a Gresley W1 last year. This time around, it really is just amazing. I suggested to Graeme quite a while back that an A2/3 could be made from the latest Bachmann A2, and he agreed; he had been thinking on similar lines. We came to an agreement, whereby I would supply a Bachmann A2 for him to use as the prototype for a conversion kit, and I would in return get said prototype to add to my collection when done. Over the coming months Graeme wove his magic to create this fabulous machine, which I christened Edward Thompson this morning. The model uses most of the Bachmann A2 model, with the cab and front running plate removed, a smokebox extension ring added, Comet V2 valve gear, and various other details which complete the transformation. It's now available as a conversion kit, details of which you can find here - I am but a very grateful and delighted customer! I haven't made my mind up whether it will go (as intended) into BR Dark Green or stay in apple green, but for the time being I am simply enjoying its presence on Copley Hill. Oh, and by the way - it gets round second radius curves without derailing. Simply brilliant modelling from Graeme, as always, and I get one more class to add to my Copley Hill stud that adds to the intended realistic atmosphere of the yard. Did I mention we've had a brief discussion about a possible A2/2 conversion kit as well? The one thing about this build which is hugely advantageous is that you can have one for roughly a third of the price of PDK or DJH A2/3 kit, and it's been designed to be extremely simple to convert. I personally think the conversion is much more convincing than either of the aforementioned brands, but that's just one man's opinion! Until next time!
    1 point
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