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Haven't posted for a while now, plus your all probably bored of seeing the same thing, so here is more of the same thing. You love me don't you?....don't you..... ............. Err, o..k , then. - NW + North Western Railway. Made up as you know but in a way I hope is believable. These two new ones are now finished apart from a bit of weathering needed on those wheel edges, and some small tare weight lettering and stuff. I need to research what to add and where to get from but that can be done later. The small one is looking somewhat battered, the bigger one is only a little bit dirty - almost new. The two pictures just show each side of them both. I wasn't sure on the NW spacing and positioning so at the momend in these early stages things are abit wibbly and jibbly. If there is any official info on where they should be then I'd like to know because at the minute I'm making things up as I go along here. If you have any info on the above queery's then please suggest. I'm generally very happy with how they have turned out anyway. To me they look real and believable but these pics make them slightly more yellow than they really are.

Evenin' all. I have been busy the past week wiring up the little layout board and installing connectors and switches. Even a simple , one turnout layout seems to involve a lot of wire stripping and soldering. Power is now running through the rails and 3-way - the latter after I traced a short down to a sleeper which was not quite cut through in one place.. However, and frustratingly,onto the loco used to test it out in DC ( both my blue diesels are DCC ready now), a Johnson class 2 0-6-0 with a Union Mills tender, avec turned down wheels. The association drivers pass quite easily through the three routes when pushed, but the tender wheels stick in places. I am hoping that when I connect my NCE cab and stick a diesel on, the association drop-ins will perform better, otherwise its back to that tedious filing and resoldering to make it traverse smoothly. Here is the wiring finally settled on - there are a few differences form the original plan ( which I still can't see much wrong with logically anyway!) Regards Chris

For ease of priming, the wheels are temporarily put back onto their axles which are masked off. I don't want primer or paint on the axles at this stage as they've yet to be fitted to the inside bearings. Any flash on the plastic spokes has been pared away with a Swan Morton blade, files and wet & dry paper - whatever is required. Of course the camera picks up no end of evils which the Mk.1 eyeball overlooks... If, as in this case, the final colour of the wheels is black, then they are primed with a black etch primer from an aerosol. My current lot is from ebay and the coverage is excellent and with this primer I no longer need to bother with a top coat so with one less coat of paint the detail remains crisp. Wheels that will be painted other colours will usually be primed in white or light grey before having a top coat applied. Wheel front and backs are given a short burst from the well-shaken can, and the solvent in the etch primer flashes off quickly leaving a very smooth slightly egg-shell finish with a nice dense colouration. Within a few minutes the primer is dry enough to handle so the masking tape is peeled off (I ought to have shares in Tamiya masking tape) and a cotton bud moistened with cellulose thinners run over the tyre treads. A dry bud quickly follows to remove all traces of primer. The treads could be given a once over with the brass burnishing mop at this stage, but I usually leave it until the weathering has been completed. As I noted in the comments section of the last post, the chemical blackening of the tyre treads inhibit the natural rusting process of the steel to a negligible and controllable manner, but another benefit of the chemical blackening process is that it it etches into the surface of the metal and means that, for example, the axles will not need priming before weathering. The blackening process keys the metal ready to accept paint, and the only reason I prime the wheel faces and backs is because these areas tend to get some rough treatment. It's no more than a belt & braces approach. The first time I heard about this property of the blackening process was Raymond Walley's website in his build of the Flying Scotsman for the NRM - see the part about painting the chassis where he chemically blackens the frames before top-coating, omitting the primer.

The book in question is : Private Owner Wagons from the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Ltd, K Montague, OPC, 1981, ISBN 86093 124 2 It contains predominantly images of PO wagons manufactured by the company, and about 6 engineering drawings of various wagon types. I also have in my collection the Hudson series of books on PO wagons - all excellent reference works! Ian

I'm not quite getting to the point where I wish I'd gone down the etched chassis route, but I'm beginning to wonder... So, I sorted the keeper plate issue by chucking it away and replacing with a new one fabricated from double sided copperclad. The benefit being the pick ups could be soldered to the underside. Gaps cut obviously for isolation. I chiselled out a route for the pick up wires in the upper keeper plate and countersunk the hole through. Wires are 7/0.2mm. The whole thing reassembled with the bogie temporarily fitted. I think some form of spring is going to be needed, but it happily ran up and down the test track before I removed the idler gear. The slide bars have been fitted and held with cyano. Here is (as predicted) where we start to have a problem. The additional crank throw of the Gibson wheels does indeed cause a problem, which I initially thought was limited to the crosshead in the slide bar. You can see if here pretty much in its full forward position, yet the crank pin on the wheel is not yet at 9 o'clock. There's a definite movement in the cylinders, though I'm not sure if that's being transferred from the piston, or it's actually catching something inside. I'll take the cylinders off again and see where we go. Somewhat trying, but the end result I'm sure will be worth it. I've put the body on to see how it's going and it's already starting to look the part. I've also cut out a replacement tender drawbar from copperclad and will use this with the transferred Hornby bits. No photo of that though.

Following a thoroughly enjoyable day out at the RM Web members day on Saturday - many thanks especially to Julia (Missy) for taking time out to talk to me. Anyway, I came away inspired and spurred on to get some more modelling done. Luckily, the TV content on Saturday evening wasn't my cup of tea (but was very fortunately wifey's), so out came sheets of plasticard, scalpel, and blown up drawing of a 14' 6" over headstocks dumb buffered open coal wagon (courtesy of a book on the Gloucester Carriage and Wagon Works). Taking measurements from the drawing, the planking for the sides and ends for 2 wagons were "Skrawked" out on a 0.020" sheet of plasticard (both inside and outside), a floor was produced from the same source, and the drop doors similarly scribed. Finally the sets of components were welded together to form the basic wagon bodies and left overnight to harden thoroughly (a piece of plasticard slightly wider than the internal width was inserted between the sides to hopefully prevent them bowing inwards). Sunday afternoon saw wifey out visiting (since I was out on Saturday ), so between watching the British GP, I begain forming the corner strapping plates for the 2 wagons from a 2mm wide strip of 0.005" plasticard. The bolt detail being embossed into the strip with a pin mounted in a pin vice, using a scrap piece of side and end planking material to get the bolt positions in the right places and in the right pattern (2 bolt heads per plank offset diagonally). The plates were carefully fitted to the sides and ends again using solvent. The narrower plates around the drop doors were produced in the same fashion as the corner plates and fitted to the sides of the wagons (extra care has to be exercised when producing the bolt heads on this very narrow material as it will easily deform into a banana shape laterally - the indentations will always cause it to deform longtitudinally, which can easily be straightened - the lateral deformity is much more difficult to rectify and it is probably best to discard and start again). Hinges for the drop doors were formed by welding 0.010" rod onto small pieces of 0.005" which were subsequently trimmed down to size before fitting in place on the bottom rail of the sides (below the bottom plank). The door strapping was formed in the same manner as the narrow plates above and carefully fitted to the door and over the previously fixed hinge - this was generally a 2 stage approach, fitting the strap to the door down to the hinge, and when dry using solvent to soften the plastic strip strap to form it over the hinge and when dry trimming to length. The internal strapping was simply strips of 0.005" plasticard without the bolt-head / nut detail (life is just too short ). Once all of this was dry - one advantage of building 2 identical wagons at the same time is that one can be drying whilst working on the other one - a strip of 0.040" was fitted as a headstock, and the vertical end stanchions formed and fitted from a thinned down 0.040" x 0.040" strip of plastic (the thinning down was done simply by scraping the scalpel blade along the length to remove a really thin shaving until I was happy with the dimensions - the real wagon's end stanchions were about 4.5" square so 0.030" would have been better if I had some ). The dumb buffers themselves were formed by welding 2 strips of 0.040" together, and after drying thinned (to square them up) as above before cutting into lengths a little more than needed so that there was sufficient excess length to allow them to be trued square on the ends. Once welded to the headstocks and thorughly dry they were carefully sanded to length, and the slight chamfer sanded on their ends. I now have to wait for the 8' 6" underframes and Split Spoke wheels to come from the 2mm Scale Association shop before I can complete them (although the underframes will need shortening to suit the already fitted (over thick) headstocks, so I may well end up just using the Association Axleguards and make the solebars myself.) I intend finishing one loaded and the other empty, probably in a ficticious livery to suit a coal merchant local to my imaginary station (when I get around to building a layout ). Ian

Actually I have now completed two of the UFO's so it is not as bad as it was at the beginning of the year. I have also made inroads into several other projects with varying degrees of success so here is the news: ADX I have started work on the ADX and it is starting to look more like a unit. I need to fill the sides and then sand that back to make it nice a smooth. The chassis is now built but unmotorised. I will wait to motorise it because DCC is on its way! X2800 I have added some buffers to this model and given it a coat of white primer. It only needs painting and glazing. It will be joined by two refurbished brothers soon! X5600 (FNC) & X5800 These have now been glazed. I need to add a few details to the X5800 but I am quite pleased with the outcome. This was my first go with Micro Kristal Klear. I will be using this again because it is superb for all windows. X2400 The X2400 had a bit of a disaster. The first coat of primer went on but had a slight bubbling so I sanded and added another coat but I added too much so in the end I removed that entire coat and applied another new coat. This time I was more cautious but unfortunately the damage had been done. It wont look terrible but I don't think it will look as amazing as I had hoped. Any comments welcome. Many thanks for reading Stephen

One of the problems I've created for myself is that the layout is being/has been wired in a way that means nothing can really be tested without the control panel being connected and so far I had not made any progress with this item. I've now made a start sing a panel case bought from Squires. I must say, it has a sort of 1950's Sci-Fi film laboratory (think Quatermass or Blob from Outer Space type of thing) look to it in my view. However, since the layout is set in the '50's, that might be quite appropriate. Progress to date has mainly been marking and drilling for the various switches and LED's and fitting the plug & socket (2 x 25) for the connections to the layout and 2 x 5 pin DIN sockets for the main DC and DCC controllers. The two large rotary switches select the main or yard controllers or DCC for the two track sections (main/platform line and loop/yard). The point and signal switches are set out like a signal box lever frame and have appropriately coloured levers. Still lots to do, but at least work is under way. Here's the panel with the lever frame and section selector switches fitted and holes drilled in the mimic diagram panel for an isolation switch and various LED indicators. Here are skectes of the two panels. Dave.

Inspired by Pete Goss' layout "Rowlands Castle" (see below), I really must get my WD Austerity 2-8-0 into traffic. This will also provide a good place to test out one of the OMNI decoders I bought at Hartlepool at the weekend. Gaugemaster BPDCC25 with 8 pin DCC plug The OMNI is a straightforward 4 function 8pin 1.2amp decoder, so fitting should be quite straightforward. Digitrains were selling two sizes of these, I went for the larger ones which measure about an inch by half an inch in old money - (0.95†x 0.65†x 0.2†for those wanting to be pedantic). Bought in a 5 pack these work out at about £11 per decoder. The smaller units were a little more expensive at about £15 each, but I don't think I've got any issues finding space inside the locos I want to chip for the larger units. On face value these look like excellent units to get basic steam locos up and running in DCC, and offer the basic essentials: 4 digit addressing; Back EMF; and silent drive. In addition the locomotive will still run on DC if required (something my ZTC equipped engines wont do) so I can run it on the club layout. There are no instructions supplied in the packet, however there is a pdf on the Gaugemaster website with full details. The small chips are coded DCC26 and the larger ones DCC25, but other than size, functionality is identical, though the mini is rated at a lower 1.1amps. Now to open up the loco.........

Ah! I've just noticed a discount listing on black etch primer from the above shop - this week only £4.99. Looks like I'll be getting a few in!

Hi, Lot's of hard work has been going into the fiddle yards over the last week, so there are a number of things that need to be covered. 07/07/2012 In the last blog entry, I mentioned that we were going to be working on Modules B and C, hopefully with a view to finishing them both off. We managed to finish Module B, but Module C needs a bit more work as we had to replace the cork underlay on it as it was lifting. It was a really hot day when we applied the underlay and either the glue dried too quickly or we managed to trap air underneath it. Anyway, not too much of a problem as we've been able to work on other things while one of our members replaces the underlay. Here are a couple of pics of Modules B with Module A lined up as well. 08/07/2012 One of the bigger jobs to do was to prepare the Seep PM1 point motors so that they were ready for installation on Modules A / E. The Seep PM1s have solder pads to connect the feeds for the solenoid motors and also to provide the frog switching or signal control. In order to try and make these units a little bit more friendly to replace in a hurry, we fit terminal strip to the motor. This is done by adding wire jumpers to the motor which then connect to terminal strip. This picture shows a motor going through the various install stages. We are currently installing 20 motors to provide the initial 5 lanes each way on the Fiddle Yard. In this pic, I'm 2hrs 20min in and it's 10 down and 12 to go. Phew, 3hrs 40min later, thats 22 ready to go. Here's one that's good enough for a closeup 09/07/2012 Here are a few pics of the point motors having been fitted to the Fiddle Yard end Modules A / E. We have chosen to mount the Seep motors using spacers between them and the baseboard. In our case we have chosen to use inexpensive 3/4" replacement tap washers. They come in bags of 100 and cost only a few pounds. A bit more work on Module B. Terminal Strip has been added to connect the DCC bus with the track droppers. The droppers themselves have been measured, cut, tinned and are ready for the bus wiring. Cheers, Mark.

Hi Andrew, This seems to be progressing very well. With respect to your crank throw problem would a bit of work with an escapement file at each inside end of the slidebar solve the problem? By the looks of it only an extra 0.5mm or so would be needed at both ends. You might also be able to cheat a bit off the front and back of the crosshead with a file. Cheers....Morgan

What I do next to the wheels is a slight variation on your approach - but that's in the next entry If I needed to go back and blacken the treads on locos and stock that had already been built I'd apply the solution with a cotton bud and rinse off using clean, wet buds, and finally burnish a the brass mop in the mini drill. My only caution is that the active ingredient is selenium dioxide which is a poison and suspected carcinogen, so I always wear medical gloves when using the stuff. A useful secondary benefit of the process means that the blackening chemical acts as a rust inhibitor on the steel wheels. I've mentioned elsewhere on this site before, but it's the best way to get a common passivation so that the steel wheels all corrode at the same rate in a deliberate and controllable manner rather than letting nature have its random and chaotic corrosive way with them. There is also a tertiary benefit, but I'll also leave that to the next entry too! There's a very useful thread by Ozzy on the use and types of blackening/blueing solutions in the forums here. My preferred poison is Birchwood Casey Super Blue.

Update - Good evening, Work has continued on the inset track area sanding, painting etc etc but to give myself a break from it I decided to start painting the roof of both dries buildings. Working from a mix of photos of how they used to be late in the late 70's and also from now(ish) I have applied some base colour over the grey primer that was. The paints are mostly acrylic from a wargamer shop near where I teach and a few railmatch acrylic. I must admit I am starting to prefer working with these acrylics now then the Humbrol pots which are gradually drying up and the ease of rinsing brushes and lack of smell wafting from the DRT are also a bonus. Enough rambling - First I applied some blue/grey to the Rotary dries building to the walls and then the roof has been painted with sleeper grime. Once these were dry I started to work in some weathering powders dry brushing with fairly large brushes. Then for the Old dries building I have painted most of the roof with railmatch rust. There are some newer replaced parts of the roof which initially were painted the blue/grey colour and then some brown powder has been applied to represent rust appearing. The powders used were a mixture of black, white and brown (I can be more specific if required) In reality, to represent the buildings when china clay not cement was King at Moorswater I need to give them a good dusting of white powder...or talc as has been suggested. But before that, I am trying to get the base colours to look convincing. Its early days as I still need to finish the roof construction over the covered area but here's a few pics of work in progress... Overall plan shot... Rotary Dries building... Old dries building... View along top... Seen from track level...

The wagon has now been given a couple of coats of primer and is ready to be posted to its owner. The main body has been sprayed with Phoenix Precision etch primer, which was given a couple of days to thoroughly dry then sprayed with Hycote acrylic car primer. The owner will finish painting it himself. Its been an enjoyable project, rather tricky in places, but I think that it builds up into a nice model of an iconic wagon. I should say that its not the most straightforward kit to build due to the one piece hopper body needing cutting into four sections and re-working. I still have my own one to build, when I do build it I'll do some things slightly differently which I'll be sure to bore you all with when the time comes... Paul.

The vacuum pipes are now fitted in place, sitting on little stanchions made from scrap etch, along with the end bracing struts. The end struts are made up from 2 pieces soldered together in a 'T' shape. A couple of pics; Stanchion positions were found by studying photos of the prototype. End struts soldered together using 188 then tinned with 145 and attached using my RSU. The brake wheels are also fitted now. To make them up I drilled some holes in a piece of MDF for the handles and spindle; I then soldered the assembly up, using 188 again; I made them in 2 halves, spindle meeting in the middle, seemed easier than making up one brake wheel with the spindle,threading it through the chassis and then trying to attach the second wheel to the spindle without unsoldering the handles... I'm not sure that using MDF for this kind of work is a good idea, it seems that heat melts the glue or resin that binds it together which not only smells nasty but can contaminate the workpiece. Perhaps balsa would be better. Here is the wagon as it stands at the moment; Below the fish bellied frame can just be seen the strengthening channel that sits across the botton of the chassis, made from 3 parts soldered together. I'm sure that it could have been etched in one piece and simply folded up. Again assembled with 188, then tinned with 145 and attached using the RSU. I'm not too keen on the handwheels, theyr'e a bit flat and would perhaps have better if they'd been laminated so as to include a half-etched rim. I still need to fit the couplings and whitemetal parts. Paul.

I am very impressedwith the locos and stock. Seeing the layout makes me want one even more.

Wonderfully charismatic Andrew!

Beautiful stock and track. Look forward to seeing the scenic work develop. This layout will clearly be something special!

Quite a while ago I said I'd post up a few comments about the painting process I employ on the locos featured in my blog. This blog entry has been in draft for some time because I've pondered over how much detail to include. In the end I guessed it would be best to publish and see what comments/questions arrive. The first stage of the painting process involves a thorough cleaning and degreasing. I can't really stress enough how much cleanliness is to the success of the whole process. I will typically give the model a number of cleaning steps to get every last vestige of gunge, flux and glass fibres off the model. Step one is the general clean and I've found the Cillit Bang Universal Degreaser and Grime & Lime products to be very useful for neutralising and removing the c-r-a-p. The next cleaning step is gentler with warm water and the ultrasonic bath. It is surprising how much crud still comes from unseen locations and if it is particularly bad I'm not averse to going back to do more of step one. Finally I will give the model a serious degrease by immersion and agitation in cellulose thinners. This will remove any oils, fats and residue that was missed by the first two steps. Don't forget that dunking in cellulose is not a good thing to do if your model has any plastic or glued together parts on it. Isopropyl Alcohol is a better option in this case. Once clean the locos are always handled whilst wearing disposable nitrile gloves, the un-powdered variety for preference, again thinking about cleanliness. The last thing you want is talcum powder falling onto your freshly cleaned or painted surface when you pull the gloves off. I get mine from a local safety supplies business along with the disposable "SOCO" suits I wear when spraying. The final and most essential piece of equipment is a breathing mask. Whilst cellulose paint and thinners is not as nasty as some paints it is still hazardous to health and appropriate steps need to be taken to protect yourself. The mask I use has activated carbon and particulate filters. Anything less is a waste of money and will not give adequate protection. One thing to remember for the beardies amongst us is that you will get a better seal on your mask if you shave off the fuzz beforehand. If you can smell the paint you are breathing it in. On to the painting proper the first step, for metal models, is to apply a coat of 2 pack etch primer. As far as I know the stuff I use is the same as the etch primer sold by Precision Paints. It smells the same and is the same beige colour. I purchased mine from a local trade vehicle paint supplier (i.e. 1 litre of paint and 1 litre of activator/thinner). 2 litres of etch primer cost about the same as 250ml from PP and I'll have enough to last me a long time with careful storage. The primer is made by Tetrosyl and for anyone who is interested in obtaining paint in the way I do this link may be a good starting point. The thinning ratios for spraying are 1 part paint, 1 part activator thinners and 2 parts cellulose thinners. If you follow the 1 part paint to 1 part activator thinners instructions on the tin the paint will form cobwebs and strings as it hits raised detail on the model. How do I know this.......? Essentially the paint is dry before it hits the model and that is the one thing that you don't want. I think that might be a good point to stop for now. After applying the primer the next stage cannot be tackled for at least 24 hours. So the best thing to do is get out of your alien autopsy outfit, pack up, have a cup of tea and wait until tomorrow.