Leaderboard

Hi All. As a break from mass tree production for the embankment, the last couple of days have seen attention turn to point rodding. The original intention was to use the 2mm Scale Association etch for the rodding, however having received a fret a while ago I felt it was a little too thin when compared with the appearance of the real thing. After seeing Julia's rodding for Highclere, I purchased some of the same .4mm square section from MSE and although intended for 4mm scale, I don't think it looks that far out for 2mm. The rodding was made by laying the 3 sections onto some double sided sticky tape fixed to a length of MDF. Small lengths of 0.2mm wire were then soldered at regular intervals. This was helped by using a card board jig Julia had made up and very kindly let me have to get the correct spacing (thanks Julia!) A few short lengths of wire were soldered at 90 degrees to make locating pins which fit into holes drilled into the baseboard for a secure fit. After priming with Halfords grey primer (what would we do without this!), the rodding was painted with a rust mix made up using various shades of Humbrol enamel. Black weathering powder was then applied to the areas where the rollers would be to represent grease. I may yet add some representation of the rollers, if I can find a suitable method of doing so. Ballasting along this section up to the cable runs can now be completed. So, distraction over, back to trees! Cheers all, Tom. Ropley is a N Gauge Model using 2mm Finescale Easitrac modelled after the real location on the Mid Hants Railway Watercress Line.

I have spent some time over the last two days fitting a lighting kit to a Bachmann class 20. The wiring up was complicated by the fact that it has sound fitted (reblown by Howes), a bass enhanced speaker and a pair of wires leading to a two-pin socket which allows a second, de-motored class 20 with a larger bass reflex speaker to be semi-permanently attached. The lights include separately wired marker and tail lights at each end plus a cab light. The sound decoder is an ESU LokSound with only four external functions for five lights. I wired the nose-end marker lights (i.e. the headcode disc lights) and cab-end tail lights together, auto-reversing with just the tail lights at the nose end, so that's two functions used. The marker lights at the cab-end are wired to the aux 1 output, F11 on the decoder. The cab light is wired to the aux 2 output, F12 on the decoder. To run with the nose end leading there is no choice in having the tail lights showing at the cab end if the leading marker lights are lit. Other than that, leaving F0 on but hitting reverse so the cab-end is leading results in the nose-end tail lights coming on; pressing F11 turns on the cab-end marker lights. Turning F0 off leaves the marker lights on F11 turned on but means there are no tail lights showing, for use when in multiple or hauling a train. Overall, I believe I have achieved the maximum versatility/best compromise from having five lights on four available functions. The class 20 has been lightly weathered and actually has a cab swapped from another disc headcode model where I had modified the side windows from the original Bachmann recessed sliding ones to being flush mounted but fixed. It was renumbered to D8058 with the earlier style numbers (as per a photo of the real locomotive). The lighting kit came from an eBay seller under the name of Stickswipe, who was also very helpful.

OK so it has been a very long time since I posted anything on here but I have a couple of things to post in the coming days. Firstly, readers of the "Wright Writes" thread will be aware that I planned to produce some small etched cabside screens for use on Hornby LNER locomotives. This morning the postie delivered my etchings and I now have two designs of fret available to purchase. Whilst these items are primarily designed as replacements for the Hornby plastic screens there is nothing to stop them being used on other appropriate RTR or kit built locos. The photos below shows the frets and a screen fitted to a Graeme King A1/1 conversion that used some spare DJH etched cabsides. Fret 1: Cabside Screens for Hornby A3/A4 Fret 2: Cabside Screens for Hornby B1/B17/L1/O1 The basic shape of the visible screen frame is the same on both frets but the mounting spigot positions differ to match the hole positions on the Hornby models. Each fret has 12 screens which is enough for 6 locos (2 per loco) except for the L1 that needs 4 screens per loco. If you are real masochist like me it is possible to glaze them with some thin strips of clear acetate held in place with clear glue or varnish. If you are interested in one or both of these fret please send me a private message (PM) and I will get back to you with details of how to order. Cheers....Morgan

After a very brief update the other day, I thought I'd post some progress photos of 'Munchkin'. I haven't quite decided how to work blue into the colour scheme. I like the idea of a blue background to the nameplate though. I decided that I should at least try to stay vaguely in the land of semi-plausible, so decided to line out some of the panels using the rather excellent Fox lining transfers. I gave the initial coat of yellow a few coats of Klear first which has darkened the yellow down quite nicely. One day I'll have the courage to use a lining pen as it would make jobs like this a bit easier methinks. I don't think this will be ready in time for Scaleforum this coming weekend as I still have pickups to fit and wire up, and a host of other bits to fit and not a lot of free time inbetween. Still, it may get taken along for some photo opportunities.

This has been a long haul, but finally approaching the point where I can remount the individual boards which make up Newport. All the track is laid, and wired, the pointwork motorised, the control panel built, and each board has been fully tested in its own right. All that's left now is to test the boards in combination, as any faults will be more easily rectified when the boards are unattached to the layout. I don't fancy any upside-down soldering! So, here are the two boards for Newport North, and when I've finished this post I'll be back in the loft, connecting them up and testing that the correct levers throw the correct points, the uncoupling magnets work, the crossing vees are wired in the correct polarity, etc. etc. Barring any disasters, Newport could be up and running, with the hidden sidings and loops, by the end of next week. We shall see..................... Chris

We have been in the new house for about a month and are still sorting house things, but the railway room is becoming less crowded by the day! In the meantime the final part of my recycling is about producing a batch of wagons. For those of you that have followed my blog you will know that the junction station on my layout is called Newton Purcell. The real NP is south east of Banbury where there is a belt of ironstone. Accordingly I have an ironstone quarry and therefore need some private owners wagons. As I owe my love of railways to my late father I decided to use his middle name as the quarry name: Hewitt. I decided on a red oxide type colour and white lettering. They had to be well weathered taking on board ironstone colouring. I had collected 10 old Triang opens from exhibition stalls. Plain green and brown usually. I cleaned them, primed them in the same way as my other paint jobs and then sprayed them with Railmatch enamel rust. Next I printed HEWITT on the PC, put some clear hard plastic sheet over it, taped it in place and using a sharp craft knife, carefully cut out the letters to form a template. The plastic came from some packing. I'm not sure but I think it was from a cake box or something. Once I had cleaned up the edges of the cuts, I trialled white paint from the airbrush onto coloured paper. It was clear the trick was to keep the stencil hard up against the wagon side, to use the paint sparingly to be thin and look worn, but not runny. Some spraying was more defined than others, but that prevented all the wagons looking the same. Once properly dry, I added a very very thin and watery black wash along the grooves between the planks to provide definition. I also hand painted (brush) the insides using a badly mixed combination of tan, white and rust acrylics. The poor mix gave variation. Weathered and aged wood is a grey silver colour. I later added rust weathering powders to the inside to represent the ironstone residue. On the outside I then sprayed Lifecolor frame dirt and track dirt upwards over the underframe and wheels, overspraying onto the lower sections of the body. Humbrol weathering powders were used to add more weathering around the underframe, picking out rust on the brakes, brake handles and axle boxes as well as black (grease) on the boxes. I added rust powder around the body, concentrating around the top and around the doors, to reflect the ironstone residue. Finally, it was all sealed with a fine and quick misting of acrylic matt varnish from an aerosol. Although many say never try to put acrylic on enamel and vice versa, I have found they are fine if they are left to dry fully. I'm really pleased with the results. Okay there are no numbers, tare weights etc., but the overall effect is what I wanted. Now I need to get that railway sorted so they can run. Rich

Well, RMweb Live was a good chance to work on the Road-Railer project and make some progress. It is now in the state as seen below: The show was one of the best I've experienced for engaging with the public on a more one-to-one basis, and the project certainly created some intrigue amongst many who passed. An explanation of the work carried out so far, along with details on the prototype machines and Phil Parker's Road-Rail trailers can be read in the November 2014 issue of BRM, on sale in shops from October 9.

I think GW loco men must of been underpaid so underfeed going by the width or the cab entry. Some time was spent looking at photos to see what went wrong. There is no drawing with the instructions. Over size bunker side sheets. I have a couple of bang on side shots. Using a pair of dividers I worked out it was 2/3 bunker and 1/3 opening. I will need to sort out the handrail so it takes up less space, and work out how to hide the old handrail holes and get rivet detail in them. As a matter of interest I tried the cast cab floor in place. Surprise surprise, it would only fit with the bunker side sheets reduced in length. The plus side I did get some of the tank top details soldered on. It seems to be bringing it to life now. I want to add a spacer to the smoke box so It can be screwed in place. I will do the same with the bunker too. Did not get much time at the bench today, which is disappointing after not doing anything model wise over the weekend. I had to degrout the car, we had take the bikes to a local park for a ride and managed to get so much sand in the car it looked like we had been to the beach. Tomorrow should be better.

Not all of my modelling is railway related - and some of the projects (like this one) are of buildings that do not exist yet! The Swindon Panel Society' was formed to preserve the signalling panel from Swindon 'box - which was originally built in the early '60s. Also in the Society's mind was to preserve whats left of the panel display from Bristol East Box. At the same time Didcot Raiway Centre wanted to create a display of signalling systems from the earliest to the present day, and were considering a new building for that display. It was natural for the two societies to work together. I happened to get involved by offering to create a largish (-ish) scale model, as it can be quite useful to be able to 'play' with 'mock-ups' of the displays, looking to show them off to their best advantage, working out traffic-flows etc. The building shown here is the third iteration! Made (mainly) from mounting card to a scale of 1:50, windows & doors were created by my usual method of drawing them out & printing on adhesive paper. Wall- and roof-coverings were produced in the same fashion when required. The wall sections were built in multiple thicknesses allowing the doors & windows (where necessary) to be the 'meat in the sandwich' - Then it was just a case of working round the various external & internal walls - Until the building was basically complete. Lacking any detailed drawings of the exhibits, sizes were worked out from images on the SPS's web site - http://www.swindonpanel.org.uk/ - which actually turned out to be pretty accurate! Modelling at this size actually allows representations of what the public will see as they walk up to the building... Coming to the end of the model now - the roofing is (of course) of slate... However, like a wedding-cake the roof and sub-roof are both removable (the building is designed to have roof storage space - any museum curator will tell you that storage for exhibits is vital!) Only gutters & down-pipes to add now - should have it finished in time to present it to DRC & SPS on Sunday next...

Inspiration came from 2 places, 1) Scale station in the Peak District which provided the rough setting for the layout and 2) Bodmin Station, on the Bodmin and Wenford heritage railway in Cornwall. It gave many ideas such as the platform encasing the track, making it at the end of its line. Although an ex LMS area, it has taken inspiration from places up and down the country. As well as some ideas of my own- which have come about from my requirements of the layout, such as a station terminus and also a small yard area. The small tunnel heading of towards a mine allows room for expansion on both ends. But space available has also shaped what it can and can't have. As with most independently built layouts.