Leaderboard

92061 is now painted, weathered, and ready for action. An initial outing on South Pelaw was rather unsatisfactory. The pickups were not properly adjusted for the new wheels, so progress was rather intermittent. This problem has now been fixed, and I have also added pickups for the centre wheels, which makes a difference on my test track. During this process, one of the shafts that holds the gears in place within the chassis simply dropped out through the spokes while the locomotive was on its side. It slotted back in place with a slight click, and has stayed in since. We will see how she runs on South Pelaw, and as long as all goes well she will join her sister engines for a mammoth running session at RailexNE in a few weeks time. No crew are evident in shot above, and these have since been added. You can see the driver (a modelu one) lurking in the background of the picture below. Those of you who know about these things might have noticed that an air hose is missing from the front of the locomotive. I inadvertently broke it off, and this has now been fixed. These pictures do highlight the rather overscale screw coupling, which grates with me a little. On the other hand having a reasonably large loop to pick up under exhibition conditions does make life easier and less stressful. The handrail knobs look a bit big too ... Overall this has been a satisfying and fairly quick (for me) project. Now it is on to final weathering of the ore hoppers, tidying up broken bolsters, and fixing one or two missing transfers.

Phew! Superb weather but rather too nice to be stuck indoors doing any modelling. Even now (ten past eight), my modelling room is uncomfortable as it gets the sun all afternoon and evening. So, I've been mainly out in the garden reading and having my meals al fresco. Looks like this might carry on for a few more days. However, I did make some further progress with the Standard 2 tank before it got so hot. Using the second batch of custom etched parts from Rumney Models, I've made the cab roof, lubricator drives and fire iron rests. Still got some lamp irons and the shed/SC plate mounting to go, then it's complete. The roof is just temporarily clipped in place and will not be fixed till after painting, glazing and fitting the crew. This latter is a bit of a dilemma. As a push-pull loco, it should have driver and fireman in the cab when loco first but only the fireman when pushing (as the driver is in the driving trailer coach). I'll probably go for the two on board. I took the loco body out into the garden and took a few shots showing the new parts, hence the strong shadows. Dave.

I have now made board skeleton #3. I'm getting quicker! I'm getting used to the process, improving my working methods (e.g. using a longer fence on the table saw to get long straight parallel cuts in the boards) and simplifiying the construction by relying more on glue and leaving out some fixings. This is how the three boards will be arranged with a bridging section where the 6ft level is to form the roundy-round circuit.

In the early days, train brakes were not of much concern to the Knapford and Elsbridge Tramway, all the trains being unfitted goods, slowed either by the brakes on the loco or by pinning down the wagon brakes. It was not until 1904 that the company had to confront this issue, with the expiration of the contract for the W&S to supply passenger services. Both the 0-6-0T No.5, and the two new Kitsons arrived fitted with only steam brakes on the loco, and it was not until 1906 that all locos were fitted with Westinghouse Air Brakes. After the NWR's absorption of the TK&F in 1923, it was fortuitous that the air brakes on ex-LBSCR E2 No.301 had been retained, allowing it to operate the TK&F stock until replacement with vacuum braked coaches.

Evening all, I have decided to set up a blog of my 7mm efforts mainly as I prefer the blog format to the layout threads...too much scrolling backwards to find stuff! This project was started back in BCN when I was having a 2mmFS lowpoint and I confess there is something nice about jumping between the two different scales. Rather than repeat, I will do a short summary intro here but if anyone would like to read in more detail the thread can be found here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/12616-wenford-dries-7mm-1983/ Having always been drawn to China clay and my preference these days for building extracts from prototypes to try and capture the atmosphere, Wenford came in to being probably from an image seen in Maurice Darts superb book ‘Cornish china clay trains in colour’. This seemed the ideal chance to build a small 7mm toe dipping exercise in the senior scale. A Bachmann Brassworks 08 was purchased secondhand and at that time I think the Dapol 08 was not known about. This was followed with 4 Skytrex clay hoods, a Skytrex vent van and a Slaters Brake van kit to recreate the photo from the book. Could this be the first layout where I had bought all the stock prior to layout construction and not end up with an inversely disproportionate stock box to the size of the layout? Well...it could have been if Dapol hadn’t have brought out that 08 at bargain prices! It started with a sketch as most of my layout ideas do...and the use of Ikea Lack shelves as boards... This was developed into a small scale model in white card... Mock ups were produced using crude track templates...this took some time to get right... This was then mocked up with boxes to give a sense of the dries building... Track building commenced in UK using C+L turnout in a bag kits...and Deb’s 31.5mm gauges Track was completed and wired a couple of years ago... And then that Dapol 08 appeared which just had to be purchased... Following some running sessions it all went quiet again until now as I am having another 2mmFS low point! Time to refocus and good to zoom out a little. This brings us almost up to date as the next step is to laser cut the fascias at work from 3mm plywood. I have drawn the CAD plans but decided to mock up the proscenium arch before I cut out 10 or so sheets of ply Armed with foamboard last weekend and a couple of hours I mocked up one end and some of the building at the rear. This led me to reduce the viewable part of the layout to 250mm high which given the width is ok I think proportionately (the initial 300mm height looked too much when first made) It’s crude but has allowed me to tweak the CAD plans accordingly so well worth the effort. Infact I have just brought home some more foamboard to review and build the opposite end and I may try to undertake that this weekend. Here’s some images of the mock up... The main idea of this layout is to try and demonstrate that it’s possible to have a bit of fun in a small space even with 7mm scale. Although quite limited in its scope, it does allow you to shuffle and rearrange the wagons around and the Dapol 08 is soundchipped with the Paul Chetter DCC sound chip which sounds terrific. Another board could be added to the right hand end to make the passing loop but for the moment the aim is to try and complete this as a way of gradually easing into the scale due to more and more frustrations with eyesight and patience as I grow older As always, comments welcome, Pete

Half a year has slipped by since my last post on this blog! I remember those heady days, exploring the possibilities of my new Silhouette cutter, when a week between posts seemed a long time. This model has been a different challenge and there have also been many distractions, including a persistent virus infection through the so-called (very cold) Spring and then, more pleasantly, the arrival of a second grand-son. I have always described myself as an 'impressionist' modeller, so venturing into Broad Gauge territory has been a culture shock. Most BG models are 'true scale' and built to precision standards, which have left me in awe of the engineering expertise displayed in most of the models I have viewed. My own scratch-built 'standard gauge' models were very simple, based on a folded platform, which formed a solid base for the 'upperworks'. Broad-gauge engines need to be approached in a different way, since there is a lot of 'daylight' between the widely-spaced frames and everything can get very 'floppy', without suitable bracing. I learned all these things the hard way and came close to giving up on several occasions. 'Floppy' frames I also thought I had made a big mistake in adopting the Hornby wheels from 'Lord of the Isles', since these are over-size but do have the merit of the correct number of spokes (24). Despite turning these wheels down as far as possible, they remained over-size and, with a four-coupled chassis, the discrepancies mount up, in terms of overall length. When I compared the dimensions with the drawings, they seemed excessive but, when I overlaid a photo of my model over a side-on view of the prototype 'Coeur de Lion', I found. to my surprise. that the model seems to have captured the overall 'look' of the prototype rather well Overlaid Photos Another aspect of my model that I found unsatisfactory was the excessive width of the splasher-tops, where I had erred on the side of caution when considering the clearances around the driving wheels. Their construction had been a very 'fiddly' task, so I did not relish the thought of taking them all to bits and starting again. Fortunately, I found it was quite easy to 'slim them down' with the aid of a sanding drum on my mini-drill, so another concern was averted. In my last post, I described the need for some 'inside motion' to fill the yawning gap between the frames. Adding this also provided the means, through the motion plate, to add some necessary stiffening between the widely-spaced mainframes. In order to provide sufficient rigidity and alignment while fitting these inside components, I hit on the ideas of using temporary spacers at the axle locations, by means of long fixing bolts, with multiple nuts, to define the separation of the frames all along their length. Temporary spacers These temporary fixings allowed me to solder fixtures between the frames, including the footplate at the back-end and the motion plate, amidships, together with a substantial buffer beam and drag box at the two ends, all in good alignment with one another. At last, I could see a way of mounting the boiler onto a suitably rigid chassis and so I decided that it was time to start to fit the 'cosmetic' overlays; now with reasonable confidence in achieving a satisfactory final outcome. The firebox-boiler-smokebox assembly was all derived from the Broad Gauge Society kit for the Gooch Standard Goods. Overlays are provided in this kit for both the smokebox wrapper and the front face, including the smoke-box door, to show the various rivet lines. Rather than risk melting the main solder joints in the underlying structure, I decided to attach these overlays by means of superglue, after carefully cleaning all the mating surfaces, to ensure good adhesion. Most of this detailing went smoothly enough, except for the wrapper at the top of the smokebox, where the large hole for the funnel made it difficult to form a smooth curve, without the thin brass sheet developing a kink. With Smokebox Overlays I think whoever designed the sand-boxes for the prototype engines must have been aiming to set a challenge for the builders! Not only do these boxes nestle against the curved splashers over the driving wheels but they also follow the curve of the footplate as it rises over the leading wheels. I addressed this challenge by making the boxes 'origami-style', folding a small piece (14 mm x 12 mm) of brass sheet, marked with the curves around which the edges of the finished box need to fit. I then cut out the outlines using jewellers' snips. Sand box template Once folded, to make an open-backed 'box', I filled the inside cavity with modelling putty, to form a rigid structure. I then glued the box in position onto the curved footplate Sand Box in position Another small pair of components to be added are the inclined supports for the boiler, placed just ahead of the sand boxes. I glued thin strips of brass to the sloping edges of the motion plate, which I had already soldered between the frames. So having come close to 'giving up' several times, I have completed all the major components. There are still several rods and levers to be attached and then it will be time to hide much of the brass-work under a layer of primer. On these early locomotives, however, there will still be quite a lot of brass 'on show', which will need regular polishing. Hopefully, my next post will show something resembling a completed model

I promised the Shack would return in 2018 and she has albeit as a different version - the AEW.2. The build so far, is pretty much the same as the MR.2 version I built last year and so far easier the second time around (I guess). The photo's are pretty self explainatory, so I won't go into to much detail - unless I have to. Basic cockpit assembled Using the fuselage halves as a jig to ensure fit and alignment Seats painted & fitted, along with the base of the main console assembly. Console assembly painted & installed along with the various partitions (frames) - I used the fuselage to ensure everything was in the right place. Next three photo's show the painting and assembly process, prior to close up* *However I managed to hit a snag, the seat base for the front observer/ bomb aimer went missing - so I had scratch build a new one. That's all for now TBG