Leaderboard

The system devised to motorise the 11 points on Swan Hill may be of interest to others. I wanted a simpl(ish) mechanism using servos controlled from a Megapoints board and toggle switches – all new to me – to drive a protypical angle crank (rather than a slot in the baseboard type arrangement). The photos show servos mounted under the baseboard in a piece of aluminium angle slotted to carry the servo. The servo drives a short length of 2mm steel rod fitted with spade connectors each end. This drive rod turns a vertical 3mm steel shaft mounted in a 4mm steel bolt bored 3mm lengthwise. The 3mm shaft is turned down at the top end to make a 1.5mm diam x 1mm long stub to which a point crank is hard soldered. The whole assembly is mounted on a small piece of plywood and the 4mm bolt holds it against the underside of the baseboard, assisted by one or two screws as necessary. On top, the bolt head is lost in the track underlay. The whole lot can be assembled and tested on the bench before fitting. Above board, I end up with a fairly p/t (prototypical) arrangement with an angle crank located adjacent to each set of point blades. The cranks are the correct p/t length from pivot to pin connection but a bit beefier than scaled p/t cranks. The crank sits on the small rectangular base plate (p/t cast steel), itself sitting on a larger plate (p/t sheet steel) which often carries more than one crank/compensator or whatever. The point blades are joined using a version of the excellent system devised by David Nicolson and described in his article 'Floating Scale Pointwork' in MRJ 227 but amended dimensionally to make use of 2mm diam red plastic straws as supplied with WD40 (actually ex Ebay by the handful) for the insulating joiner. The rail section is drilled using jigs to control dimensions, all as described by David Nicolson, and the sleepers are set out to suit those dimensions. The remainder of the point rodding is cosmetic and I have yet to devise a sliding connection of cosmetic rods to working cranks... more on that when I've cobbled something together. The loose fittings in the last photo are parts for the only facing point lock on the layout - work in progress. I think the illustration below was part of this post but the reference is missing - I've posted it again 14/06/22. It's a section through the point tie rods using the red tubes from WD40 cans (in quantity ex-Ebay without the WD40). It has been tested over the more than two years since fitting and seems to be OK, which is to say, none of them have failed (yet!).

I had hoped to show more progress at Swan Hill by now but in spite of hours put in, output looks a bit thin. There's been plenty of drawing (it's warmer indoors at the computer) - part of the current fabrication drawing is shown below together with a few pics of the work-in-progress viaduct and bridge abutment. The abutment face is slotted for square section rainwater DPs but the bearing shelf is incomplete until the bridge itself is made and can be fitted to get the height exact. Unusually, the bridge carries three tracks where an even number would be the norm - but there is such a bridge over Battersea Park Road which only goes to prove the old adage that there is a prototype for anything. The last photo (of the trackwork leading to the bridge abutment) is included because until I looked at it, I hadn't noticed the missing chair - it's odd how pictures can show up things that otherwise get missed. ...If you're reading this post in 2022 (or later!), the bridge abutment which forms the country end (right hand end in the photos) of the layout has been completely re-built since this post was first uploaded - I didn't like it, so I changed it,

For some time, I have been feeling dissatisfied with the shaping of the frames on my model of the broad gauge engine ‘Rob Roy’ but couldn’t think of any ways to improve them, with the limited tools that I have. The construction of my model is described earlier in my blog. Recently I started to think about whether my 3D-printer might be able to help. I do like engines to be made of metal, so a complete plastic print wasn’t my favourite option, although I did find it a useful exercise for testing my modelling skills. I had the idea that it might be possible to make a tool or template, to help in forming brass sheet to the correct curved shapes. I couldn’t work from published drawings because I have modified the frames to suit some slightly over-size Tri-ang wheels, which I chose because they have the correct number of spokes for the GWR ‘Waverley’ class. These wheels are a very prominent feature of the prototype. My starting point was a JPEG image of the frames that I made for my model, which has some compromises in dimensions, to accommodate the wheels. It proved quite difficult to turn this into something that I could ‘extrude’ into a ‘solid’ model by using my 'Fusion 360' software. Rob Roy Frames (modified) – JPEG image Different software packages have their strengths and weaknesses. For this application, ‘Silhouette Studio’ has an excellent ‘trace’ function but has very limited export capability. My first step was, therefore, to open the JPEG image in ‘Studio’. One pitfall is that the image had be scaled to 72px/inch, which caught me out because I usually use 300 for printing. I was initially puzzled because the image appeared 4.2 times too big! Once I had a correctly-sized background image, I use the ‘trace tool’, with the various filters turned off. The result was an outline drawing, which I saved in ‘Studio3’ format. To get this drawing into ‘Fusion 360’, it needs to be converted to SVG, which proved tricky.There is, however, a website that will do an on-line conversion of ‘Studio’ files to SVG format, so, by using this, I now had the drawing in a format that I could insert into ‘Fusion 360’. In principle, the extrude tools in ‘Fusion 360’ can be used to transform an imported drawing into a solid object. In practice, however, my drawing turned out to have tiny gaps in the lines, which did not create the closed areas that are needed for extrusion to work. There is an ‘inspect’ tool, which identified a very large number of places where such gaps occurred but I don’t know of any easy way to close gaps in ‘Fusion 360’, other than on a point-by-point basis. Since the gaps are very tiny, it is difficult to find where to apply the editing tools such as ‘extend’ and ‘join’ and, in some places, they did not seem to work on the imported drawing. Failures seemed to occur where lines met some types of curves and would not connect . I needed another piece of software, to try and resolve the problem. So, I opened my SVG drawing in ‘Inkscape’ and explored the various ‘repair’ tools in that software. The ‘edit paths by nodes’ tool revealed that there was a very large number of nodes in the traced drawing. The ‘simplify’ command on the ‘path’ menu did a good job in reducing these to a more manageable number. By zooming in on the drawing to look at the detail of the nodes, it was easy to see where some nodes did not link up and it was easy to move node points so that they ‘fused’. I re-saved the drawing and inserted the new version into ‘Fusion 360’. Overall, the situation was now much better in that the main area could now be selected as a closed object. The ‘inspect’ tool revealed just a few problem areas and it was now feasible to give these points individual attention. In some cases, it was quicker simply to delete a short section and replace it with new lines. This method was sufficient to ‘close’ all the separate areas. It was only when I came to transfer the design to my slicing software, ‘Cura’, for printing that I realised that the scale had somehow changed during the transfer from ‘Inkscape’ to ‘Fusion 360’. In my previous work, I had always used DXF files from ‘Autosketch’ and these transferred correctly to scale. As a check, I tried saving the file in DXF format from ‘Inkscape’, which solved the scale problem, but the other problems of ‘loose ends’ appeared again and, in the end, I found it easier to re-scale the printer file within my ‘Cura’ software, before finally converting the model to ‘gcode’ for my E180 printer. The printed tool is shown below. For my purpose, the most important part is the curved top surface, which provides a firm base on which to construct my curved splashers. My first step was to glue a sheet of 10 thou (0.25 mm) brass sheet to one face of the tool. I used ‘UHU’ adhesive so that, after processing, the brass could easily be removed by immersion in hot water. I then used my Dremel ‘Moto-Saw’ to make a rough cut around the main features. This wasn’t as easy as I had hoped, since the saw operates with a vibrating motion and tended to pull at the thin brass sheet. It was, however, adequate for making a rough outline, which I could then refine by means of jewellers’ snips.. I found it easy to use the snips, now that the brass sheet was firmly attached to the tool, which I could hold comfortably during cutting. For the final trimming, to match the edges of the tool, I used a selection of needle files. Although the tool is, obviously, very soft, it was sufficiently firm to provide feedback when the brass edges had matched the tool surfaces. Once the frames had been shaped to my satisfaction, I started to add the curved top surface to form the splashers. For this, I used lengths of 5 thou (0.125 mm) brass shim. I used separate lengths for each section of the splashers, as I had done in my original model, but I feel it would be possible, with care, to fold the whole top as a single sheet. I provided a series of tabs along the back of the splashers that I folded down for attachment to the frame. Because the tool is plastic that melts easily, I could not solder these tabs in situ but, once everything was correctly shaped, I could remove the components from the tool, by immersion in hot water, and solder the parts together subsequently. I treated this as a ‘practice run’ and propose to try it ‘for real’ on some future engine builds that are in the pipeline. In fact, having looked at my ‘Rob Roy’ again, it doesn’t look nearly as bad as I thought and I shall finish it in its present form, while using the new techniques to build different designs. Having got this far, I decided to see how much extra work was needed to create a complete 3D-printed frame. The answer was not a great deal and, as a training exercise, I made a complete set of frames and splashers with ‘Fusion 360’, as shown below. It was necessary to extrude selected parts of the drawing by different amounts to create the 3D structure. I took the opportunity to add sand-boxes and rudimentary springs to my original drawing. One advantage of using computer-aided design is that producing a pair of right and left handed frames is simply a matter of pressing a ‘mirror’ button! So, here’s a pair of frames, straight from the 3D-printer, with Tri-ang driving wheels in place on one side. Although the splasher tops are rather ‘thick’, to allow successful printing, they are also surprisingly robust and this would be a feasible method to use … providing you are content with plastic engines. I intend to continue with brass construction but with the assistance of 3D-printed tools, to help in forming complex shapes. Mike

Cor, this building lark goes on a bit doesn't it? So, to bring things up to speed. The roof has had a fair few sheets of double Roman ABS tile sheets added and the glazing added. This was a little tricky as the Rowmark framing wanted to warp all over the place. The glazing is a single layer of 1mm Prespex. Despite being saturated in Spraymount and heavily weighted down, some of the glazing bars wanted to lift up. The solution was to flood each pane with Johnson's Klear and reset. In a couple of places even that didn't work so I resorted to canopy glue. I got there in the end. I've since added a few sections of framing for the very ends and the ridge tiles etc, though I've not taken any photos of that, but it's coming together nicely. The roof itself is now being subject to a bit of fettling, filling and painting. This weekend's task was to paint all of the walls and keep painting, drybrushing and more dry brushing until I'd got the colours to match those of the already completed goods shed. It took ages but I'm really pleased with the result. I keep panicking I've overdone the mortar work but from 3ft it's exactly the result I wanted. Must be the EM modeller in me! The end shed timber work has had a base coat and will have a lighter top coat and I started on the internal footbridge. These have stone stairs and a timber bridge section. All presently demountable but will be fixed in place permanently when painted. I had to carve out some of the plinths internally as I'd forgotten the steps will be flush to the wall. The rather funky balustrades are cut from Rowmark and have had a base coat to start. I've started to paint the footbridge brackets and have also painted the self adhesive quoins I had cut to tidy up the building corners. A bit more filling and fettling but I feel we're on the homeward straight now. A bit of a photo overload, but I can't be ars8d to sort them out!

Construction of a Large Brick Semi for Kimberley. Using more traditional modeling methods, here is a beginners step by step guide to building a fairly typical semi-detached structure, based on houses on Newdigate St, Kimberley, Nottingham. Constructed for a layout of Kimberley Station, three models were made, one having the front sliced, due to the back scene. The front of these buildings are only seen by the operator, which is a shame. Snitzl.

There has been progress on things other than GWR too. This Special DX featured early in the blog but stalled. The London Road instructions highlight an error when building in P4 in that the valance can foul the wheel crankpins. One recommended course of action is spacing out the valance further with spare fret from the etch. It also suggests slimming down the Alan Gibson wheels at the boss. I did both and still it fouled! I resorted in drastic filing just to get it running which resulted in a non-prototpical curvy valance. Having encountered a similar problem on a GWR Dean Goods build, I resolved to take both valances off and replace them with 0.8mm brass angle. Before I took them off one-by-one, I soldered in a length of fret waste to hold the thing together as I feared the whole could buckle without the valance. This shot shows the amount of fettling that went on too: Here's the result which I am pleased to say now runs. The kit was devoid of the blower valve casting which fits into that hole in the smoke box and is operated by the handrail. John Redrup of London Road Models has since sent a replacement so I can now get on and fit both and hopefully finish this one off. The tender is half-built somewhere too

Good Evening, Layout Build Update: Lots have happened since the last update so let's catch up... I had to face facts between when I wrote the first part stating "I hoped to have an operational trackbed by Christmas". This couldn't happen simply because the layout requires 2 more Bullhead LH points and 1 more RH point, plus the new Peco Code 75 Bullhead Double slip has not hit the shelves yet, and this is the most critical piece in the layout's operational design. Peco stated it was to be in production in January of 2020, so hopefully I'll be able to get the point in Mid 2020, while I focus on getting the rest of the track work. But I have been able to move my first locomotives on MEP which I have being using a brand new Gaugemaster Combi controller. I have plans set to purchase the second scenic board, alongside purchasing the wood to form the back scene. This way I can have everything together before the the first pieces of underlay and track go down. Signal Box With the Signal box, work has been steady going but it has been finished. Being the first piece of MEP complete, with the Quints shortly following. Since the last update I was able to get my hands on the LCUT Interior kit, build, paint and fit this into the box and purchase a Model U Signalman, and most importantly he has a cup of tea in his hand. (Railway's run on tea) Carriage & Wagon Update: Coaches: The first set of two, being the LNER GE's mainstay Suburban coaches between 1935 -39, the Later LNER Gresley Quint Articulated Set has been completed, you can read the progress on my blog updates. This has given me a boost for the build as a whole and has allowed me to feel a lot better as I had fears that one base board wouldn't take the set. Combined with the recent tests at my local model club and having rectified any issues with the bogies, I can say they run very smoothly through code 100 point work and knowing how good Peco's Code 75 Bullhead is, I've become very confident in the coaches operation on the layout in future. This photo (Left) was used in Part 7 of the Quint build. So as you can see the glue n glaze hasn't been applied yet. This photo (Right) was before the transfers were applied but the stock was operational. Wagons & Vans The only major thing that has occurred is the re-numbering of all my LNER duplicate vehicles, this includes; 4 Oxford Cattle Vans - 2 Bachmann Fruit vans, 1 Bachmann Fish Van and 1 Hornby LNER Toad B Brake Van, they have now had there printed numbered replaced with new numbers allowing more accurate modelling and the ability to run a full set without having to see eg. 196152 on all my wagons in the fleet, it's just nice to see different numbers on all the vehicles. For those interested the numbers are decals which have come from 'Old Time Workshop'. In addition to this I have also slightly weathered them, and particularly for the Bachmann Fish & Fruit vans I have painted there roofs grey. Plus the White walls on the tyres of the fruit vans have been removed by painting them in mix of humbrol black & dark grey. Eventually I'll look to weather the under frames so show brake dust and other grime. The Oxford Rail Cattle vans look no different accept the number change, I will need to weather them, but do it in such a way where it matches the weathering on the wagon. I'll be looking into how these vehicles weathered over time, to ensure the best result. Moving to kits Furthermore work has also progressed as I was able to get my hands on a Chivers LNER Pigeon Van, I've painted the LNER Teak effect, but focused on the grain effect which these vehicles had. As some with know this vehicle is used at the NNR combined with there LNER Quad Art Set, but this will not be carried out on MEP as this will be part of the Mail train that will be seen on the layout in future, in this photo I have applied the decals to the model, numbering the van as 6847. Also because of the recent cost of Bachmann's latest weathered LNER Fish Vans I felt I didn't want to pay £21.50 for a LNER Fish van when I could pick up the Parkside kits and complete them for less than £21.50. So with that said I picked up 2 LNER 10 ton, 12ft Fish Vans, these being slightly longer than the Bachmann model (which I assume is based on the 10ft variant) however I do think the 12ft version looks much better than the 10ft so think it's a win in that regards. These kits are awaiting there Vacuum pipes, once they have arrived I intend to fit them and the steam heating pipes. Further work is required there and will be seen in future updates with the rolling stock. MEP Locomotive Fleet Update LNER J15 7649 & LNER J15 7847 These two make a return to MEP after departing for weathering, 7847 has been fitted with a set of Ramsbottom Safety Valves and lightly weathered, demonstrating how it may have looked at Cambridge in 1936. Interestingly the engine remained their till 1940, so it would have likely been seen at Stratford on freight working, so more than welcome on MEP. As for 7649, this was based a Stratford from built in 1899 till 1939 when she moved to Colchester and back to Stratford the same year. Interestingly a photo in the Yeadons Book on LNER J15's demonstrates the loco hauling a pair of Quints (10 Car set) what I have deduced as set No's 39 I, considering this was a heavy train at this point, it's quite impressive to see a J15 doing this working. She will be part of the group of engines which is designated to haul the Quints on MEP along with other LNER Passenger services. That way the layout has two J15's performing two very different roles. So that completes the end of the blog for today. So thank you for reading! Thanks Tom

My latest conversion is a Bachmann Patriot which has the same chassis as the Jubilee. Wheels are again Alan Gibson with Markits crankpins which have been spaced using 4 x 1mm washers per axle. Brake shoes have been removed an refixed with additional plasticard spacers. The tender has a Dave Franks Fowler sprung chassis. Below is a link to youtube. Question: - how do you upload videos from youtube these days? https://youtu.be/yib4hZZ-TbI

It made it through the airport in a suitcase without being blown up! Which was nice...! The narrow gauge turning triangle was wired to have electrical redundancy with the points powered from both ends to avoid running problems. Surface motors change the points by moving rods and are powered from the CDU in the box-file signal box. The siding on the left is the only part of the Narrow Gauge that can be isolated, but as we only have one 009 loco i dont think it will be a problem. The DPDT switch was wired to the right hand side and isolated from the rest of the triangle. The bottom two points actuate from one switch and the top of the triangle from another, to be seen if this is the best way to have it. Running is pretty reliable, but can be improved with a bit of cleaning. The scenic materials were mostly things that i found around the house, kids play sand, dried and sieved soil stuck together with PVA glue and paint onto a base of insulation polystyrene material . After a bit of experimentation, static grass was made to stand-up using a balloon rubbed on hair and the hoover. The joints between sections still need tidying up, as do the points, which need ballasting. The left hand side was made to be a bit overgrown and the right more industrial. Removable covers were put over the point motors and rodding in case of tweaking. The shed was a lovely kit from Nock and the crane from Ratio, both were incredibly satisfying to make after years without modelling. The main building was an experiment with Skaledale from Hornby. The slate is Backmann packs The standard gauge track plan had to be altered to have a parallel line next to the narrow gauge, as it was impossible to fit with the original track plan. I was skeptical at first, but in the end i think it adds interest and looks a bit different. To make it work electrically the whole siding was soldered together and the point also wired to be live on all sides. An additional siding was also added at the bottom. Big weekend!

Last of the Tau is done. These are just a little less knock together than the troops, but still no real effort. Mostly options slowing it down. Each one has both arms and the left shoulder fitted with a rare-earth magnet for swappable weapons. Built a one-off model for an upcoming army. Named model, Sister Novena or something like that. No special rules, though. Just sort of a showcase model. When I get to paint, I'm thinking of messing with object lighting. That will be different. More slow days at work meant more snap kits of giant robots. First, an accessory pack; Recognize the dude? I built him last month. I finally picked up the weapon pack; Foul play on Bandai's part, selling the weapons separate. Still, now it's finished. Finally, a Goof. Gouf Custom, actually. Wrist-mounted whip, and that monstrosity of a shield. Shield even stores a sword. There's a wrist-mounted machine gun under that, too. I have some 28mm WWII Commandos that I have started, too. I forgot to take a picture, but there's not much done yet. We'll see where I am next week.