Nig H

I assume they should be lined between the crimson and cream so that might hide the ragged edges. Nigel Hunt

The Association shop 4 does thin strip 0.005" at various thicknesses from 0.25mm to 1.5mm (see 4 -724). I can't remember how long the strip is but i'm sure its more than 13mm. is that of any use? Nigel Hunt

Hi, 2-357 has the offset version of these brakes, as shown in most of the pics you refer to. The brakes were slightly different on the two sides, and that version with offset hangers was the most common variant for these tipplers ( An illustrated History of BR Wagons, Vol 1, D Larkin et al). Nigel Hunt

Here is a video showing some locos running through my crossover. Not Spielberg quality, I'm afraid. I took the advice of those who know better (Ian, Jim and David) and used one servo for each crossover. I used as much of what I'd already done so I only needed a SPDT switch for the additional servo, and wired it to the existing panel switch. Once the servos were fixed down I had do adjust the length of the omega wire connecting one servo to its TOU, but that was quite easy. The two locos shown managed to get from inner to outer circuits and back the best. Longer wheelbase locos including a BR 9F and a Princess Coronation pacific struggled, probably due to a combination of long wheelbases and limited sideways throw of the bogies/pony trucks. An LMS Black 5 failed to get through because of the limited clearance between the back of the loco and the tender footplate (I think), and an LNWR Super D kept derailing as it entered the crossover. I suspect that's a back to back issue. The track work itself needs a couple of tweaks ( I tried a bit of filing inside the check rails and the crossings) but the whole exercise has been useful in highlighting issues on individual locos requiring attention. None of these would have come to light just using a piece of plain track. Nigel Hunt

After correcting the wiring for the crossing polarity changeover, I managed to run a loco through the crossover. I was also pleased that that the loco ran quite smoothly - thanks Templot. Now I need to sort out the mechanics. It looks like I'll need to ditch the single servo idea, as advised by Jim, Ian and Izzy. Nigel Hunt

Another source is Roche's Historic Loco Drawings in 4mm Scale, which includes a drawing of the loco and LNWR fittings. Model Railways November 1975 has an article with lots of info and large scale drawings of the loco and the driving wheels. Would you like scans of these? Nigel Hunt

How time flies! I have run out of excuses for not progressing my test track, so I've been looking at the electrics. I'd done more on this than I remembered and found I'd already attached a servo for the turnouts, and the associated wiring. Some of the turnout operating rodding was in place too. My plan is to use the servo to operate both the turnouts, and to use DPDT switches so that the crossing polarity of both turnouts is changed at the same time. Is this a bit ambitious? Here is a pic of the crossing. And some pics of the underside. You can see that my wiring is a disgrace, and i hope with practice to get a lot better. In my defence I could barely see what I was doing as my eyesight is not great, and I'm used to working at a bench with a lamp and magnifier. The size of these two boards made this very difficult. Anyway, I connected the loose red and black wires from the switch to a controller and tested the servo. After a few false starts, I finally got the switch to operate the servo switch and move the yolk back and forth (or the other way round actually). The wiring is from a diagram illustrated by Izzy in his hacked servos topic: I actually used the diagram on the N gauge forum link in Izzy's post, but I think they are the same, just different formats. I must admit that wiring and electrics is not my strong point, so trying to follow what to many of you is quite straightforward was a challenge. Next I want to wire up the inner circuit crossing, then have a go at connecting the TOUs to the servo yolk. Fingers crossed1 Nigel Hunt

Hello, Edward Sissling has kindly offered to host a free loco building class at his business premises in Bradford. The details are still being firmed up but the event will take place on Saturday 27th May between 9.30 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. At the event attendees can bring their own loco project to work on during the day and get expert advice from a team of experienced 2mm loco builders. Nick Mitchell will also demonstrate etched valve gear assembly during the day. Edward will provide free tea and coffee and a cold buffet lunch at no more than £5 per head, or you can bring your own food if preferred. A post-event curry is also planned for anyone interested. There is a limit of 12 for the event, so if you want to attend, please get in touch with me at nigelhunt62@outlook.com and I will add you to the list. It will be useful to know what you think you will bring along to work on during the day. If you think anyone not on RMWeb or the VAG might be interested in attending, please mention the event to them. Please ask if you have any queries. Regards, Nigel Hunt

Thanks John, we'll have to meet up and give our 4Fs a run together. Regards, Nigel Hunt

I have been adding the finishing touches to one of the Association Black 5 kits I have. I've added glazing to the cab windows, and coal to the tender, though that should have been done after weathering. So that needs doing, plus adding a crew and connecting the wires between the loco and tender frames, then job done. The loco was built by Jerry Clifford (I built the tender), and he painted everything. Lining and transfers done by Ian Rathbone, and he and Jerry have done a great job. Nigel Hunt

Here are some pics of an ex-LMS composite coach I have been working on for quite some time now. Apologies for the blurred pics. As with most of my recent modelling, progress on these has not gone smoothly. To paint the coach, I sprayed everything with a red oxide undercoat, then applied BR maroon to the sides. After leaving that to dry for a few days, I masked the sides off with some Tamiya masking tape and strips of paper. For the ends, I used some Humbrol Maskol. For some reason, the contents of the bottle had mostly coagulated, leaving a small quantity of liquid, which appears to be on the thin side. Anyway, I went boldly on, and applied the very runny Maskol to the ends. The Maskol took quite a time to dry, and as I realised that the first coat was very thin I added another coat. I then sprayed the ends and underframe with cellulose satin black, and when dry, I took the masking off the coach sides. With the Tamiya masking, much of the paint came away too- disaster. The Maskol had also been on too long, and didn't want to come away cleanly, leaving a messy residue. With hindsight, I should have removed all the paint from the sides and start again, but I tried to smooth the edges of the remaining paint before masking off the ends and underframe and then re-spraying with primer. This showed that my attempt at smoothing was less than perfect as the join was clearly visible, so I had to repeat the process twice more before applying the maroon top coat. Finally this went on OK, though the pics don't really show that the lower quarter of the sides needs more coats of maroon. Some paint on the footboard came away with the masking too, as can be seen.You can probably see in the pics that there is still some Maskol residue left. I'm wondering how to get rid of it. I think adding more coats of maroon should not be a problem, then onto adding the glazing. That will be fun, no doubt. Regards, Nigel Hunt

Here is my latest progress report. I've now painted the loco, added cab numbers and tender emblems, and coaled the tender. I should have done this after weathering, but got carried away. The paint finish I achieved finally got to an acceptable standard. I got moisture in my airbrush while spraying the black on, and so sprayed the loco with black paint and water. Usually you can blow the water off and it doesn't affect the paint, but this time some water got under the paint (I think), and produced an uneven surface when the paint dried. I had to remove the affected areas and re-prime before spraying the black on again. Applying the cab numbers proved to be unusually difficult too. I used some number sets from Modelmasters, as they include complete 4F sample numbers. The 4s of the first '44' I separated floated apart and the power classification 4F disintegrated, but eventually I managed to complete the numbers on both cab sides, though as can be seen the surround on most the numerals is visible. I hope some weathering will hide this. As is often the case, pics can be quite brutal, and these are no exception. Next time I'll try to get them more out of focus for the whole loco. I just noticed the driving wheels could have doe with a bit more black paint on them too. Regards, Nigel Hunt

Hello Tom, I produce an etched kit to convert the Farish Fairburn tank to 2FS - see my products page on the Association web pages. I haven't been able to check the BR standard 4MT Farish produce with the Fairburn version, but I think the valve gear is identical. Maybe someone can confirm this. Here are some pics of my Fairburn conversion. The Fairburn model is really good, and I suppose the BR standard is also, so well worth converting. Please ask if you want more information. Regards, Nigel Hunt

Here are some pics of the 4F, the build just about finished, I think. Maybe I'll realise I've missed something, hopefully before painting the loco. Having just read Nick M's description of his Dreadnought ejector, I realise I've missed some pipework off- oh well. I've had to give up my work bench for Xmas, hence the seasonal table cloth. Not a great pic of the smokebox front, but the only other one I got was worse. Doing the smokebox door and the details was quite hard, I found. This was mainly because the door had to be soldered in place onto the smokebox front, then the position of the hinges, numberplate, holes for the door dogs, hand rail and lamp iron marked out on the door or smokebox front. I struggled to keep my steel rule in place over the front of the loco as I marked everything, but I can't see that there are any huge errors in the position of the parts. Best wishes to all for Xmas and the New Year. Nigel Hunt

The Kitson and Sharp Stewart builds had balance weights (p 82, L & Y Rly Locomotives, Barry Lane). Nigel Hunt

You could try rolling overlays for the smokebox this way. I've used this method for all my smokebox and boiler wrapper overlays. I prefer to use tube inside the overlays rather than roll the inner tube as it is hard to get the outer edges curved. If you want to try this practice on some scrap metal sheet or edges of etched frets first. The technique is to hold the metal between the two lengths of rod/ tube and turn them against each other, drawing the metal bteween the rods and forming a curve. The diameter of the rods used governs the resulting diameter of the metal sheet. Nig H

Whichever method you use, you probably end up with a mess of solder. That doesn't worry me as it can be cleaned off, I'm more concerned about getting as much heat as possible to try to ensure a good join all round the smokebox. Nick, great work and I'm enjoying your postings on this. Nig H

I set you up nicely for that Jerry! Regards, Nigel H

Oh no he isn’t!

Hi, did you use 3-323 plain and 3-322 geared muffs? These are what you need for these conversions, and I would have thought they are produced to the correct width.You can use the ordinary standard muffs instead, but you will need to reduce the width as you say. Nigel Hunt

More progress on the 4F. I had been putting off tackling the Dreadnought ejector, but as you can see below, I finally got round to it. Nowadays with various diameter microtube its easier to represent the different size pipework on the prototype, so thanks Albion alloys. I need to re-position the little square on the smokebox. Its supposed to be a flange where pipework from the ejector enters the smokebox, I think. The front handrail know needs straightening too. I front of the splasher you can see the end of some tube. It goes right through to the other side and is part of the support for the air relief valves. The plan is to mount the valves on some 0.4mm rod that goes through the tube, and hopefully makes it easier to keep the valves in position as they are soldered to the supports. This shows the air relief valves, one soldered to the 0.4mm rod. You can see the valve housing are quite small, and I lost three while trying to file the chamfer round the edges. As these were so small I decided I couldn't turn them on my lathe. Instead I cut some c. 1.3mm rod to about 1.5mm lengths. I drilled a 1.3mm hole in some plasticard (about 1.3mm thick), inserted the rod in the hole and filed the end of the rod flat against the surface of the plasticard. I then did the same to the other end of the rod with some c1.1mm thick plasticard so I ended up with the length of rod with two square ends. I think the pics show I achieved the desired result. I soldered the two bits of rod on their sides to some scrap nickel silver before drilling holes for the 0.4mm rod. I haven't got a pic of air relief valves in place, but I managed to solder all the bits in the right place, so I'm happy with the result. Nig H

There are some instructions on our Products page in Shop 2 - couplings. These should answer your queries. The length of the steel wire angled downwards needs to be short enough to end up above rail level when the loop is pointing upwards. I think you’ve answered 3. yourself. You will find that making these couplings is a doddle after the first hundred or so. Nig H

Here are some pics of an LMS non-corridor composite I have been working on recently. The coach is made from Worsley Works etches. The sides are nicely etched with crisp detail for the doors and door knob/ handle holes. The etched sides came (mistakenly) with BR Mark 1 profile ends but the underframe parts include LMS non-brake ends, so I was able to get on with the build anyway. The underframe includes fold down side trussing, but when I checked the length of the trussing from the queen post to the solebar, I found it was too short so I replaced all the side trussing with some I'd etched myself. The cross trussing supplied with the underframe is too wide, and I needed to remove about a millimetre from each side to get it to fit between the side trussing. I used Ultima castings for the battery box, dynamo, voltage regulator and vacuum cylinders. The etched battery box included with the underframe etch was too big. I suspect the ends are too wide, maybe no allowance having been made for the thickness of the sides. I only discovered this when I came to fit the roof and found the roof was about the same width as the sides at cantrail level. For the remaining four coaches I will make from the WW etches, I'll narrow the ends a bit before soldering to the sides. There are some parts which I think should be soldered inside the ends and sides and act as a bracket to bolt the underframe to the body. I didn't use these parts but soldered the underframe to the body. I'm not sure how to keep the bottom of the sides straight against the top of the underframe otherwise. It has been interesting making a coach using mainly soldered assembly. I will be able to do most of the assembly work before painting it all. I hope that I can avoid some of the problems that arise when I make coaches in my usual way where the painted sides are superglued to a plasticard floor and end assembly, with a separate underframe. This method often results in the paintwork getting scuffed during handling, especially when the roof is being fitted. On the other hand fitting the glazing inside the coach will probably be more difficult. Today I have been gluing narrow strips of 5 thou plasticard to the roof to represent the ribs covering the roof panels on Stanier coaches. A tedious job, and it will need a lot of tidying up when the Mekpak has dried overnight. Nig H

Here are some more pics of the loco and tender. I think the tender is just about finished now, and the loco is finished as regards the etched parts, apart from the steps, which I will add after the difficult handrail and ejector have been added. Nig H

Hello, Here is a copy of a notice that will be appearing in the next Newsletter. "Members Products I will soon be releasing the following kits: 1. LMS 2P 4-4-0. Similar to the Midland 483 class but with detail differences. Price £30. 2. Midland Railway Johnson-style 3,500 gallon tender (rivetted version). Many ex Midland 4F 0-6-0s ran with these tenders so offer an alternative to the Fowler version included with the Mike Raithby 4F etc. Price £20. 3. Fowler 3,500 gallon tender. I have decided to provide this kit as the Mike Raithby etches for the 4F and 8F are no longer available, the etchers having lost the tooling. This style of tender ran with a number of LMS locomotives including the 4F, 2P 4-4-0, Patriots, Jubilees and 8Fs. Price £20. I will also have available parts needed to convert my Midland Railway Johnson 3,250 gal tender to the original style with lower front bulkhead and full length coal rails. Price £2. Please contact me if you need more information or are interested in buying any of them. Photo Etch Consultants Ltd. Many of you may have heard that the etchers, Photo Etch Consultants, have ceased trading. I and several other members used this company to produce many of our etched kits. Fortunately, much of the photo tooling, including my own, was rescued by Bob Jones and Chris Higgs and returned to the owners. However, finding another company that can use the photo tools is another matter. My photo tools are too wide to fit a standard sheet used by PPD Ltd, my other preferred etcher. So to produce more of my kits I would need to arrange new artwork with either fewer of the existing drawings on a PPD sheet, or parts on the existing drawings re-arranged to create a narrower but deeper fret that would use space on the PPD sheet more economically. Either of these alternatives is costly in terms of time and the expense of creating a new photo tool. Given the above and that sales of my existing kits are low once the initial rush following their release is over, I am considering not re-stocking most products once existing stocks have run out." The new kits arrived today. I just need to produce instructions for them. Nigel Hunt