Nig H

Hi, Does anyone have any 9' w/base etched generic coach bogie frames surplus to requirements? I'll be interested in buying them if so. Also any whitemetal LMS bogie sideframes, subject to quality of the castings. Nigel Hunt

Hi Nick, Nice work as usual. Do you know what causes the cobwebbing? Is it caused by the cold maybe? When it happens to me I use water and a fairly stiff brush to clean the paintwork up. As you say, sometimes bits need removing with tweezers or a knife blade - delicate work. Nigel Hunt

The recent article in the Two Mil mag by Bob Jones dealing with his LNER triplicate set motivated me to progress one of my LMS articulated pairs. The one I'm attempting is the BTO/TO set and here are some pics of the first underframe. Progress was slow at first as I couldn't make my mind up about the articulation joint. In the end I decided om something similar to the prototype. It looks promising but I'll need both underframes built to test it out. Nigel Hunt

Hello Nick, Received thanks. It might be just what someone was after. Nigel Hunt

Ian, Thanks for the files and information - looks good. Nigel Hunt

Hello Ian and Nick, I've double checked and I can't find either message. Would you mind re-sending please, and I'll get the website updated. Nigel Hunt

Hello Ian, I can't find anything from you if you sent the required information to me. When did you send it? Nigel Hunt

I too use 0.3mm wide fold lines for 0.25mm thick metal. 0.25mm isn't wide enough to get a right angle bend. I think the rule of thumb is to use 1.2 times the material thickness for the fold lines. I'd agree about running a knife blade along the fold line to make bending the metal easier, especially if one side next to the fold is quite narrow and hard to grip. I score along the bend until a faint line appears on the other side. Nigel Hunt

Here are some pics of my L & Y 2-4-2T, finally completed ready for painting after having been left for years waiting for a chimney, dome and safety valves. This will be 50850, once a Bolton engine and the last of the class to be withdrawn, from Southport. Nig H

Hi Simon, Looking good so far. Its rare for a 2mm chassis at this stage to run perfectly, but this seems fine and will improve with the weight of the body on it. Nigel Hunt

Hi Simon, Thanks. The outer radius track is 30". The 9F (and a Duchess) seem OK on that. I used steel coil for the inner track rail and this seemed less springy and more prone to retain kinks after being laid. As a result bigger locos seem to struggle on it compared with the outer circle, though I think they would be OK if the curves were smoother and kink-free. The inner circle radius should be about 21mm less than the outer track, just over 29". Nigel Hunt

I now have my circle test tracks working well enough to run some trains so I've posted some videos on YouTube for anyone interested. I wanted to test my 9F as I thought it would be useful to test the quality of the track with a long wheelbase loco and then see what the haulage capacity was like. I was relieved that it managed this: I was pleasantly surprised when the next loco also managed the same load: And finally : Apologies for the picture quality. It got quite dark after the first video. Nigel Hunt

Hi Simon, I have used the LNER 10' fitted underframe etch (ref 2-333) and the steel chassis conversion kit (ref 2-337) to make an LMS 8 shoe underframe. I made a few modifications such as re-positioning the vacuum cylinder, removing the LNER style V hangers and using different brake handles. I'm not sure how close to the prototype it ended up. I did this before Chris Higgs did a chassis for the NGS vans. I'll dig out some of these vans and take a pic or two when I get a chance. Nigel Hunt

Every now and then my soldering iron bit seems to get covered in a sticky furry gunge which I have to clean off with a glass fibre brush and knife blade when the bit is cold. I wish I knew why this happens. I too find I can best re-tin the bit using solder paint applied while the bit is cold, then heating it up and cleaning as Nigel C described. I don't know what sort of solder paint it is as my Dad gave it to me in a 100g coffee jar 46 years ago. I top the paint up with Carrs Black flux every now and then, and give it a stir to stop it solidifying at the bottom of the jar. I'd like to wish everyone a safe and happy New Year, hopefully back to something like normality as soon as possible. Nigel Hunt

Hello Nick, Thanks for your reply. What you say about securing loads is consistent with what I'd been told by Simon Grand or read in BR 'Instructions and Diagrams for securing...' (BR20426), and another source, the name of which I've forgotten. The easiest way forward might be to leave the loads as they are and not bother with 'wooden blocks'. Nigel Hunt

Hi Simon, Maybe I'm misunderstanding it but should the part on the right be 5.85mm long over the notch to get to 6mm total length? Nigel Hunt

I have been working away at a rake of seven Plate wagons. I thought it would be an easy job: just knock out the etched chassis, fix the PECO bodies on and job done. In practice everything seems to be taking longer than expected. However, the wagons are finished and I have loads of steel sheet loaded into them. I've been informed that the loads would have been held in place with wedges of wood etc but I'm not sure what the best way is to represent these. One idea I have is to use PCB sleepers stripped of the cladding and suitably painted. These might be too big, but I'm not sure what size timbers might be used. Anyone any suggestions? Here are some of the wagons. Nigel Hunt

Here are some pics of a London and North Western Railway 19" Goods I've been working on over a number of years. Its made from one of the Brassmasters shot down etches. It has been a swine of a kit to put together in some ways, and the instructions need careful interpretation for the 2mm version. The Whale tender is almost complete, but I've still a lot of detailing to do on the loco body. Nig H

I've set up this topic so that people can post details of decals they want if anyone has any surplus to requirements. I have a large collection of decals, most of which I will never use, and I'd rather someone found a use for them. The items I have are mainly BR mid 1950s. Its probably best if people post wants rather than list decals they have that are surplus, but do so if you want. Nigel Hunt

Nice work John, I'm following this with interest. Nig H

Hi Simon, The white metal body made a great difference to running and pickup. I opened out the axle holes for Simpson springing a bit more than that recommended (1.7mm vs.1.6mm), so the loco waddles around a bit, though this might be because there is a lot of sideplay on the axles. However, it does run well for a 2mm 0-6-0T. Nigel Hunt

Hi Simon, It's coming on then. I'd fit the middle axle gear next, but temporarily on a length of 1.5mm axle steel. Hold the axle steel in a mini drill and give the gear set a spin to see if it runs smoothly. You can also give the gears a quick flip with your finger to check they run smoothly without binding. You may want to consider running the gears with the minidrill with some Cif smeared over the teeth. This should after a few minutes smooth out any burrs. Afterwards, clean the chassis and gears thoroughly to remove all the Cif. Use a sonic cleaner if you have one. Nigel Hunt

I roll smokebox or boiler wrappers between two lengths of tube or rod, the one the wrapper goes round being of smaller diameter than that required for the wrapper. The wrapper needs to be fed between the two lengths of rod or tube, and these turned against each other, thus pulling the wrapper between them in a curve. You need to force the wrapper to follow the relevant tube by dragging everything away from that tube as you turn the tubes. Hard to explain but easy to do once you have a couple of goes. The rolled wrapper can then be eased out to the final diameter. I usually use tube of the appropriate diameter as an inner layer for the wrapper which should be a spring fit on the tube. The taper for the boiler wrapper is achieved by forcing some larger diameter tube or rod into the rear end of the rolled wrapper. I never anneal the wrappers but I model in 2mm finescale and the wrappers are usually only 0.125mm thick. If you want to try my method, start with some scrap etch to get the hang of it. Here are some pics. Hope this is of use. Please ask if you need further clarification. Nigel Hunt

It's the one in the paragraph above the list. The reference to Nigel Ashton in the contacts section needs changing to Nigel Hunt, but the emails end up with me. Thanks to Nigel Cliffe for sparing his time to set this up and show me how to transfer the data to him. I hope other members will soon starting listing some products. Please send comments about this facility to me and I'll consider whether any changes might be made. Nigel Hunt

Thanks for your help. I think the plates can be left unsecured but packed out with bits of timber etc to prevent them moving around. Regards, Nigel Hunt