Chris Higgs
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Posts posted by Chris Higgs
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9 hours ago, Sithlord75 said:
Funnily enough I had my five or six of these out today and wondered about the possibility of a better chassis. Is there a possibility of a better chassis for the masses? I'll do a proper count if there is.
There is a possibility to run a batch of these. I think they would cost around £10 each. Bogies not included, they are already available in Shop 2 - item 2-398.
Chris
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On 02/04/2024 at 01:36, Matt.S. said:
Is it a BDA?
Not any sort of bogie bolster, although I can see why you might think that. Instead it is an underframe for one of these.
I suspect many N gauge modellers of a certain age will have one of these lurking around. Perhaps we can pool them together and run the 'Ashburton Grove Pullman' on Copenhagen Fields...
Chris
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15 minutes ago, Scottish Modeller said:
Hi Chris,
Bogie Bolster - not 100% sure which variety though.
Probably a Macaw H - going by the brake gear/levers.
Phil H
Nope.
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Mostly these days I just reprise my existing etches, a sort of 'Greatest Hits Tour'.
But occasionally I do actually produce something new. I leave it a while to see if someone can deduce what it is.
Chris
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On 31/03/2024 at 19:36, Ian Morgan said:
Not the most up-to-date gov.uk page, but this implies I can declare by conduct or orally personal belongings up to an Allowance. Not found what that allowance is yet though.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-how-to-declare-personal-goods-you-bring-into-or-take-out-of-the-uk
This. so far as I can work out, only relates to the UK customs side of things, the EU customs is another story. If I recall correctly, the allowance is 350 euros (or it might be 450 euros).
However, I travel regularly to and from the EU. It is a long time since I have even seen anyone even manning the customs posts on the French side either at Dunkerque or Calais, let alone actually checking anyone. Neither have I ever seen anyone checked at the Dutch airports. Once they had all proved they could confiscate lorry drivers' ham sandwiches, they quickly grew bored of it and lost interest...
Chris
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On 06/02/2024 at 09:51, TomScrut said:
I was concerned that making the loco prototypical would hinder traction, however if the non driven wheels wheels are lightly sprung then they wouldn't be carrying much weight anyway and therefore there would be about as much traction from 4 axles as if there were 6 driven.
Given the bogie centre wheels on a real 31 are a different diameter to the outer 4, you would struggle to power all six. Gearing that would be tricky.
Chris
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On 16/02/2024 at 11:04, Nig H said:
Here are some pics of the final two coaches. These are a Stanier composite from a Worsley works kit, and a Masterclass Stanier brake third. The composite is the last in a rake of four Stanier crimson-liveried coaches, and the brake third is to add to a rake of three maroon period 1 coaches built some time ago. One of the roofs in my previous post was a replacement for one I decided I didn't like on a coach built decades ago.
The crimson coach blended in well with the three already built.
The brake third should be the same colour as the original three period 1 coaches. These were painted and lined by Ian Rathbone, and I thought I used the same colour (LMS Crimson Lake) on the brake third.
This pic was taken with flash and makes the main colour look very bright, almost like crimson rather than the intended maroon.
This is the rake of four. Sorry about the lack of focus but you can see that the liveries don't quite match.
One other point I noticed with the Masterclass coaches was that the door grab handle holes are spaced further apart ( c. 0.25mm - 0.5mm) than on the Worsley Works coaches. The Masterclass kit includes etched grab handles, which I used, but seem a bit chunky, though I tried filing them down a bit after soldering in place. I realise that parts like these probably need to be etched a bit over or not at all.
I think both kits can be made into reasonable models, depending on the skills of the builder, but a lot more thought has gone into the design of the Masterclass kit to make it easier to build, and I'd prefer it if I had a to choose between the two.
Nigel Hunt
Thank you for your kind words Nigel. I'd like to say that I took the spacing of the grab handles off a works drawing, but it really is so long ago now since I designed them, so I don't remember!
EDIT: I remember now. The works drawing I had was of a Period 1 panelled coach (LMS Journal preview issue), and the grab handle bolt holes are in the middle of the panelling, as are the door stops. I made the assumption they were in the same position for the P2 and P3 coaches with no panelling. Photos seem to bear this out. Those with an intimate knowledge of LMS grab handles will know it's not as simple as that, as the bolts sit above and below the actual grab handle part, so the handle is shorter than the bolt spacing.
Chris
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On 16/02/2024 at 10:27, Nig H said:
Maybe not so soon, but the last two coaches are now finished apart from weathering. I thought I'd mention one or two aspects of the construction in case its useful to others. Firstly, the bogies are secured with a 12 BA screw, with a washer soldered on the top. The hole in the bogie is slightly greater than the head of the screw, and the screw is held tight against the underside of the bolster.
I use a former as shown below to make the handrails that are attached to the ends of the coach. The various holes in the former are to cater for the different positions of the holes in the ends.
I use 5 amp fuse wire usually as its easy to bend round the edge of the profile. The wire is quite fragile and can get bent after being fitted, but its easily corrected back to the right shape.
For plastic roofs, I use 5 thou plasticard cut into thin strips (not more than 0.5mm wide) for the ribbing on the roof. Applying this reasonably accurately is a tedious exercise. The pic below shows two roofs ready for cleaning up, and the tools I use.
The wet and dry I use to sand the roof where my fingers have pressed down on pools of Mekpak, and to smooth the ribbing where it has split during application, causing the join to stick up slightly. Its also useful to try to reduce the thickness of the ribbing a bit, I think even 5 thou is probably over scale.
One of the coaches I'm doing is a Chris Higgs model. This includes a resin roof and I couldn't use the plasticard for the ribbing on this as it wouldn't adhere permanently. I used some Tamiya masking tape instead, cut into thin strips, again c. 0.5mm or less. The Tamiya tape was much easier to apply than the plasticard, and no cleaning up afterwards is necessary. Here is the result.
I'll post some pics of the finished coaches in the next post.
Nigel Hunt
I prefer the masking tape approach for the simple reason that I seldom get all the ribs straight and even first time, and it's a whole lot easier to remove the tape and try again.
Chris
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19 hours ago, 1965Nick said:
I’m sure everyone will have their opinion or a different solution. But would you recommend to attach white metal castings to etched nickel silver?
In a larger scale I would have soldered using a low melt solder or an epoxy resin like Araldite.A tip I have seen for soldering whitemetal to nickel silver is to tin the metal with normal solder, then solder the part on with the low-melt stuff.
But to be honest in 2mm I would glue, probably with a gel cyano.
Chris
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BTW, if you just wanted to experiment with your Peco points, you could use slivers of plastikard to narrow the flangeway gaps to match those of the Finetrax. Then you will see whether that reduces your waggling or dropping into the frog.
It won't look that great, but will give you some feel as to what will solve the problem. It could just be that you 03 has dodgy BtoB settings.
Chris
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11 minutes ago, Chris Higgs said:
As I understand it, the Finetrax N gauge range uses asymetric flangeways:
" 0.85mm flangeways through the crossing frog/wing rails. 1mm flangeways at the check rails." (quote from Wayne Kinney himself on another forum).
As I think that is quite a bit finer than the Peco equivalent, the theory says better running should be expected, and is compatible with 7.4mm BtoB. A 7.15mm flangeway gap with 7.4mm BtoB doesn;t give much scope for 'waggling'. If as a test you build a FInetrax point and find it isn't any better, I expect you can just sell it on on ebay to get most of your money back. Asymetric flangeways might be a more complex issue on a slip than a plain point.
If you don't like the asymetric flangeways, you could always slice the checkrail chairs off and reposition them with a finer value.
Chris
you might also want to read this:
Explains why if you have a flangeway gap of 0.85mm and a wheel tread (not flange) width of 1.7mm or greater your wheels will not drop into the gap at the frog.
Chris
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27 minutes ago, njee20 said:
When originally crafting the range Wayne did ask on the n gauge forum whether people wanted tighter 0.85mm flangeways or wider flangeways to support nearly all RTR models without adjustment. I do recall it was quite close, but wider flangeways won out.
I’m not convinced the market for N is big enough to build a range to suit people like the OP, those who value smooth running over all else, but don’t necessarily want to go 2FS. On the Venn diagram of track fidelity I think that’s a very small intersection!
As I understand it, the Finetrax N gauge range uses asymetric flangeways:
" 0.85mm flangeways through the crossing frog/wing rails. 1mm flangeways at the check rails." (quote from Wayne Kinney himself on another forum).
As I think that is quite a bit finer than the Peco equivalent, the theory says better running should be expected, and is compatible with 7.4mm BtoB. A 7.15mm flangeway gap with 7.4mm BtoB doesn;t give much scope for 'waggling'. If as a test you build a FInetrax point and find it isn't any better, I expect you can just sell it on on ebay to get most of your money back. Asymetric flangeways might be a more complex issue on a slip than a plain point.
If you don't like the asymetric flangeways, you could always slice the checkrail chairs off and reposition them with a finer value.
Chris
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As mentioned its not just the flangeways on the points, its the relationship between those and the back-to-back your wheelsets are set to. So you would be wise to
1. build a test plank using Finetrax.
2. try adjusting the Back-to-back on your stock.
Be warned though, the Finetrax is gong to make your Peco track look c**p (especially the points), regardless of relative running qualities.
Chris
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On 16/12/2023 at 16:37, Chris Higgs said:
The earliest Thompson lots also had square cornered windows. The end profile is one way to tell, the Thompsons sloped in quite significantly more then the Gresleys.
Chris
Taking a closer look at the Steel Gresleys, the only non-articulated types were Full third, Brake Third(4 compartment) and Composite Lavatory. That has a rectangular toilet windowm, the brake third has a recessed baggage section. So only the full third is difficult to tell apart from a Thompson.
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4 hours ago, Izzy said:
Hi Clive,
TBH not now you mention it as that’s another aspect I wasn’t aware of. The later build Thompsons I know can be spotted by the rounded corner windows but I didn’t consider the steel Gresleys might be around in considerable numbers, I just took it they were Thompsons. So I’m grateful you say they are hard to tell apart.Bob
The earliest Thompson lots also had square cornered windows. The end profile is one way to tell, the Thompsons sloped in quite significantly more then the Gresleys.
Chris
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1 hour ago, Izzy said:
Originally I had hoped to have a full set of the BR Mk1 2mm coaches and didn’t appreciate until it was too late that they would eventually run out.Bob
Things only become a permanent shop item if people are buying them.
If you really still want some of these I have a very few left, would have to get some ends etched though.
Chris
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On 02/12/2023 at 13:47, Izzy said:
Well the BR Mk1 horsebox seen in the previous post is now completed, and has joined the Thompson NC's in the queue waiting for spring and painting .......
Another nice kit from Chris Higgs Masterclass models via Shop 4 sadly now WSL. I thought it would go nicely with either the Thompsons or the other 2mm etched NPCS I have. Although I have a good mix of converted N and 2mm I try and make as much as I can to the latter. But then I also just like making stuff whatever it is even if my standards aren't wonderful.
Bob
As I think I have another bag of these lurking somewhere I think WSL in this case might be for rather a long time. The etch got somewhat supersede by first the NGS plastic kit and then the Farish RTR version. Sadly none of the three options came with with either opening doors or plastic horse.
Chris
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6 hours ago, Simon D. said:
A privilege to see CF at Warley again yesterday. The depth of people in front - more than any other layout - indicate just how special it is.
A couple of perhaps controversial (and hopefully not too unwelcome) observations:
York Road is brilliant, but very low down. Does CF need to raised up a foot or so? I always think most layouts are too low, and steps or periscopes are available for the vertically challenged. I did also see Mr W. struggling a little on one knee showing it off to a visitor. I know YORK is much different to CF, but the height works very well indeed for that. We perceive trains more realistically at eye level or slightly above from the side, rather than a 'drone's eye' view. Iain Rice talked about this in some of his books. (Yes, I know CF is a hugely intricate jigsaw, and raising it up is probably a logistical nightmare, but I bet a lot of people missed such a magnificent piece of modelling).
There was a comment on the N Gauge Forum after CF's last outing that it seems a little 'dusty', and certainly the building roofs do look a little grey - not unexpected after about 30+ years in some cases - and I wonder of they could be 'blackened up' a bit, perhaps with some weathering powder or similar. 30's London must have been very sooty, or were the mostly slate roofs actually that colour? It's so hard to tell from photos of the time.
Minor cavils for what remains the greatest layout of them all.
Personally I think you ned the drone's eye view for CF. The fact most of it runs basically in a cutting and it is a scenic masterpiece of considerable depth means you would miss a lot if it were at eye level.
Years ago my then young children were with me at Wells are were greatly impressed by CF as a layout they could actually see.
Chris
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On 19/11/2023 at 20:34, MarshLane said:
Thanks Bob,
Really appreciate that. I'll go with the 15.2mm option from the Assoc. Shop as they are standard Mk1 coaches.
Cheers
Rich
I would check if I were you. I seem to recall the Mk4 and Commonwealth bogies might have been different lengths. But mine are also packed away.
Chris
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Very good news on the Ultima castings now available in Shop 4:
4-301 - Coach Roof & Ends: GWR Hawksworth: Plastic
4-340 - Coach Gangway: Scissor Type: Whitemetal
4-341 - Coach Gangway: Suspended Type: Whitemetal
4-347 - Gas Cylinders: LMS/BR: Whitemetal
4-348 - Vacuum Cylinders: LMS/BR: Whitemetal
4-350 - Voltage Regulators: LMS/BR: Whitemetal
4-452 - Coach Dynamo: LNER: Whitemetal
4-453 - Coach Dynamo: SR Bullied: Whitemetal
4-460 - Coach Duckets: LMS: Whitemetal
4-461 - Coach Duckets: LNER: Whitemetal
These are typically exactly the ones needed to finish off my kits.
Chris
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On 12/11/2023 at 17:25, 65179 said:
The etch includes tender outer frames and appropriate axleboxes are now available in the 2mm shop.
Simon
As seen here, LNER tenders had disc wheels which means a significant saving on the price of the wheels you have to buy.
Chris
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Yes, Andrew arranged many years ago for a group purchase of very expensive Swiss files. I'm glad I decided to go for it as they have served me well over decades. You have of course to be disciplined and only ever use them on the brass/nickel silver.
Chris
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1 hour ago, Nig H said:
Thanks Chris, I'd not appreciated the distinction. I agree with you about the quality of those castings. Was it you and me buying up large stocks of them at Warley one year when we heard Ultima might stop selling them?
Nigel Hunt
Not me. I did build up a large stock, but by visiting Colin at home at one point.
Chris
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10 hours ago, Yorkshire Square said:
Re crankpins. When the decision was made to move to wheels with 0.75mm crankpin holes (manufacturing issues drilling 0.5mm holes in stainless steel) there were substantially more crankpins (3-126 and 3-127) than remaining stock of Mk5 wheels. We now find ourselves with insufficient crankpins to cover the now much smaller stock of Mk5s.
Have members bought crankpins to stick in their gloat boxes with previously purchased Mk5 wheels for which they didn't have pins? Or do we have a large number of members buying crankpins to use for "other purposes"? I'm afraid I don't know.
I am getting quotes to restock 3-127 but as these will be a relatively small quantity (1,000s rather than 10,000s) don't be surprised when they are quite a bit more expensive than they have previously been. Sorry!
Well I have a lot of pre-Mk5 wheels which I have probably not got crankpins for. Fortunately 0.5mm brass wire will do the job. Unlike the new wheels where it seems you will have to buy the crankpins as they are in effect shouldered?
Chris
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Whats on your 2mm Work bench
in 2mm Finescale
Posted
Have you used one of the Toplight resin coach roofs for the D125 BT? They are the right length but D125 would not have had the longitudinal rainstrips.
Chris