MarshLane

Just a quick update to my previous post, I have spoken with the Sales Officer, who has confirmed that the brake shoes should fit, indeed they did on his model with Slaters wheels! However, I have managed to damage mine through constant slight bending and trying to make them fit, so have decided to have a little etch done for the brake blocks, so that they are the correct length for Slaters wheels. Hopefully that will be here in a couple of weeks, and I can get on with building the other two wagons I have got too! May even get a small pre-grouping layout put together! Rich

You've been very quiet this week Andy, all ok? Or are you just going to surprise us tomorrow with a video showing the layout has been finished, run through, advertised, sold, and stripped down? Hope the knee is better. Rich

Interesting to follow your progress Peter. I have always fancied a Roundhouse as an exhibition layout, with the viewer looking into one side of the building, something of a dark and dingy place. A different take on the few layouts that show night scenes - one could be inspired by your model making to have a go ... something else to add to the list! Great work on the roof out of plasticard - keep up the good progress. Rich

Looking good Andy, Your rate of progress as ever puts the rest of us in the shade! Don’t similar in the past with a knee, it’s bloody painful! Rest it and hope it’s back to normal soon. Rich

Hi Jeff, Superb - seem a shame to weathering it really as it looks the part ... maybe the crew have just been round with the 60s version of the jetwash and cleaned/repointed all the brickwork and painted it. Mine you, when I was the railway, there was a saying that you dreaded the painters coming round as you will inevitably be shut down months later!! Like the idea for the guttering and downpipes tho, very effective. Rich

Agree - cannot add any more!! That, along with a few figures, will really bring the scene to life Jeff. Superb as ever.

As somebody who is new to kit building, thank you for the step by step approach, its fascinating and informative. I am an interested to see more how the rocker beams work with the wheel sets when you get down to that point. I am assuming this is an etch you have put together for yourself - or do you do kits to sell?. Rich

Guys, Thanks for the feedback and comments, nice to know I am not too far out. I used to use some old flux that my Dad had ... given the style of the tin it could have originated from his father!! No idea what it was, but I was introduced to a liquid flux for track building that seems to work really well with the kit as well - it 'pops' as the solder flows. I have sat and watched Nick Mitchell's playlist on the 2mm Association YouTube channel, where he shows how he builds a chassis for a 2mm Jubilee - fascinating and learnt a lot from that. It was from that video that I acquired the Garryflex block for cleaning the brass and a small vice. That was the other thing I picked up from Nick's videos - make sure everything is clean as possible. I have a small tin pot with a steel wool thing in that I dip the iron in each time before doing a solder, to hopefully make sure the tip is clean. I had not thought about using drawing pins to hold things, that's a useful thought. Hi John, thanks. I must admit, that confused me when I first acquired some 145 degree solder, as I thought that was the temperature that the iron needed to be run at! Being a beginner I must admit, I have just set the iron to the temperature that seems to work, other than that it was a 'not a clue what I am doing' kind of situation. I can vouch for the fact that 245 degrees is bl**dy hot and hurts when you catch your finger on it! I'll try running at 350C and see how that performs. That is an approach I had not thought about, to tack at say 1/3rd and 2/3rds mark and then check before doing a full seam - thank you. One other question, when soldering like a wagon side and end together, obviously the brass has to be heated up to allow the solder to run. But John's comment about 450C degrees set me thinking. Is it better to run hotter so more heat goes into the brass quicker .. or slightly cooler (at the 350C mark that John suggests) and hold the iron on a bit longer? I presume the kind of time we are talking will not cause any distortion in the brass? Thanks to everyone for your help and support - gratefully appreciated. Rich

Hi Simon, Your blazing through these now - 059 looks very nice Rich

Hi Keith, Oh now that is a good idea, not something I have ever done. I'll have to dig further as it could be usable in a few different ways that idea. I am on a Mac here but I think True Type Fonts are valid, if not there will no doubt be something similar. Your HMRS reference caused me to go back and look again - took me about 3 minutes to see the LMS/LNER reference, which as you say, obviously dates it after 1923 ... should have gone to specsavers eh! Honestly, sometimes I just cannot see the wood for the trees! Rich

Chaps, I am putting together my first proper kit that involves significant soldering of brass, and looking for some pointers - I have had a search and read various topics, but nothing has really answered these couple of questions. I appreciate there are many different ways of doing things, and no one way is necessarily the best, I am just looking for some advice to move me forward, so all options welcomed. a) When it comes to building up layers of brass or nickel silver to create a better thickness for small items, how is the best way to do it? As an an example, the brake fret for a wagon I am building has four layers - I have tried with a small mount of liquid flux and tinning both sides of layers 2 and 3, and just one side of layer 1 and 4 ... then aligning all four layers together and sweating them into one. Its work, but I am not sure its the best way? b) When soldering items to larger pieces of brass (such as the wagon body sides) I am using a temperature controlled iron running around 450 degrees. I know the brass will act as a heat sink, but it seems to solder ok after holding the iron on for a few seconds - am I right in that approach? The temperature controlled iron I am using was acquired during the sell-off period just before Maplins closed, and I dont know if I can get any different tips for it? The one I am using has the look of a HB pencil - going to a point, but with a small flat top and bottom of a few millimetres. c) If you are soldering two pieces of brass or nickel silver together, such as the body side and end of a coach or wagon, how is the best way to do it so that you know its an accurate 90 degree joint? I am assuming I need to acquire or make some kind of rig that holds the two pieces correctly - but how does everyone else do it? Obviously the side of a bogie coach is potentially going to be longer and more flimsy in 0.45mm brass/nickel silver than a two-axle wagon body, but I assume the same principals apply? Apologies if the above seems simple, but as a beginner in this area, I am very much finding my feet! Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer any thoughts/suggestions. Rich

I have had a response from Robert at Powsides, who confirms they cannot undertake transfer resizing at the current time and "We use adapted fonts for our private owner artwork as there are no standard computer fonts available for the correct style of lettering". So it looks like I am going to be back to trying to find a good side on photo to trace from - I suspect the image provided by @melmerby from the Slaters kit may be the best to use, I am looking for a version of the livery that would have been around in the early 1920s. Rich

Very nice Jeff. The roof will look superb when painted and weathered. Is the building heavy to lift or quiet lightweight? Rich

Thanks Scott, No I did try it both ways just to check, but because the pivot (wire) point is dead centre in the length of the brake fret, it doesn't make any difference to the length unfortunately. I'll go have a look at that thread, I've missed that. EDIT: Ah I am using Slaters wheels that could explain it, given the earlier comments on that other thread. I may have to look at getting an etch done to work with slaters wheels. Creating my own etched wagon was a future option, so might have to bring it forward! Rich

Afternoon all, I have spent an enjoyable few hours yesterday and today building the S Scale Society 7-plank RCH private owner wagon, which given its the first real kit with any brass in it that I have built, I am quite please with how its come together. However, I have hit a snag with attaching the brake fret. Its gone together reasonably well... But when it is put against the wagon, the fret is too long to fit between the wheels. Can anyone tell me where I have gone wrong please? I have just realised when it put it on a piece of 0.8 wire to take this shots on the phone, I have put it on back to front, so I know it should be the other way around. Rich