[O Gauge from a standing start]

Here's a short video of radio control in action. Sorry if it's a bit wobbly at the end. I was trying to video and control at the same time, and I'm not much of a photographer. But hopefully it shows the controllability. Much credit must of course go to Ixion for the smooth running HC in the first place.

 

I don't like the name painted on the warehouse....the font looks too modern, so that'll have to be changed.

 

[O Gauge from a standing start]

I suppose the easy way round it would be to have another switch installed which isolated one side of the pickups...a usually open reed switch, perhaps, so that the charging circuit only worked when adjacent to the magnet by the live rails. It would make building copper clad track a lot easier.....the slot in the middle is always a bit of a spoiler. I used C&L track parts, so no problems as long as I don't short anything out.

[O Gauge from a standing start]

A quick view of the inset track area, showing the distressed and missing setts...

[O Gauge from a standing start]

Hi Ray...I'll try and sort a video soon.

 

A wiper system would work, as long as you could make a suitable unobtrusive shoe under the loco. A lot of people do use reed switches, I believe....you could also just use a 3.5mm jack socket tucked away somewhere. There just aren't too many places to hide on the smaller locos, even in 7mm.

[O Gauge from a standing start]

It is a bit confusing, and it took me a while to get my head around it.

 

I used a Deltang TX20 transmitter which I built up from a kit (nice and neat, but instructions a bit woolly for a novice) I got some help here https://riksrailway.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/how-i-constructed-deltang-tx20.html where Rik has generously detailed his build...much better that the instructions, so thanks Rik. I used a Rx-60 receiver, which is tiny, and 2 x 3.7v LiPo batteries which I wired in series to give 7.4 volts. This is ample for my shunting layout: with the current gearing on the Ixion HC I can get a heady 15mph, and having recently driven a full size steam loco (thanks kids!) which I've been waiting to do for 50 years, I can confirm it's plenty fast enough! .

 

I also bought a GT-Power charger. I got all this from Micron Radio Control http://www.micronradiocontrol.co.uk/ and I found the proprietor Andy very helpful. Like anything it's simple when you know how, but I couldn't find an idiot's guide anywhere, and figured it out little by little. If I can help at all, do let me know. All I can say is it's head and shoulders above anything else I've seen or used. I'll never go back. Gaugemaster Combi for sale.

 

I wired the pickups directly to the batteries, which means the rails are live, but powered from the loco. Probably best to avoid any shorts! I installed a switch to isolate the control board (I put it in the speaker recess under the loco, and it can be switched without taking the loco off the track. So: flip the switch, attach the charger to the rails and off you go. 

 

Watching a careworn saddletank crawling over rusty rails is vindication enough!!

[O Gauge from a standing start]

A couple of pics of the HC, clearly in need of a little love and affection.

[O Gauge from a standing start]

Slightly worrying to note it's 6 months since my last post, but yet again life gets in the way.....anyway, I've spent some considerable time thinking about whether to go DC or DCC, and the answer I came up with was neither. I've opted for radio control, using DelTang components. I was a bit worried about this, because I wasn't sure about how good the slow running would be, and there isn't an awful lot of info out there. It's a bit of an investment when added to the cost of a loco too (about £50 with a dedicated controller), but you do save a bundle on controllers, etc. and the grief of all the wiring disappears.

 

I had to feel my way a bit, because there aren't really any instructions for this, and it was a bit of a shoehorn job into my little Hudswell Clarke. It took a bit of nerve to start cutting it about and unsoldering stuff as well. I have to say, however, that I am delighted with the results. Beautiful slow running, no wiring, no rails to clean. I've played with it quite a bit now, and the performance has been perfect....not one judder, prod or poke. Shunting is reliable and controllable down to gently compressing buffers. I hate seeing lovely looking locos stutter and fail at exhibitions....it just destroys it for me. I reckon this really is the way forward, and a major manufacturer will surely bring out an affordable system soon. They'll clean up!

 

I've wired it all up so that I can just drive the loco (you do feel you are actually driving a self propelled loco rather than charging the rails) onto the fiddle yard, flip a switch and the on board batteries are charged via the rails and the pickups, which are still in place.

 

I would post a photo of how it all fits in, but it was a bit of a struggle, so i don't really want to take it apart again at the moment! I shall report on operating times and battery life in due course.

[O Gauge from a standing start]

Here's a pic of the bricks....they're a bit hairy because I cast them in Das. They'd be cleaner in resin or plaster.

[O Gauge from a standing start]

Thanks Barnaby. I've also bought another mould from the same supplier for individual bricks, which even have a frog moulded into them. Whilst I'm not going to actually build anything with the bricks (I'm not quite that deranged....yet), I have made some and they'll look good scattered around or in a pile of rubble. The mould makes 240 bricks at a time. I'll post a pic when I've painted them.

[O Gauge from a standing start]

Thanks asa....they were surprisingly quick and easy.

[O Gauge from a standing start]

With a little bit of motivation, I thought I'd have a go at the drainpipes, which are evergreen tube with hoppers from styrene sheet and 16swg wire collars. I need to add the mounting lugs at each joint, which will be fiddly...I was thinking about leaving them out, as they'd be so small, but I made the mistake of trying one to see what they would look like, and now I'm going to have to do the lot......I've also added the base for the loading bay.

 

Photos can be a bit cruel, but they do show up bits that I might have missed....such as the stone course in the brickwork which clearly needs some work.

[O Gauge from a standing start]

Picked up a Slaters salt wagon on Ebay...it looked as if it was donkeys years old, but made up into a nice little addition to the stock....just need an excuse to include a salt wagon!

[O Gauge from a standing start]

A couple of views showing the inset track (so far).

[O Gauge from a standing start]

The inset track outside the warehouse has now been started, after a lot of procrastination.....I soldered up a press tool out of square brass tube, and embossed setts into Das clay. It's quite quick, and I think the effect will be pretty good when it's painted and weathered.

 

Here's a pic of the tool, and of some finished setts before painting. I'll add weathering powders and some ash from the fire to fill in where the setts are a little too deeply embossed for my liking. It's nice seeing a bit of rust forming on the check rails as well...very glad I went for steel rail. I'm seriously considering radio control, which will let me keep the rusty rails....If anyone has any experience of this, especially the DelTang system, I'd be really interested to hear about it.

[O Gauge from a standing start]

Well...time for an update. It's slightly scary to note how long it's been since the last one....but time flies and all that. Must try harder.

 

So the big warehouse all got drybrushed (took ages..there must be a better way. Thinking of experimenting with a small flat sponge) and the sliding doors were made up with styrene sheet and strip. I tried rivet transfers to represent the bolts, but not impressed, so I embossed the bolts from behind with a jewellers screwdriver. Sore hand, but not a bad result. The rust still needs toning down a bit.

[O Gauge from a standing start]

She's a lucky woman.

[O Gauge from a standing start]

Just ordered a set of nameplates for the Hudswell Clarke with (obviously) the wife's name on, which forms part of the plan to order a Peckett........

[O Gauge from a standing start]

More slow progress, consisting of lots of dry brushing (takes ages!) and the ventilators and one of the windows installed. Found myself in the slightly bizarre situation this morning of a quietish morning at work, so started painting some brickwork....then realised that as we're having some decorating done at home, I'm spending my time painting one building whist simultaneously paying someone else to paint another one 43 times bigger. I suspect they will be a lot quicker too.

[O Gauge from a standing start]

So....while the method above looks good on a small area, the sheen of pale colour over the brickwork looks all wrong on a larger area....so back to plan A. Wall sprayed grey and dry brushed, and when it's all finished I'll weather with powders and give it a coat of matt varnish.

[O Gauge from a standing start]

Latest attempt at painting brickwork below. This is a basecoat of Halfords red oxide primer, followed by Homebase Toffee Cream matt emulsion (which just so happened to be the colour of our living room) worked in with a finger, then wiped clean with a damp cloth diagonally across the brickwork. As the base coat is spirit based, the water base emulsion doesn't affect it, and it's pretty quick to do.

[O Gauge from a standing start]

And the board of directors have invested in one more piece of rolling stock (need to tone down that "G"), and the crane is painted.

[O Gauge from a standing start]

The check rails for the inset track by the factory are also done...

[O Gauge from a standing start]

A bit of an update...(I said this would be slow!)....the carcass of the big warehouse is now complete, made from 6mm MDF and clad with embossed styrene stuck on with contact adhesive. Compared to anything I ever built in 4mm scale, this is BIG! The building is wedge shaped to partially cover the traverser as well as hide it from the front, with a cutout in the rear wall to allow the traverser to pass beneath.

 

I've already cut all the windows and vents with the Silhouette cutter, to be fitted after painting, and I'm still debating whether to paint it brick colour and work the grouting in by hand (I've tried some small pieces like this, and it looks good, but when using white acrylic leaves a whitish smear over the whole thing....I'm going to have a go with white matt emulsion later) or to paint it grout colour and dry brush on the brick colour. I've tried this too, and it also looks good, but it takes ages and there's a lot to do. Any advice?

 

[LCUT creative]

Hello....having read about LCUT kits, I ordered a brick arch kit with warehouse fittings to have a look for myself....if I'm honest, I was a bit sceptical about the accuracy of brickwork relief and crispness of detail on window frames, etc. However, following really quick delivery, I'm really impressed....I was prepared to replace the windows with ones made on a silhouette cutter, but although the bars work out at a scale 1.71" ( a little thick), theyre so nicely cut I can live with it. I've started to experiment with painting, as the absorbency of the wood is going to be an issue: I think a sealing primer might be the answer, and I'll post my results for your interest. However....a really tiny niggle, which seems unfair on such a great product, but: The doors on the model have the bracing on the outside, where it would almost certainly be internal...any chance of producing the doors without the bracing (just simple  vertical planking) or even with an integral door for people to enter? I'm guessing it would be a really easy amendment to the CAD file, and whilst it would be easy to scratchbuild the doors, I think it would improve the kit a bit.

 

Thanks for a great product at a reasonable price.

[O Gauge from a standing start]

So...another enforced break cause by real life getting in the way, but made a start on the lovely little GW 2 ton crane truck from Gladiator Models which I picked up at the trade show in Reading. The castings were very crisp and a thoroughly enjoyed build, but the instructions were a bit minimal and I found lots of the whitemetal bits appeared out of square...lots of persuasion needed. I think I finally came out on top....just. pics in primer below, which show up the trackwork a bit: still some fettling needed.