natterjack

While this thread is active, does anyone have a clear photo of the tender side frame fuel and water cocks? I'm in the throes of scratch building a TT120 GT3.

I think some people imagine it is the axle end point that provides the 'bearing contact' whereas it should be the angular interaction of the cone and cup/hole edge- hence no surprise your solution has worked. and well done for pointing it out.

I stand corrected; 'Liquid Lead' is still sold by DCC. And I thought actual lead shot was a thing of the past.

I'm looking forward to seeing all the shunting planks with a front coupler fitted Duchess.

Depends upon the circumstances.

We seem to be using some potentially confusing terms and I don't know of any liquid lead that isn't molten and rather hot. 'Liquid Gravity' as sold by Deluxe is, I think, some form of manganese shot (probably manganese steel as used by the fishing fraternity). As such it should be rather dense but most applications I have found it to be less so than solid steel (in fact around half as dense- must have something to do with so much air between the balls).

There is a handy database for dating the various Farish loco model numbers; https://www.modelraildatabase.com/grahamfarish/locomotives/

I have mentioned this elsewhere but the thing about 3D printing is that, in our terms, it is in essence a domestic or cottage based industry- so the chances are that you can find somebody local to work with to get the results you are seeking at considerably lower costs than the likes of Shapeways Moreover, you develop personal collaborations to enhance future projects.

When we can print at 0.1mm thickness with 0.05mm surface detail and fully developed curvature I'll concede brass has lost much of its role. Meanwhile, Worsley Works provide aids rather than kits with much to be sourced or made by the modeller, a situation not helped by the recent closure of N Brass Locos.

One has to remember many, even most, of the older kits were made pre-CAD and thus offer little comparison to what be generated today from a desk-top.

While I appreciate and encourage developments in 3D printing, I don't see much mention of etched brass, and weren't some of the Finney and Edge O and O kits reduced for 3mm scale? To my mind mixed media of brass and 3D print would offer the required fidelity to those prepared to build their own, and yes gears etc are available and I have made my own bespoke wheels with 3D centres and N Gauge tyres.

In due course it will be very interesting to see how the ratio of TT120 Class 66 sales pans out in UK and European 'home markets'.

Weren't those the outcome of a collaboration (pre Hornby Rivarossi seems to come to mind)?

Despite all the anti Hornby blether and defiant defence of the Heljan 'capitulation' there is little evidence of this and, for the currently niche market truly grow in size, it would make considerable business sense to have multiple suppliers but without unnecessary duplication. As has been mentioned many times, the Southern Railway is an example market that remains an open field with not so much as the hint of a Merchant Navy from Horrnby (at least not within their current 3 to 4 year projections). I do, however, have continuing hopes for a Brighton Belle.

I suspect quite a few customers have, like me, received boxed items marked with Hornby warehouse batch details. These figures are not really that secret.

Then what would still be holding back this hypothetical 'consortium' from doing something with their existing cad material of alternative subjects when Hornby sales have clearly demonstrated a healthy market appetite for UK TT120?

Will it be a toss up between a kitchen refit or the new layout, or perhaps a combination of both?

Tight wheels may be due to slightly over-length axles in which case a couple of file or stone strokes at each end could be a quick and simple solution. It has worked for me in OO.

Further to the above, there are specially formulated water based glues for etch to plastic but I have no idea how durable they may be. Likely to be extensively used by the model ship and armoured vehicle fraternities on such as Britmodeller. I've just found some in my tool shed; Gator's Grip and Gator's Grip Thin Blend (their recommendation for photo etch)

These 'indusrial' versions are a lot less stringy than the domestic types and tend to have a longer cure time, but I'd recommend thinning any rubbery glue for applying etch. Award winning model aircraft scratch build Peter Castle uses thinned Evostic for his metal skinning; an example of his work in progress can be found here, https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/98687-118-supermarine-s6b-s1595/page/5/

Is that like an industrial strength UHU clear contact glue? If so, it may be similar to the E-6000 that I have used on dissimilar materials for years to good and lasting effect.

If you have a range of models in mind then photo-etch for detail items may become practicable? In the London area I have found 4DModel Shop to be very cooperative and may well be worth a 'collaborative consultation', https://modelshop.co.uk/ .

Indeed, Tri-Ang TT outline was about the same width as TT20 European/USA; and why such as cheapish, old BTTB chassis are also be too wide for unmodified use in UK outline TT120. I wonder if anyone with the new Hornby HST has stopped their drooling for long enough to look at the conversion potential of the chassis? That may be of considerable wider interest as larger outline bodies will have no problems fitting over the Hornby mechanisms.

In my day, we'd have called that a Bitsa.

Old school motor bogies such as Tri-Ang , which tended t be cast metal, often had an additional ballast saddle astride the motor which in turn had a top pivot mount for the vehicle; thus any additional ballast in or under said vehicle would bear on the vertical centres of the carrying bogies.While this practice has gone somewhat out of style but may well be worth revisiting for lightweight 3D printing.