Flymo748

Thank you Mick - order just placed :-) Cheers Flymo

The ability to adjust something "just so" is one of the pleasures of modelling - and one of the things that will get models running smoothly as well. As I mentioned, this is the Masokits (I think) bearing depth gauge: And if I'm feeling particularly enthusiastic/bored, bearings may be sorted into the appropriate compartment in the Bits Box: Cheers Flymo

This can be an issue with sprung w-irons, precisely because of the extra layer of brass (twice!) involved in making them up. It sounds like you were hampered by some bearings that are less deep than normal, so the axleguards were forced out. No complaint at Alan Gibson, or any other manufacturer of these, as the production tolerances seem to make it a bit luck of the draw whether you receive deep bearings or shallow ones. Sometimes if I'm feeling picky I'll choose four particularly deep bearings, using a nifty depth gauge that I think came from a Masokits fret and was kindly given to me by a fellow Scalefour Society member. I'll see if I have a photo of it somewhere. Either way, you hit on the correct solution - deepen the bearings. Nice to see yet more pre-Grouping rolling stock emerging. Please do continue to keep us entertained... Cheers Flymo

Not as well as the motorbikes this year Mark ;-) They were very useful visiting the GWSR at Toddington last weekend... Cheers Flymo (not getting enough modelling done, but who cares..)

<ahem> Cheers! Flymo

In the Scalefour Stores, both the vee-filing jig and the blade filing jig are currently in stock. They are available to members to purchase online, but if you are not a member then the Society Stores will be at both Scalefour Southwest in Wells at the end of August, and at Scaleforum in Aylesbury at the end of September. At both shows (and at Scalefour North) then we welcome purchases by non-members. And yes, "Track" by the 2mm Association is a truly excellent read, full of tips and ideas for us modelling in all scales. HTH, Paul Willis Scalefour Society Deputy Chairman

Ah, so not so far away from me then. I'm in Sawbridgeworth... I make it across to Colchester to the Area Group there a couple of times a year, as it's an hour from here. My local Area Group meets at Newport, Essex, which is just over 30 minutes away. I manage to make that about once a quarter. For both of them, it's the dreaded work that makes it difficult - the next meeting at Colchester is this Thursday, but I'm away on business in Paris so will miss it. In terms of the Stores, I'm a member of both EMGS and Scalefour Society, so I have access to both. Both societies stock the essentials: gauges, jigs, rail, components for Brook Smith track, a similar range of coach and wagon wheels. The EMGS list contains a *lot* more items. For example, almost the entire range of Alan Gibson products is listed and available through the EMGS, which must give people a convenience in ordering. The Scalefour approach is twofold: (1) to not stock items that would compete with suppliers who have to make a business out of supplying us modellers, so we carry very little Alan Gibson by comparison; (2) to provide a "shopfront" for our small member/producers so you will find things like the Craig Welch and Morgan Designs wagon chassis. But fundamentally there is a much smaller range focused on the fundamentals of finescale modelling. HTH Paul Willis Scalefour Society Deputy Chairman

Hi John, Well, you've seen the Scalefour Society's Forum, so you'll know what sort of chat you'll find over there. We very much believe in "promoting finescale 4mm modelling", as anyone who has ever been given a carrier bag at one of our shows can confirm. I don't know where in the country you are, but we have a clickable map of Area Groups at http://www.scalefour.org/areagroups/ In my local group (CHEAG) we have at least two EM modellers, as well as a member with a very extensive OO layout, so I'm sure that you will receive a kind welcome, and with trackbuilding skills like that maybe show us a trick or two. Cheers Paul Hi John, Well, you've seen the Scalefour Society's Forum, so you'll know what sort of chat you'll find over there. We very much believe in "promoting finescale 4mm modelling", as anyone who has ever been given a carrier bag at one of our shows can confirm. I don't know where in the country you are, but we have a clickable map of Area Groups at http://www.scalefour.org/areagroups/ In my local group (CHEAG) we have at least two EM modellers, as well as a member with a very extensive OO layout, so I'm sure that you will receive a kind welcome, and with trackbuilding skills like that maybe show us a trick or two. Cheers Paul

Hi John, That depends if you are a pre-Grouping modeller or not :-) The 36mm sleepers are ideal for the 9'0" length of plain track sleepers that was generally used before the First World War. After that, with a view to economising on timber usage, the length was generally reduced to 8'6". Questions are asked on this from time to time on the Scalefour Society Forum. You'll find a much more comprehensive discussion of what I've just said here: http://www.scalefour.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4795&p=44934&hilit=sleeper+length#p44931 HTH Paul Willis Scalefour Society Deputy Chairman PS - an excellent tutorial topic, and I hope that it encourages many more people into building finescale, customised, track whether that is in P4, EM, OOFS or whatever. Thank you for putting it out there. [edited to add PS]

Hmm... You can see my story of using shorting strips from this post onwards: http://www.scalefour.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=90&t=2506&start=250#p44126 The main problem I had was the breaking of the strips away from the tyre as I reamed them out to fit the axles. Since then, I've tried belt and braces by adding silver paint. I haven't yet been able to connect up the motor and see if it all works, but it is imminent :-) It's a great idea - I just find the implementation to be tricky... Cheers Flymo

Hi Mark, It's a shame that we didn't have longer to chat at Scalefour North. I like the sound of your new purchase though... On the disintegrating sandbox, this is where using different temperature solders comes in, together with a variable iron. I do almost all of my soldering with 179 solder, and that means that if I want to add extra detail without it all falling apart, I can drop to the 145 stuff. In your case, I suppose that you could use some of the Carrs 100 degree solder if you have it. I wouldn't like to do the job using 70 degree low melt though, as I find that this gives fundamentally a different type of joint when used with brass or nickel silver. Anyway, I'm sure that you'll soon have it sorted. The model looks great - it will be lovely to see it finished. Cheers Flymo

I can't remember whether I showed you my solder balls at Missenden ;-) Intended for the electronics industry and available stupidly cheaply via eBay from Hong Kong, they are perfect for placing a tiny and accurate amount of solder for a joint. David Brandreth is also an advocate of "precise" soldering, and wrote an excellent article in the late, lamented Finescale Model Review if I recall correctly. Cheers Flymo

As a member of both the EMGS and the Scalefour Society, I'd like to give an enormous thank you for your club's appearance at 101 Not Out. The displays of the model buildings from Addison Road were inspirational. The tuition that you gave on the use of graphics packages to obtain information from period photographs and manipulate it in a way to create plans and information of buildings for which no other trace exists was invaluable. And having a crib-sheet of the key elements to take away afterwards means that it will not be forgotten. We very much appreciated your participation, and wish you well with the rest of the layout. Cheers Paul Willis Scalefour Society Deputy Chairman

Ah, but that Proxxon drill is a joy to own. Keep it on your workbench within easy reach and you'll find that it is so handy that you use it far more than you expect. Just don't try and use it as an impromptu milling machine to enlarge a tiny slot with a 0.4mm drill. There are some things that are just beyond the laws of material science and the broken bits of drill go a very long way - DAMHIK... This is one of the advantages of Missenden. You can see, and if you ask nicely try, all sorts of tools and techniques. And by seeing what is popular, you rapidly discover what is best of breed. It wouldn't be unusual to see five or six of those little Proxxons around the room. I only didn't bring mine because I expected that Mark Tatlow would, and I could blag (as I did) a quick use of his if I needed it! The jig is a great idea. I have made up a couple of them myself for different diameters of wheels and crankpin locations. It really is the best way to do it. I don't know if you have or not, but you will find it useful to round off the corner and take the tiniest amount of material from the axle so that it is a snug fit inside the hole in the wheel and not a force fit. If you have to force it, then it's equivalent to putting the axle in and taking it out again, and we all know what happens to plastic-centred wheels if you mount/demount them too frequently. Again, see Mark Tatlow's blog posts for the use of P4 Romford axles for the initial setting up of a chassis and testing it rolling. That's an idea that I saw last weekend and will pick up on. As indeed I will for your method of mounting brake rigging. Cheers Flymo

Ah, you bought the Black Hawthorn... I was seriously tempted, as I enjoyed building the similar GER Coffee Pot so much. However sanity of the number of unmade loco kits in the pile won out. I can't remember - have you built one of Chris's kits before? Cheers Flymo

From the Scaleforum Guide, details of one of our demonstrations. Howard will be bolted to his chair (although I don't know if we are using two, three or four bolts) throughout the weekend to help visitors: "Basic track construction The advent of kits for turnout construction and making of plain track have made the business of track building much easier and quicker but for those who need a special turnout formation or something out of the ordinary, track made using rail and sleepers is needed. Expert track builder Howard Bolton will be showing how crossing vees and switch rails can be made and will help you to make your own examples. Stay long enough and you will be able to take home a complete common crossing." For anyone that has not seen his work, Howard must be amongst the top two or three 4mm trackbuilders in the country... The full show guide is a free download at http://www.scalefour.org/downloads/2015/scaleforum2015guide.pdf HTH Paul Willis Scalefour Society Deputy Chairman

I just wanted to say that it's really nice to see some quality scratchbuilding taking place. As someone that also has pre-Grouping interests, I wish you all the best with it, and you can consider this topic "followed". Cheers Flymo

Why on earth would anyone mind building a High Level kit? They are an absolute joy, and the results are superb. This is my "Pug", in industrial guise, and it runs slowly enough to be almost impossible to perceive moving. That's the joy of a 108:1 gearbox for you. The High Level kit also gives you full cab detail, and plenty of room to fit a DCC chip as well. This is it going in between the frames, wrapped in red heatshrink just in case of an accidental short: Enjoy building the chassis kit. You'll not find a better quality one anywhere. Cheers Flymo

Hi Marcus, Is there a way of subscribing to follow the blog as a whole, rather than just individual entries? I'd hate to miss an episode of this (particularly as Widford is just up the road) and the RMWeb interface seems nothing like as user friendly as (say) Blogspot... Cheers Flymo

Some of us are quietly having a go at it... GER lined black is not exactly SECR in complexity, but this is the first locomotive that I've sprayed in cellulose (a revelation, even if this is only good enough for a shunting engine) and my second ever attempt at lining that doesn't involve transfers. As Jol knows, the next model will be more complex, as it involves 1906 LNWR lining... And yes, the compensated/rigid/sprung combination that we discussed on Thursday evening seems to work well. I set the frames up on the Avonside jig last night :-) Cheers Flymo

Hi Colin, I also had a chat with Iain yesterday at Scaleforum. Not only did he repeat that he was very happy for you to continue your "companion" to his book on RMWeb, he was particularly pleased that you found it so useful and practical. He was genuinely chuffed that it was appreciated so much. Despite being one of the seminal writers on finescale modelling over the years - perhaps, given the number of volumes produced, THE seminal writer on finescale - he is still somewhat modest about the impact that his various writings on locomotives, kits and layout has had. Cheers Paul Willis Scalefour Society Deputy Chairman

It's available now :-) Free to download for both members and non-members of the Scalefour Society. http://www.scalefour.org/shows/scaleforumguide2013.pdf I hope to see many RMWebbers at Scaleforum at the end of September. Do come over and say hello on the Society Stand. Cheers Paul Willis Scalefour Society Marketing Manager

I would echo exactly that for the Great Eastern Railway Society. Lots and lots of knowledge, but the emphasis is mostly on timetables/loco-spotting/rolling stock usage and not information that is useful for modelling. The GERS email list would complement a section on RMWeb, not be in competition with it. I would certainly be a frequent visitor (and hopefully contributor) to a Pre-Grouping Forum over here. Cheers Flymo

The Scalefour Society has a policy that it will make items that are generally useful to all finescale modellers available to all through its Public E-Shop. The lever frames, which are produced by one of the Society's Area Groups, definitely fall into this category, and we have known plenty of them purchased by modellers in other scales apart from 4mm as well. I recently had an enquiry from someone building a 1/24 scale model signal box and actually wanted to use them inside it... You can find them to purchase at http://www.scalefour.org/eshop/eshop.html Scroll to halfway down the page, and don't forget the handles! HTH Paul Willis Scalefour Society Deputy Chairman

Looking good Knuckles. All these little trials and tribulations are part of trying something new and learning new skills. Yes, the plastic fishplates are remarkably fragile - I've broken a fair few myself. However remember that they aren't truly structural, and you can actually use them for their intended purposes - keeping the electrically live ends of the rail apart, and looking prototypical, by gluing them in place in separate pieces, or from both sides. This is what I've done ;-) P4 isn't about perfection in everything you know... Keep it up!F Flymo