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Philou

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  • Location
    : In the deepest, darkest Franche Comté, France
  • Interests
    00 gauge (GWR and BR(W)). Now in the process of creating a new railway room in an old barn after a wait of 40-odd years - the usual suspects - home, children etc. taking priority.

    You can follow progress here: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/165295-dymented-i-must-be/

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  1. We're moving, oh yes! No picture today as it's more of the same - I have all the plate girders ribbed save for the one side, and cranks galore - but lots remain to be done. Visitors tomorrow for the weekend of Easter plus a few more days, so modelling activity will be restricted, but Mrs Philou says I can carry on for bit tomorrow and Saturday - what a good egg! She didn't really see the point of me 'wasting' my time with the cranks, but she does admire my patience :) . Hopefully a photo tomorrow. Cheer up everyone, the weekend is just around the corner! Philip
  2. On a roll today! I managed to get all the stiffeners and the vertical angles in place on the longest girder and also managed to do a quarter of the cranks too. I have a photo showing progress: ^ The stiffeners plus some the cranks in place. After having taken the photo, I finished the rest of the cranks on the side nearest the camera. Tomorrow, I'll shall do the opposite side and then come back to this side to do the cranks the other side of the rib and then finish off the opposite side after. Why all the shilly-shallying? It allows the MEK to go-off completely and the joint is set solid which I can the cut without tearing parts of the crank out of the joint - that happened yesterday, and I don't want a repeat. Patience is the word here. ^ Here's a close up of the crank. I'm quite pleased with the result and hence I don't want to tear it when I trim it back. My construction method was to make a sub-assembly of the stiffener and the two bits of angle, pre-cut at each end at an angle, and the three parts glued into place. The crank was an off-cut that was shaped at its end to match the profile of the already glued assembly (you can see the angled cut nearest the camera), a notch was then cut on the 'vertical' part of the angle approximately 2.5mm from the end, lightly bent and then using three hands (ha ha) a dab of MEK to hold it in place and then gently manoeuvring it into position with the back of a scalpel blade and another dab of MEK to finish it off. The excess will be trimmed after 24hrs and any bits longer than 15mm will be recycled into other cranks. Buoyed up, I started on the central girder and managed to get some ribs in place before bad light stopped play. I think I've cracked how to get it done as quick as reasonably possible, as I did all the above in about 4hrs - the cranks taking disproportionately longer than the ribs - but it's getting there - yay! Cheers everyone, More tomorrow, Philip
  3. Hello chums and chumesses, I got stuck in this afternoon with my trusty glue and plasticard and I managed to complete all the ribbing along the one side. I think I'm having to order some more angled profile - where is it all going? I shall source it this side of the channel especially as it costs no more than in the UK and I shall avoid any VAT (TVA) surprises. I shall need to see what they're charging for post (and I'm avoiding any Ebay Global Shipping too). Photos? You want photos? I have a photo ............. ^ There we are. All the ribs in place and just waiting for the glue to go-off before cutting the excess and lightly sanding down. Tomorrow, I shall re-start the longest piece and as it's modelling day, I should get half of it done. I had already made a start at the end of the afternoon by cutting out some more ribs. Cheers everyone, Philip
  4. Thwarted!! Wood cutting WAS on the menu today though we hadn't actually agreed as such. I didn't do a stint this morning - it was all done in 45mins anyway. However, this afternoon some IMPORTANT WORK was done by cutting down two trees that had become dangerous at the bottom of our garden. The one had broken/loosened its roots and was leaning heavily against an adjoining one and had to come down in case it started to push against it. The other I - er - um - set fire to it about 5 years ago (not intentionally, you understand) and it's been decaying slowly ever since. Anyway, today was the day that they were to come down. In fairness to M. le Maire with his tractor, a steel hawser and his trusty chain saw, both trees (20m tall acacias) were down and cut into 1m lengths, split using wedges and a sledgehammer, and carted to the front of the house in about 3 hours and no damage done in the garden or our neighbour's (with the exception of tyre marks in the grass). Tomorrow morning, I will cut them into usable lengths for our wood-burner as they're both dry enough to burn straight away. I did manage to do some ribbing this morning, but the finishing will have to held over until tomorrow afternoon - so there was some progress :). Cheers everyone, Philip
  5. Hello chaps and chapesses, Slow but steady. I got started this afternoon on the ribs and managed to get four of them in place - only another 50-odd to do ;) . I have a photo showing how I tackled the angled angle: ^ All a bit Heath Robinson - I cut two pieces of angle of a correct length and glued them along two sides of the rib that too, had been pre-cut to length and notches cut to oversail the two horizontal angles along the top and bottom webs (draws breath). The rib, together with the two angles was then glued on the pencil line. Then taking the length of angle in the photo above, a notch was cut on just one part of the angle to allow it to bend. A tiniest drop of MEK was applied to the rib at the end of the pre-glued angle and the short piece of angle put into place - it didn't always work first time. By applying gentle pressure on the long piece of angle, the tiny piece was wedged against the first angle and then the long piece glued on the web. This was repeated for the other three angles, though it became unwieldy once there was more than three long bits of angle wobbling about. The MEK had softened the plastic and I couldn't cut the excess straight away as intended. I modified this latter part by notching the angle and once happy that it would bend as required, I cut the piece off leaving about 10mm with which to hold and push into place. The short excess was cut off after a couple of hours (surprising how long it takes to go-off) and then sanded back using a fine grade nail sanding block (things you find in a make-up kit!). This one side should be finished tomorrow, logging notwithstanding. As it rained copious amounts this pm, I doubt if we'll doing any wood for a day or two. Cheers everyone and stay safe, Philip
  6. Evening all, There wasn't anything to report yesterday as it was a day in the woods with M. le Maire splitting and piling those pesky logs. Just one tree left to do. As there wasn't any wood to be done today, I thought I'd do some landscaping afer lunch - yah, real modelling with plaster and paper towels and water and PVA. Hands on job. That didn't happen as after doing the last of the decking, Mrs la Poste arrived with a very lightweight parcel that had no more than £30-worth of plastic angle in it asking for another tenner in VAT and collection fees - grrrr. As it had turned wet anyway, I went into the barn and got the bridge bits out and started the angles again and I now have all the plate girders angled up and as there was a little time left, I also started to cut the ribs to length, so I'm under steam again! Huzzah! More tomorrow and enjoy the weekend, Philip
  7. Modelling never happened yesterday as it was a lovely spring day, almost a barbecue day but we didn't have any sausages or other suitable grilling food. So, what happened? Gardening, that's what. I started off pressure-hosing our decking as it had gotten covered in a green slime that had become slippery when wet - 'elf'n'safety' and all that. So one half was done before lunch and then it was coup de grace in the afternoon. Mrs Philou was pleased. This morning it was doing the other half - all done before lunch. I have another deck to do in the next couple of but not tomorrow as out in the woods again log splitting and piling - hey ho - never a dull moment. It isn't all bad as I have a smile on my face - see > :) as this afternoon I tackled the awkward centre girder doing a cut'n'shut by taking 6mm off at the level of the deck-plate, working on the assumption that the angle will cover the cut line and re-inforce it as well. I've had a dry run with the rolling stock and the bodywork now oversails the top of the girder - I kept the curved top. The bonus is I can maintain the trackwork at 45mm centres throughout but I shan't be putting the baulks on a curve (24m radius - so a very flat curve anyway). Here we go, a picture for you: ^ There you have it - 6mm sliced out and then re-glued. I can recycle the slice as a flange. ^ This is the slime we get in the winter - admittedly here is the worst place as it doesn't get much sun even in the summer and even then only late in the afternoon. Not helped by a flock of about forty sparrows that over-winter in the ivy just above. Comes up nice and clean, though I shall need to get some treatment down before it gets too hot - but that's for another day. Cheers everyone, Philip
  8. Funnily enough, the surfacing as is, is crying out at some sort of waste land - informal parking area - why not. As BoD said, bushes, undergrowth, brambles. Otherwise, junk? Scrap? I doubt if I could get a surface like that if I tried! It's crying out for water-filled pot-holes and the like. Unloved but beautifully re-created with TLC.
  9. Not only that, @Oldddudders, but real life gets in the way too! Yesterday was going to be some retaining wall work, but it ended up as being pressure-washing our decking yesterday morning, followed by a coup de grace in the afternoon. This morning, more pressure washing, though I might get to do a modelling afternoon. Tomorrow is out in the woods splitting logs and piling up ready for stockpiling as winter fuel for years 2024 AND 2025!
  10. To add to my earlier comment, my boards are 900mm (a nadge under 3') and without the aid of a hop-up, I cannot reach the outer edge. I've even made the boards in the corners curved so to maintain a maximum stretch of 900mm. The fiddle yard is wider but as it's on a peninsula, it'll be accessible from both sides. You might want to have a look at this layout (not mine) being constructed in an ex-chapel. It's big and yet despite the size of the building, they cannot get it all in - just to give some idea of the dimensions needed: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/128568-hills-of-the-north-the-last-great-project/page/ If you want to plough through 42 pages to see where I'm at, here's mine: Good luck in whatever you decide to do - @Harlequin and others of the RMWeb cognoscenti will no doubt be able to give you helpful advice. Philip
  11. Go for it! BUT, do you have the space, time and money to see it through? I'm doing presently my one and only layout and for me it's big, but nowhere near as big as Pete Waterman's latest. I have a space of about 8.2m x 6.4m within which to build it. I'm into year three - well nearly four - started during Covid. One year ago, after building the room first, I started doing the boards and whilst they're done, I haven't yet started any track laying whatsoever. It takes FOREVER! I just hope that my biological clock isn't going to time me out first. The upside is that I can have not one but two stations at prototypical lengths (there is a third one but that's my Rule 1 station). Both stations can accommodate full sized HSTs, but the one does have the last two coaches outside of the platforms - as per the prototype having grandfather rights. You will need somewhere to park your stock, otherwise it'll be lift-on, lift-off with all the problems that follow. Do think it through before you press the commit button! Cheers, Philip
  12. C'mon Philou, stop messing about. What about this OH!! moment. Well, you'll have to look at the photos below: ^ Not one train on a bridge, but two. There are baulks to go underneath and the whole of the track will raised by about 6mm. So? What's the problem - do get on with it ....... ^ This is the problem - our friend clearance. There's less than 2mm freeboard between the coaches and the girders and they're not the widest stock that is intended to run through this bridge - that's why OH!! I have options, quite a few: Give up. Well, that's not really an option and not really me either. Hard option. Cut the outer plate girders down to about 10mm above railhead and then crank each outwards by about 4mm. Quite doable but it'll mean an awful lot of fillets to be made up. Positively, they'll all be the same and I can incorporate them whilst doing the stiffeners. Easiest option (and this is why I didn't chuck it all in the bin) is to cut the central girder down to about 10mm above rail height so that the bodies of the rolling stock can clear the girder. The downside is I'll lose the curved top (or I could cut'n'shut and have the top of the curve no more than 10mm above). If I cut really carefully in the first sub-option, I may recover the laminated curve and flatten it. There is a photo of a flat topped central girder a few pages back. Hey ho - a bit of a set back but nothing that a sharp scalpel and some glue can't fix. I'm having a day off plasticard and going back to proper card to start dressing up the retaining wall in the first photo just above. Cheers everyone, more tomorrow, Philip
  13. Hello chums and chumesses, After my message of yesterday, I did take some photos but I felt it was too late to be bashing the keyboard so they're up today. Not much modelling happened but a lot of 'behind the scenes' was done. As the side and centre plates were done and so was the deck, I thought I ought to have a dry run and fit the bridge in the space intended on the layout. My first real afternoon in the railway room! A palaver ensued as the plates were now longer than the 'ole and trimming of the trackbed followed - I had already foreseen that it was a probability. After much up'n'down the stairs, things were happening and finally everything fitted together - then I had an OH!! moment - but more of that further on below v. The photos so far: ^ This is the stiffener to the inside face. The foot meets the deck plate. I did have a photo of the two but it was quite crap poor. ^ This is the stiffener on the outer edge of the girder. Looks OK and you can see all the angles that I mentioned yesterday. They're fine but it'll take a while to get them all cut then glued. ^ These are the girders in-situ without the bridge decking - some trimming of the plywood trackbed had been done to get this far. ^ A bit more trimming later and the deck together with the bridge deck fitted - can't say perfectly but the bridge isn't glued together yet and won't be until all the stiffeners are attached - just waiting to take delivery of the additional angle. ^ Here's an underside shot and looks much better than the one of last week. The grease bearings will need to be attached to the underside of the girders that'll raise them about 1mm off the abutments. Bits of concrete coloured paper will also need to be glued over the engineering bricks to imitate the pads under the bearings. Now what about the OH!! ? Oh, there's no room for the next set of photos, so you'll have to wait with baited breath (just like in the pictures on a Saturday morning) until the next installment......................
  14. Hello chums and chumesses, No photos today as it was a bit of a mixed bag overall. After posting up yesterday, I decided I'd tackle the ribbing (come to think of it, I think they're stiffeners) and I did the central one on the inner face by cutting some 0.5mm thick 'card (I didn't have any 0.3mm) into strips 3mm wide and re-cutting the one piece at the length required. I also cut a piece of my remaining angle to an appropriate length and then glued it alongside the pencil mark on the side girder. The rib was then placed against the angle and glued, followed by a second piece of angle on the other side of the rib forming a sandwich. Then the fun started cutting out some ever-so-tiny pieces of angle at an angle and then glueing them at an angle and horizontally against the top and bottom webs. I think a photo would have been more useful here - I'll do one tomorrow as it would have avoided all the 'angles'! This one rib took an hour! Most of the time was spent glueing the tiny bits in place. I was however reasonably happy with the result. This morning, as I still had just enough angle to do one more rib, I did the central one on the outer face. This time, having cut and fashioned the rib to length, I cut the angle slightly over-length allowing enough to do the 45° bends and horizontal bits. This was followed by cutting tiny bits out of the one part of the angle to allow it to bend. The long vertical part was glued to the rib and once set (it takes quite a few minutes) the 45° bends top and bottom were secured in place. It bent, but not quite as planned as the MEK weakened the angle where the cut had been made, leaving me with a tiny bit - the horizontal part - in my hand. I then had to glue that separately. Rinse and repeat at the bottom and then for the other side. Once all had 'gone off', the completed rib was then glued to the side plate. This rib only took 45mins! I have another 62 to do and I don't want to be doing them for the next 62 hours. Now I've started of course I'll finish it but I must find away of speeding up the process. This afternoon, I carried on with the other two plate girders. As I made mention above, they were slightly too short (why I have no idea as I'd already lengthened the card jigs - oh well!) and rather than re-cut two new ones, I decided to split them both and splice a new piece 20mm wide in each. I was really chuffed at the result as I had cut them slightly higher than the originals and then sanded them to size (on a curve) once set. I also lightly sanded down the surfaces along the glue joints and you could hardly see where the parts had been stitched together. Any marks will disappear once sprayed and painted. I then spent what daylight time was left 'framing' the girders with the webs. I have the top web to finish tomorrow in good light and they too will be ready for their angles and ribs. I was on a roll and a bit disappointed that bad light stopped play - it was time to eat anyway. Not sure what progress I can make tomorrow as I may be out earning my woodsman's badge if the weather is dry. Photos tomorrow and stay safe, Cheers, Philip
  15. Hello chaps and chapesses, I hope I find you all well. I have some more photos. Over the last few days when real life allowed it, I tackled the one plate girder side that was of a good length - funnily it's the longest piece that is correct. I am amazed how much plasticard is munged through when building things. I have come to realise that my paltry six pieces of 1.2 x 1.2mm angle is nowhere near enough to do the one side, let alone all three! I need at least another 1.0m just to do the side stiffeners/ribs along the plate girder. It'll be rinse and repeat for the other side and the central girder - though less materials will be needed as they're shorter, much shorter than the long one. Here we go: ^ This was the state of play at the end of the afternoon. The angle had been glued to the top of the girder that is curved and another section placed at 9.5mm from the bottom of the plate. This angle forms the join between the bridge deck and the plate girder. The pencil marks represent the joins of the plates and guides as to where the ribbing/strengtheners are to be placed. On this face, they will only reach as far as the deck itself and not go through. On the outer faces the ribs will go from top to bottom. Having seen the pictures of the collapsed bridge (further back ^) and the accident report, the bottom of the ribs/strengtheners are rivetted directly to the deck. I've added the angle as a guide (see below). ^ A dry run of the plate and deck together. Thanks to the angle and the flange (hidden by the deck) it all clips together. Once I've done those pesky ribs and sorted the alignment for the baulks, it can then be glued - subject to the central girder being finished first. ^ Here we have this afternoon's work. The top and bottom webs have been attached with additional strengthening plates as per the originals. I've also scored the deck along the line of the cross-member on the underside, to represent the deck plates. The pencils marks are an aid to locating the ribs with their respective heights - saves measuring everything again. The ribs will be cut from 0.3mm thick plasticard 3mm wide with a 1.5 x 1.5mm cut-out top and bottom to pass over the angles. Now comes the hard bit: I'll need to cut the angle to length, allowing for the 'nick' top and bottom and then two very small bits of angle to form the returns over the deck and under the top flange. Rinse and repeat for both sides of each rib - hence I need 1.0m just for this side plate. ^ Here's the outer edge where the ribs will go all the way from flange to flange. I'll need to order some RailTec rivets to finish it all off. You can see clearly in this shot the gradual thickening of the top and bottom flanges as they approach the centre of the side plate. The deck is made from 3mm thick plasticard (I made mention of this already) with the side girders in 0.75mm thickness. The flanges are 0.5mm thick. The cross-members are 5mm square tube with flanges top and bottom, and 6.0mm channelling as closure at each end. You can just make out the strengthening plates mid-way on the flanges. There's also angle along both sides to allow more surface on which to glue. Before I started glueing the flanges on, the side plate was very wibbly-wobbly and it is surprising (to me anyway) how it is now quite rigid with the flanges in place. I'm a bit stuck at the moment without my angle - but more is on its way from the UK. There seems to be a bit of a shortage of 1.2 x 1.2mm angle. Is the whole world + dog building plate girder bridges at the moment :)) ? I might have a go at doing the one rib as I have just enough angle left over, but that will be that for today otherwise. Cheers everyone, Philip
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