Geordie Exile

Evening all. I need to add a decent smooth-jawed vice to my toolbox, specifically for folding etches. I've been making do with a pair of pliers, which are perfect for the smaller parts, but solebars and now the roof tabs on this Toad need more respectful treatment. I'm looking for recommendations please. (The folding gadget on Eileen's Emporium seems hideously pricey) Thanks Richard

What's on my workbench? Absolutely everything! I'm normally quite disciplined about keeping the desk tidy when I'm working, but two deliveries in the last couple of days (thank you, Eileen's Emporium and David from Shop 1) lie spread out in all their gloaty glory. EE have provided all the stuff I didn't know I needed when I first started soldering, and the haul from Shop 1 is to create a plank with two Easitrac turnout kits and two homemade soldered turnouts, as I dip my toe in the terrifying waters of track making.

On a forum were we pride ourselves in accurate modelling ("9mm?? Certainly not! It's actually 9.42mm") I think we can all happily embrace the concept of pedantry

Thanks, Yorkshire Square - the obvious didn't occur to me, so I'll fire my wish list at you by email and we'll take it from there. And I promise to only ask for what I need. (Hmm, I don't need any of it, but you know what I mean) Richard

Evening all. I've just been onto Shop 1 to build an order for track (the 100mm of Easitrac that came with the wagon starter kit is probably not enough for what I've got in mind!) to find that quite a few bits are marked as TOS. What's folks' experience of this sort of thing - how "temporary" is "temporarily"? Do I come back in a couple of days, or do I look for a different project for a wee while? Richard

So *that's* where the expression "thumbnail picture" comes from...

I'm beginning to think you're on commission Thanks for the pointer.

I see what you mean, and the white paint highlighted every tiny blob of solder and associated modelling mank that I hadn't cleared off. As they're such a complicated arrangement, I stuck with the etch - it was already testing my skills just to complete the model. I've added grab rails to the ends of the wooden hoppers in 0.3mm ns wire, as they were a simple extended U-shape. To make them more robust they're drilled through and superglued in. I bottled adding any more (the sides should have two each according to the Dave Bartlett photos I've been able to find) but I wasn't sure I could produce 16 of such uniformity that they would add to the look rather than detract from it. In hindsight, a simple jig would probably have done it - and still might - but I think producing a jig for the 21T is still beyond my skill level. Thanks for the suggestion, and I've some more 21T ordered so I might give it a go. The worst that could happen is that I go back to the etched piece when my attempts go to pot. And a final thought - I don't think I've found a photo of the 21T where the handrails aren't bent to b*ggery anyway, so there's my prototype! Richard

Is it possible to re-wheel a Farish J94? Edit: I've just found @MrSimon's blog, so that's a yes!

Add numbers to the wagons, they said. It'll be fun, they said. Having identified that the wagons at the Backworth Colliery system carried (mostly) 4-digit numbering, I set about creating a mosaic of numbers that looked the right size and font and applying them to the wagons. All the while wondering if this was the 2mmSA equivalent of sending the newbie for a long weight or to fetch some elbow grease. 24 hours later, as recommended by Fox Transfers, I followed up with a spray of matt varnish. That went well enough until I got to the last wagon when a quick squirt sent 3 of the 4 digits flying into the nether areas of my shed. So, depending on which side you look at it, wagon no 1897 is also wagon no 1096. As only Marty Feldman can see both sides at once, I've decided to live with it. He may also spot that I put one side of the same wagon on upside down, so it's proudly sporting a sole bar at the top. Let's keep that between ourselves. Anyway, here are the finished products. The photo makes the weathering look a bit heavy-handed, but while a couple are quite heavily caked in coal dust, it's more subtle than the camera suggests.

Dammit. @Caley Jim's given me the "why" and @Ian Morgan's given me the "how". Guess what I'm doing this evening. Thanks, guys.

Decisions, decisions. The wooden hoppers are back from the paint shop (ok, my shed then my desk) and the lovely Fox Transfers applied, with less fuss that I anticipated. I know all the wagons were numbered, with what appears to be a 5-digit number, but I can't make any out from the many photos I have. I know if I hand-letter them, I'll spoil it, because at that size it's way beyond my fine motor skills. If I cut up some numbers from the FT sheet, the individual numerals will look better, but is it possible to get five in a row all perfectly aligned? And while the positioning will be prototypical the numbering won't (although this is less important to me than how they look - I know, a heresy!). Do I risk spoiling the look of what I've done in the name of accuracy, or do I give them all a squirt of matt varnish and get on with the weathering? #FirstWorldProblems I've still got to attach the bodies to the chassis. Each ended up being tailored (a gouge out of the body here, a file off the chassis there) so a specific body will fit a specific chassis, but my enthusiastic spraying obliterated the numbers I'd very carefully given them . And I know the wheels ain't there.

Well, I've done it. Our very nice Moderator has moved this thread into the 2mm FS forum. When I first had a poke around the forum, I felt like a school kid sneaking into the staff room, except the grown-ups have been very welcoming rather than hurling blackboard rubbers at the cheeky wee interloper. To celebrate, here's a photo of my first completed wagon, a 21t hopper from Bob Jones' stable. (The mineral wagon taster kit doesn't count, as that was practising!) I've four wooden-bodied hoppers in the paint shop, with the rattle-can red oxide still drying, but they're not complete until I figure out how to get the Fox Transfers lettering onto them. From what I can see, many of the metal hoppers such as this one weren't badged as NCB, so this one's done. I think I'll invest in some blackener, as the DGs aren't quite as loose now they're covered in paint, however lightly I tried to spray it. Every day's a school day. Richard

There's also reference to/discussion of joggles in the Track book (Ch 5) and methods to shaping them and the blades.

Having struggled attaching the droppers to my first attempt at DG couplings, and with a batch of eight to do this evening, I've spent today chewing on the problem: what is exactly the same size of the coupling loop that could hold it dead still while I fixed the dropper to it? The facepalm moment came eventually...

A good thread to have, thank you. The hopper wagons on my chosen system (Backworth) were bespoke and quite distinctive, so I'll be dipping into the thread regularly.

Thanks to all for the soldering advice. I've found the instructions which made me grin. I've a vague sense that point 3 is relevant, but I might have to wash it through Google Translate a couple of times...

Thanks all. I've recently been soldering against a small block of wood rather than the ceramic tile I had been using, so I wonder if that's what's manked it up. R.

I'm using damp sponge between (nearly) every touch, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. The tip is pretty manky now, no shine to it at all. Would it be wrong to buff it up with the fibreglass pen?

I'm using damp sponge between (nearly) every touch, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. The tip is pretty manky now, no shine to it at all. Would it be wrong to buff it up with the fibreglass pen?

Soldering question from a first-time solderer. My iron's been working nicely for me, but in the last couple of days has stopped picking up solder. I cut small amounts off the roll, and touch the tip to each when I need them. All it's doing is burning off the central flux core and converting the solder lump into a very shiny ball. Is it time for a new bit or does it need cleaning (if so how?)? *Edit: follow-up question: have I done something to abuse the bit (I haven't filed it, apparently that's a no-no) that I shouldn't do with the next one? Richard

Halfway(ish) through a rake of 4 10'6" wooden hoppers for Fenwick Pit from Shop 2. Making the wagons is successfully distracting me from having to make a decision about which track system they're eventually going to trundle on.

On a positive note, my micro-layout is nearly finished

Hmm. Is it time to make a decision about track? It's suddenly crowded.

It's been a while since I posted any progress. The buildings are pretty much unchanged, but I've been looking at a track plan, and at the most suitable way of building that track in 2mmFS. And while toying with the options, I've also doubled the rolling stock fleet. From 1 to 2. This is the beautifully detailed 21t hopper from Fencehouses: fiddly indeed for a beginner like me, but immensely satisfying to build, and actually prototypical for the pit. Just need a hundred or so more, of various types. Including the signature wagon for which I guess the only real solution is learning how to use a CAD package and create an etch. Meantime, baby steps such as this...