jmg123

I finally got the hm7000 wired up, the relay works a treat, allowing the switch between dcc and analogue. Consisting the loco with the hm7000 sound decoder worked ok, just need d to tweak the acceleration and deceleration rate. Video here the wiring job was not particularly pretty, as the surface mount pads on the decoder are tiny, but the speaker is surprisingly loud.

I've been thinking a bit about controlling the model Currently all but 3 of my 009 locos have DCC decoders, but none of my N Gauge locos do. Ideally I want to be able to drive DCC and non-DCC locos, from one of my DCC controllers, without the annoying whine you get when running analogue locos with address zero. As an added bonus it would also be nice to have sound that can work on locos without a sound decoder. My plan is to use a spare Hornby HM7000 Bluetooth/DCC sound decoder hidden in the slot beneath the diorama. One of the outputs will be connected to a relay, to allow the Hornby decoder to switch the track feed between DCC from the controller, and analogue coming out of the motor connections of the HM7000 Decoder. When running with a DCC loco, the relay switches track feed directly to DCC, and the HM7000 will be used in consist mode to still provide sound. Then when running an analogue loco, the relay switches the track feed to the motor output from the HM7000.

Yes, I found train trax afterwards, and bought some extra bits from them. The service was good.

Wow I hadn’t seen the panda one, I think we might have to get one of those.

I got my kato diorama sets Sunday afternoon from the Gaugemaster stand next door, but it did have to search them out. Hearteningly though, served in front of me in the queue was a mother purchasing her daughter a kato starter set as her first model railway, having seen the kato circus. I know from the Lichfield show earlier in the year, my 5 year old’s 2nd favourite model was the drive Thomas for a £1.

At this years Warely exhibition, I was intrigued buy the Kato Circus layout, lots of little dioramas connected together with a loco traversing them all. I picked up some of the Kato diorama kits, as it looked like a fun way to be able to do short amounts of railway modelling with my young daughter. We had a very happy afternoon assembling the kits, and using some Woodland Scenics learning kits, to put together a few dioramas. It was great fun, and each individual diorama can have it's own theme, connecting them together to create an every changing layout. One thing led to another, and we decided we wanted to extend it beyond the 124mm straight, and 183mm Radius curves that Kato have turned into diorama kits. I've started making 3d printable bases for different pieces of Kato track, including points, and other radius of curves, and different lengths of straights. The height is compatible with the official Kato ones. I've added the files to printables in case they are useful to anyone. https://www.printables.com/model/706888-kato-unitrack-n-diorama-extensions We have been doing one each per weekend, so by the end of the year, hopefully will be quite the layout. Below are a few pics of modules in there various states from assembled to finished.

I did, but parenthood has curtailed my modelling time, so I currently haven't got around to painting it.

I imagine it was a bit like the spice girls - the production company put them together for the purposes of the show.

I was a bit sceptical when I first heard about the show, but I enjoyed it. I think it would be hard to get people to be able to commit to longer than three days at a time for filming, and the winning team showed that it was possible to come up with something very good in the timeframe. Some of what the team in last place were saying made me cringe at times, I wonder if on reflection they are a little embarresed or feel it was unfavourable editing by the production team.

Some more updates on the progress of the tender: I decided to add some extra pickups to the tender, so as to improve the current collection,. There are slots in the tender floor for the top of the wheels, so it was very easy to just add some scrap PCB and a bit of phosphor bronze. My intention is to cut a hole in the top of the tender, so that I can access the pickups in the future, it will be easy to cover it with coal stuck to a bit of card. It will also let me put plastic tube over the phosphor bronze pickups during painting. Aside from that the tender construction has been straightforward so far. There s quite a bit going on underneath the tender, lots of detail Luckily the tender flares are cast rather than etched.

I decided that the easiest way to bend the footplate without damaging the delicate Valencing was to make a jig. As my CAD skills are much better than my woodwork skills, I felt the way to go was to knock something up for laser cutting. First off I scanned the Valencing part. Next up was importing into sketchup so as to be able to draw around the outline, and make a pattern for the jig. At the same time I also drew the opposite part, so as the footplate could be sandwiched in the middle. The was a tab to for fit in the running plate slot, and hook on the end to help keep the tuning plate flat. This can then easily be exported to inkscape, ready for sending off to cutters. I use http://www.razorlab.co.uk for all my cutting as the service is great and the turn around quick. I got it cut in 3mm MDF, as I thought it would be smoother than 3mm laser ply. A few days later the parts arrived in the post, I was able to fit three of each on a single sheet. Turns out the tab was not very useful, so I just filed it off in the end. Next up was the process of actually forming the footplate Finally the jig was also very helpful for resting the Valence on during the soldering process, helping to get everything perfectly straight. If anyone else makes this kit in the future, and would like the jig I can either put the file for laser cutting up (or send one of the spare Jigs I have knocking around.

I have just started building a Mercian Models kit of an LNWR Jumbo (Improved Precedent class). I have had a look around on various forums, but can't seem to find anyone else's build logs or workbenches for the model. When it's finished it'll be in lined LNWR livery. I decided to start with the tender, which is an all nickel silver construction, with white metal detailing The footplate has fled up tabs that go behind the wrapped sides, and the instructions helpfully suggest which size of drill bit to use to bend the corners, All in all it went together with no fuss,and about an hour later, the sides were on, and the inner wrapper was fitted. Luckily the tender flares are a casting, as I did not fancy the solder and filing approach. This is the first loco that has a curly footplate that I have constructed, all the others have been flat. The instructions mention this must be done carefully, though I am looking for suggestions as to the best way to do it. Do one side then the other, or do both sides at the same time? I was thinking of marking out with a pen the centre of the curves, and bending it gently round a suitable raidius whilst one end is held flat in the hold and fold? Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

What i the best way to line up the frame overlays to the main frame for laminating? Also I notice that the inner frames have screwed in spacers, but the overlays don't appear to have a gap for the screws. (from the photos on Facebook of someone who has progressed up to issue 10.)