MrSimon

It’s found a new home already away from the bin - thanks though 👍🏻

Thanks Mike, I’ve ordered a pack of the WHWW couplers - just hope the remaining coupling arms stay in one piece until they’re fitted 😉

Has anyone else had issues where the coupling has snapped? Like a fool I got two each with a broken coupling - I’ve made one good out of the pair but Dapol don’t supply the coupling as a spare. It looks like it’s made from very flimsy, brittle plastic, so I’m not surprised it’s broken - I would have thought something tougher would be needed for something like a coupler - but I was surprised that it can’t be replaced. It’s also quite an effort to get into the model to swap the couplers over - I’m not surprised they seem ‘heavy’ with all the bits, I can’t help feeling some of the over-complication has left room for the running issues to be designed in. The chassis is cast as are the ends (the wedge shaped bits at the bottom of the picture above) - they form part of the side of the end moulding, and the sides clip into them so they’d have to be replaced by something printed to bring the weight down if weights an issue for you. I reckon the wagon with no couplers will go in the bin, which feels wasteful. I can’t help feeling the others are going on eBay if the couplings keep snapping. The price of the wagon I expect better and I hope it’s not a sign of how things are going to be with Dapol wagons going forwards.

In N?

Hi David, I've just got access back to the layout forum - sorry for all the 'like spam'! You've made great progress since I've last visited! I'll definitely give the buddleia a go for Gresby :) Regarding the couplings yep I've had the same issues - once I got the back-to-backs sorted on the cargo waggons they've been the most reliable I have - but they had a habit of being narrow to gauge which shorted and jumped the points. Not had the HIA or JNAs on the layout yet (but they seem to behave on the unitrack on the floor) and the MJAs I ditched the long bar and made a fixed couplings from two Dapol knuckles glued together with Krystal Klear. The Telescopic Hoods have to go in the same order the same way round and I don't know why... my stockboxes make it easy (with markings underneath) but it's a pain. I've sold so many pairs of FEA/Bs on, I just can't get them to run right (sorry if anyone's bought one of mine off ebay!) My secret weapon is a smear of Krystal Klear on the inside of the coupling just to give it something to grip onto and a blob of it in the NEM pockets to stop it bobbing up and down (also on Farish Frieghtliner/Fastline hoppers too)... but it's as much of a pain as the old 80s Farish flat couplings... What's Pendolino banana-ing? Cheers Simon

Hello everybody! It’s been a quiet few weeks but I’ve done some building and painting. Before Christmas I got the 262 running with just the valve gear left to tackle - I’ve had the soldering iron out since but haven’t felt quite in the mood to do it. Here’s the chassis running with some weight. Over Christmas I picked out stock that had been up with dad for running on his layouts, with the latest layout sold on the stock is slowly for sale too. Here are the bits I picked out plus one or two bits swapped - these will either gradually be re-chassised to 2mm or marshalled into trains I can take with me to help exhibit other peoples layouts… This is the first van to be converted to 2mm. It has all 4 buffers and none of the bufferbeam has been carved away. I used the same chassis as the hifit in the post above, I removed the random WB transfer from the door and touched up the paint. This was rewheeled and DGs fitted The wagons in the posts above were painted and I had a transfer session, they just been weathering and varnishing Today I did my least favourite 2mm job - soldered the droppers onto DG coupling loops, I’d been saving (/putting off) to do in bulk - with brake vans with couplers fitted I couldn’t put it off any longer… so I made 23 new loops (above) and fitted droppers to another 11 loops that were already fitted to stock. There are 9 spare loops with droppers! Lots to do, including a new project! Simon

I have this issue - but I only get it when I’m logged in, if I’m logged out I can read it but as soon as I log in I get the white screen - on iPhone, iPad safari and chrome, mac safari and chrome, and on a brand new pc straight out the box (so not a memory/cache issue) I think it’s sommat to do with our profiles, but I don’t know what it would be. try logging out and see if it works?

I’ve been having an issue where I can see the Layouts topic if I’m not logged in but as soon as I log in I just get a white screen and nothing happens - that’s on pc, Mac & iPhone/iPad safari. I tried on a brand new pc (first website I went on) and it was fine until I logged in… is there sommat going on with my account?

Hi all, Can I just check: is it the 8mm carrying wheels for a black 5 tender? Also, would the new machines gearbox block work in the 3-652 replacement chassis or would I be better off building it with separate worms/gears? Many thanks Simon

Is the BR1 tender on the 5MT the first time Bachman have done that type of tender?

I’ve got the Ivatt tank chassis more or less running well - quartered and reasonably free running: It runs better with weight added. The Dapol body is very light so I will have to fill it with lead. I’ve run out of things I can do to it while putting off building the rest of the valve gear, maybe I should set myself a deadline for getting that finished? Can anyone recommend a rolling-road? Many thanks Simon

Hello everybody! I thought I’d get cracking and have the Ivatt tank finished by Christmas - obviously with the valve gear still to build it won’t be, but it should at least be moving under its own power this week… First I masked all the bearings/holes with blutak and primed the chassis. I find it easier to give a chassis a primer and base coat before starting to fit wheels as I’m not one for removing wheels etc unless I absolutely have to (and don’t like poking too many coats of paint behind the wheels once they’re fitted…) Next before the wheels but after the painting the gears are fitted on the idler axel (after cleaning the big burrs off) and the gears are run on the drill with some cif to clean off any debris that could affect running… won’t lie, this is my favourite part of building a 2mm chassis And here we are - wheels and gears fitted and 99.9% quartered. They just need testing under power, but I can’t do that until I’ve built the motor mount. Any engineers should look away now… motor mounted! That’s the mount that came with the kit, with a bed of plasticard scraps to cradle the smaller motor, with a load-bearing rizla to stop the epoxy sliding out the side while it sets. I’ve cut the bolts to length (there are 10ba nuts soldered to the etched base in here) and once the loctite has locked the worm to the shaft it’ll be read to bolt the motor on and give it a test. Obviously this all took forever because while I had the soldering iron out for the nuts I made two wagon chassis - I probably could have at least made a start on the valve gear in the time it took… The first and last Mica B I’m making, the handrails are ridiculous (I’ve still got to fit the brake levers) LMS unfitted hifit, where I hope I’ve understood David’s instructions above! I’m happy with it anyway!! Lots to do! Simon

Hi, sorry I missed this - yep, the west riding 198 218b please. Many thanks Simon

Hi Andy, It’s the updated artic vehicles I’m interested in - I think just the 2 coach rather than the 4 coach. Many thanks Simon

Sounds like my kind of advent calendar! Best of luck. I made a similar decision about my Ivatt 262, just to get it running by Christmas, nothing as exciting as ‘finished’. Cheers Simon

Hi, definitely interested in the steel panelled one (as I’ve got a few of the NGS ones knocking around) - opens are a gap in the Dapol range (they only do the ones with compartment doors) Would shrinking the body shells of the GN artic ex 6-wheelers be possible? I’m thinking for 2mm so I can sort underframes… Many thanks Simon

Great news David - I’d already bent the one on the other side!! Can that chassis be built as a 4 shoe chassis too? Thanks Simon, It’s only the back of the bunker that seems to have suffered, I’m not sure it will be easy to sand the surface back with handrails, pipes and lamp irons that have been fitted… I’ll leave it a few months and see if the crystals grow back and if they don’t I’ll see what can be done with some Klear… Thanks both Simon

Hello everybody! Been quite a while since I updated this… I’ve not done much either so it’s not like we all missed out… The V1/V3 that came back for servicing last year got its turn on the bench (mostly through laziness, not just needing a slot on a busy bench haha). It had wires to reconnect, I’m not sure what I did but it now runs just as well forwards than in reverse after spending the last few years running bunker first at exhibitions. I gave it a clean and touched up some bits of paint/weather and noticed this: It seems like the print has been leeching out of the bunker! I shaved it back on the right (and finished it after taking this) - has anyone else come across this issue with Shapeways prints? Other than the bufferbeam it’s only had Halfords cans on it…. I took it up to run at Spalding exhibition and then brought it back as Dad sold the layout and didn’t have use for it to stay on loan (so if anyone needs a short bunker-first parcels train with operator in the south east…) I’d also detailed this for the fast freight… Things have moved on the 2mm front! Firstly, this is now ready for transfers: I think I’ve even got some (it can wait) Secondly, I got the rods soldered together for the Ivatt 262: In a traditional bout of procrastination I then put them back in their little bag and built a wagon underframe. And then three more wagon underframes: These will give me something to paint while taking short breaks working from home (much shorter than the time wasted in an office!!) Clockwise we have a BR fitted plate wagon, LMS medfit (which I tried to put on the wrong underframe a few pages back), a LNER 6 plank open, a Midland 5 plank open… I’ve just noticed that at the top of the page I said I’d get the Ivatt running by Christmas… it’s a little far through November to be confident that will happen, but let’s see! Lots to do! Simon

Hi, Appreciate these are probably on the way now… but are these the same coupling as the 321? Many thanks Simon

Hi Simon These look great - no risk of crushing etc! The only alteration I'd recommend is some acid free tissue lining the bottom - foam is great but there's a risk of handrails/fine details snagging and bending when they get jiggled around a bit in the car... Great to catch up with the layout, might even make it to Wigan!! Cheers Simon

Hi David, Great to catch up on the layout build, it's looking great! And congratulations on the book!! Simon

I tried that, all the ways I know how on an iPhone/iPad - it worked if I wasn’t signed in (ie the layout topics page loaded) but when I signed in the layout topics page just goes white and won’t load - same on safari and chrome

Hi, Sorry if I’ve missed the answer to this (I don’t think I did) - since the site moved to where it is now I haven’t been able to access a few of the areas on Safari (iPad and iPhone) which is my usual way of using RMWeb. The main one I can’t get onto is the Layout Topics - I can get to a thread within the forum with a link, but not the menu (ie I can still see my Gresby thread but not go upto the see what other threads there are). Is there something I should be doing differently? Many thanks Simon

Hello everybody, Been a while! I’m not letting anything else on my desk until the block of flats is in fewer pieces, so not much has been done… Firstly: I braced the top two stories, it’s mostly 2mm plasticard, with some 1mm in too. It looks much firmer from the front now: Next, I got hold of my first ever sheet of black plasticard. Once I got over the horror of how much dust there is (it attracts and then is visible against the black background) I cut it up for the floors/walkways. This is my first ever use of black, I wanted it to be a darker base for the concrete colour instead of having the white shine through… That’s the theory anyway… here’s where I’m at now, there are other walls to build and fit in. Also, I hadn’t considered using white for the underside, so now I have to paint white on top of black. The second level looks off in this picture, when I investigated and then stuck it to the ceiling it doesn’t look off… 🤷🏼‍♂️ These are ready to start painting, detailing and glazing. I’m not going to go too detailed as they are at the back of the layout - but the layout is only 12” deep…. First up is the panels, the windows and doors, I think I’m leaving the brick to last and doing it all in one go. My to-do list and the fronts of the next block… it’ll all make sense when they’re in place. Lots to do! Simon

Something like a matt-effect/sprayed matt black bin bag? Cheers Simon