Modbury

[Coal Tank]

Stunning Ian just stunning 

 

john

[Ian Smith]

A little more progress on the Buffalo Saddle Tank...

 

The Safety Valve, Dome and Tank Filler have been turned (and in the case of the filler had extra bits soldered in place before being soldered in place).  The Dome and Safety Valve covers are secured with 12BA bolts.  The lamp sockets and fire iron hooks have been fabricated and added to the back of the bunker.

 

The face plate for the saddle front has been fretted/filed from 0.004" nickel silver, had some rivets added around its circumference and sweated in place on the saddle former at the saddle front.  The rivets on this small piece were formed with a home-made drop-riveter acting on the material on a piece of aluminium - a fine line being scribed using a vernier calliper around the circumference, the central rivet popped, then dividers being used to mark where the next rivets should be formed from the indentation.  Doing this ensured that the rivets were all equally spaced.

 

The upper hand rails on the tank have also been added from the finest guitar string I have with knobs of twisted copper wire (wire made into a loop, secured in a pin vice, piece of guitar string passed through loop and the pin vice twirled until the copper twists snap off just above the pin vice).

 

 

The photos show the embryonic smokebox door and the front sand boxes, the former turned with gravers from a piece of 0.028" nickel silver sheet sweated onto an arbour, the latter small cubes of brass (about 2.6mm) sweated onto more 0.004" sheet to give a lid that was filed and sanded back to be just proud of the sides of the cube.

 

It's now getting to the stage where I need to make a list of all the small details that need to be formed and added.

 

Ian

[bgman]

Just superb Ian.

[Charlie586]

Incredible detail, fantastic.

[queensquare]

4 hours ago, Ian Smith said:

A little more progress on the Buffalo Saddle Tank...

 

It's now getting to the stage where I need to make a list of all the small details that need to be formed and added.

 

Ian

 

When your'e down to the 'list' stage you know the end is in sight!

 

Looking superb Ian

 

Jerry

[Donw]

WOW! If I hadn't seen some of your work for myself Ian I would find it hard to believe it is 2mm.

 

Don

[Mikkel]

Extraordinary work, Ian. But what will your trusty 1854 ST think, this is unfair competition! 

 

You have some experience in 3D printing, yet have chosen another approach here. Can I ask if that is because of smoothness, or were there other considerations as well? 

[Ian Smith]

2 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Extraordinary work, Ian. But what will your trusty 1854 ST think, this is unfair competition! 

 

You have some experience in 3D printing, yet have chosen another approach here. Can I ask if that is because of smoothness, or were there other considerations as well? 

Mikkel,

Thank you.  The 1854 Saddle Tank was my first working effort in 2mmFS - I was a member of the Association throughout the 1980's early 90's, and whilst building track and 3 or 4 wagons I was never able to get a working locomotive so abandoned the smaller scale in favour of 4mm.  That first engine was the catalyst that proved to me that I could model in the smaller scale, building the sorts of engines that I wanted.  I have always been aware of some of her short comings though.  In essence she has done what I needed from her in that respect, and once I have enough "better" engines she will almost certainly be rebuilt.

 

Whilst I can see that 3D printing has it's uses, I am not as yet completely sold.  The main issue I have is the durability of the materials, being a new technology the materials have yet to stand the test of time - I don't want to build something then find in 5 years time that it has become brittle or soft or in some other way degraded (I know that the Shapeways FUD material I have had wagons printed in has started to leach crystalline shiny particles through the paintwork on a couple of my wagons despite thorough cleaning before painting).  

 

Another issue from a 2mm scale locomotive perspective is getting enough weight in the model, in this example the saddle tank is formed from 0.005" brass sheet around a former at each end, this leaves plenty of space for packing with lead.  A 3D printed tank would probably have to be around 1mm thick, reducing the amount of space available inside for that valuable weight.  

 

Finally, somewhat selfishly, there is also the satisfaction of knowing that by scratch building in metal that you have produced a one-off.  When finished I will have a unique model, no-one else will have a 2mm scale Buffalo (unless they build one themselves), doing a 3D print would enable others (if they wished) to have the same model as you do relatively easily, and whilst I am not averse to sharing it is satisfying nonetheless.  

 

I would reiterate though that the main reason for me of choosing scratch building in metal over 3D printing is down to the longevity of the finished article - in the end I only anticipate ever needing/wanting a few locomotives (1854, Metro, Buffalo, Dean Goods, Duke, Armstrong Goods and 517) so I am prepared to spend the time (and enjoyment) in trying to produce models of those few to the best of my ability.

 

Ian

[CF MRC]

I fully agree with Ian that durability of a model is very important, especially a locomotive.  It’s good to know that something you have made can be repaired and re-furbished 20+ years down the line. 

 

Tim

 

[bécasse]

26 minutes ago, CF MRC said:

I fully agree with Ian that durability of a model is very important, especially a locomotive.  It’s good to know that something you have made can be repaired and re-furbished 20+ years down the line. 

 

In my experience, the main problem is trying to remember exactly how I did something in the first place, particularly if, n years further on, two pieces that you were sure were only screwed together refuse to come apart once the screws have been removed - does one just pull harder to overcome the grunge of time or will pulling harder at something that has some clever extra hidden fixation end up destroying the model? Even if one documents what was done at the time, one has to be able to find the documentation later, possibly after a house move or two.

[CF MRC]

Simple answer is to write up the construction for MRJ and then refer to it 20 years later  (as I did for the Baldwin recently). 

 

Tim

[Killybegs]

I now keep notes of everything I do (in a book, bits of paper get lost) complete with sketches where necessary. As one gets older one does tend to forget 'what one did last time'. Yes, they do come in useful when writing articles for MRJ as well!

[Mikkel]

Thanks Ian for that informative reply. Those shiny particles sound worrying! 

 

I have a folder with multiple detail pictures of the layout wiring. It's nice to refer to if something comes loose or needs re-wiring. 

[Ian Smith]

An hour or so out in the workshop/shed this evening has produced the smoke box door dart for the Buffalo...

 

 

 

A length of 2mm nickel silver rod was cross drilled 0.3mm near the end (twice - once for each handle - with a very tiny gap between the two holes and a few degrees rotation too).

 

The rod was then transferred to the lathe where the outer mm or so where the holes had been drilled was reduced to 0.65mm.  A short section beyond that was reduced to 1.5mm and a locating peg turned down behind that to leave a few thou of the 1.5mm diameter.

 

After the holes were cleaned out two short lengths of guitar string were cut (well actually broken off) to fit in the holes for the handles.  A healthy blob of liquid flux was dribbled around the handles and a hot iron with next to no solder on secured the handles in place.  Finally, the completed dart handles were sawn off the end of the rod, and the hole in the smokebox door opened out to accept the locating peg on the back of the dart, as indeed was the hole in the saddle front.

 

The pictures above show the smokebox door and it's handles plonked on the front of the saddle (held only by the locating peg).  For the benefit of the camera, the smokebox door was blacked with a sharpie so that the door handles would show up a bit better.

 

Since the previous entry, a new dome has been fabricated as it was pointed out to me that the original had tapered rather than parallel sides.  I've also added the filler caps to the tops of the sandboxes (more small turnings) and these have been soldered in place on the footplate too.

 

Ian

[Ian Smith]

Spent a few minutes today adding odd details around the station.  The main focus being the cattle dock.

 

When I installed the cattle dock I had previously put a pile of used straw at the buffer stop end of the dock - this was formed from some beige static grass fibres mixed with a little PVA formed into a pile shape and left to dry on a bit of polythene bag.  Once dry the resulting heap was glued in place on the dock.  Today I added a fork to the heap - this started off life as a Severn Models spade with bits of the blade cut away to leave tines instead of the blade.  Additionally a Severn Models wheel barrow was also assembled, painted and given a thickish layer of white paint in the bottom to represent the lime wash that was liberally daubed all over the dock to sterilise it.  A broom was also made and leant against the barrow too.

 

Further along the dock, between the two pens, I had previously positioned a stand pipe with a hose pipe looped over the fence.

 

 

I think it is small details like this that helps to breathe life into the scene, even though a casual observer may not even notice them.

 

Ian

[CF MRC]

The handles of the broom and fork would be a pale coloured wood (ash?) Ian, and might show up better against the background.   Don’t think I would have left a fork in a pile of sh1tty straw as it could fall over and get a mucky handle...

 

Tim

[Donw]

15 hours ago, CF MRC said:

The handles of the broom and fork would be a pale coloured wood (ash?) Ian, and might show up better against the background.   Don’t think I would have left a fork in a pile of sh1tty straw as it could fall over and get a mucky handle...

 

Tim

 

I agree that ash handles would be lighter to start but railways are dirty places and I could imagine the handles would soon aquire a patina of grime. An Ash handle I cut and shaped myself soon darkened to a mid brown and has been nowhere near the coal and soot of a steam railway.

 

Don

[Ian Smith]

On 30/03/2019 at 08:56, CF MRC said:

The handles of the broom and fork would be a pale coloured wood (ash?) Ian, and might show up better against the background.   Don’t think I would have left a fork in a pile of sh1tty straw as it could fall over and get a mucky handle...

 

Tim

Tim, thanks for pointing that out. I did originally paint the handles quite a bit lighter but they looked brand new! I therefore repainted them somewhat darker to simulate prolonged use in a dirty environment.

One thing I have been unable to establish is what implement would have been used to daub lime wash everywhere - my current thinking is something like a traditional mop, but I have failed to unearth any photographic evidence, although I have seen a wheel barrow filled with lime wash, hence my incorporation of that into the scene.

Ian

[Oldddudders]

Might the implement have been made with bristles rather than just the soft fronds of a mop? After all, the lime was being used to disinfect, so hard bristles abrading the manure in question might have been part of the process. 

 

When the railway started painting white lines on platform edges, it used  a sort of broom-head - but with the bristles a few inches shorter across 75% of the head. Thus the longer bristles painted the vertical face of the coping stones or platform, while the short bristles made a regular line on the horizontal edge, being held in register by the longer ones, if that makes sense!

[CF MRC]

10 hours ago, Ian Smith said:

Tim, thanks for pointing that out. I did originally paint the handles quite a bit lighter but they looked brand new! I therefore repainted them somewhat darker to simulate prolonged use in a dirty environment.

 

Ian

 

The handles of the muck forks I used as a youngster were effectively a light grey brown colour: the handle wouldn’t get that dirty unlike, say, a coaling shovel. 

 

Tim

Edited March 31, 2019 by CF MRC

[Ian Smith]

1 hour ago, CF MRC said:

 

The handles of the muck forks I used as a youngster were effectively a light grey brown colour: the handle wouldn’t get that dirty unlike, say, a coaling shovel. 

 

Tim

Thanks for that Tim, I will repaint them again when I get a chance (although not make them look quite so new next time).

[2mm Andy]

Definitely a bit too dark Ian - the ones in the attached photo look a lot brighter....

 

The 'Buffalo' is looking very nice indeed - I hope you'll be bringing it to the 2mm AGM at Swindon this year?

 

Andy

[Caley Jim]

6 hours ago, 2mm Andy said:

Definitely a bit too dark Ian - the ones in the attached photo look a lot brighter....

And there's 4 of them!

 

Jim 

[Gingerbread]

On 30/03/2019 at 08:56, CF MRC said:

The handles of the broom and fork would be a pale coloured wood (ash?) Ian, and might show up better against the background.   Don’t think I would have left a fork in a pile of sh1tty straw as it could fall over and get a mucky handle...

 

Tim

I agree.

 

A couple of examples - the pitchfork is probably 30+ years old, and still in regular use, the scythe is rather older, but not used so often.

 

David

[Ian Smith]

At the 2mm Midland Area Group meeting last night, while John and Andy were trying to address an intermittent issue with the cottage lighting on St Ruth (occasionally we seem to have some arc welding going on in one of the cottage bedrooms!), I set about trying to do a little more to my Buffalo Saddle Tank.  The object of interest this time was the smokebox door.

 

I had previously turned the smokebox door on the lathe, and had made the dart handles too.  So now it was time to tackle the door hinges.  These were made from a couple of little strips of 0.004" nickel silver about 1mm wide, most of this length was thinned to about 0.5mm wide leaving a short length of 1mm wide material at one end.  The 1mm wide bit was wrapped around a 0.3mm drill to provide a representation of the hinge (somewhat harder to achieve than typing it here!)  Once the pair had been made they were soldered in place on the smokebox door (with the 0.3mm drill still in place for stability - a little blu-tak helped too).  Once secure the drill was removed and replaced with a short length of guitar string, which was then soldered to the hinges.

 

Finally, the door dart assembly was soldered in place in the hole reserved for it on the smokebox door.

 

With the door effectively complete, and John and Andy still "enjoying" their fiddling around with one of the Arduino's that controls the St Ruth lighting effects I decided to make a start on the combined handrail knob/lamp socket for the tank front above the smokebox door.

 

To start with a short length of 1mm square brass was cross-drilled 0.3mm close to the end, this was transferred to the mini-drill and files used to try to form the round handrail knob part around the cross-drilled hole, leaving a cubic block on the end to represent the lamp socket.  This still needs a bit of work to finish but is included in the photo below of the complete smokebox door :

 

The cruel close up shows how much cleaning up still needs to be done to the smokebox door, and the work still required to the lamp socket/handrail knob.  To give a sense of size, the drill shank through the handrail knob is a 0.3mm drill.

 

Ian

Edited April 24, 2019 by Ian Smith