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New to 7mm Scale, Many Questions!


HereticUK
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19 hours ago, HereticUK said:

I have another question if I may regarding my lack of experience and knowledge: I saw that some people have said that ACE ETS trains are reasonably compatible with Peco track; does this mean that ETS track is compatible with Peco track? For example, would it be feasible to use ETS points combined with Peco set-track pieces?

 

Sadly no. ETS track uses code 175 flat bottomed rail which would be difficult to mate with Peco track.

Oddly ACE ETS trains are not compatible with ETS points. You have to change the wheels for ETS 2-rail wheels to make them compatible. ETS points are compatible with Slaters fine scale wheels though.

 

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  • 3 months later...

Hello everyone! I could use some advice if I may:

I have contacted someone about purchasing some points on Facebook. Considering the price and the current lack of available track, I am amazed that no one has picked them up yet. My question is: does that mean that something wrong with them? Could I ask you to take a look and tell me if something jumps out at you?

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They look like standard Peco points, they look ok. Depends on the price to be honest,  personally I won't touch secondhand track but that was based on a bad experience 20 years ago 

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Not a bad price, hard to tell from the picture but they look to be missing the dropper wire to the crossing vee. Should still work but you are reliant on the switch blades to power the vee.

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Just now, 37114 said:

Not a bad price, hard to tell from the picture but they look to be missing the dropper wire to the crossing vee. Should still work but you are reliant on the switch blades to power the vee.

 

Would that cause any issues on a DCC layout? I am planning on getting to DCC at some point...

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Just now, HereticUK said:

 

Would that cause any issues on a DCC layout? I am planning on getting to DCC at some point...

Possibly but others would need to answer that, I am clueless on DCC

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20 minutes ago, hayfield said:

If all that is missing is the odd dropper wire then that's an easy cheap fix, also these turnouts are very robust and repair easily. Price seems fine, just be carefull that the seller can be trusted

 

Thank you. Honestly, I am not sure about the trustworthiness of the seller, so I think that I will skip this and instead just go for my own brand new ones once they come back into stock.

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9 minutes ago, HereticUK said:

 

Thank you. Honestly, I am not sure about the trustworthiness of the seller, so I think that I will skip this and instead just go for my own brand new ones once they come back into stock.

 

Try eBay and you get seller protection

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The switch end of Peco turnouts is horrible I think.  Not only do you have those rivetted hinges and nasty box but the blade gap is too large as well.

 

I made all but one of my turnouts and the one Peco I have was modified like the one on the right:

 

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I removed the plastic timbers at the switch and replaced them with Peco timbers and chairs.

 

The tiebars are available from MM1 models https://mm1models.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=108_116&product_id=536 :

 

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I used thin copperclad strip, plated both sides as the sandwich filler.

 

John

 

Edited by brossard
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  • 2 months later...

Hello again! Could anyone tell me if they have any experience of the readily-painted coach and wagon kits from Slater's? I am looking at getting a few since they seem to have injection-molded parts and not a lot of etchings (quite beginner friendly, it would seem).

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6 hours ago, HereticUK said:

Hello again! Could anyone tell me if they have any experience of the readily-painted coach and wagon kits from Slater's? I am looking at getting a few since they seem to have injection-molded parts and not a lot of etchings (quite beginner friendly, it would seem).

The Slaters wagons are good kits  based on my limited experience, the ones I built required painting though. I built the 13t High goods recently and found it straight forward, the parts fit together well and was a logical construction sequence but the instructions could be clearer. In summary slightly more difficult than a 4mm Parkside kit but easier than some of the Cambrian 4mm kits.

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I think Slaters 7mm kits are quite a bit more refined that Parkside.  Can't speak to the coaches although I have done the Southern PLV/CCT.  I'm just building the LMS 20T brake which comes with lost wax brass castings and etched brass parts.  Quite a challenge to coordinate the interior painting.

 

I'm quite useless at coach lining and usually cheat by using transfers.  Pre painted sides will be a great boon.

 

John

Edited by brossard
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I'm building a Slaters GWR 4W coach kit with sides pre-painted in the elaborate lined pre-1902 livery. These cost GBP60 more than the unpainted versions, but you would pay several times that for a professional job of such quality. Simpler liveries are a more realistic DIY option.

 

These are definitely not beginners kits, as they have many fragile etched brass chassis parts and require some soldering, sheet cutting and tricky brass folding. I worked my way through a few plastic and brass wagons first.

 

 

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4 minutes ago, dpgibbons said:

I'm building a Slaters GWR 4W coach kit with sides pre-painted in the elaborate lined pre-1902 livery. These cost GBP60 more than the unpainted versions, but you would pay several times that for a professional job of such quality. Simpler liveries are a more realistic DIY option.

 

These are definitely not beginners kits, as they have many fragile etched brass chassis parts and require some soldering, sheet cutting and tricky brass folding. I worked my way through a few plastic and brass wagons first.

 

 

I was planning on building a few of their wagon kits first, since they now also supply a few of them with pre-painted sides. Are their wagon kits easier to build than the coach kits or am I better off looking at Parkside (which are almost fully plastic if I understand correctly)?

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4 hours ago, HereticUK said:

I was planning on building a few of their wagon kits first, since they now also supply a few of them with pre-painted sides. Are their wagon kits easier to build than the coach kits or am I better off looking at Parkside (which are almost fully plastic if I understand correctly)?

 

Parkside are very simple to anyone used to building plastic kits although taking time to file down the fairly robust brake equipment pays dividends in the final result.

 

 

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6 hours ago, HereticUK said:

I was planning on building a few of their wagon kits first, since they now also supply a few of them with pre-painted sides. Are their wagon kits easier to build than the coach kits or am I better off looking at Parkside (which are almost fully plastic if I understand correctly)?

 

The thing about Slaters open wagons is that there is no interior detail.  I recently built a MR open wagon and scribed the planks.  Also added interior strapping.   If you plan a permanent load, then interior detail may not be important.

 

On the other hand, Parkside opens do have interior detail.

 

Good idea to start with a PO wagon if you haven't made a 7mm kit before, they are about as simple as you can get.

 

John

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5 hours ago, brossard said:

 

The thing about Slaters open wagons is that there is no interior detail.  I recently built a MR open wagon and scribed the planks.  Also added interior strapping.   If you plan a permanent load, then interior detail may not be important.

 

On the other hand, Parkside opens do have interior detail.

 

Good idea to start with a PO wagon if you haven't made a 7mm kit before, they are about as simple as you can get.

 

John

Absolutely agree. Some of the wagons come with a simple fold up etch brass compensation device. For those that don't, getting four wheels perfectly level is the key to successful running. A piece of glass or a short length of level track is needed on the workbench. Fix the axle and W irons at one end and the assemble the other axle loose and see how it sits on the glass. This should indicate which, if any of the W irons needs a little packing before Mek packing in place. A tiny strip of paper or 5thou Plastikard usually suffices.

Some of us also prefer to assemble the buffers and coupling hooks before assembling the sides together.

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I rarely have trouble getting 7mm wagons flat.  I certainly have had issues with 4mm.  Parkside have sliding axleboxes in their W irons and I like to leave them free.  You can install rocking compensation units, although I haven't done that.

 

In many cases I have installed sprung W irons, some from Bill Bedford (Eileen's Emporium) and others from Slater's.  These give the wagon a satisfying smooth feel when traveling down the track.

 

I tend to install couplings and buffers after paint.  Buffers do get pre-assembled.  Everyone has their own preferences.

 

Happy modelling.

 

John

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