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Knightacott - 7mm newbie BLT


jamest
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The Omen figures are excellent and I dare not addup how many I have bought over the years. When filling a coach however, you may need to consider the cost and weight of two or three dozen of these little beauties. Cost aside, fitting a full cast person into a coach is a challenge as , unlike the real thing,  it cannot sink into the softly sprung upholstery. I have preferred to use the skinny people from Slater's or even the slightly under scale examples from China via the bay of E. The pre painted ones are a little gaudy but can be toned down with a slightly dirty wash of turps and a drop of matt black.

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I got a pack of Slater's figures which look really awful.  I painted them up and used them by seating them farther away from the window.

 

Yes, if figures are to be on view (loco cab or station) ModelU is the choice, despite my mediocre painting skills.  ModelU are very expensive so not really viable for populating carriages.  Omen are mid priced and made from resin I think.  I think they are very good.

 

After painting, I like to splosh on black wash.  This fills the crevices and gives the figures a bit more "life".

 

I remember reading somewhere coaches should not be crowded with figures like a wartime train.  You are looking for an impression.  So I tend to put one or two people per compartment.

 

I haven't had any of these Chinese figures.

 

John

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2 hours ago, brossard said:

I got a pack of Slater's figures which look really awful.  I painted them up and used them by seating them farther away from the window.

 

Yes, if figures are to be on view (loco cab or station) ModelU is the choice, despite my mediocre painting skills.  ModelU are very expensive so not really viable for populating carriages.  Omen are mid priced and made from resin I think.  I think they are very good.

 

After painting, I like to splosh on black wash.  This fills the crevices and gives the figures a bit more "life".

 

I remember reading somewhere coaches should not be crowded with figures like a wartime train.  You are looking for an impression.  So I tend to put one or two people per compartment.

 

I haven't had any of these Chinese figures.

 

John

 

I think you can get them through Amazon - mine came from there - or from Ebay.

 

They are cheap and some of them duplicated and painted the same but for coaches you can get away with it.

 

Paul R

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hi all,

 

Thanks for the advice - some useful places to look.

 

I think I'll wait until I install sound to populate the DMU. It looks pretty easy to remove the body - but I want to keep the numbers of times I do it to a minimum.

 

Been working on the fiddle yard this weekend - will post photos soon - plumped for the sector plate option.

 

regards,

James

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Hi all, 

 

Made good progress with the fiddle yard.... Needs a bit of fine tuning but it works well. Carried on with the glue down method for the track. 

 

Only two roads at the moment until I decide on the last siding. 

 

IMG_20210920_190811.jpg.2ce36a3d4d4056f1d30d5f796964ab51.jpg

 

Not sure whether to go with the above..... Or have more room to the back and move the signal box to the front as below. 

 

IMG_20210920_191032.jpg.2e83aa2260327220ba9893356d6c8590.jpg

 

Need to decide before going further. 

 

Regards, 

James

 

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Hi, 

 

Bit to report. 

 

I've gone for the signal box inbetween the siding and the platform line as per my original plan. So I have three lines in the fiddle yard now. I have little swing catches made out of plywood to hold the sector plate and ensure it pulls down level with the static line. 

 

IMG_20211015_163208.jpg.424a4ffd06b6b3050845761bd0adc64b.jpg

 

IMG_20211015_163225.jpg.0a45c77db0a9b9604923c770cc532fe0.jpg

 

IMG_20211015_163239.jpg.16307db1f67e58a13fd74b44d5a7a975.jpg

 

I also have my class 25 back from jintyman with sound and weathering.... Top class. Here is one of his photos. 

 

20210929_162538.jpg.4df45c618119403321a2ffac74f40ef6.jpg

 

And hattons emailed me the other Friday with a special offer on hymeks. They must have worked out I have the breaking strain of a soggy Mars bar when it comes to hymeks so I bought this for, what I think, the bargain price of £299.

 

IMG_20211015_170144.jpg.8519f27b6d77b309a671194a155f88b3.jpg

 

IMG_20211015_170151.jpg.9f89dc147d4af6604c32c88303aec791.jpg

 

Running in now and then off to jintyman for sound and weathering and a small yellow panel. 

 

Cheers, 

James

 

 

Edited by jamest
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These were a similar discounted price towards the end the first time round, then once they had sold out, shot up. I am always tempted to buy things up if discounted as you are virtually guaranteed to be able to sell them on later.

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Hi all, 

 

Got a little annoying problem with the 25.

 

Ref the photo below.

In one direction I get a noise from the no1 end to the left of the universal joint around the entry to the bogie 'tower'. Its difficult to say for sure exactly where it comes from. 

IMG_2021_10_16_185125256.jpg.c0d26834ebf787f421738a11d3509773.jpg

If I lightly side load the UJ with a finger it stops. If I switch direction it does not happen. I thought I had run it out on the rolling Road.... but it came back after switching direction and back. 

 

There does not seem to be an obvious difference between the play and movement on either end. 

 

You can bearly hear it when the sound is on (obviously I can now) so I could leave it. I don't really want to take it apart. One other option could to be remove the motor that side as I don't need two for my layout... But that seems extreme. 

 

Does anyone have any thoughts/ideas? 

 

Regards, 

James

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Hi all,

 

I have improved the running on the problem end. After inspection the shaft into the bogie looked to be running more eccentric than the other end. I think the bearing might be looser in the housing, but I thought the motor was also influencing it.

 

I loosened the motor clamps and effectively rotated the motor and flywheel a little anti clockwise using a thin wedge and re-clamping. The motor and flywheel sub-assy was definitely more central in its channel, and the running was much improved in the problem direction. When I upturned it and twisted the bogie to add the body screws it was not quite as good - but has improved 80% and is not noticeable with sound on.

 

Something to keep an eye, or ear, on!

 

Cheers,

James

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On 11/09/2021 at 18:18, pwr said:

... They are cheap and some of them duplicated and painted the same but for coaches you can get away with it....

 

Don't bank on it - my then 16-year-old niece, young and budding movie director, looking at my "Chinese" passengers, needed about 1½ second to observe that "hey, they're all the SAME!"

So apparently to the innocent viewer it's still glaringly obvious that they're from the same mold, paint them however you will.

 

Paint them however you will, just don't invite your clever niece to take a look. :spruceup:

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On 16/10/2021 at 19:02, jamest said:

One other option could to be remove the motor that side as I don't need two for my layout... But that seems extreme. 

 

Does anyone have any thoughts/ideas? 

 

Hi James,

 

It may not answer your question directly, I too bought a Class 25 recently and having sorted out the "spaghetti" wiring to fit a sound decoder I noticed that one motor would start and stop before and after the other thereby dragging / pushing itself along.

 

Having never taken one apart I bit the bullet and examined the gears ( fairly easy in the end ). Nothing showed itself to be wrong, no split gears etc so I decided once it was reassembled to run it on just one motor. All is well and for a very small diorama I'm currently making I find there will be no need to use both motors. OK, maybe not the way I would like it to be but it works and no dragging etc now.

 

I do like the weathered look that Jinty has produced for you, very subtle.

 

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14 minutes ago, Ray H said:

One advantage of only using one motor is that you can get away with a standard decode instead of needing a large one.

 

I have a Heljan Cl20 with a standard Zimo MX644 sound decoder.  I left both motors active although I have heard that one can be disabled.  That probably wouldn't detract from performance.  However, as I'm using it on a BLT and it will only travel at modest speed and with light loads, I reckon it will be fine.

 

https://www.facebook.com/BritishModelRailwayMontreal/videos/561733214977985/

 

John

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5 hours ago, bgman said:

 

Hi James,

 

It may not answer your question directly, I too bought a Class 25 recently and having sorted out the "spaghetti" wiring to fit a sound decoder I noticed that one motor would start and stop before and after the other thereby dragging / pushing itself along.

 

Having never taken one apart I bit the bullet and examined the gears ( fairly easy in the end ). Nothing showed itself to be wrong, no split gears etc so I decided once it was reassembled to run it on just one motor. All is well and for a very small diorama I'm currently making I find there will be no need to use both motors. OK, maybe not the way I would like it to be but it works and no dragging etc now.

 

I do like the weathered look that Jinty has produced for you, very subtle.

 


Hi,

 

While the roof was off and I was running I noticed the motors starting and finishing at different times too.

 

For now straightening the motor ‘better’ seems to have improved things a lot, but it’s good to know I have the option of one motor.

 

I am very happy with the weathering and decoder fitting from jintyman. He is a really nice guy and very skill full and helpful. My Hymek is with him now!

 

regards

James

 

 

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On 17/10/2021 at 21:24, RobClogs said:

Paint them however you will, just don't invite your clever niece to take a look. :spruceup:

Not sure if they are still about (or waiting for a container!) but they are so cheap I bought 2 different sets, so about 100 figures for less than a tenner and that gave me 7 or 8 different types I could use. For my branch thats plenty.

 

Anyway I would have countered that each coach represents a slightly different time frame and typically the same people travelled regularly! Add that of course twins and triplets were more common due to people eating less macdonalds. (Plus a clipped ear and a lecture on being a smart arse) :)

 

 

Edited by Hal Nail
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Hi all, 

 

Back to the layout after the distraction of the return of my 25....

 

I've started on the scenic break bridge. I have considered DAS stonework on a MDF framework but also bought some 5mm faomboard and decided to combine that with some brick sheets from SE Fine cast. 

 

I've tried to make sure it is well braced.... But I don't intend to put anything heavy, like a bus :D, on it. 

 

I did not have an arch for the smaller single span so I cut one from a 4mm brick sheet I had and scribed a new pattern on the reverse.

 

IMG_20211024_120809.jpg.8bbea557a5836634978c9cf4f5ff2bb0.jpg

 

IMG_20211024_120755.jpg.65443c63729065ac5c6f6daee7466ec3.jpg

 

I've clad some of the face wall and made the structure behind the double span. There will be pillars each end and in between the arches to hide the joins and add interest. 

 

IMG_20211024_164010.jpg.57dd44d006e3e5a2ff8f219c16b4b9f9.jpg

 

IMG_20211024_164053.jpg.f3335c7ccb831733fb41200ff1e7f525.jpg

 

Here is the single portal to show the basic form. 

 

IMG_20211024_164029.jpg.c59f77fe10a0547d0eb5ca18fe8dbe49.jpg

 

On holiday this week so hope to make some more progress. 

 

Regards, 

James 

 

 

Edited by jamest
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Hi all, 

 

Made some good progress with the bridge and scenic break over the last few days. 

 

I've joined the two arches and added some decorative/structural vertical bricks and pillars. I've also added plinths by sticking to some 2mm card and angling off the top. 

 

Here are the pictures.... I still need to do the internal surfaces of the arches and tidy up the edges. 

 

 

27-10-21_1.jpg.3840b088fed225425821528165882624.jpg

 

27-10-21_2.jpg.96d3faef0ab6ec3510b6901476f45bcb.jpg

 

27-10-21_3.jpg.d574a15aa95de45fc90800757a15355a.jpg

 

27-10-21_4.jpg.a1ffc225c0c15c35e9a2760aa3bc0af5.jpg

 

27-10-21_5.jpg.766e9bec040e47990e0cf3f5fe064de5.jpg

 

27-10-21_6.jpg.f9d8fb594185e37ec1e56a2627e99699.jpg

 

 

Cheers, 

James 

 

 

Edited by jamest
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Nicely done James.

 

Might be worth applying some filler to the edges and scribe the brick joints for consistency ? 

 

Hope you don't mind me saying.

 

G

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14 hours ago, bgman said:

Nicely done James.

 

Might be worth applying some filler to the edges and scribe the brick joints for consistency ? 

 

Hope you don't mind me saying.

 

G


Hi Grahame,

 

No problem, you are absolutely correct, I have been honest and shown the worst edges there!

 

I need to be more careful on edges in the future, perhaps bevelling the edges or even overlapping them to trim back. I was concentrating a lot on lining up the brick courses all over!

 

I am really pleased how it has turned out, but I am very nervous about the painting side of things. I tried a few times in OO but always went back to scalescenes papers as I was never happy with the results. I have a few books and references though…..and I’ve invested in several recommended red brick colours. I plan to practice on scrap pieces first.

 

Regards,

 James 

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1 hour ago, jamest said:

I am really pleased how it has turned out, but I am very nervous about the painting side of things

 

You'll be fine James, the bridge looks good, add a bit of modelling filler and cut the courses in giving it time to set hard.

 

As Hal suggests above the Intentio site gives a good guide done by Steve Fay and his method,  but you are best to do a few practice runs as you say to get the hang of painting brickwork, it's worth wasting scraps of material until you're happy.

 

An alternative once you have the overall brick colours applied is to spray with a gloss varnish, let it dry thoroughly and then touch in the brick courses with a diluted mortar colour letting it flow naturally, once applied wipe away any excess.

 

Albeit an old video this may also help as a "general guide" by Humbrol which in essence can be applied to any painting / weathering techniques by most paint manufacturers products.

(Apologies if you've seen this before.)

 

 

 

 

G

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5 hours ago, jamest said:


Hi Grahame,

 

No problem, you are absolutely correct, I have been honest and shown the worst edges there!

 

I need to be more careful on edges in the future, perhaps bevelling the edges or even overlapping them to trim back. I was concentrating a lot on lining up the brick courses all over!

 

I am really pleased how it has turned out, but I am very nervous about the painting side of things. I tried a few times in OO but always went back to scalescenes papers as I was never happy with the results. I have a few books and references though…..and I’ve invested in several recommended red brick colours. I plan to practice on scrap pieces first.

 

Regards,

 James 

 

I've been a bit heretical with my 7mm layout and made all the buildings from blown up Scalescenes kits or Lcut faced with Scalescenes paper.  Even though there is no texture, I really like the brick rendering.  You are still faced with scratchbuilding windows and doors.

 

John

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6 minutes ago, brossard said:

made all the buildings from blown up Scalescenes

 

Nothing wrong with that, they can be extremely effective even in 7mm scale.

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