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5 hours ago, RPNaylor0301 said:

Looks very clean - what did you use to remove the virgin branding? 
 

Could do with a couple of pretendolino coaches for Long Ashton. They even look superb sat on Leicester LIP! 


cocktail stick and white spirit was used to remove the virgin logos. 
 

Good luck finding them, some pop up on eBay every now and again. I’ll be selling one of the buffets in the future so if you still want some, let me know. 

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1 hour ago, RPNaylor0301 said:

Cheers, I’ve got a couple of locos to do in the near future!

 

I’d definitely be interested in one of the buffets, let me know when it comes up (although unlikely from my side this month as a poorly puppy has torpedoed the modelling fund for December..!) 


no problem, won’t be for a while yet anyway, it’ll be when I’ve at least done the modifications to one of the buffets. Needs the windows on one side correcting as well as the roofs so once the cutting about has finished and it just needs the transfers, then that’s the earliest I’d get rid of it. I’d happily keep hold of it anyway until my whole set is finished including the branding.

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Been planning the next term of events to happen on the layout which will involve my first ever scratchbuild.  Always a daunting term to hear and I always used to hate the word but thought I’d test myself and do some proper modelling for a change. 
 

this will involve building a road over rail bridge and the bridge I’ve chosen is this one. Google Earth street view can be a godsend!
 

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This bridge is just outside of Norwich, literally just before Trowse Junction (where the Breckland Line diverts from the GEML) if you’re travelling out of norwich. The road over the railway is Bracondale. 
 

I like the design of the bridge, as well as the surrounding area, particular the smaller underpass section, the whole area gives plenty of scope for a scene and atmosphere on top of road and in the underpass.
 

 

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Plenty of ideas brewing in my head but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves just yet! 
 

I have absolutely no experience with scratchbuilding but I am feeling confident and want to push myself. Spoken to plenty of people who have given me lots of tips and advice. Tonight, I set apart a very rough mock up of what the bridge would look like. Or at least the framework side of things.  its only made out of 3mm cardboard and didn’t take long at all to knock together but it’s a starting point. The final structure will be made out of mount board and cladded with plasticard. 
 

 

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I certainly havn’t made it easy for myself. Having it on a bend wasn’t an intention but it can’t go anywhere else without satisfying me. Besides, I like the idea of having it a funny angle to the track rather than perpendicular.
 

Getting the ole under the bridge won’t be too much of a challenge either but it required some research and outside-the-box thinking. Came to the conclusion, a bit of modellers licence will be required due to the tight bends. But the end result should still look half decent. I will need to scratchbuild six structures of this design to which I found on a different thread. 3 to go on both ends of the bridge over each line. The drawing belongs to Clive Mortimore. I breathed a sigh of relief when I found these! 
 

 

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The ohle wires will lower as they get closer to the tunnel as per reality so nice low pantographs will be seen and will look great in photos. Can’t go to low though just in case!
 

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Used some cars just to test and get ideas on how wide I want the bridge for the road and pavements. 

 

 

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One thing I like about the positioning is how it breaks up the curve. Hopefully, some realistic photos can be taken down low and the bridge can hide the bend a little so it doesn’t look so tight. 
as you can see, I also painted my backboards. 

 

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as of now, I’ve taken all the measurements I need from the mock up, changed some about and will make up another rough mock up but use the measurements I got so it gives a much better, accurate look of how the bridge will look. Once I’m happy, I’ll get the materials ordered and make a start!

 

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I made a second mock up of the bridge template that’ll be for the scratchbuilt bridge. I took my time with this one, and tested things like how thick the walls need to be and done any double checking with measurements. Everything was cut to measurements I recorded from the first template so this is a pretty accurate representation of the structure. The only thing that’ll be different is of course the brickwork! It’s still a little rough and not 100% as it’s card board but I’d say it’s a good 95% there and that’s good enough for me! 
 

 

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Testing all the clearances! Plenty of room for the walls and the proposed pantograph/wire height is spot on. 
 

 


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While I was at it, I thought I’d quickly lay down some celotex and other bits to get a rough idea on the height of the road and surrounding terrain. This gives an idea on how the scene will look when it’s finished!

 

 

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I want to add to the bridge a little bit more yet and I also want to make a mock up template for the smaller bridge that’ll be going alongside it. Once that is done, I’ll be pretty much ready to start the final build. 

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Another Bachmann 90 joined the Wratting Road fleet this week! A lovely respray of 90034 in DB branded DRS livery. A flawless respray of a flawless model with every last little detail correct. Top job once again goes to squirrel rail who I’ll highly recommend once again. 
 

90034 will be ran with my AGA mk3 sets as well as the pretendabellio as per 2015/2016. Had word the other day that my AGA set will be done by Christmas so I better get cracking with my pretendabellio! :derisive:
 

 

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1 hour ago, WrattingRoad said:

Another Bachmann 90 joined the Wratting Road fleet this week! A lovely respray of 90034 in DB branded DRS livery. A flawless respray of a flawless model with every last little detail correct. Top job once again goes to squirrel rail who I’ll highly recommend once again. 
 

90034 will be ran with my AGA mk3 sets as well as the pretendabellio as per 2015/2016. Had word the other day that my AGA set will be done by Christmas so I better get cracking with my pretendabellio! :derisive:
 

 

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The whole set of photos there is outstanding, but the top photo especially shows off both the new loco and the layout, it could so easily be the real railway and real loco. The foreground and the background have just enough in them and all modelled well enough to look very very realistic, but it's not over cluttered and the train is still the main focus. Brilliant photo and of course the 90 is absolutely outstanding. 

 

Looking forward to seeing the bridge develop in your post above. I like how well it breaks up the tight curve.

 

All the best,

Dave 

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1 hour ago, Stan68 said:

Wow, that looks amazing! Well done to squirrel rail! It really suits the layout, good choice. Looking forward to the Pretendabellio.


90034 was a beast when it was hired in, it’s probably one of my favourite 90s due to how simple the livery is, I don’t like liveries cluttered with colour and stripes or fancy designs. A simple two colours (or three if you include the yellow fronts) and a logo can’t be beaten imo. 
 

pretendabellio hopefully won’t take too long :)
 

 

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1 hour ago, DavidMcKenzie said:

The whole set of photos there is outstanding, but the top photo especially shows off both the new loco and the layout, it could so easily be the real railway and real loco. The foreground and the background have just enough in them and all modelled well enough to look very very realistic, but it's not over cluttered and the train is still the main focus. Brilliant photo and of course the 90 is absolutely outstanding. 

 

Looking forward to seeing the bridge develop in your post above. I like how well it breaks up the tight curve.

 

All the best,

Dave 


Thank you very much Dave, that’s very kind of you. Can’t see the same as what you see though! The 90 is indeed great and can’t fault it at all.

 

as for the bridge, again thank you. My first scratch build project but doing the cardboard structures and given me experience which has boosted my confidence a lot so hopefully I can pull it off. The fact it hides the bend a little too is one of my favourite things about it too. The perfect place rather than have it dead straight and perpendicular to the track.

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Spent all week with the other half, we was due to go on a nice break in the Peak District, but never got to go in the end due to the place we was going ending up in tier 3 after lockdown... so after stepping back for a week, I was quite eager to get back in the shed as I had plenty of deliveries over the week!

 

I spent tonight fitting 82126 with a new lighting board. I approached Illuminated Models a while ago to see if they could come up with something that would give the prototypical bi directional markers and tail lights appearance that modern DVTs have. 82126 received this LED set up by AGA when it was on lease to them. 

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I approached Illuminated models and within a couple of months, they had came up with a new lighting board identical to the original Hornby one, so all the acrylic and plastic ‘router’ pieces can be reused. A simple but fiddly job to fit and is cheaper and quicker then adding LEDs.  the incorrect (and annoying) cool white wipac set up was a thing of the past. 
 

 

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I just need to try and improve the headlight, not sure what causes it to be so dim, it’s probably something I’ve done. I’ve tried cleaning the glue off everywhere and also checked the led for the headlight but it’s fine. Just got to persevere with it! It’s not a million miles out, but if I can have it the same brightness as the markers then I’ll be happy. 


 

 

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I hope everyone had a good Christmas and new year. Despite the disappointment  we had to put up with, quickly followed by even more disappointment! :chok_mini: oh well, it’s not all doom and gloom as the new lockdown means more modelling time for me!

 

The first purchase of 2021 is a Bachmann Class 37, 37425 ‘Concrete Bob/Sir Robert McAlpine’ which I bought from CMC. A great model which will be getting paired with 37424 and other future DRS 37s to operate the short set and RHTT. I spent An hour detailing the model and I’ll be sending 37424 and 425 away for sound fitting very soon. 

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I couldn’t resist getting photos of the pair with the short set and the rhtt - both of which still looking far too clean!


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While the tractors are away, I will start ‘Project Short Set’ where I will paint the interiors tables, fit passengers, interior lighting and more fine details on the inside and weather the coaches too. One of the TSOs will need to be renumbered. By the time the 37s are back, the short set coaches will be ready and I may do the RHTT as well!

 

 

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20 minutes ago, WrattingRoad said:

I hope everyone had a good Christmas and new year. Despite the disappointment  we had to put up with, quickly followed by even more disappointment! :chok_mini: oh well, it’s not all doom and gloom as the new lockdown means more modelling time for me!

 

The first purchase of 2021 is a Bachmann Class 37, 37425 ‘Concrete Bob/Sir Robert McAlpine’ which I bought from CMC. A great model which will be getting paired with 37424 and other future DRS 37s to operate the short set and RHTT. I spent An hour detailing the model and I’ll be sending 37424 and 425 away for sound fitting very soon. 

0D07C9AC-F093-467E-B612-8D334EFCCE14.jpeg.cc74f6928c771bb5ca82bf5fdc39524a.jpeg

 

I couldn’t resist getting photos of the pair with the short set and the rhtt - both of which still looking far too clean!


51659A89-AB1C-463F-993C-891B0E65021F.jpeg.099fc43c5e09a0357db51f6d212c2668.jpeg

 

5A240D3A-A037-4812-BE74-2AC77334B71D.jpeg.f2781882ade3ffc4c0352671aebc99a6.jpeg

 

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F148FABE-6624-40C4-967C-F79383C1BD5D.jpeg.1b01d91fc5b9127309ab80a5b2b58671.jpeg

 

While the tractors are away, I will start ‘Project Short Set’ where I will paint the interiors tables, fit passengers, interior lighting and more fine details on the inside and weather the coaches too. One of the TSOs will need to be renumbered. By the time the 37s are back, the short set coaches will be ready and I may do the RHTT as well!

 

 

More top modelling Jack

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Oh no, where have my masts gone?

 

no need to worry. I uploaded a layout update to YouTube earlier in the week and those who watched it would of heard me state that my ohle was giving me some problems, mainly down to poor construction and soldering. Plus the lack of tension in the wires was causing an annoying uplift when the 90s would pass under them. 
 

I spent tonight removing all the wires and masts and I have to say it looks really strange and bare! 
 

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When I first installed the ohle, I was a novice and didn’t really strive for realism. Didn’t know the ins and outs of ohle and just wanted the effect. But now I want the effect,  functionality and realism too!  Of course, skill, experience and confidence only ever increase in this hobby so I’ve taken it upon myself to rebuild and repair the masts making them as strong as possible before I scratchbuild the headspans to complete the ohle circuit. I done a lot of research and looked for advice from the ‘experts’ and learned quite a few things so I will be doing the ohle different this time. 
 

something else I did during the week, which I didn’t take photos of, was knock up a board to test tensioning methods. I bought a load of materials from eileens emporium before new year which included a pack smiths coupling springs. These seem to be used by the ‘experts’ and the test proved successful. The mainlines will be sprung both ends while the reception road/siding will be sprung from the non scenic section side for obvious reasons. Hopefully it all works out okay. 
 

Now all the masts are removed, I’ll spend the next few nights sorting them all out and reinstating them. The rest of the structures (headspans and anchor/spring structures) will get built. The wiring comes last.

 

hopefully this all proved worthwhile and my ohle will be much better. It’ll never be super realistic due to my tight bends but that’s a compromise I’ve got to live with. 

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2 hours ago, WrattingRoad said:

Oh no, where have my masts gone?

 

no need to worry. I uploaded a layout update to YouTube earlier in the week and those who watched it would of heard me state that my ohle was giving me some problems, mainly down to poor construction and soldering. Plus the lack of tension in the wires was causing an annoying uplift when the 90s would pass under them. 
 

I spent tonight removing all the wires and masts and I have to say it looks really strange and bare! 
 

1F9E40A0-DBD0-478C-8405-A306FFEBA5DC.jpeg.f112172c1030fd50a74f098c133d7494.jpeg

 

56C85D7B-C58B-4CA9-A980-48F82850C9E6.jpeg.f2fa1060aa55710e72db9b7231739dac.jpeg

 

121CF6A4-BFCB-417B-86CD-E2882E91D25A.jpeg.96a69eca6f169daf194a26485b6fd7e1.jpeg

 

 

When I first installed the ohle, I was a novice and didn’t really strive for realism. Didn’t know the ins and outs of ohle and just wanted the effect. But now I want the effect,  functionality and realism too!  Of course, skill, experience and confidence only ever increase in this hobby so I’ve taken it upon myself to rebuild and repair the masts making them as strong as possible before I scratchbuild the headspans to complete the ohle circuit. I done a lot of research and looked for advice from the ‘experts’ and learned quite a few things so I will be doing the ohle different this time. 
 

something else I did during the week, which I didn’t take photos of, was knock up a board to test tensioning methods. I bought a load of materials from eileens emporium before new year which included a pack smiths coupling springs. These seem to be used by the ‘experts’ and the test proved successful. The mainlines will be sprung both ends while the reception road/siding will be sprung from the non scenic section side for obvious reasons. Hopefully it all works out okay. 
 

Now all the masts are removed, I’ll spend the next few nights sorting them all out and reinstating them. The rest of the structures (headspans and anchor/spring structures) will get built. The wiring comes last.

 

hopefully this all proved worthwhile and my ohle will be much better. It’ll never be super realistic due to my tight bends but that’s a compromise I’ve got to live with. 

Nice update jack looking forward to more from this fab layout

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5 hours ago, armleyroad said:

OHLE is really difficult and not modelled on many layouts. I've come up with my own way of doing it which works for me as it's there purely for effect not to be 100% accurate. It's all a compromise of ability, realism and space.

Looking forward to see your results!

 

 

thanks 

 

in my opinion, ohle is one of those things that’s as easy or difficult you want it to be or make for yourself. Some layouts that are described as ‘ohle’ layouts just consist of Dapol ‘Ready-to-plonk’ masts and nothing more. Some take it a bit further by adding wires whether it be Dapol wires which are useless and are purely for the cosmetic effect. I remember a guy saying he doesn’t want to add wires to his layout because it’ll ruin pictures...  yet I honestly felt/feel having the masts and headspans with no wires between them ruins pictures a lot more than having wires would! To me, Having masts with no wires is like having track without ballast... Any layout with the masts & no wires set up would look better if the masts weren’t there. But that’s just my opinion.

 

Most layouts that do full ohle with masts and wires don’t seem to run with their locos up in contact with the wires. A lot run with the pan 1mm lower than the wire which looks okay but this means the ohle needs to stay at the same height through the entire run of the wires. In real life, the wires change height depending on the location - they decrease in height to get under bridges and through tunnels and are at their highest points through stations where possible for safety reasons. At the end of the day though, running 1mm below is better than having the pan not even up! 
 

If your mad enough to go full authenticity and realism with it then things get even more complicated. Pretty much everything needs to scratch built. If you want to run pans up then the wires need to be tensioned so you don’t get that uplift when the trains run under them. The pans of the units/locos themselves need to be softly sprung, otherwise they can bend your wires out of shape if it’s not tensioned enough. Then there’s the whole science and regulations of the real ohle too. Overlap sequences, boosters, heights of wires. It’s more than just throwing some wires together. If your making a roundy roundy layout then you will need to have pretty realistic bends so your masts are prototypically spaced out. Not everyone is as lucky as that of course. It’s no surprise that pretty much every layout I’ve seen that’s gone for ‘full realism’ on ohle are small end to end layouts. A lot less work required than doing it to a roundy roundy. The best ohle I’ve ever seen is what’s on P4 New Street. It’s phenomenal. Outon Road and Parrot Hall have (or had in Outon Roads case) fantastic ohle also. And it was the two latter layouts that made me want to sort my ohle out! An example of a roundy roundy with stunning ohle is Minsterley on YouTube - he’s on this too. He doesn’t run up mind you, but his ohle is so stunning to look at, it doesn’t even matter! 

 

as for my layout, I just want something that looks good and works well so I can run pans up. I don’t see the point going for ultimate realism because I didn’t have realism in mind when I first started the layout. Plus my bends are too tight anyway and I’ll save money. So I’m quite happy redoing my Peco ohle which will/should be strong enough by the end. The Peco wires seemed to perform well when under tension but it was only around a 1.5m run. The shortest run on the layout will be around 4 metres and I’m hoping it will only require one spring for tensioning! The longest run will be the mainlines which will be around 6 metres each but ill be springing those both ends anyway. I’ll be running pans up like I always have but hopefully, there will be no uplift. The Bachmann 90s are the only electric models I have and they’re perfectly sprung. I’m hoping the upcoming Heljan 86 will be too. Ill also be incorporating differing heights for the wires so they’ll lower when approaching my tunnel then raise up when out in the open before lowering back down to go under the two bridges I’ll be building. So I’m doing what I can to make it as nice as possible but I’m saving ultimate realism for my next layout which will be much bigger than this one so I can model realistically from the get go. 

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Crikey I didn’t realise how long my last post was :rolleyes_mini: sorry!

 

Today, I ran some trains and had a small ‘diesel only’ running session. It’s nice to run trains every now and again but felt sad not being able to run my 90s! the 156 and a couple of sheds came out to play and I got some pretty nice pictures.
 

It’s fair to say having no ohle makes for more photo opportunities and vantage points. Some photos wouldn’t of even been possible or came out as nicely if the OHLE was still installed. 
 

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This last one is my favourite, I really love this photo despite the back of the tunnel showing the light - I need to have something bigger to place behind the backboards so it will look like a proper tunnel! But having no ohle brought out the best in this photo IMO!

 

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I love electric locos too much though so it won’t stay diesel forever! 
 

Whilst the trains were running in the background getting a good run, I made a start repairing and sorting the masts out. I completed two pairs of masts today. 
 

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Im working backwards with the masts so I done the two masts going before the tunnel entrance and will be working my way back. How I done the repairs was marking and drilling two small holes into the side of the H section for the cantilevers to slot into. These are then soldered in place and the solder runs into the gaps between inside the holes and against the cantilever creating a nice, strong joint. They proved worthy in the tensioning test so I have high hopes! some of the cantilevers required re-jigging and some registration arms needed re-positioning so they’re at the correct heights for the wires. The cantilevers can be gently manoeuvred   so they straighten out perpendicular to the H section. Then after an application of grey primer and a bit of brown paint on the insulators, they are ready for re-installation. But I’ll do this when all the masts are ready. 

 

Here’s some close up photos 

 

these will be going in front of the tunnel:

 

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and these will be the next masts in sequence. 

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Still got another 4 pairs to go which I’m hoping to get finished by the end of the week but I am enjoying this and things are going to plan. Hopefully it all works out in the end. 

 

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Good luck with the OHLE rebuild. Let me know if you need any more coupling springs, I have loads as I have fitted over 100 pairs of 3 link couplings over the years and on a fair few bits of stock I couldn't use the springs.

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4 minutes ago, 37114 said:

Good luck with the OHLE rebuild. Let me know if you need any more coupling springs, I have loads as I have fitted over 100 pairs of 3 link couplings over the years and on a fair few bits of stock I couldn't use the springs.


Thanks but I should be all good with the springs :)

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Been working on more ohle masts over the last few nights! Only a couple more pairs to go. 
 


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In the second picture, one of these masts needed a new set of cantilevers made. So I took the opportunity to take pictures to show how I made them. Although I started off with a (messy) Peco H section, the whole method applies to scratchbuilding too. So just pretend that I’m using a fresh clean h section and you’ll be able to see how to  scratchbuild a mk3 cantilever mast. 
 

 

the h section untouched. 
 

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I first measure and drill two holes in the sides of the h section. These are where the rods for the seperate cantilever pieces will slot into. These were made to suit the layout so work with your own measurements and diagrams. These are drilled with a 1mm drill bit using a hand drill. Please excuse the mess :blush:
 

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3 pieces of 0.8mm brass rod were cut to the required sizes. These make up the top tie, cantilever arm and registration tube. 


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slot the  ‘top tie’ and ‘cantilever arm’ rods into the holes. The top tie goes in the top hole and the cantilever arm goes into the hole lower down. The top tie gets soldered straight while the cantilever arm gets soldered at an angle - the masts counterpart in the pair was used to dictate the required angle so they matched. you will have to determine what angle you need. 
 

at this point I didn’t take photos from the side because I totally forgot. But you can see in the photo below that the solder bonds to the inside of the h section making it a strong join. 
 

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next came the insulators. I used some coils that are made for jewellery. These aren’t the best representation of them but they’re not far off - plus it’s all I had.  And a pack of around 30 from hobbycraft only costs a few quid making them very cost effective. 
 

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the insulators are slotted onto the top tie and cantilever arm rods and soldered on each side - one side to the rod and the other side to the h section. be careful when soldering to the h section as you may end up heating the solder keeping the rods attached to the h section. 
 

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When everything is soldered properly and you’re happy with positioning, then the top tie and cantilever arm gets soldered together. 

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Next comes soldering the rod for the registration tube which gets soldered onto the cantilever arm. The position of this was taken from the masts counterpart so it matched and was the same height. use your own measurements to work out where it needs to be attached to your own mast.
 

Note: If you’re making a mast with a ‘push off’ registration arm then be sure to keep the registration tube longer so the registration arm gets installed in the correct place. 

 

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The thin wire that runs between the top tie and registration tube was added next using 0.2mm brass wire. 
 

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And last comes the registration arm, which is the most fiddly stage so be sure to use tweezers!

 

this mast was going on the outside of a bend so it needed to have a ‘pull off’ position registration arm. If you require a ‘push off’ registration arm then it’ll need to be attached next to the 0.2mm brass wire. 

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the photo below shows a mast with a ‘push off’ registration arm. 
 

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this concludes the soldering stage and it will just need the concrete bases attaching to finish off construction - these are available through scale model scenery or can be 3D printed. I didn’t need to do this of course as the Peco masts come with one glued on so it was a matter of putting it in place on the layout to see how it looked and if it would work. I compared it to its counter part too and all was good. 
 

The section gets trimmed down so it’s the same height as it’s pair before finishing off with a light coat of grey primer and then a dash of brown on the insulators. 

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Job done! :declare:

 

not the most accurate looking mast but it’ll work and looks half decent. If I was to critique the mast, it would be the insulators. There’s better options for the insulators such as n brass, sommerfeldt or 3D printing. But the two coils look okay and equate to a few pennies each. I have a load of n brass ones but those are for the headspans! 
 

Hopefully  this post helps a few who want to build some of their own ohle. any further questions feel free to ask :pardon:

 

Edited by WrattingRoad
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