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65179
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As I'd made one or two bits for the B16 and had got my eye in with NER features I thought I'd build the only other North Eastern loco I thought I could justify for a CLC model, a Q6.  Selby Q6s were regulars over Woodhead in 1950 and so whilst not fairly common like they were during WWII they might still just about have been found on the Fallowfield loop.

 

I'm using Bob Jones's Fence Houses Model Foundry kit with a Steve Barnfield shot down 4125 gallon tender etch (the Q6 kit  comes with one of the smaller NER tenders) for the tender body. 

 

I've made a bit of progress despite the heat:

DSCF4223.JPG.c029278fb4639aef3eefbdd5213c0c83.JPG

 

Apologies for the poor pictures.  The loco will be in 1950 condition with 50A boiler, original style smokebox door, tailrods still in place, but with direct drive to the lubricator added on the righthand side as per a photo of Selby's 63387 in E.M. Johnson's Woodhead Pt2.

 

As you'd expect with a Fence Houses kit it's well designed and the chassis goes together nicely and with careful assembly produces a smooth running chassis first time.

 

Mine was nearly destruction tested when I went looking for something on the floor, left the chassis on a chair and then only realised it was still there when going to sit down when I was pricked by the over long wire I'd left ready for the lubricator drive.  A bit of a lucky escape there, not that my behind appreciated it!

 

The loco body has had holes drilled through the running plate to add bits of wire to represent the round oil pots fore and aft of the cylinders, and the front bufferbeam has been bulked up by extra layers to represent the sandwich bufferbeam used on the earlier Q6s.  The chimney is just in place for the photo.  It's so nice to have a casting that fits without any fettling!

 

Simon

 

 

q61.jpg

q62.jpg

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It's been a while since I've posted any progress.

I've been doing a few bits and bobs, including tinkering with the universal joints on the B16 in an attempt to get it to run a little more smoothly.

 

Things have gone backwards with the Q6 as one of the wheelsets has come out of quarter. Hopefully I've saved the rods before they've been irretrievably bent!

 

Before I try to get on with more of the actual metalwork I thought I'd get my eye in with something I didn't mind messing up. So I've put together the chassis for this 2mm Scale Association D363 Midland van chassis:

 

post-3982-0-60318700-1543785222_thumb.jpg

The body was put together a while back when I was practising using an RSU. It won't win any prizes for accuracy of construction (no reflection on the etch), but its outside framed nature will add a bit of variety.

 

Simon

 

I don't seem to be able to get the image to display the right way up for reasons that elude me.

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The subject of the Nigel Hunt conversion kit for the Farish WD was raised on another 2mm thread so I thought I'd post my brother Andy's progress on his WD and a couple of other projects:post-3982-0-40474300-1546029317_thumb.jpgpost-3982-0-04829400-1546029421_thumb.jpgpost-3982-0-79786300-1546029495_thumb.jpg

 

Also a Nigel Hunt conversion is this Ivatt 2MT 2-6-2T:

 

post-3982-0-08987800-1546029669_thumb.jpgpost-3982-0-69437500-1546029726_thumb.jpg

 

and finally a scratchbuilt J10 he's been working on since he first joined the Association in the 1990s. Nearly there now:

 

post-3982-0-99996200-1546030634_thumb.jpgpost-3982-0-81936700-1546030667_thumb.jpgpost-3982-0-53358300-1546030712_thumb.jpg

 

 

Apologies for the quality of the photos as they are just taken with my phone.

 

Simon

post-3982-0-75626200-1546029457_thumb.jpg

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In between painting the new garden gate and making some tiramisu with the kids this afternoon I've done a bit of work edging one or two wagons nearer to completion.

 

Firstly I've made a start on weathering some of the Farish LNER diagram 161 vans I fitted Richard Benn's replacement brake shoe etch to a while back (unaltered Farish wagon on the right):

1226907717_DSCF4231(2).JPG.ca52a4da6ad822d5d3f1979c433ccaba.JPG

 

 

Looks like I missed a few cotton bud fibres.

 

Secondly I'm in the process of painting a B H Enterprises LNER perishables van:

 

623578723_DSCF4235(2).JPG.4c979c9beb4ef4396d24ae9f8f199e2d.JPG

 

I've fitted one of the sadly soon to be unobtainable Masterclass Models chassis designed to go under Parkwood Models plastic kits.   With the 9ft fitted LNER chassis shown this van is a rough representation of a diagram 19 van.  Permanently attaching the roof, transfers, vac pipes and body and roof weathering needed to complete.    As I'm modelling early BR I'll have a fair amount of stock in Grouping liveries.  Does anyone know what colour the buffer guide/stock should be on LNER fitted stock with wooden solebars (or just wooden ends if 236824 really is modelled by Bachmann as depicted on page 129 of Tatlow's LNER Wagons Vol.4A)?

 

650073111_DSCF4233(2).JPG.fccd63ff835a626d1ee4ce946734dea7.JPG

 

Simon

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14 hours ago, 65179 said:

I've fitted one of the sadly soon to be unobtainable Masterclass Models chassis designed to go under Parkwood Models plastic kits.   

 

Great work on these wagons - they look really good!

 

I don't remember hearing about the etches being withdrawn - but I see a lot of them are now "WSL" in the shop. Does anyone know the background to this move?

 

Justin

 

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Wow. I would really like to know more about that scratch-built  J10! That was/is going to be my next major rolling stock project. That looks superb. The idea of 2mm in the garden is one I would like to explore further too. The Parkwood kits have just become available through the N Gauge society shop again.......

 

Best wishes,

 

Alastair M.

 

  

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1 hour ago, justin1985 said:

 

Great work on these wagons - they look really good!

 

I don't remember hearing about the etches being withdrawn - but I see a lot of them are now "WSL" in the shop. Does anyone know the background to this move?

 

Justin

 

 

They were all produced by Chris Higgs under his Masterclass Models title.  I believe the Association took on the 'surplus' stock. Tony Simms mentioned on here some time ago that a number of these chassis were WSL. So it's just that they are now running out. It's a real shame as they open up so many possibilities with the Parkwood vans, NGS LMS vans and now the 17' 6" Farish models that they are a perfect fit for.  However, it makes you appreciate the efforts of Chris and other etch designers etc in 2mm that allow us to achieve so much with comparative (!) ease compared with 2mm 15-20 years ago.

 

Simon

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On 23/06/2019 at 12:23, A Murphy said:

Wow. I would really like to know more about that scratch-built  J10! That was/is going to be my next major rolling stock project. That looks superb. The idea of 2mm in the garden is one I would like to explore further too. The Parkwood kits have just become available through the N Gauge society shop again.......

 

Best wishes,

 

Alastair M.

 

  

 

Hi Alastair,

 

2mm in the garden was just a less dull title for the thread than 'look I've finally finished something and taken some photos of it outside'. I'm slow enough at producing stuff as it is, so I shan't be introducing the great outdoors as an extra obstacle!

 

Are you interested in things GC/MS&L then?  If so, not a J10, but are you aware of the Judith Edge N5 etch?

 

Simon

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I certainly am Simon. The plan at the moment is to start by producing a small layout based on a (reduced) track plan of Glossop! It may assume a disguise to protect the innocent. I am interested in running it circa 1952 - 3 so just before the big switch on, but with plenty of J11, J10, C13, push pull trains etc with scope for visiting Directors (maybe a long lived D9?) - I think you get the picture. I also have a shot down Bill Bedford J12 in the stash - frankly terrifying. I have a number of exGC matchboard suburbans and clerestories from BB and the 12 wheeler saloon that was used on London Road/Glossop Hadfield trains. I'm working up to that at the moment. I hope everything is good with you and if you were interested in discussing further, I would be delighted.

 

I shall investigate the Judith Edge N5 and thank you so much for the tip.

 

Best wishes,

 

Alastair M

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Mike Edge has also done 2mm versions of his D10 and B9 (No boiler or firebox included). That way madness lies as you'll be a long way off piste if 1952 is your preferred period. However his 4000 tender etch has provision to be built as a 3250 gallon tender so a starting point for any J11.  All of them are a lot more work than a made for made-for-2mm kit. Sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but a Gorton J39 (Bob Jones kit or Farish body with 2mm Association chassis) might be a good bet for a first 2mm loco. Contact me by PM and we can discuss any of this further.

 

Simon

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6 hours ago, 65179 said:

 

They were all produced by Chris Higgs under his Masterclass Models title.  I believe the Association took on the 'surplus' stock. Tony Simms mentioned on here some time ago that a number of these chassis were WSL. So it's just that they are now running out. It's a real shame as they open up so many possibilities with the Parkwood vans, NGS LMS vans and now the 17' 6" Farish models that they are a perfect fit for.  However, it makes you appreciate the efforts of Chris and other etch designers etc in 2mm that allow us to achieve so much with comparative (!) ease compared with 2mm 15-20 years ago.

 

Simon

 

Indeed, they are all part of the Masterclass Limited Edition Range. As the name implies, they were never intended to go on and on. When Chris advised me that he didn’t intend to have further etches done, I listed them as WSL and put notes on the website and in the Newsletter. Prior to this most of the chassis were selling well within single figures per annum, so that obviously weren’t that crucial for the vast majority of members. As an Association, we stand head and shoulders above most other organisations in terms of the kits and components we make available. Most of that is down to a slack handful of dedicated designers and developers to whom we should be very grateful.

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LNER van evolution

 

Some more van progress.  Using the Farish vans, Parkwood (now NGS) kits and the Masterclass Models chassis/Richard Benn's brake etches I've cobbled together rough representations of many of the LNER standard vans still to be seen in use in 1950.  None of the replacement chassis are fixed in place and so now I look at the photos some bodies aren't properly seated, but in each case the work on the bodies is basically complete, although at this stage only the diagram 165 fruit van has had the vertical planking taken to the bottom of the sides s it should be on all earlier vans.

 

Geoff Kent's The 4mm Wagon Vol 2, and his conversion of the Parkside van, was the inspiration for most of the conversions, but I've only made the changes that I think might be noticeable as a train goes past.  They are not intended to be individually viewed.   Tim Shackleton showed just what variety can be introduced by clever painting as shown by the work he did taking a whole load of LNER wartime vans and weathering them for Copenhagen Fields.  I've just tried to introduce a bit of variety in the silhouette instead. All Parkwood vans have been narrowed to bring them closer to scale width.

 

First unfitted vans to diagrams 14 and 15 (wood and steel underframes respectively in this case with outside shutter ventilators)

 

1587319387_DSCF4238(2).JPG.3af4c5f42f84cc00e71fc965e46e443d.JPG

 

 

Next the fitted equivalents diagrams 16 and 17 (this time one has the later internal sliding shutter)

 

185269415_DSCF4241(2).JPG.1559b3792c063c5137c521ec2efa25b7.JPG

 

The shutter on the diagram 16 van (far right) was done with microstrip, and is a bit small and crude looking.  On the unfitted vans the frame will just be suggested by highlighting  scribed lines.  The Parkwood van's hood ventilator has been filed off in each case and planking rather too crudely scribed in instead.

 

316210480_DSCF4254(2).JPG.6ad819f578bcb40f36c939f53af119d4.JPG

 

A pair of Farish vans with replacement brakes representing diagrams 102/116 (corrugated ended vans with hood ventilator) and 161 (wartime wooden ended van with hood ventilator).  I've not had a go at a diagram 25 by removing the hoods on the corrugated ends yet - not something to do lightly at current prices!

 

1987825603_DSCF4243(2).JPG.d95bc087022169f318a63b19cabac2b4.JPG

Finally for the standard vans, there are the unfitted and fitted plywood vans diagrams 172 and 195 (I decided I had too many 195s hence the 172 isn't grey yet).

 

815919215_DSCF4245(2).JPG.3a1013cb5a2ca15a00ad14ca513cf9bc.JPG

I've also done some similar work on fruit vans:  D88 9ft wb wooden underframe, D165 - in reality conversion of the D94 van to a fruit van (new 10ft wb wooden solebar chassis on a Farish van with small changes to the body in progress) and a Farish D121/152 van with new brake etch.  My diagram 187 plywood van has gone walkies.

1761966198_DSCF4249(2).JPG.04f0126952b82bc6f07d7e1d7fb2b56e.JPG

 

Simon

 

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I tried out a couple of my locos on Jerry Clifford's Foxcote New Pit at the weekend. 

 

20191020_154900.jpg.3fbb65bc417010c5ff3c517cffe80877.jpg

 

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It was a last minute decision to try a Bachmann decoder and predictably it didn't work well (I'm a DCC newbie and this decoder was originally bought to try DCC in a Farish 47 for an N layout for my son). The 4F went zooming off at high speed with the regulator barely open and the 2MT was hopelessly unreliable with the loco to tender drawbar contacts probably being the problem. Both have new tender chassis but retain the original drawbar.  Reading Izzy's experiments with decoders for the 4F

is really helpful and gives me the way forward for the 4F, and something similar may well be necessary for the Ivatt.

 

Simon

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Hi Simon

 

Sorry your first outing under DCC was such a disappointment. Sadly I have found that most decoders aren’t that wonderful with the slow speed/initial inertia movement and especially with the small, low current draw motors we use in 2mm. This certainly applies to the Bachmann 6-pin ones ( Soundtrax) but really most others except CT & Zimo, (lenz is a halfway house, better but not quite there......).
 

 The big problem is that CT now seem to have disappeared from UK suppliers due to issues with supplies so Zimo are the only option at present, the only problem being they are quite a bit bigger, even the smallest, but they do now have better solder pad stay-alive connections. Sadly I very much doubt you could fit one in the top of the 4F firebox, or that of the 2FT either. Tender jobs I think. However, Expo tools have some very fine black flexible wire, the finest I have discovered so far, yet quite strong, for loco/tender or multiple dmu/emu coach connections.

 

Izzy

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CT decoders are available from dealers in Europe via a Google search. I have just bought some DCX76D wired decoders from The Netherlands.* This is single-sided and my decoder of choice for anything that is likely to have a stay-alive attached due to the size and accessibility of the solder pads.

I have used CT for years and would really miss them. I have tried Zimo and though they are close I still find them not quite up to the CT equivalents.

 

David

 

* Buy now before it becomes (ahem) more difficult/expensive!

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9 hours ago, DavidLong said:

 I have tried Zimo and though they are close I still find them not quite up to the CT equivalents.

David

 

 

I also used to think that David, but think I solved it by fitting a CT 76n & Zimo 622N into two 24's and fiddling with the Zimo cv's until they matched across the speed range. The key was the Vstart/Vmid/V high settings. Setting the Zimo's to 1/95/255 (via a sprog & JMRI) appeared to be the answer as it seemed the CT's don't use a linear speed curve as default but stretch it a bit at the bottom end. Hope this might help anyone else using Zimo's instead of CT's.

 

Izzy

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A bit more in the way of wagon bodging. This time an LMS wartime van (diagram 2103) in the progress of being converted from the Parkwood LNER plywood van (Diagrams 172 and 195). Thinned 195 alongside.

20191206_121759.jpg.9ed8878c6863376a8dad17981867260e.jpg

 

The sides still need raising a little, the ends need a bit of fettling and the end sanctions will be trimmed back in due course.

 

A bit more progress with a few other LMS vans, all thinned NGS vans:

20191206_091752.jpg.dea7cd191d2eb8d5bc9c96b87f953f9e.jpg

 

Simon

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A bit of painting done amongst Easter activities and now getting there with the B16:

20200412_225231.jpg.8cea1d4e66da11ab33b99be7c1086067.jpg

Happy Easter

 

Simon

 

 

 

20200412_225231.jpg

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9 hours ago, 65179 said:

A bit of painting done amongst Easter activities and now getting there with the B16:

 

 

Happy Easter

 

Simon

 

 

 

Hi Simon,

 

Looking really good, and I hope to see it in the flesh at some point. The areas round the boiler bands look glossier than the rest of the boiler. Have you added transfers sealed with Klear to represent the bands (looks effective to me)?

 

Regards,

 

Nigel

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Hi Nigel,

 

Yes, the boiler bands are thin strips of Cambridge Custom Transfers black wagon patch sheet cut with a razor blade (use of the razor blade was picked up from Tim Watson's thread. Thanks Tim, using a scalpel blade results in noticeably rougher edges). They and the other transfers have all had a light painted coat of Klear over them. I'll spray an all over coat of satin varnish once the bufferbeams are red and I've added smokebox and bufferbeam numbers. Then weathering can start.

 

Simon

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