Wright writes.....

[ArthurK]

5 minutes ago, ROY@34F said:

Let alone 80 tony , like me !  As you know I have had this so called essential tremor a number of years now , But , like others I cope by all sorts of wheezes using clamps , vices ,  holes in wood , pins , hair clips . I even have a height gauge as used in engineering which I can attach things to and lower them onto the thing I want to solder it to . It takes me ten times longer these days but get there eventually .

        I'm sure you'll continue weaving your magic for some years yet .

 

Regards , Roy.

 

At 90 my eyes aren't as good as they were but my problem is holding little bits (like putting wire through a hand rail knob) I have virtually given up the modelling game but I can use the computer, so I stick to designing kits and drawing artwork.

 

ArthurK

[grahame]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

 

What I've found with 3D printed resin items is not to treat them as if they were 'ordinary' plastics. They're far more brittle and, thus, far more likely to shatter when using cutting/filing/drilling tools.

 

 

Yep, my experience is that 3D printed parts (a form of acrylic resin, I believe) is very brittle. I dropped a part (small as it was N gauge) and it shattered in to several pieces. Nonetheless, I have drilled, cut and filed it, but care needs to be taken and I've occasionally needed to repair resulting damage (like chips and cracks).

 

However, casting resin (polyurethane resin) is quite different, more dense and less brittle. But I understand it is dangerous to breathe in any dust from filing and sawing it.

 

 

[t-b-g]

I think we all need to face up to the fact that there will be a time when our modelling abilities, whether due to eyesight, dexterity or something else will begin to decline.

 

My hands are still good but there are plenty of modelling jobs that I used to be able to do easily that now require some major magnification.

 

I have always said that if my ability to make things declines to the point that I don't enjoy that side of things any more, I will still have fun operating Buckingham and other layouts and I would be happy operating a layout built using ready to lay track and RTR locos and stock.

 

Some are lucky. The last time I visited the late Peter Denny, he told me that he was finding some fiddly jobs difficult. He could only scratchbuild things like this. The motive power is a die cast model but the threshing machine being hauled had just come off the Denny workbench. He was either just under or just over 90 years old when he made it, one of the very last things he did for the layout.

 

[Chas Levin]

2 hours ago, t-b-g said:

I think we all need to face up to the fact that there will be a time when our modelling abilities, whether due to eyesight, dexterity or something else will begin to decline.

 

My hands are still good but there are plenty of modelling jobs that I used to be able to do easily that now require some major magnification.

 

I have a few years on some here (I'm 55) but I can certainly identify with the need for higher magnification. I think we're very lucky that modern mass production and material technology mean we can buy things like LED lit headband magnifiers at such reasonable prices.

 

7 hours ago, MJI said:

I find in my 50s my hands are a lot more stable than in 20s or 30s

 

Yes - that's a strange one but I'd say the same: do you think it's a psychological thing (increased confidence or calmness, perhaps) or something physiological?

[Blandford1969]

3 hours ago, ArthurK said:

 

At 90 my eyes aren't as good as they were but my problem is holding little bits (like putting wire through a hand rail knob) I have virtually given up the modelling game but I can use the computer, so I stick to designing kits and drawing artwork.

 

ArthurK

And we appreciate what you do in your designing. 

[Tony Wright]

Thanks for all the wonderful comments from the 'oldies'. It would seem I'm somewhere in the middle. I'm in awe of what some achieve despite advancing years and diminishing skills. Well done! 

 

I don't know what I'll do if I can no longer make models - well, models which reach the standard of others I've achieved. Despite what I feared, I've almost completed that DJH A3 without major disasters, and most of the motion has now been made as well! Proof, in pictures, tomorrow. 

 

As is known, I'm not a great operator (of any layout), but, if faculties crumble too much, I might just have to sit down, slide a controller and just watch the things I've made bowl round Little Bytham. 

[MJI]

32 minutes ago, Chas Levin said:

I have a few years on some here (I'm 55) but I can certainly identify with the need for higher magnification. I think we're very lucky that modern mass production and material technology mean we can buy things like LED lit headband magnifiers at such reasonable prices.

 

 

Yes - that's a strange one but I'd say the same: do you think it's a psychological thing (increased confidence or calmness, perhaps) or something physiological?

 

I am VERY lucky with my vision.

 

I have distance glasses, driving TV, and the like, closish for computer, so distance focus is screen distance, and my normal vision is focused about 150mm from my nose.

 

Great for transfers. Oh and reading

[t-b-g]

1 hour ago, Chas Levin said:

I have a few years on some here (I'm 55) but I can certainly identify with the need for higher magnification. I think we're very lucky that modern mass production and material technology mean we can buy things like LED lit headband magnifiers at such reasonable prices.

 

 

Yes - that's a strange one but I'd say the same: do you think it's a psychological thing (increased confidence or calmness, perhaps) or something physiological?

 

My favoured aid is this, by a firm called Opticaid. It has a number 4 moulded in so they presumably do different strengths. I much prefer having it clipped to my normal specs, rather than a headband type device. I find it most convenient as it flips up when not needed.

 

[Iain.d]

Yesterday I showed some motor gearbox combination builds, which prompted me to look a little more closely at a damaged locomotive that’s been sat on my shelf for some time now.  It’s a DJH Somerset & Dorset 7F, I bought off eBay in 2013, the advert saying it was a non-runner but that with a little bit of care and attention it might be restored!

 

 

I’m not sure of its age – its one of a few old DJH 7Fs I have acquired to build. A couple are 80s/90s ‘blue boxed’ ones and a couple are older looking ‘green boxed’ ones.  The ones in the blue boxes have better quality castings in partitioned heat sealed bags to those in the green boxes, where everything is just chucked in a clear poly bag. My best guess is that this would originate from the 1970s.

 

It had been assembled using some nuts and bolts and a variety of glues, including super glue, evostik impact adhesive and some sort of epoxy (like car filler).  It didn’t take long to dismantle.

 

 

I don’t think it has ever been run as there are no picks ups and wires have never been soldered/attached to the motor. Whatever lubrication was used (engine motor oil maybe) has thickened and is very tacky/gungy. The axle ends are ‘D’ shaped to provide quartering; the wheels, plastic centred, are fixed by bolts screwed into the axle ends. The crankpins are screw threaded at the end to accept a small nut (but they’re not Gibson ones). There is quite a contrast between some of the finer detail and the cruder components. The bogie wheel appears to be Alan Gibson, but is nickel silver tyred.

 

On looking closely at the motor, it’s labelled as a Kean/Portescap RG4 077/24. On the end, melted into the plastic closure, is written ‘Faulhaber, Made in Germany’. On applying current it operated silently and smoothly, without hesitation; pretty impressive given its years of probable inactivity.

 

I’m going to look at doing this as a background project – I know its never going to have the same level of finish as a Bachmann one or a Gibson one, but I enjoy bringing things like this back to life. This afternoon I’ll paint stripper the body and try and degrease the chassis, wheels and running gear. The castings need a lot of work and the slidebars and motion support bracket need replacing. Not sure how I’ll do those yet. And I’ll use the HL Gearbox shown on my previous post to drive it. I’ll finish it as No. 80, circa 1921.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

[MarkC]

6 hours ago, Iain.d said:

Yesterday I showed some motor gearbox combination builds, which prompted me to look a little more closely at a damaged locomotive that’s been sat on my shelf for some time now.  It’s a DJH Somerset & Dorset 7F, I bought off eBay in 2013, the advert saying it was a non-runner but that with a little bit of care and attention it might be restored!

 

 

I’m not sure of its age – its one of a few old DJH 7Fs I have acquired to build. A couple are 80s/90s ‘blue boxed’ ones and a couple are older looking ‘green boxed’ ones.  The ones in the blue boxes have better quality castings in partitioned heat sealed bags to those in the green boxes, where everything is just chucked in a clear poly bag. My best guess is that this would originate from the 1970s.

 

It had been assembled using some nuts and bolts and a variety of glues, including super glue, evostik impact adhesive and some sort of epoxy (like car filler).  It didn’t take long to dismantle.

 

 

I don’t think it has ever been run as there are no picks ups and wires have never been soldered/attached to the motor. Whatever lubrication was used (engine motor oil maybe) has thickened and is very tacky/gungy. The axle ends are ‘D’ shaped to provide quartering; the wheels, plastic centred, are fixed by bolts screwed into the axle ends. The crankpins are screw threaded at the end to accept a small nut (but they’re not Gibson ones). There is quite a contrast between some of the finer detail and the cruder components. The bogie wheel appears to be Alan Gibson, but is nickel silver tyred.

 

On looking closely at the motor, it’s labelled as a Kean/Portescap RG4 077/24. On the end, melted into the plastic closure, is written ‘Faulhaber, Made in Germany’. On applying current it operated silently and smoothly, without hesitation; pretty impressive given its years of probable inactivity.

 

I’m going to look at doing this as a background project – I know its never going to have the same level of finish as a Bachmann one or a Gibson one, but I enjoy bringing things like this back to life. This afternoon I’ll paint stripper the body and try and degrease the chassis, wheels and running gear. The castings need a lot of work and the slidebars and motion support bracket need replacing. Not sure how I’ll do those yet. And I’ll use the HL Gearbox shown on my previous post to drive it. I’ll finish it as No. 80, circa 1921.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

What a nice project, Enjoy the restoration.

 

The driving wheels might well be K's - perhaps the original builder was doing some 'recycling' themselves?

[Michael Edge]

Yes they are K’s wheels, the Faulhaber motor on the Portescap is more unusual though.

[Woodcock29]

57 minutes ago, Michael Edge said:

Yes they are K’s wheels, the Faulhaber motor on the Portescap is more unusual though.

Is the motor one of the very earliest to be used in Portescaps? The first Portescap I bought would have been around 1982 I think and didn't have that motor then.

 

I've never had much satisfaction from using that style of K's wheels but I did use them back in the late 70s and early 80s on a C12 and a K3 when Romford didn't make a 22mm wheel.

Andrew

Edited October 31, 2021 by Woodcock29
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[Tony Wright]

8 hours ago, Iain.d said:

Yesterday I showed some motor gearbox combination builds, which prompted me to look a little more closely at a damaged locomotive that’s been sat on my shelf for some time now.  It’s a DJH Somerset & Dorset 7F, I bought off eBay in 2013, the advert saying it was a non-runner but that with a little bit of care and attention it might be restored!

 

 

I’m not sure of its age – its one of a few old DJH 7Fs I have acquired to build. A couple are 80s/90s ‘blue boxed’ ones and a couple are older looking ‘green boxed’ ones.  The ones in the blue boxes have better quality castings in partitioned heat sealed bags to those in the green boxes, where everything is just chucked in a clear poly bag. My best guess is that this would originate from the 1970s.

 

It had been assembled using some nuts and bolts and a variety of glues, including super glue, evostik impact adhesive and some sort of epoxy (like car filler).  It didn’t take long to dismantle.

 

 

I don’t think it has ever been run as there are no picks ups and wires have never been soldered/attached to the motor. Whatever lubrication was used (engine motor oil maybe) has thickened and is very tacky/gungy. The axle ends are ‘D’ shaped to provide quartering; the wheels, plastic centred, are fixed by bolts screwed into the axle ends. The crankpins are screw threaded at the end to accept a small nut (but they’re not Gibson ones). There is quite a contrast between some of the finer detail and the cruder components. The bogie wheel appears to be Alan Gibson, but is nickel silver tyred.

 

On looking closely at the motor, it’s labelled as a Kean/Portescap RG4 077/24. On the end, melted into the plastic closure, is written ‘Faulhaber, Made in Germany’. On applying current it operated silently and smoothly, without hesitation; pretty impressive given its years of probable inactivity.

 

I’m going to look at doing this as a background project – I know its never going to have the same level of finish as a Bachmann one or a Gibson one, but I enjoy bringing things like this back to life. This afternoon I’ll paint stripper the body and try and degrease the chassis, wheels and running gear. The castings need a lot of work and the slidebars and motion support bracket need replacing. Not sure how I’ll do those yet. And I’ll use the HL Gearbox shown on my previous post to drive it. I’ll finish it as No. 80, circa 1921.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

Thanks for showing us this model, Iain,

 

An interesting rebuild.

 

As others have said, the drivers are K's. My advice, for what it's worth, is to discard them and use Markits replacements. 

 

From my experience, I've never had success with K's drivers - whether that be with the original pre-quartered originals (which fitted into a 'key hole' chassis) or the later 'D' ones. None has ever been true and the 'Ds' can slip under high power. All that said, I have seen a couple of all-K's locos running on Little Bytham; running really well. Perhaps the builders' ability to walk on water might have helped!

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Iain.d]

44 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Thanks for showing us this model, Iain,

 

An interesting rebuild.

 

As others have said, the drivers are K's. My advice, for what it's worth, is to discard them and use Markits replacements. 

 

From my experience, I've never had success with K's drivers - whether that be with the original pre-quartered originals (which fitted into a 'key hole' chassis) or the later 'D' ones. None has ever been true and the 'Ds' can slip under high power. All that said, I have seen a couple of all-K's locos running on Little Bytham; running really well. Perhaps the builders' ability to walk on water might have helped!

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

Thanks to all for the info on the wheels.

 

For this one, for now, I'll have a go with the K's wheels and see what I can do. The nearest Markit ones I can find are the WH201A 4ft 6in 15 spoke - as for an LMS Jinty.

 

A few options I have are, to purchase four Markits axles worth of wheels or I have an Alan Gibson LMS Jinty in the ‘to do’ pile that has 3 packs of Alan Gibson 4ft 7in wheels (4855). If I can find another pack of those (unfortunately long time out of stock at Wizard Models) I can use those for this 7F, and then, I could then use the Ks with the Jinty (its unlikely to be under heavy/high power like the 7F). Mind you I have another Gibson 7F in the queue that is two sets of wheels short, so I need three packs of 4855 altogether! I’ll have look at the Wizard website tonight and see what’s available.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

[Iain.d]

I did manage to do some work on my rebuild of the damaged DJH 7F today, not as much as I’d planned, but it is all heading in the right direction. The paint stripper I have isn’t particularly powerful and it took a fair application and some vigorous work with a toothbrush to get the old paint off; some still remains in nooks and crannies.

 

 

The castings are, on the whole okay, however one side of the boiler is quite heavily pitted but I think it can be filled and smoothed. I’ve still to straighten out some of the bent and damaged castings. I’ll probably remove all the cast boiler bands and firebox cladding retainer strips and replace with tape just before the painting stage. I’ll also file off all the rivet representation from the smokebox and running plate. I’ll add rivet transfers, again just before painting. The safety valves and dome need to come off; I’ll replace these with spares from an Alan Gibson 7F kit.  I also dug out from my accumulated stores - a Kemilway brake gear fret, a pony truck etch and wheels and some sprung buffers – although these are LMS/BR ones and I need to get some MR ones.

 

 

I also did the same with the tender. Its not quite accurate for a Deeley one of the era that I want to do (it’s a Fowler 3500 gallon one) but I think it will be okay - I can certainly Deeley-ise it. I have a Mainly Trains fret of MR tender and loco steps to replace the missing whitemetal ones and I have a Comet tender inside frame etch to build up. I’ll try and use the kit’s provided tender wheels after I cut down the axles, but I have a set of Gibson wheels if needed. I fancy building the tender with a tender cab but they’d been removed from all six in service locos by 1920, so we’ll see.

 

I have yet to start degreasing the chassis and wheels and breaking down the cylinders and motion, maybe I'll be able to do this, this week.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

[Denbridge]

32 minutes ago, Iain.d said:

 

Thanks to all for the info on the wheels.

 

For this one, for now, I'll have a go with the K's wheels and see what I can do. The nearest Markit ones I can find are the WH201A 4ft 6in 15 spoke - as for an LMS Jinty.

 

A few options I have are, to purchase four Markits axles worth of wheels or I have an Alan Gibson LMS Jinty in the ‘to do’ pile that has 3 packs of Alan Gibson 4ft 7in wheels (4855). If I can find another pack of those (unfortunately long time out of stock at Wizard Models) I can use those for this 7F, and then, I could then use the Ks with the Jinty (its unlikely to be under heavy/high power like the 7F). Mind you I have another Gibson 7F in the queue that is two sets of wheels short, so I need three packs of 4855 altogether! I’ll have look at the Wizard website tonight and see what’s available.

 

Kind 

You can buy Gibson wheels direct from Colin at Alan Gibson if Wizard are out of stock.

[MarkC]

40 minutes ago, Iain.d said:

I did manage to do some work on my rebuild of the damaged DJH 7F today, not as much as I’d planned, but it is all heading in the right direction. The paint stripper I have isn’t particularly powerful and it took a fair application and some vigorous work with a toothbrush to get the old paint off; some still remains in nooks and crannies.

 

 

The castings are, on the whole okay, however one side of the boiler is quite heavily pitted but I think it can be filled and smoothed. I’ve still to straighten out some of the bent and damaged castings. I’ll probably remove all the cast boiler bands and firebox cladding retainer strips and replace with tape just before the painting stage. I’ll also file off all the rivet representation from the smokebox and running plate. I’ll add rivet transfers, again just before painting. The safety valves and dome need to come off; I’ll replace these with spares from an Alan Gibson 7F kit.  I also dug out from my accumulated stores - a Kemilway brake gear fret, a pony truck etch and wheels and some sprung buffers – although these are LMS/BR ones and I need to get some MR ones.

 

 

I also did the same with the tender. Its not quite accurate for a Deeley one of the era that I want to do (it’s a Fowler 3500 gallon one) but I think it will be okay - I can certainly Deeley-ise it. I have a Mainly Trains fret of MR tender and loco steps to replace the missing whitemetal ones and I have a Comet tender inside frame etch to build up. I’ll try and use the kit’s provided tender wheels after I cut down the axles, but I have a set of Gibson wheels if needed. I fancy building the tender with a tender cab but they’d been removed from all six in service locos by 1920, so we’ll see.

 

I have yet to start degreasing the chassis and wheels and breaking down the cylinders and motion, maybe I'll be able to do this, this week.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

All looking good, Iain.

 

The last eBay 'rescue' I picked up & worked on was a GEM '999' 4-4-0. I spent hours & hours filling, rubbing down, filling, rubbing down... (repeat ad nauseum) . (More are in the 'roundtuit' locker...). I didn't strip it, as it was soldered together, after a fashion - including some electrical solder on the inside of the boiler... (You wouldn't get away with that if the castings were thinner, for sure!).

 

The bodywork & mechanicals turned out OK in the end, certainly as a "layout loco" - and accepting the Triang chassis wheel spacings, of course, although this one does have the GEM equivalent whitemetal chassis.

[Michael Edge]

I still have plenty of locos running well on K's wheels but did hit a snag when I built new pointwork to 16.2mm gauge - the K's flanges are  quite a bit thicker than Romford or Markits and are a bit tight in places. At least one of my O4s fitted with them is due for replacement wheels as a result, although both still manage to run on Wentworth Junction and Herculaneum.

The first Portescaps I saw all had Escap motors, the first Faulhabers were in the later 1219 motor/gearbox.

[t-b-g]

33 minutes ago, Denbridge said:

You can buy Gibson wheels direct from Colin at Alan Gibson if Wizard are out of stock.

 

Wizard don't stock Alan Gibson driving wheels. They have a lot of others, like bogie and tender wheels but not drivers.

 

[Jol Wilkinson]

6 minutes ago, MarkC said:

All looking good, Iain.

 

The last eBay 'rescue' I picked up & worked on was a GEM '999' 4-4-0. I spent hours & hours filling, rubbing down, filling, rubbing down... (repeat ad nauseum) . (More are in the 'roundtuit' locker...). I didn't strip it, as it was soldered together, after a fashion - including some electrical solder on the inside of the boiler... (You wouldn't get away with that if the castings were thinner, for sure!).

 

The bodywork & mechanicals turned out OK in the end, certainly as a "layout loco" - and accepting the Triang chassis wheel spacings, of course, although this one does have the GEM equivalent whitemetal chassis.

As a modeller of the LNWR it was those early GEM products that put me off "all white metal " kits. Mind you, the K's LNWR six wheel coaches didn't help either. The M&L LNWR kits, a mix of white metal and etched parts, had much better castings. I didn't discover them until much later.

 

Wills kits were also much better then GEM in my view, but didn't do any Crewe locos, although I built a MR Flatiron and a 4F.

[Chas Levin]

15 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

My favoured aid is this, by a firm called Opticaid. It has a number 4 moulded in so they presumably do different strengths. I much prefer having it clipped to my normal specs, rather than a headband type device. I find it most convenient as it flips up when not needed.

 

That looks interesting - is it nice and light (in weight, I mean)? I tried a couple of different clip-on ones and found they weighed my glasses down so much they started slipping down my nose unless I looked slightly above straight ahead - which isn't very practical for working on a model!

[t-b-g]

7 minutes ago, Chas Levin said:

That looks interesting - is it nice and light (in weight, I mean)? I tried a couple of different clip-on ones and found they weighed my glasses down so much they started slipping down my nose unless I looked slightly above straight ahead - which isn't very practical for working on a model!

 

That is the main reason why I like it. It is very light in weight and my glasses stay just where they should be. I like the lack of a heavy frame round the lenses too. I get good peripheral vision when using them and can see the workbench either side of the magnified area, so picking up a tool or a bit of wire etc. from the bench is not as difficult as with some I have tried.

[Denbridge]

3 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

Wizard don't stock Alan Gibson driving wheels. They have a lot of others, like bogie and tender wheels but not drivers.

 

I always buy direct from Gibsons and was merely replying to another comment. Coincidentally though, whilst compiling a Wizard order last night, some Gibson wheels popped up in one of my searches. Admittedly they were manning Wardle driving wheels(I think), but driving wheels they were. 

[t-b-g]

20 minutes ago, Denbridge said:

I always buy direct from Gibsons and was merely replying to another comment. Coincidentally though, whilst compiling a Wizard order last night, some Gibson wheels popped up in one of my searches. Admittedly they were manning Wardle driving wheels(I think), but driving wheels they were. 

 

You are not wrong! A quick look shows up some drivers for BR Diesel shunters too. I stand corrected. I didn't realise he had any at all.

[Tony Wright]

Phew,

 

Perhaps I'm still able to erect loco valve gear!

 

 

 

The DJH A3 is now complete and ready to be sent to Geoff Haynes for painting. 

 

I'm delighted with how she works.