Removed a/c Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Very nice Al, with regards to the finial could you not drill a hole into it and add a small piece or brass tube or similar to give it more surface area for the glue? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted October 20, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 20, 2015 Very nice Al, with regards to the finial could you not drill a hole into it and add a small piece or brass tube or similar to give it more surface area for the glue? Hi Scott, yes I've done that now, it's all sorted, thanks. Al. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Excellent works and pics Al, great stuff mate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted October 20, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 20, 2015 Excellent works and pics Al, great stuff mate. Thanks mate. I want to get these working now, and I can work to signals like you, it really makes a difference. Al. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold westerhamstation Posted October 21, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 21, 2015 Hi Al, lovely job on the signals as the photos prove, don't worry about your droopy finial it's probably the cold weather. All the best Adrian. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted October 21, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 21, 2015 Nice work. Don't forget the black band around the post where the diamond sign is attached on the two-way signal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Rowsley17D Posted October 21, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 21, 2015 Hi Mr Beast, the black band is there, perhaps should be a little thicker? Al you have cheated, you've not put in the coloured glass in the spectacle plates! Get some film ordered from MSE immediately. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted October 21, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 21, 2015 Nice work. Don't forget the black band around the post where the diamond sign is attached on the two-way signal. Thanks very much Dave. As Jonathan says, it is there, just not wide enough. I'll get it sorted. Al. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted October 21, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 21, 2015 Hi Mr Beast, the black band is there, perhaps should be a little thicker? Al you have cheated, you've not put in the coloured glass in the spectacle plates! Get some film ordered from MSE immediately. Hi mate, I've got the colour filters, but didn't want to put them in until I'm sure I've finished everything else, in case they get paint / glue / anything else on them Al. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Rowsley17D Posted October 21, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 21, 2015 Hi Al, glad you're not shirking on the detail. I found the best way to keep them in place was with Humbrol Clearfix, the stuff for making small windows. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium uax6 Posted October 21, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 21, 2015 Looking nice Al, yet again. Funny enough I was giving Dads spectacle plate (for his semaphore) a coat of undercoat this morning, and cleaning up the red and blue spectacles. In this case its a pressed steel spectacle, which is heavy enough, I can't imagine how heavy the cast ones are... The clocks ticking I have to have it all ready for January..... Andy G 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNER4479 Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 This is the first modelling I've done using solder and brass, and I must admit I was very unsure about taking the plunge, but I'm really glad I did, even my rough efforts look far better than what you can buy from Ratio or (heaven forbid) Hornby. And the great thing is, the more you do the better you'll get, of that there can be no doubt. So to all those out there unsure about taking the plunge - dive in and all power to your elbows (and soldering irons) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted October 21, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 21, 2015 Here's the three MSE signals that I've built. All of them require a lamp fitting, and the spectacle lenses, and also a mechanism to make them work, which I'm looking at now, but otherwise they are complete. Al. 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium uax6 Posted October 21, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 21, 2015 Are you not making the dods as well then? (Or have I missed them?) How about working them from a frame, with string....? Andy G Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted October 21, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 21, 2015 Are you not making the dods as well then? (Or have I missed them?) How about working them from a frame, with string....? Andy G Yes I am, I just haven't started them (or even ordered them) yet. I was wondering about wire-in-tube, but my eventual goal is to computerise the layout so I'm also thinking about servo / solenoid solutions as well. Al. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrkirtley800 Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Al, I like your signals very much. I am glad you sorted out the wonky finial, I use brass wire of varying thickness when fixing things like that. It reminds me of the time when my eldest grand daughter at the age of about two ( she is 16 now) had a cackling hopping toy chicken which broke its leg. My son tried all sorts of ways to repair it. Eventually I used 1 mm brass wire connecting the two bits of leg plus good old Araldite. Never came apart again. Derek 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 I think they are exceptional Al, and there was me looking at how to make the Ratio ones look right - your step by step tutorial makes it look possible, thank you, Kind regards, Jock. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Rowsley17D Posted October 22, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 22, 2015 Hi Al, some nice looking signals. I will have at least three brackets, but I don't know how to make them work even if I wanted to. With single posts at least I could bash a motorised Dapol one. Are you going to put finials on top of those other two posts? I've seen some Midland posts with replacement square tops rather like ones you would put on garden fence posts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted October 22, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 22, 2015 Hi Jonathan, I have seen examples of working bracket signals in 4mm, but it's not something I would fancy tackling - the ones I've seen use tiny little cranks and rods as the prototype would. As I've said, I don't have any photos of the Down starter, but certainly the Up Home had a flat square top as you describe, so yes, I'll be adding that to both. Cheers, Al. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Nick Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Hi Al Well done you! I haven't even contemplated the signalling for Wormdale yet.( I have actually but it frightens me) Are you taking on commissions? No, oh well it was just a thought. Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted October 23, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 23, 2015 (edited) This evening, I've carried out a couple of experiments. I wasn't sure what the outcome would be, so you can follow me on my journey into the unknown. First, I took the single Upper Quadrant signal that I made last, and drilled a couple of holes in the base plate, one as close I could get to the front of the post, and one smaller hole behind the post. I cleaned up the surface and tinned it, and then soldered on a section of brass tube: You can see I got a bit close to the post in drilling the front hole - I need to touch up the paint! That went pretty well really, and the idea is the brass tube will form the fixing into the baseboard, and also provide an access through the baseboard for a control wire to operate the signal, when I get round to it. The second hole, we'll come back to in a bit. The next thing I did was to add the coloured filters to the spectacle plate: I used a tiny amount of PVA glue to stick the filters to the back of the spectacle plate - PVA dries clear and I don't have any varnish or anything else posh. This got me thinking. You may remember a while back I added some working lamps to various locos, coaches and a brake van, using tiny LEDs. I bought some more amber ones, with some resistors, just to have a stock. Here's one of them: They are really small, and hard to photograph! Now, my idea was, to use one of these LEDs for the signal lamp. Seeing as the signal is all brass, I reasoned that I could use the signal as the return or negative wire for the power. I have some very thin enameled wire which i could use for the positive. On the LED, by happy coincidence, the bottom lead is the cathode, or negative connection, and the top lead is the anode or positive connection. I reckoned I could therefore solder the bottom lead to the lamp bracket, which would both hold the LED in place and provide the electrical connection. As a start, I cleaned off the paint from the back edge of the lamp bracket, and tinned it up: and then soldered on the LED, leaving the leads at full length for now: Then, I soldered the enamel wire to the top lead, and added a resistor, and connected a 12v supply to it: Well, that bit works :D However, as you can see, there's quite a lot of yellow light leaking all over the place: Anyway, that seemed to prove the experiment a success, so, I de-soldered the LED from the lamp bracket and chopped the leads down: and then I lathered it all in matt black paint and soldered it back on: Once re-connected, the resulting illumination was much better: The enamel wire was stuck to the signal post with PVA glue, and painted to match the post, and has ended up almost invisible. The wire goes down the back of the signal post and then through the second hole in the base (told you we'd get back to it). I reckon this experiment was a success, and I'm quite pleased with the result. I will now look at doing the same to the double arm lower quadrant signal as well. Thanks for looking, Al. Edited October 23, 2015 by acg_mr 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Excellent work mate, that's Bloo** marvellous, well done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Fantastic intricacy Al, breathtaking! You truly are an artist in miniaturisation - I'm not even going to try. Kind regards, Jock. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted October 23, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 23, 2015 Thanks guys, you know me, I get these ideas, and sometimes they work out ok. Al. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Bogie Posted October 23, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 23, 2015 This is yet another example of why this forum is both inspiring and intimidating. I would never in a million years have thought of this. It is just so clever. On the other hand it just shows how out of my depth I am in this hobby. Keep up the great work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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