Whats on your 2mm Work bench

[Donw]

Stuart I presume its a surface tension/ meniscus problem. Pete had a lot of trouble with his Moorswater dries the drama is covered on his blog on here. The only solution I can think off is to cut the sleepers from thin card or plastic lay paint and then ballast or just surround with a 'ground' mix. Then use the individual chairs to fix the rail down. Expensive and time consuming. I have done it in 0 gauge but there are a lot less chairs per metre in 0 gauge. If you adopt PCB trackwork you could do it as above providing the medium was not affected by the heat and you probably would need to clean off and retouch where each chair was ( solder the chairplates on first it would be much easier to clean a chairplate which would then be painted rust colour with the rail) yes you would get the detail of plastic track but Highbury shows how good soldered track can look.

Don

[StuartM]

If you can't can't do it, make a tool that can!

The problem I was having with the das clay, was that the clay was collecting around the chair detail and the gaps between the bottom of the rail and the ballast, in effect creating a ridge of clay along the length of the underside of the rail.

I've found a way to stop this happening is to place the clay up to the edge of the sleeper and then use the tool to tamp it into place.

I then place a small roll of clay between the sleepers between the rails and again use the tool to tamp the clay into place.

This overcomes the problem of the clay being pushed against the rail and filling all the gaps as happens when using the finger as the tool.

 

The track in the photo can be divided into two sections,

On the left hand side the sleepers between the rails were filled with neat ballast (no clay) and then pva was dropped on to it

On the right hand side, clay was tamped between the sleepers and then a thin layer of ballast was sprinkled over and then tamped into the clay, again with pva added atop of that.

When dry a worn toothbrush was run over the track to remove any loose ballast.

The results are pretty good, personally, I prefer the ballast on the right which has been tamped into the clay.

I have now ordered some grey clay as this will look better than the terracotta and might even save some painting (we shall see)

 

The original tamping tool was made from lengths of plastic glued together with poly weld,

This worked but won't last very long, so the mk2 was made out of brass.

[PaulCheffus]

I know the MERG unit can be controlled via a DCC handset but dont ask me how (I only know because of the clubs layout as it has them)

 

I am planning on using the MERG sevo controllers with the bounce bit so when you figure out how to link them up let me know!

 

Missy

Hi

 

It's in one of the technical bulletins on the MERG website DCC11/19.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[-missy-]

Finally!

 

 

Missy

[JohnBS]

Julia,

I see that you've mended your car door lock at last.

John

[Kris]

Is that static or does it work Julia? I assume static but with your skills I might be very wrong! 

[-missy-]

No, it doesnt work....

[Southernboy]

It looks like it's operational, and that's the main thing. Wonderful job Missy - you just bowl-me-over time and again with your incredibly detailed and convincing modelling.

Edited April 14, 2013 by Southernboy

[Donw]

Verry neat Julia. I assume that the rodding route crosses under the tracks. Look forward to seeing it installed.

Don

[-missy-]

Verry neat Julia. I assume that the rodding route crosses under the tracks.

Don

 

Thank you Don, yes, the vertical bit in the photo runs underneath the track.

 

M.

[richbrummitt]

Thank you Don, yes, the vertical bit in the photo runs underneath the track.

 

M.

Very nice. At the moment I'm looking forward to making some rodding: anything will be better than wiring!

 

P.s. there is often a stool in the 4'.

[Armchair Modeller]

 

 

P.s. there is often a stool in the 4'.

Not now they have retention tanks on the trains

[-missy-]

 

 

P.s. there is often a stool in the 4'.

 

It took me a while to realise what you were actually on about!

 

Its going to be buried in ballast so I am going to excuse myself from adding one there. Im sure there will be more obvious mistakes with it all once its all glued to the layout...

 

M

[Alex Duckworth]

Just started this, a Judith Edge kit of the YE "Janus"

 

 

 

 

I think that I'm going to enjoy this one.

 

 

  Alex.

[nick_bastable]

Just started this, a Judith Edge kit of the YE "Janus"

 

 

DSCN2653.JPG

 

 

I think that I'm going to enjoy this one.

 

 

  Alex.

Alex

 

your a braver  man  person than I

 

sure with your skills it will work out very well

 

Bon Chance 

[Ian Smith]

GWR 1854 Class Saddle Tank Progress

 

Not massive progress really.  But it is slowly coming together. 

 

The stumbling block for me was the chassis.  It was running very well until I put it on the rails, at which point it decided to leap off the tracks at regular intervals.  This really did set me back somewhat as I felt that there was little point in trying anything else until I could get a 2mm loco actually working!!  I quickly found that the problem was that somehow I had warped the chassis so that an end wheel was not in contact with the rail.  Initially to solve this I tried unsoldering the PCB frame spacers to re-align the chassis square again - to no avail.  In the end I had to completely strip down the chassis and rebuild the flipping thing (I ended up doing this twice because on the first rebuild 2 of the frame spacers de-laminated and couldn't be replaced without me ending up with another wonky chassis!)

 

Perseverance has (for the minute) paid off though as I now have a chassis that will run along my test track moderately happily in both directions.

 

I now feel a resurgance of enthusiasm for this little project (and for 2mm FS in general), so last night I managed to turn up a chimney and dome and the images below show the progress to date.  The cab and floor have been araldited into place (the chimney and dome are temporarily placed in position in 1.5mm dia holes in the saddle top - both had a 1.5mm hole drilled into them to allow a spigot of axle steel to be used to fix and align them.

 

 

 

 

The next stage is to turn up the tank filler cap and the safety valve for the saddle top and to form the bunker. 

 

Before anyone points it out I appreciate that the cab hand rails are too far from the cab sheeting but I drilled the bottom mounting holes in the footplate slightly too far back and to rectify the problem will mean trying to drill more 0.3mm holes virtually next door to the existing ones or not have the rails held in a hole at the bottom at all).  For now I can live with the fault!!

 

[queensquare]

Really starting to look the part Ian.

 

Jerry

[StuartM]

I'm still busy faffing around with ballast, but thought that you kettle lovers might enjoy this video

from the days when we used to make things and have full employment

You can also see how elf 'n' safety came into being

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YblqWGmIYTg

[richbrummitt]

From yesterday:

 

 

I think they might need to go back in the lathe now I've seen them close up because the shape is a bit off. 

 

and today:

 

 

Unfortunately neither of the etches I have found of 2mm GWR signal parts have these arms on so I had to make one. I've left it attached to a larger (relatively speaking) piece of material to be clipped off later until I'm happy with the rest of the filed shape. 

 

It's far more interesting than dealing with my other problem of joining the TOUs and lever frame successfully and obviously I need to make allowances to fit the signals at this stage.

 

My eyes need a rest now though: I just picked up a piece of 0.3mm wire and had to check it was 0.3mm because it looked big!

Edited April 26, 2013 by richbrummitt

[Nig H]

Here is a pic of an etch for a L&Y 2-4-2 T. I hope to start work on it next week.

 

 

Nig H

[Thos]

My 2mm workbench is currently occupied by a 15mm model of a bedroom with en-suite for my daughter's techno project.  All the doors and drawers need to open, but fortunately the plumbing need not work.  I (supposed to be she, but who's kidding) have completed the toilet, bath and vanity unit, while she built a desk and chair.

 

I've had to use a good proportion of my stash of plastikard and foamboard (what would have been loads for 2mm goes nowhere in 15mm) and my 0.3mm wire is going to make doorhandles and taps.

 

Apart from the waste in materials has been the manhours.  Oh what could have been achieved if I had been able to spend a whole weekend on 2mm stuff.

[Ian Smith]

GWR 1854 Class Saddle Tank - Bunker

 

In between dismantling and re-erecting a new fence around the front garden I have found a little time to make a couple of bunkers for this little project.  Unfortunately Mk I was a complete failure as I discovered that after I had bent it all to shape I had made it ever so slightly too wide.  Mk II is a little better and is shown in the images below.  It was bent up from a single rectangluar piece of 0.006" nickel silver which formed the front, the 2 sides and the rear, and had the chamfered top formed into the section which makes up the 2 sides and rear.  The sides and rear being carefully bent into a "U" shape before the corners of the chamfered bit were anealed and carefully coerced back into shape (the action of bending into a "U" shape deforms the chamfered over bits).

 

Once happy with the shape the front part was bent across to meet the far side and the join made good with 188 degree solder (before making the bend though I thinned the thickness of the metal with a scrawker and files so that a reasonably sharp 90 degree bend would ensue).  The bottom edge of the front part was then filed back so that the bunker would sit neatly around and over the cab floor already fitted to the loco.  Finally the coal rails (0.3mm wire) were solered up to some thin 0.006" strips of nickel silver supports while being held down with masking tape, again using the 188 degree solder.  Once the coal rails were cleaned up and bent to shape the supports were soldered to the inside of the bunker with low melt solder usually used for white metal kits.

 

Unfortunately, I think I need to make a Mk III as during the construction of this little fellow I managed to put a small bend in the rear which when straightened back became a little crease which I tried to fill with more 188 solder filed and sanded back.  Slightly more annoying is that I have managed to make the downward bends in the ends of the coal rails meet the bunker sides at different points on each side - I've only just noticed this when I looked at the photos I'm uploading!!  Oh well, nothing ventured nothing gained!!

 

Completed bunker (apart from handrails, lamp brackets and fire iron hooks)

 

Rear of bunker showing damage as a result of the crease.

 

Posed on the loco

 

Posed on loco with the dome and chimney to give better effect.

 

Right, I'd better get my tool box out again and get on with Mk III !!!

Edited April 29, 2013 by Ian Smith

[Nig H]

Here are more pics of a L & Y 2-4-2T, built from a test etch. It has been hard work! For example, the motor mounting screws were to close to the gears, so I had to slot the fixing holes in the motor mount spacer to move the motor back. Then the rear edge of the motor mount fouled the rear axle muff,the spur gears were fouled by the flange on the gear muff, and so on and on. But I got the chassis sorted and it runs nicely now, but what curves will it get round? At Nick Mitchell's suggestion, I tried using radial trucks for the pony wheels. I thought it was his idea but he tells me its from London Road Models. I was dreading doing the body after so many problems with the chassis but it went better than expected, though I haven't got a useable end product.

 

You might be able to make out the radial truck arrangement - a bit hit and miss in some ways and it still needs extensive testing.

 

 

Some of the detail was only added on the left side, just to see if the parts worked. I must get round to doing the roof.

 

Nig H

[Steve Sykes]

Currently I'm working on a couple of outside-framed vans, one S&DJR and one LSWR. I started the South Western one first, but really struggled to get it anywhere near right; it's currently on its fourth set of sides, third set of ends and umpteenth doors. I started the S&D van in frustration with the other one and it went together much more easily. I think it helped to get my eye in again as the first van went better on returning to it. They're pretty much finished now, the South Western van needs the vent covers on the ends and a little bit more detail then they both need attaching to their underframes - they're just sitting on them in the photos. Then the fun of painting, depending on when it's possible to get outside for a blast with the Halford's acrylic primer.

[queensquare]

That's beautiful Steve, always good to see more pre-group stuff - particularly SDJ of this quality.

 

Jerry