Whats on your 2mm Work bench

[Jayk]

Hi all!

Nothing particularly glamourous on the bench but it's a start. Grabbed the taster kit and it's been quite fun so far. The axle boxes were a pain, that seems to be down to my choice in tweezers, up until now I've always favoured the softer bendy ones which help things to not go ping but it made it harder to apply any sort of squeezing pressure. Also looks like I'm not quite as lined up as I thought I was but again I think that was not helped by the tweezers where I was struggling to again apply pressure to hold them.

I decided to go with the 4-shoe vacuum braked version rather than the 2-shoe shown in the instructional videos, I figured it would be harder and wanted as much of a challenge as the kit would provide. But I'm struggling a little with the operating link. Yes, the first one I soldered at the wrong end of the actuator, but the kit comes with a pair. The instructions provided seem to suggest that only one is used but I've seen images of models with two. Was the second a spare?

Also, with the brake levers, I believe I use both but wanted to check and yes, I've spotted the difference so know that it does matter which side they would be placed.

Thanks, Jayk.

Edited May 3, 2022 by Jayk

[Caley Jim]

Coming along nicely @Jayk.  For soldering I now use these ceramic tipped tweezers, which are much more rigid than ordinary college tweezers and, there's no risk of soldering them to the job!

 

Jim.

[Jayk]

Thanks for the heads up on those @Caley Jim. Had intended to grab a pair of stainless steel ones, but these shouldn't suffer from softening after repeated heat cycles.

[bradfordbuffer]

On 27/08/2021 at 13:52, Bryn said:

This time a repaint of a Stephen Harris 21T mineral which I built 11 years ago. I was wasn't happy with the old Maskol rust technique it was redone with chipping fluid and oil paints.

 

 

 

And here are my 3 recent projects in an arty shot on Colwyn Bay Goods.

Sorry old chap you posted in wrong section....this is for 2mm models....not 7mm!.....can't beleave its 2mm!

Absolutely brill modeling (2mm) and photography  composition 

[Izzy]

 

They live!

 

I thought an update on the level crossing might be in order now it’s fixed in place and felt a short video with the signal protecting the gates and an early run of the now finished N7/3 as well would cover it all. The gates and signal are electrically interlocked along with the track either side of the crossing. No power to a section of track so the gates can’t be driven into, and the signal cannot be pulled off until the gates are closed to road traffic. With the signal off the gates cannot be closed to rail movement. It’s done with a few micro-switches, all I’m capable of besides wanting to keep it simple, and seems to work okay.

 

 

Having finally managed to complete the N7/3 it needs a bit of running-in which this little layout provides the means to do, the cold weather meaning painting will have to wait until next spring. I’m sorry for the couple of lurches it has, this is down to the track not being quite finished yet, just held down with d/s tape at present, and a couple of joints keep going out of alignment. Once ballasted properly this won’t occur. It really only became apparent with the video. How things are, and why taking shots is so useful for highlighting issues and problems.

 

 

Bob

Edited November 16, 2021 by Izzy

[Atso]

Progressing on my virtual workbench is this triplet set of Howlden carriages converted by Gresley into an articulated set.

 

 

It'll form part of the 10:50am King's Cross to Doncaster service along with a couple more Howlden carriages.

 

Now I really must get the FEP replaced on the printer and start printing some of the stuff I've designed!

[Bryn]

 

Weekend build progress. This is the start of a mermaid ballast wagon, etched from 0.25mm nickel silver sheet material with a cast resin body.

 

Kit designed by Stephen Harris and available from from 2mm Scale Association.

 

[Kris]

That looks fantastic Bryn.

[bradfordbuffer]

8 hours ago, Bryn said:

 

Weekend build progress. This is the start of a mermaid ballast wagon, etched from 0.25mm nickel silver sheet material with a cast resin body.

 

Kit designed by Stephen Harris and available from from 2mm Scale Association.

 

Absolutely brill...the resin top looks crisp. 

How much he does it retail for through society? 

[Bryn]

9 minutes ago, bradfordbuffer said:

How much he does it retail for through society? 

 

I stand corrected, it isn't currently a listed product. I might have been told some dud information or it has been removed.

[Scottish Modeller]

11 minutes ago, Bryn said:

 

I stand corrected, it isn't currently a listed product. I might have been told some dud information or it has been removed.

Hi Bryn,

 

You bad...

 

Getting my hopes all excited as been after some of these since last ones were listed.

 

Also after some of his Dogfish as well....

 

Will have to be hopefull and patient again!

 

Phil H

[DavidLong]

51 minutes ago, Bryn said:

 

I stand corrected, it isn't currently a listed product. I might have been told some dud information or it has been removed.

Looks like it has been removed, Bryn. It definitely was there. IIRC it was a trial between Stephen and the Association with a view possibly to sell some of his kits via Shop 2. Looks like a success and they have all been sold!

 

David

[Klaus ojo]

Something to show and perhaps to get some advice:

Some progress on my Bavarian C III 0-6-0 with peat tender.

As I´ve used the 2mm SA chassis for the Farish J94 it had to be the Sigl variation to hide the gear tower.

The boiler is a brass tube which is acting as a heavy heat sink and causing problems for any part I want to solder on. I´ll never take a brass tube for that again.

The chimney of course is only a symbol for the real thing and  there is some more to do: crossheads and connecting rods, sandbox and handrails.

The chassis did run well, however, after having soldered the outside cranks there is some binding which I have to mend. Next time I´ll possibly  use the new 2mm SA cranks...

cheers

Klaus

Edited November 22, 2021 by Klaus ojo

[Bryn]

12 hours ago, Scottish Modeller said:

Hi Bryn,

 

You bad...

 

Getting my hopes all excited as been after some of these since last ones were listed.

 

Also after some of his Dogfish as well....

 

Will have to be hopefull and patient again!

 

Phil H

 

Phil,

 

I had a chat with Stephen last night and can now confirm the following;

 

- Mermaids have been out of stock in the Association shop due to the contracted caster being  temporarily unavailable. A new batch of kits are currently on the way to the Association shops.

 

- Dogfish are available from Stephen directly and he has some in stock.

 

Everyone else,

 

From the list of kits in the link below Stephen can supply kits which don't include castings directly by calling him on the phone number provided.

 

Kits with resin parts require a minimum quantity order to justify a fresh run, hence why the Mermaid kit is now stocked by the association rather than Stephen having to keep stock himself. If you are interested in a resin kit please speak to Stephen about current options.

 

http://www.2mm.org.uk/small_suppliers/stephenharris/index.htm

 

 

[Scottish Modeller]

36 minutes ago, Bryn said:

 

Phil,

 

I had a chat with Stephen last night and can now confirm the following;

 

- Mermaids have been out of stock in the Association shop due to the contracted caster being  temporarily unavailable. A new batch of kits are currently on the way to the Association shops.

 

- Dogfish are available from Stephen directly and he has some in stock.

 

Everyone else,

 

From the list of kits in the link below Stephen can supply kits which don't include castings directly by calling him on the phone number provided.

 

Kits with resin parts require a minimum quantity order to justify a fresh run, hence why the Mermaid kit is now stocked by the association rather than Stephen having to keep stock himself. If you are interested in a resin kit please speak to Stephen about current options.

 

http://www.2mm.org.uk/small_suppliers/stephenharris/index.htm

 

 

Hi Bryn,

 

Thanks for your efforts - much appreciated.

 

I'll be in touch with Stephen about the Dogfish later on.

 

I'll keep an eye out for the Mermaid coming back into the 2FS shop - The guys who I am doing the 2FS GWR/BR BLT are wanting the Mermaids for the layout.

 

Thanks

Phil H

[Ian Smeeton]

On 22/11/2021 at 10:26, Bryn said:

 

Weekend build progress. This is the start of a mermaid ballast wagon, etched from 0.25mm nickel silver sheet material with a cast resin body.

 

Kit designed by Stephen Harris and available from from 2mm Scale Association.

 

 

I have one of these oin the gloat box, however, I don't seem to have any instructions for it.

 

As I don't really need it, would you like another one?

 

Regards

 

Ian

[bradfordbuffer]

5 minutes ago, Ian Smeeton said:

 

I have one of these oin the gloat box, however, I don't seem to have any instructions for it.

 

As I don't really need it, would you like another one?

 

Regards

 

Ian

Do you have any toilet rolls or dry pasta by any chance!?....

 

Only jesting...please don't be offended...

[Nig H]

13 hours ago, Klaus ojo said:

 

The boiler is a brass tube which is acting as a heavy heat sink and causing problems for any part I want to solder on. I´ll never take a brass tube for that again.

 

 

cheers

Klaus

 

Hi Klaus,

 

What thickness is your brass tube? I always use brass tube for boilers and I don't have a problem soldering parts to them, although these tend to be bits like handrail knobs. I think the wall thickness I use is about 0.5mm. I don't try soldering chimneys, domes etc to the boiler though, I prefer Araldite so I can fine-tune the position of the item. Nice to see your loco progressing and good luck with the fettling.

 

Regards,

 

Nigel Hunt

[Klaus ojo]

4 hours ago, Nig H said:

Hi Klaus,

 

What thickness is your brass tube? I always use brass tube for boilers and I don't have a problem soldering parts to them, although these tend to be bits like handrail knobs. I think the wall thickness I use is about 0.5mm. I don't try soldering chimneys, domes etc to the boiler though, I prefer Araldite so I can fine-tune the position of the item. Nice to see your loco progressing and good luck with the fettling.

 

Regards,

 

Nigel Hunt

Hi Nigel,

the tube is 0.8mm thick and I´ve bought and cut it before I´ve got a little experience with 2mm modelling.

For the safety valve etc. I´ll take your hint to araldite these.

The dome is soldered with low temperature solder and this might move when trying to solder again.

It´s all good for gaining experience. Hopefully I will be ready with it for SEQLAG train challenge...

Thanks for wishing me luck!

Klaus

 

[Caley Jim]

I always attach chimneys etc. by tinning the underside of the fitting and where it is to go with normal solder, then tinning the fitting with low-melt, place it in position, holding it down with a piece of card on top, and then apply the iron at c300º to the skirt until you see the low-melt fuse.

 

Jim

[Donw]

4 hours ago, Caley Jim said:

I always attach chimneys etc. by tinning the underside of the fitting and where it is to go with normal solder, then tinning the fitting with low-melt, place it in position, holding it down with a piece of card on top, and then apply the iron at c300º to the skirt until you see the low-melt fuse.

 

Jim

 

If you a brass cast dome or chimney I tin both with solder usually 145 then sit the item in position and apply a very fine flame to the casting at some point the tinning of both will melt together and the item settle in place check it is correct and remove the flame. Please dont try with a white metal casting.

 

Don

[Caley Jim]

8 minutes ago, Donw said:

Please dont try with a white metal casting.

I should have pointed that out, Don!  All my boiler fittings are turned brass, produced on my Black and Decker, or a minidrill!

 

Jim

[Ian Smith]

I've done very little modelling recently, but have the following photo to share :

 

This shows (what hopefully looks like) a couple of brick loads for a pair of my open wagons.  On the real Yealmpton Branch there was a brick works at Steer Point.  My imaginary line through Modbury would have followed the course of that said branch once it reached Yealmpton and hence would also have served the brick works at Steer Point.

 

I have had a mind to produce some brick loads for quite some time but kept putting it off because I couldn't actually find any (clear) photos to illustrate how such a load would have been carried - was it packed with straw?  Were the bricks on some form of pallet? Etc.  Quite by chance, a few weeks ago someone posted a link to a video elsewhere on RMweb (the "Pre-Grouping Wagons in 4mm - the D299 appreciation thread") which showed bricks being loaded into open wagons (https://www.ampthill.tv/playvideo.html?id=94&fbclid=IwAR3eZd3oo2SmzR3lPCLlZFnI0z2UhhIrzBpa1gesRaXH8i5pKFLCL8hqur0) - the loading of wagons starts about 8:40.

 

Although a 1920's film, I felt that the evidence that bricks were just stacked in the wagons was enough to allow me to try to create a couple of representative loads.

 

A piece of 0.020" plasticard was scribed with a grid of bricks (1.5mm x 0.6mm - about 9" x 4"), then that was cut up and layered to provide a bit of "interest" to the loads.  Once dry, I ended up painting the whole lot a brick colour then picking out individual bricks in slightly different shades before filling the scribed grooves with a very thin wash of dark brown track colour to try to "separate" the bricks.

 

I should add that each load has a small patch of 0.020" steel shim glued to the underside so that the loads can be removed easily with a magnet.

 

Ian

Edited November 24, 2021 by Ian Smith
Sorry, I posted this in the wrong section - I have now reposted in my Modbury thread

[Nig H]

Here are some pics of my LNWR 19" Goods, now painted and awaiting weathering, crewing and coaling.

 

 

 

 

 

The wagons are from left to right 1) a L & Y D31 rail wagon, 2) an LMS long low, 3) an LNWR Chemical pan wagon, and a Midland Railway 6 wheel brake.

 

 

Nigel Hunt

 

[Sithlord75]

Very nice Nigel.  What are the wagons?