Focalplane's Workbench (mostly 7mm)

[coachmann]

I used to buy Trico from a chemist in Rhyl. Then I had to sign a register. Then it wasn't for sale! Progress....

[ROSSPOP]

You can of course get this one in the UK for less than a fiver..............................

 

 

mine is still going after 10 years........................

 

John

[Focalplane]

John

 

Another product from the US! It has occurred to me that the formulation of many of these adhesives could have changed since we bought our ten or twenty year old bottles of the good stuff. But what really surprises me is the price of some of them being quoted on line. Could we have to pay a lot more for something that is lot less?

 

I will say that I am now impressed with Roket Max as an all purpose adhesive. Originally recommended by JLTRT for their Mark 1 coach kits I now keep a ready supply here in France. I bought two of them on line and they never appeared, but the company sent two more FOC. What is it with glue!

 

Back to the workbench, the downpipes could be today's challenge, but where do I source guttering in 7mm scale? I have a ridiculous idea of taking brass tube and filing off half down its length, all of a meter required for both sides! Any suggestions warmly accepted.

[2ManySpams]

Apparently lots of folk use the metal U shaped channel that goes into umbrella spokes as 7mm guttering. Not every umbrella but found more in the larger, non-folding type. A cheap one from a market could give years of guttering. Not found a suitable one myself yet but will be on the lookout.

[Focalplane]

A great idea, Chris, and I know a good source - after a windy day on the beach there is bound to be a broken beach umbrella or two lying around!  The ones I have seen, though, look too slender for 7mm scale.  But it's a much better idea than filing down the "side" of a tube!

[Giles]

It's well worth buying an umbrella of the right kind if necessary - the ribs are steel, so I solder on end caps, and solder on down pipes as well. I make gutter brackets to support them in Trotec (Acrylic)

 

http://bygiles.com/

[coachmann]

There is no doubt that lots of things are usefull in railway modelling. I used to buy knitting needles as a source of inexpensive rod for making gas and vacuum cylinders for coach underframes. When i was into developing & printing I never bought a thermometer from a camera shop because they were well overpriced!

[Focalplane]

OK, enough of Plastikard for today, though it will return very soon.  The roof ventilators consist of two large louvred square "towers" while the smoke ducting is connected to four small chimneys, two on each side.

 

After running errands to Narbonne (my niece is working at a nearby campsite and needed a ride to Narbonne Station at lunchtime) and then doing a supermarket shop that was the worst example of what a French supermarket can throw at you - a 30 minute wait in line for one of two cashiers out of how many tills?  By the time I got to the cashier and she said "Bonjour" I replied "Bonsoir".  We both laughed, what else can you do!  But I digress.

 

I have switched to box wood for the vents and I know I shall run out of the good stuff fairly soon.  Here is the beginnings of one of the two towers:

 

 

The louvres will be single strips of corrugated sheeting while the pitched roof will be added later this evening.

 

I also placed an order with Giles for some of his gutter and down pipe fittings.  No reason to go to the beach today to look for old beach parasols as it is raining!

 

Now, I am going to run out of the pack of boxwood I bought in Calgary several years ago.  Is there a European equivalent?

[Deano747]

OK, enough of Plastikard for today, though it will return very soon.  The roof ventilators consist of two large louvred square "towers" while the smoke ducting is connected to four small chimneys, two on each side.

 

After running errands to Narbonne (my niece is working at a nearby campsite and needed a ride to Narbonne Station at lunchtime) and then doing a supermarket shop that was the worst example of what a French supermarket can throw at you - a 30 minute wait in line for one of two cashiers out of how many tills?  By the time I got to the cashier and she said "Bonjour" I replied "Bonsoir".  We both laughed, what else can you do!  But I digress.

 

I have switched to box wood for the vents and I know I shall run out of the good stuff fairly soon.  Here is the beginnings of one of the two towers:

 

IMG_0817.JPG

 

The louvres will be single strips of corrugated sheeting while the pitched roof will be added later this evening.

 

I also placed an order with Giles for some of his gutter and down pipe fittings.  No reason to go to the beach today to look for old beach parasols as it is raining!

 

Now, I am going to run out of the pack of boxwood I bought in Calgary several years ago.  Is there a European equivalent?

 

I would suggest aero modellers 'Liteply'?? Comes in various thicknesses from 1/16" upwards. The thickest I've used (and come across) is 1/4" and is very nice to work with.

 

Regards, Deano.

[Focalplane]

I would suggest aero modellers 'Liteply'?? Comes in various thicknesses from 1/16" upwards. The thickest I've used (and come across) is 1/4" and is very nice to work with.

 

Regards, Deano.

 

Yes, it looks to be a useful product.  The nice thing about my pack of boxwood sheets and strips was that it came in a useful range of sizes and could easily be shipped.  Looks like I may have to wait until the autumn and bring some back from the UK.

 

I am going to make the journey to my nearest model shop tomorrow morning to see what they have in the way of scratch building materials.  I need more scenic stuff anyway, so it won't be a wasted journey.

 

Thanks, Deano

[2ManySpams]

A further shot showing what else can be made from sheet plasticard and a short length of tube...

 

(still needs some finishing off, and a chain)

 

Started off like this:

[coachmann]

The cistern is a neat little flush fitting but that drainpipe proportioned downpipe would give me the sh*ts if I was fool enough to pull the chain.... 

[2ManySpams]

The cistern is a neat little flush fitting but that drainpipe proportioned downpipe would give me the sh*ts if I was fool enough to pull the chain.... 

I agree, needs a smaller diameter downpipe - that's all I had at the time.

[Focalplane]

I woke up this morning feeling the weather has changed, at least temporarily, and the thermometer outside shows only 24ºC*.  Over breakfast this got me thinking about how one's body feels at different times of the year.  Yes, this is relevant to my workbench!

 

I have several of those incipient signs of growing old.  Poor eyesight is one and this was my principal reason for switching from 4mm to 7mm scale.  That doesn't seem to change with the weather but other signs do.

 

For example, there appears to be a trapped nerve within my left thumb which can become painful when building kits that require applying pressure while soldering, filing, gripping and so on.  This pain is greater when the weather is cold and damp, and at this time of the year I rarely notice it.  I have been advised not to have anything done for this as the results can often be worse.  It does slow me down, though.  Likewise I ruined my knees when younger by running on concrete roads with poor quality running shoes.  I find running today to be difficult but hiking down steep hills is what really brings the pain on.  As a result I try to keep my knees exercised and walk a couple of kilometers a day on average, while this time of year swimming is an even better form of exercise.  What was a very painful problem in March is now hardly noticeable.  A combination of warmth and exercise seems to have improved my knees' condition.  Knees do affect modelling in various ways, particularly when doing woodwork.

 

So, as it is cooler this morning I have cancelled my planned trip to FB Systems and am going for a walk!  These walks also give me time to think about various modelling problems, like how best to make the louvres for the roof of Penmaenpool shed.

 

* the highest temperature so far this year was 38ºC!

[grob1234]

Do you get any decent cold weather in winter, Paul? Snow, frost etc?

[Focalplane]

Tom

 

I experienced one short blizzard while driving over the Berwyns from Bala to Shrewsbury (above the Tanat Valley), no snow in the Midlands, and not even a freeze on the coastal Mediterranean.  But the Pyrenees had plenty of snow and there is still a remnant of it on the summit of Canigou (the 2,700m+ Catalan sacred mountain near Perpignan) which has usually dissipated by mid-summer.

 

I am not sure what this all means but further north the French wine industry has taken a knock with late frosts this spring spoiling more than 10% of the projected production.  Buy your Sancerre and Chablis now!

 

As far as bad weather is concerned my problems come with damp cold, not dry cold.  Some of my healthiest trips when working were to Calgary in winter, while West Africa was a hot bed of bronchitis caused by mold in the air conditioning systems.

 

And as a follow up to yesterday's post, it is cooler and windier this morning - I am wearing a sweater!  But yesterday did at least help me to decide on the next possible material to be tested for the shed roof louvres - brass and nickel silver strips from old frets!  Never through them away!

[Simond]

I remember crossing the Pyrenees by motorbike in mid September, some 20-odd years ago.  We were between Lourdes & Jaca.  It had rained most of the way up, and at the top, it was sleeting, which is about the worst possible weather on a motorbike.  Got a few hundred metres down on the Spanish side, and the weather was glorious, and stayed that way til we got to Bilbao a few days later.  Apparently it always rains in Bilbao.

 

best

Simon

[coachmann]

Only a few days after the longest day in Britain and its like winter here in NWales (dark, cold and wet). 55 degrees and I'm wearing a big coat in the shed while setting CV's on a 64XX.  

[Focalplane]

Larry, it's not much warmer here at the moment - what a change! I wore a sweater into the village today but was under-dressed as far as the true locals who had donned their leather jackets, etc.  Meantime the tourists were braving the weather in shorts and t shirts, it not being the weather they were expecting.  Ironically tourist season starts Saturday and will last exactly two months.  I finished the shed roof louvres today but no photos until I have primed them in the hope that they will photograph better!

 

I am now waiting on a package from Giles (see above posts) with guttering parts, etc.  I hope to have the engine shed finished in a week or so.  But I need to find an appropriate umbrella/parasol first.

 

I watched the recent video posted on Wright Writes of Nunney Castle climbing Hemerdon Bank and had to think why anyone would not want DCC sound in their locos.  Well, I do realize the cost, but the additional senses created by sound are certainly important to the likes of us.  I still think the 8F sound in the Ivatt 2MT mogul to be one of the best out there.

 

Paul

[coachmann]

I filmed a 64XX with new Digitrains sound this morning, but I cannot upload to YouTube at the mo.

[Focalplane]

The last two days have seen a lot of activity at the home of Focalplane's workbench.  Detailing the Penmaenpool engine shed roof has been the emphasis and the following photos show the results.

 

The roof contains two ridge vents and four smoke vents above the smoke ducts.  I have been working on the ridge vents for some time, using boxwood and plastikard for the basic shape before adding what I finally decided were good louvres:

 

 

After priming the structure I decided that, with Plastikard roof tile sheets out of stock, I would go back to Scalescene's 4mm paper printing but print at 175% scale.  The next photos show stages of adding tiles:

 

 

 

 

 

The printing was done on thick matt photo paper which had just enough gloss to look like slate.  Each strip was laid over the one below with small cuts to help the suggestion that the tiles are separate.  The ridge tiles seemed to be on the large size but in the end looked OK.

 

So here is the roof as it is tonight.  The plastikard smoke vents have been positioned as well.  These are purposely non-precise because it is apparent they were badly corroded timbers even before the shed was closed.  There needs to be some fine detailing but this will wait until the main roof is tiled:

 

 

The main roof tiling and the windows need to be done next as I am now waiting on La Poste to deliver the guttering brackets, etc.  I think I am on schedule, for a change!

[Focalplane]

Today has been a long hard effort applying tiles to one side of the shed roof.  I am using Scalescene's 4mm scratchbuild tile roof material but printed at 175%.

 

To do this I loaded the PDF file into Illustrator and then applied a 175% scale transform.  The reason for using Illustrator is that any part of the screen can be printed (as long as it is within the artboard).  This allows the maximum use of printer ink as well as being able to select the ridge tiles.  Scalescenes allows the user to print as many sheets as needed, the only problem being the amount of ink that an ink jet printer can consume when on high definition settings.

 

I use a matt photographic paper, though even this has some sheen.  Typically, the prints need to be "fixed" using a fixative spray, but I have found that this is not necessary if the prints are treated with care.  Ultimately I will give a matt varnish spray coat after weathering has been completed.

 

The roof is made of hardboard (or masonite) and offers a very stable polished surface to glue the tiles on.  First a sheet of light blue guidelines needs to be applied, then strips of tiles are cut.  Using a larger scale I decided to cut a nick in between each tile to suggest that they are indeed separate and this works nicely.  In 4mm scale it is not recommended.

 

Each strip is then glued onto the guide paper and I use the UHU glue stick general adhesive.  A lot of glue is used in the process, by the way.  Starting at the bottom, the strips are added with an appropriate offset.  The spacing of tiles is, not, however, exact, so sometimes the strips will not line up properly.  As I started on the back side of the roof I don't think this will matter so much, but when I start on the front I will be more judicious about which strips should go next to each other.

 

I have glued small wooden blocks to guide the placement of the smoke vents and the tiles will be cut to go around them.

 

So, here is the start:

 

 

And after about 6 hours or more, one side is ready to be trimmed:

 

 

The basic tools for the job are shown.  The scalpel blades do dull very quickly so when it comes to trimming the edges I will be sure to use a fresh blade.  A blunter edge works nicely on creating the nicks along the strips of tiles.

 

As the sun is shining I decided to try this shot and I think it shows quite well that a hardboard substrate has been a good choice.  Also the nicks give added texture to the roof's surface.  With some dark weathering powder carefully rubbed into the nicks it should have an even better 3D effect:

 

 

So, tomorrow (and maybe this evening if my eyesight will hold up!) it will be the other side of the roof and the ridge.

[coachmann]

That slate roofing looks very convincing Paul.

[Focalplane]

Well, the roof tiles and ridge tiles have been added:

 

 

 

The first with flash, the second without.

 

No touching up with a black pencil, and the louvres will be painted black.  Also, no barge boards yet.

 

I am learning all the time how to use materials I have available to me and I must admit to be well pleased with the effects created using Scalescenes' printed papers at the "wrong" scale.  The next project will show improvements learned but that is as it should be.

[Focalplane]

Did you notice 1459 lurking in the background?